daveinspain Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 So whats the buzz on this guitar... GC has a deal for $1799.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Ignatius???? Care to replay??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Ignatius???? Care to replay??? Oh man, Mark, you are pushing the hard ones on me now, huh? Well, daveinspain, I hear a lot of good buzz, including some strong endorsements from lifelong ES-335 players who are also professional musicians. I've heard more than one guy say that the 339 has become his regular axe. But. . . . I can't attest to this because Guitar Centers in Illinois and Wisconsin do not stock the ES-339, and so I cannot try one out without ordering it and paying the shipping costs if I don't like it. Only Guitar Center and its subsidiaries are selling the 339 new (so there's your way to tell which online dealers are owned by Guitar Center: if they sell the 339, Guitar Center owns 'em). This stupid policy of both Gibson and Guitar Center--that the guitar is only available online in most parts of the country--has driven me to the point of almost giving up on this guitar. But I do think that a couple of Guitar Center's smaller, swallowed-up stores might have them in stock around here (like the Woodwind and the Brass in South Bend, Indiana, if I am not mistaken). Short answer: they are supposed to sound very close to the 335, but they are not quite there. If you need the 335 sound, then you need to get a 335. But if close is good, and if you don't want a solidbody sound like the Les Paul, then the 339 might be worth a look (meaning "worth ordering online blindly"). There are some folks here in the forum who love them. I still grumpily want to have a guitar in my hands before I commit to buying it. Oh, and for what it's worth, I saw that Guitar Center email ad with the 339 price, and it's not a sale. That there is the everyday GC price for the standard 339. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yeah he GC e-mail was just and add... but still it got my attention... I love the look and the vintage sunburst color. There are several video clips on Youtube of guys playing the 339, sounds pretty good. The clean is classy and the dirty is dirty... GC Boston has one in the store and I got it on hold. Its the 30/60 neck. Anyone perfer the 59 neck over the 30/60? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I had a gig last saturday playing mostly classic rock and some newer stuff, and probably used my 339 for about 85 percent of the time. The only reason I even picked up my LP for the half-dozen songs that I did, was for the "eye candy" factor. That trans amber LP Classic Plus looks sooooo hot, i couldn't just let it sit there. The 339 does a great job dirty (ie. KISS and Foo Fighters) but is a little easier to get a nicer clean sound than the LP (I replaced the ceramic pickups in the Classic with PAFs). For what I do, the ES is a great all-round guitar. As far as the neck, I'm a '50s neck guy. I like 'em big, and the 30/60 neck is just right for me. I tried a couple 339s recently with the '50s neck and it's huuuge. Starting around the fifth fret, it gets tough to play. A lot of the time, I wrap my thumb over the top to fret the low E. I find this difficult to do on the 339 '50s neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 So are the 339's only hitting GC dealers now? My local GC didn't have any yet - but were expecting some soon. Any thoughts on if they can be had for less than the 1799 price tag with a bit of haggling? I'm seriously looking to maybe pick one up. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 So are the 339's only hitting GC dealers now? My local GC didn't have any yet - but were expecting some soon. Any thoughts on if they can be had for less than the 1799 price tag with a bit of haggling? I'm seriously looking to maybe pick one up. cheers GC apparently is testing out a new no-haggle pricing policy effective this past Monday. I haven't been there yet but am hoping to run over there today to see whether they have lowered their tagged prices to reflect this. They legally cannot lower their advertised prices on Gibsons because they signed a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) agreement when they became authorized dealers (as do all Gibson dealers), which means even if the actual price is lower, they cannot advertise it as being below a set number. That was why there was always the "call for price" at places like First Quality Music and Elderly in the old days. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 So are the 339's only hitting GC dealers now? My local GC didn't have any yet - but were expecting some soon. They're available at any Gibson dealer in Canada. That's a pretty short trip for you since you're in Detroit. Long and McQuade has a location about 3-4 miles from the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. If you're a US citizen, you can get a form to get your sales tax back. It'll wind up costing you about the same, but they usually have a few in stock so you can try 'em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 How different is the ES-339 from the CS-336 (which is smaller than ES-335, just not sure if as small as 339) cheers ***EDIT: found this... explains it pretty well... CS-336 back, sides and center carved from single piece... while ES-339 is multiple pieces... http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/Gibson_s%20Classic%20CS-336%20and%20th/ cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 How different is the ES-339 from the CS-336 (which is smaller than ES-335' date=' just not sure if as small as 339) [snip'] ***EDIT: found this... explains it pretty well... CS-336 back, sides and center carved from single piece... while ES-339 is multiple pieces... Hey MI Canuck-- More importantly, the ES-339 is semi-hollowbody that in structure and sound, is more like the ES-335. In constrast, the CS-336 is (in the words of another forum member) more like a chambered Les Paul with f-holes and so has a sound closer to that of a solidbody. The CS-336 is a beautiful guitar that plays like buttah. I absolutely loved the one I tried out. Just make sure it is the sound you are looking for before you make the plunge. If you do a search of the forum, one of our esteemed members, clayville, has posted some really first-rate recordings that he made with his CS-336. Take a listen. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Does the ES 339 come with the pickguard? I see adds with and without... Or maybe it´s like some Les Pauls that come with the pickguard in the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobv Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I played an ES339 at Guitar Center in Manhattan at lunch time yesterday. The sales guy told me he just took it out of the box an hour before and it was in the rack waiting for the setup guy, so I got to play it just as it had been shipped from the factory. Two people in that store told me that they have gotten them in from time to time and they sell quickly. One even commented "If you don't buy it I'm going to sell it," (I think he was joking about getting the commission if the other guy didn't sell it to me). Now, out here on Long Island the guy in the store said they've never gotten one in for regular stock, but naturally they could order one for me if I bought it first. Didn't have SWMBO's permission yet and one thing I've learned is I'm much better at negotiating if I'm actually serious, so I did not look into whether they'd haggle. I'm trying to describe the shopping situation more than my impressions of the guitar, but I will point out that (1) I did not like the 30 over 60 neck - it's fine at the nut but it's too fat at the heel, (2) the vintage sunburst is very neutral brown with no amber or red in it at all, and the neck finish is very very light so the dark pores of the filled grain stand out too much and it doesn't look like what I'd expect from a Gibson neck (expertly finished, of course, just not a great color), and (3) the '57 Classics don't sound like Burstbuckers. The guitar does resonate when played before plugging it in, and when amplified it has a hint of the acoustic quality that you'd expect from a semihollowbody - but if you're serious about one you really have to demo one in a quiet room and A/B it with a grown up 335 - and good luck finding a GC that has both and a place to compare them. The alternative is to buy one and short term you'd probably be able to turn it around easily enough - a shop might even put it up on consignment for you. I don't like the limitations on the sales/distributuion situation either, and I'd be afraid that such a limited thing is going to kill its vintage value - after all rarity is not enough for it to appreciate - for that to happen, enough people have to love them for them to be appreciated and become popular and hence sought after. ANother issue is the market might resent the over-use of the "Gibson custom shop" decal on the back of the headstock - come on, this instrument is made in Memphis, not Nashville so it's not the same "Custom Shop" that Dicky Betts and Warren Haynes are ordering their one-offs from. Then again I never thought Amazon.com was going to catch on, so you'd be wise to ignore my predictions. Besides I'm probably going to buy one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Does the ES 339 come with the pickguard? I see adds with and without... Or maybe it´s like some Les Pauls that come with the pickguard in the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 The 339 comes with the pickguard installed. I understand it's easy to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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