Smaller body 335??

[bfisher]

Hi I am new to forum and glad to be here.

 

I recently saw a video concert of Styx from a few years ago with the Cleveland Youth Symphony Orchestra. Tommy Shaw played this 335 body gibson that looked smaller than normal. It was blueish purple in color - any ideas if Gibson made a smaller bodied model? I have owned several 335's in the past as well as a 355 ( I wish I still had them!!!)

 

Any help would be appreciated. I bought many Gibsons back in the 70's and was such a fool to sell them.

[lpdeluxe]

There's the ES-339, which is a smaller 335 style guitar. Some people swear by them.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Memphis-ES339-Semi-Hollow-Electric-Guitar?sku=515256

[clayville]

As far as I know he plays a quilted blue CS-356 that he got from Centre City Music in San Diego. See the photo here:

http://www.ccitymusic.com/

 

fwiw, I love my CS-356.

[jamester]

I do wish Gibson would make an inbetween sized semi-hollow; the 339 style is a bit too small for my taste. Something around 14" width would be perfect, but I guess that's not gonna happen unfortunately. Otherwise I think the 339's are fantastic, I really wanted to like the feel of them when I tried them out but what can you do...

[ReValt]

As far as I know he plays a quilted blue CS-356 that he got from Centre City Music in San Diego. See the photo here:

http://www.ccitymusic.com/

 

fwiw' date=' I love my CS-356.[/quote']

 

Great guitar!

 

I met her in a shop where I wanted to buy a Les Paul, but those woods and that sound convinced me to buy her.

 

Gibson website does not say anything about the CS-356, but is a model currently in production.

Someone knows more?

[bobv]

356 is a fancy 336. The 5 in the middle digit of an ES (335 becomes 355, 336 becomes 356, 339 gets the treatment and becomes a 359) usually means block fretboard inlays, multiple binding on the body, and binding on the headstock, and sometimes even gold hardware.

 

Nobody's pointed out the substantive differences in the small semihollows so I'll take a stab at it. CS336 has a solid mahogany back that's carved out inside the "wing" area and a solid maple top. ES339's have only been made since 2007 and they're constructed the same as an ES335 with maple/poplar/maple laminated arched top and back attached to rims with kerfing like an acoustic, and a maple block running down the center with spruce contour blocks filling in the gaps between the block and the arched top and back. The Johnny A is another small bodied semihollow guitar with yet a different construction; it's got a solid mahogany back that's completely hollow without any solid center area, not to mention the Florentine cutaways. '57 Classic pickups sound great in all these guitars (especially the red ones).

[clayville]

On the "styling" of the 336 vs 356, 339 vs 359, 335 vs 355:

 

In a addition to the big block inlays, multi-ply binding, gold hardware and bound headstock there are three other visual differences -- a bound neck, the large split-parallelogram headstock inlay and an ebony fretboard (with the latter possibly contributing to a difference in sound as well as feel).

[ReValt]

Thanks guys !

[jamester]

I do wish Gibson would make an inbetween sized semi-hollow; the 339 style is a bit too small for my taste. Something around 14" width would be perfect' date=' but I guess that's not gonna happen unfortunately. Otherwise I think the 339's are fantastic, I really wanted to like the feel of them when I tried them out but what can you do...[/quote']

Disregard all of this! ;-)

 

The 339 isn't as small as I once thought, and in fact they actually are 14" wide. They feel great, balance perfectly, and sound very close to a 335 when plugged in. It's my new #1 guitar...