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What do the experts think about this weird ES-330 with painted F holes?

Notes_Norton

By Notes_Norton
in Vintage Corner

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Ignatius

Ignatius

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Okay, so wait a second--

 

Gibson is willing to make ES-330 prototypes but not a regular production ES-330?? Come on, Gibson! If the Casino is so doggone popular, the 330 is gimme. I know I would buy a new ES-330 in a heartbeat if it clocked in near the current price for a standard ES-335 (circa $2000-2400 street price)

 

I'm not partial to the fake f-holes myself. Gretsch still does this regularly, and I find it just weird. But in fairness, those ES-330 fake f-holes look pretty good. The fakes on Gretsch models often are painted too high up on the body, but those on that ES-330 are right on the money.

 

Ignatius

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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Okay' date=' so wait a second--

 

Gibson is willing to make ES-330 prototypes but not a regular production ES-330?? Come on, Gibson! If the Casino is so doggone popular, the 330 is gimme. <...>

Ignatius[/quote']

 

I love my ES-330. If Gibson would put them back in production, especially with the longer neck of the later models, I'd be very tempted to trade in my Casino.

 

Gibson is still selling the Casino with The Beatles and especially John Lennon. I don't understand why the Beatles, who had all the money in the world at the time chose to purchase the "budget" model 330, but they did and that's history.

 

To tell you the truth, the only thing I don't like about the Casino is the headstock. For my tastes it is way to long and extends way to far past the tuning pegs unadorned. It looks out of balance to me. If they put the same headstock as their Epi LP or Wilckat, I'd like it much better.

 

Perhaps if Gibson re-introduced the ES-330 and called it the "Super Beatle" they could get some mileage out of it. But I'm sure there would be a lawsuit.

 

But since I own a '70 ES-330 and an '01 Casino, I am really curious about the custom shop 330 for sale on eBay. It's weird. Perhaps it is the way it is phtographed, but it doesn't seem to have the same dimensions as either my 330 or my Casino. The "Horns" seem to big and the guitar seems to wide there.

 

What would make Gibson change the shape for a custom shop guitar?

 

Theirs:

5cad_1.JPG

 

Mine:

GuitarCousins2.JPG

 

Notes

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Ignatius

Ignatius

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Hey Notes--

 

I can answer a couple of your questions. First, regarding the shape of that prototype: I don't think it is different. I think instead that the camera angle is causing odd foreshortening of the body. Take a look at some of the other ebay pictures, and (at least to me) the prototype looks a lot like your ES-330 in terms of body shape.

 

Regarding the Beatles and the Epiphones: that is an interesting piece of lore that I just discovered. The Beatles picked their Epiphones because they were looking for new guitars, and for some odd reason, they were looking for a matched set (I can imagine that Brian Epstein was thinking about the visual impact of that decision). I think Paul had picked up the group's first Casino (and the one he still owns) earlier so George and John went to the same place. The Beatles actually never had a contract with Epiphone; they refused to do so because (except for John), George and Paul were already on to other guitars by the time of Sgt. Pepper's--the Pepper photo stills are all PR; I don't think George was regularly using the Casino anymore at that point. In fact, Fender tried to snag a deal with the Beatles, and that explains the rosewood Telecaster that George is using in the Let It Be film and sessions--and all the Fender amps, and the Fender Rhodes keyboard that Billy Preston is playing. Believe it or not, the late Beatles were (quietly) endorsing Fender!

 

But back to the fateful moment earlier in their history: why did they happen onto Casinos rather than the ES-330? Believe it or not, it's a fluke of Gibson's distributor network. Just as today in the U.S., Gibson then was choking their local distributor network in England, and I believe that at that particularly rich moment in rock history, there were almost no regular authorized Gibson dealers in England! Only their discount Epiphone brand had dealerships in place. That's why all those '60 British rock stars are using vintage Gibsons: they could only get new Gibsons if they came to the U.S. By the time Gibson got the dealership snags worked out, the moment with the Beatles (and Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, etc.) had passed.

 

I love to imagine what might have happened if the Beatles had owned and used the ES-330. Gibson could have signed them to a signature deal, and you can bet that those guitars would still be on the market.

 

I'm going to keep watching the market. All this talk reminds me that maybe with the falling economy, a very good used ES-330 might pop out of the woodwork right in front of me one of these days.

 

Ignatius

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Ignatius

Ignatius

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Maybe one of these?

 

[/b][/url]The are a few of them on E-bay.

Hey TLSG--

 

I haven't been in a thread with you in a while. Good to see you. I've been busy around here the last few days' date=' but actually, I'm finding the forum a bit, well, strained of late between the "Great Purge" of a couple weeks back (which I think will happen again once our admin is back on duty) and some of the tone of certain threads--a lot of nastiness lately. And as Notes Norton said elsewhere, maybe we all should just be in the woodshed practicing anyway.

 

But all that's another story. Regarding the eBay 330s: I think they are still on the wrong side of the vintage guitar market bubble for me, but thanks for posting. I need them all to get back into that $2500-3000 range, and I probably need someone who offers a 48-hr. approval period before I'm buying online. My last three instruments have been bought that way, and while there never was any problem, I like having the hope that I will never be out more than shipping costs if the guitar doesn't feel right.

 

I'm trusting vibe, feel, mojo, whatever, a lot more these days. It's why I've permanently shelved the plan for a new ES-335. I've got a guitar with great mojo: why am I looking elsewhere? But if a good ES-330 jumped out with those great P-90s, well, that might be the bigger mojo for me. [img']http://forum.gibson.com/public/style_emoticons/default/eusa_whistle.gif[/img]

 

Ignatius

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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<...>I still prefer the real deal f-holes or none at all...IMHO.

 

I've got to agree with you.

 

It's like those US cars that make the top look like it is a convertible. Why bother?

 

Or the Buick with the faux holes in the hood.

 

But then, other people have other tastes.

 

Notes

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