Buying recommendations for 335?

[Nelson]

So Nelson mis-quotes me' date=' puts words into my mouth and suggests my post was '[i']not based in fact[/i]'.

 

And the best he can come up with is 'Right. if you say so.'

 

For those of you who were looking foward to a flame-war.....

 

Forget it, I can't waste time trying to get the chip off that punk's shoulder, nor the mote from his eye.

 

However - if'n yah want to talk guitars, I've played a few.

"I recently A/B'd a Sherry against a dozen Gibson ES-335, from brand new to a '59 that was on sale for £24,000. And the only one that gave the £500 Sherry a serious challenge was the '59 - and it was maybe a little better - not 48x better"

 

OK, Big shot I was willing to give you a pass on your moment of excitement/heat of the moment, over the top of reality post but if you insist that it's explained to you...not a problem

 

What you said in that statement was that you played a dozen ES-335s ranging from new ones to a '59 and out of all of those only the '59 gave the Sheraton a "serious challenge" and it was only "maybe a little better."

 

My response to this was a polite suggestion that you grab a bit tighter hold on reality before your next post. I'd say that if you posted that drivel in the Gibson forum you'd had been laughed off the forum but you thought maybe the Epi kiddies would find it interesting and entertaining. Well, it seems that every time I read your statement it doesn't become any less absurd. Deny it if you want but you've said that a '96 Sheraton was only seriously challenged by a '59 ES-335 out of a group of a dozen Gibson ES-335s and that the challenge showed the '59 to "and it was maybe a little better...not 48 times better"

 

There's no other way to slice it. You said you tried out "a dozen ES-335s from new to vintage and the only one to give the Sheraton a serious challenge was the '59 and (again) "and it was maybe a little better"

 

I haven't misquoted you have I? These are the words of your post, correct? Well, based upon those words I don't see much substance. What I find is a new person to a forum thinking he's playing to the choir and hoping to generate a following for his fantasy.

 

You got your chance to play pissing contest about the "dealer" and your personal experience...OK I've been playing in bands since 1968 and have been dealing in guitars since 1972. In that time I've sold (the ones I have records for so there are even more) over 1600 guitars and at least a dozen of those various Gibson ES models and I currently own an ES-335 and about forty others...and none of them are Chinese...one of them is Korean, three are Japanese and the rest are American made. I've also sold over three hundred amps and my current collection is at about thirty but I admit a lot of those are small Fender Champs and Deluxes from the 50's and 60's and other amps like those. My point here is I've had a bit of experience with guitars and amps myself and quite honestly I don't even see where the two guitars , the ES-335 and the Epiphone Sheraton, can even be compared.

 

They are made from different levels of materials in different manners with completely different finishes. One uses lower end OEM electronics and a vintage ES-335 is going to have direct descendants from the original PAF humbuckers and high quality/low tolerance electronic components. The machines are different, the nut material is different, the bodies are constructed differently from different materials....so what did you use as your basis of comparison? Your wishful thinking? By your own admission in another post you say you bought the Sheraton because you wanted a ES-335 and couldn't afford it. It's a funny thing when humans buy something like a new car and it isn't the top of the line. Rather than admire the higher end vehicles they find fault with them to make their choice a bit easier to swallow and that goes for women...houses...guitars. This doesn't surprise me because you certainly aren't the first to wander in this forum with great tales. Your dealer story is plausible except I know a half dozen dealers in Britain and some of them handle pretty high end stuff and none of them have a dozen vintage ES-335s hanging around but would if they could.

 

So, tell me. What criteria and means of comparison did you use to arrive at your conclusion of :

 

"I recently A/B'd a Sherry against a dozen Gibson ES-335, from brand new to a '59 that was on sale for £24,000. And the only one that gave the £500 Sherry a serious challenge was the '59 - and it was maybe a little better - not 48x better"

 

Fair question to ask considering the strength of the statement.

 

You know, by the time this is over you're probably going to wish you'd been satisfied with me saying "right, if you say so"

 

Nelson

[leicester35]

I know a half dozen dealers in Britain and some of them handle pretty high end stuff and none of them have a dozen vintage ES-335s hanging around but would if they could.

 

Quick Nelson, it looks like you have located the Holy Grail of British guitar shops. Jump on a plane to Heathrow, then start driving east and slightly north until the landcsape becomes kind of flat...

[Nelson]

 

Quick Nelson' date=' it looks like you have located the Holy Grail of British guitar shops. Jump on a plane to Heathrow, then start driving east and slightly north until the landcsape becomes kind of flat...[/quote']

 

I'm more familiar with heading west. There's this one in Harrow...well, they're not guitar dealers but still worth the trip...and then another out in Marlow Bottom...and that one in Harrow and I were threatened with arrest for public indecency for our little luggage bins incident at Heathrow and then later we were denied service in nearly every hotel in Devon for this piddly little plate throwing incident..the one out in Marlow got back with her husband I think and is now in Cornwall but still worth a call...no, if I end up in Britland odds are I'll end up being held on some charge....besides...the vintage stuff is way over-priced...almost as bad as Germany.

 

Nelson

 

Britland? Been there, Been done there.

[Thermionik]

A fair question indeed.....

 

Well, I sat and played the Sherry I was interested in buying. Norman kept bringing me 335's to try. I kept saying 'You know I can't afford one of those' and he kept saying try them anyway - and no way was I going to turn down an opportunity like that. So I sat and tried a string of guitars, all gorgeous, all way beyond my means, and all played for five or ten minutes a piece, and playing them is all I was doing - not any other criteria, just how good they felt to play, and how they sounded.

 

The Epi and most of the 335's were on a par, they played real nice, sounded real good and were a gas to pick on. If I had the money for a £2k or £3k Gibson, that's what I would have bought - they are, after all, Gibsons. But I don't have that kind of money, and that particular Epi felt good and sounded good, and to a casual visual observation it stacked up pretty well against the Gibbies too. The only one which really made me understand why folk could pay a shed load of cash for a guitar turned out to be the '59, but when I played it, I had no idea, and nearly bricked myself when he told me what it was.

 

The point I was making to the OP was that he would not be disappointed with a Sheraton as a player.

 

I was not having a pissing contest with anyone, nor trying to start one, not even thinking about one.....

 

Then along came Nelson.

 

I fail to understand why you jumped all over me for telling it how I saw it. Or why you called me an insecure kid. Or why you called me big shot. Or why you called me a clown. Or why you said the Sheraton knocked them all down. Or that it stood head and shoulders above the fray. Or why you said I suggested the Gibsons didn't make the grade against the Epi, or the Epi blew away every Gibson in the shop. I did not say ANY of those things.....

 

When you suggested that my experience was not based on fact, that I exaggerate, am predjudiced and am trying to satisfy my ego, I regret I rather lost it.....

 

I apologise for calling you a ****. I thank you for your magnanimous gesture of 'giving me a pass', but I cannot accept it. I am disappointed you think the Epi people are 'kiddies - I certainly don't, and I do visit the Gibson forums as well as here. Interestingly I have discussed this experience there too, and no pissing contest ensued. I could care less if anyone wants to "follow my fantasy" - I was merely trying to reassure another player that the Sheraton was well worth a place on his short list..... in my opinion.

 

So - do you just enjoy belittling people - because if so, next time you are in the UK, please come up to Horncastle, Lincolnshire (PM for details), and I will take you to Norman's shop, and you can do your act on him. Oh - and get to play some fine guitars too - he just took delivery of a Gibson ES-140 and a Fender Coronado, and I played them both for an all too short while last week. See - he doesn't try to put everybody down.

[Just Strum]

In that time I've sold (the ones I have records for so there are even more) over 1600 guitars and at least a dozen of those various Gibson ES models and I currently own an ES-335 and about forty others...and none of them are Chinese...one of them is Korean' date=' three are Japanese and the rest are American made. I've also sold over three hundred amps and my current collection is at about thirty but I admit a lot of those are small Fender Champs and Deluxes from the 50's and 60's and other amps like those. My point here is I've had a bit of experience with guitars and amps myself and quite honestly I don't even see where the two guitars , the ES-335 and the Epiphone Sheraton, can even be compared.

 

[/quote']

 

Nelson,

 

I had no intention on taking sides, but I have to call you out on this one "In that time I've sold (the ones I have records for so there are even more) over 1600 guitars and at least a dozen of those various Gibson ES models and I currently own an ES-335 and about forty others."

 

I don't believe you, send me one to prove it!!! (I'll even give you a pass and pay the freight)

 

the above was written in the form of humor and is not to be misinterpreted as a character assassination or an attempt to say I am more popular than Jesus.

[Nelson]

A fair question indeed.....

 

Well' date=' I sat and played the Sherry I was interested in buying. Norman kept bringing me 335's to try. I kept saying '[i']You know I can't afford one of those[/i]' and he kept saying try them anyway - and no way was I going to turn down an opportunity like that. So I sat and tried a string of guitars, all gorgeous, all way beyond my means, and all played for five or ten minutes a piece, and playing them is all I was doing - not any other criteria, just how good they felt to play, and how they sounded.

 

The Epi and most of the 335's were on a par, they played real nice, sounded real good and were a gas to pick on. If I had the money for a £2k or £3k Gibson, that's what I would have bought - they are, after all, Gibsons. But I don't have that kind of money, and that particular Epi felt good and sounded good, and to a casual visual observation it stacked up pretty well against the Gibbies too. The only one which really made me understand why folk could pay a shed load of cash for a guitar turned out to be the '59, but when I played it, I had no idea, and nearly bricked myself when he told me what it was.

 

The point I was making to the OP was that he would not be disappointed with a Sheraton as a player.

 

I was not having a pissing contest with anyone, nor trying to start one, not even thinking about one.....

 

Then along came Nelson.

 

I fail to understand why you jumped all over me for telling it how I saw it. Or why you called me an insecure kid. Or why you called me big shot. Or why you called me a clown. Or why you said the Sheraton knocked them all down. Or that it stood head and shoulders above the fray. Or why you said I suggested the Gibsons didn't make the grade against the Epi, or the Epi blew away every Gibson in the shop. I did not say ANY of those things.....

 

When you suggested that my experience was not based on fact, that I exaggerate, am predjudiced and am trying to satisfy my ego, I regret I rather lost it.....

 

I apologise for calling you a ****. I thank you for your magnanimous gesture of 'giving me a pass', but I cannot accept it. I am disappointed you think the Epi people are 'kiddies - I certainly don't, and I do visit the Gibson forums as well as here. Interestingly I have discussed this experience there too, and no pissing contest ensued. I could care less if anyone wants to "follow my fantasy" - I was merely trying to reassure another player that the Sheraton was well worth a place on his short list..... in my opinion.

 

So - do you just enjoy belittling people - because if so, next time you are in the UK, please come up to Horncastle, Lincolnshire (PM for details), and I will take you to Norman's shop, and you can do your act on him. Oh - and get to play some fine guitars too - he just took delivery of a Gibson ES-140 and a Fender Coronado, and I played them both for an all too short while last week. See - he doesn't try to put everybody down.

 

"I recently A/B'd a Sherry against a dozen Gibson ES-335, from brand new to a '59 that was on sale for £24,000. And the only one that gave the £500 Sherry a serious challenge was the '59 - and it was maybe a little better - not 48x better"

 

That's why you were called out. Without any explanation of the method of comparison that statement is an exaggeration and since there was no other disclaimer in your original post that statement became the point of my contention. Your later posts just seem to be a continuation. I never called you a liar. I did suggested that the content of your post was inflated. I've been at this forum for six years. I can't count how many times I've heard a very similar story ..."I played a '59 "Burst" and it sucked next to my Epiphone Les Paul 100"...ad nauseum...it's usually kids, insecure kids making those statements and it detracts from the point of these fora which is the flow of information. You know how you felt when you knew what had happened but someone was telling you you didn't know what you were talking about and it never happened? Well, that about sums up my history here. This isn't an act, this is a conditioned response.

 

I may in deed be a **** but maybe not a total **** as no one is perfect. When I am wrong I will admit I am wrong and as you've explained things make total sense to me because thirty five years ago a man named Glenn Watson took me under his wing as a mentor. Glenn had been a musician who had played with everyone from Glen Miller to Glen Campbell to the Everly Brothers. He regularly went fishing with Jim Atkins who had a more-famous brother named Chet. Glenn was also one of the first people in this country to be a "vintage dealer" starting in the early 60's selling old Martins and the like When I was trying to help a local luthier market his guitars Glenn made one phone call and got me an audience to try to sell an endorsement/marketing deal to the man I consider the most important in all of electric guitar history, Mr. Ted McCarty...now to me that is having some influence...even though Ted McCarty turned us down...I may have sold sixteen hundred guitars in thirty five years but Glenn had at least that many sitting in his barn at any one time...my first mandolin lesson was on a 1923 Lloyd Loar signed jobbie that at the time(early 80's) Glenn said was worth about thirty grand...probably half a million by now. So yeah, I know how what you've said happens and after your explanation I stand corrected and I apologize...or is that apologise?

 

Things do tend to get out of hand in these forums but we all just need to press on. I'm glad you have the opportunities to experience these wonderful old guitars. Hopefully our future encounters here will be more positive.

 

Nelson

[JefferySmith]

Sheeeit! Nelson is an old fart too! We need to start putting our actual faces on the avatars!

[Just Strum]

 

 

 

Things do tend to get out of hand in these forums but we all just need to press on. I'm glad you have the opportunities to experience these wonderful old guitars. Hopefully our future encounters here will be more positive.

 

Nelson

 

 

Good, now does that mean you are sending me an ES335?

[Nelson]

Sheeeit! Nelson is an old fart too! We need to start putting our actual faces on the avatars!

 

That isn't your actual face?

 

Nelson

[Nelson]

 

Good' date=' now does that mean you are sending me an ES335?[/quote']

 

You're probably going to have better luck with that either praying for it or asking Santa.

 

Nelson

[Just Strum]

 

You're probably going to have better luck with that either praying for it or asking Santa.

 

Nelson

 

Hey, I gave it a shot.

[Nelson]

 

Hey' date=' I gave it a shot.[/quote']

 

Hey, I asked for Britney Spears to be under my tree on Christmas morning. Worth a shot right? I just hope that when she gets here she's been taking all her meds.

 

Nelson

[JefferySmith]

 

That isn't your actual face?

 

Nelson

I think he died at about my age. But my hair is gray, not black.

[Nelson]

I think he died at about my age. But my hair is gray' date=' not black.[/quote']

 

Floyd The Barber is dead? Are you sure and that it isn't just a rumor some college kids came up with after playing the Andy Of Mayberry theme backwards? ...I buried Floyd I buried Floyd...turn me on barber guy turn me on barber guy...

 

Nelson

[JefferySmith]

 

Floyd The Barber is dead? Are you sure and that it isn't just a rumor some college kids came up with after playing the Andy Of Mayberry theme backwards? ...I buried Floyd I buried Floyd...turn me on barber guy turn me on barber guy...

 

Nelson

The real Billy Shears?

[Just Strum]

 

Hey' date=' I asked for Britney Spears to be under my tree on Christmas morning. Worth a shot right? I just hope that when she gets here she's been taking all her meds.

 

Nelson[/quote']

 

Based on your imagination, you better hope she's sharing her meds

[Nelson]

The real Billy Shears?

 

Paul McCartney really did die and was replaced by Floyd the Barber....dear me...it's all so clear now...and Linda McCartney did have that Aunt Bee quality about her...

 

Nelson

[Nelson]

 

Based on your imagination' date=' you better hope she's sharing her meds [img']http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/Smiley/poke.gif[/img]

 

That works for me...you gotta know what they're giving her is better than anything you can get on the street.

 

Nelson

[charlie brown]

 

Hey' date=' I asked for Britney Spears to be under my tree on Christmas morning. Worth a shot right? I just hope that when she gets here she's been taking all her meds. Nelson[/quote']

 

Well, if we're going to "Fantasyland," I think I like to have Keeley Hazel show up, wearing nothing but

an ES-345! Wouldn't even care if she can't sing or play a note! LOL!

 

CB

[Beans]

 

Well' date=' if we're going to "Fantasyland," I think I like to have Keeley Hazel show up, wearing nothing but

an ES-345! Wouldn't even care if she can't sing or play a note! LOL!

 

CB[/quote']

 

I'll second that.... wouldn't even care if she scratched it or anything!

[Stewie]

It looks like you guys are wasting your time. Itchysox has been gone since the 3rd post. But for the rest of us.

I have both. I have a Sheraton, and a Gibson 335. Don't let the similarities in style fool you. The Sheraton is a great guitar for the money. BUT the 335 just sounds better. I think it is the sum total of the Electronics. I LOVE

the neck on the Sheraton, but the pickups and switches are really just OK. I would say these are a prime candidate for a set of 57s if you include new pots and of course the almost useless selector switch. I have changed 3 on my EPIs. But for fit and finish and style the modded Sheraton for about half the money is a huge winner.

You can't compare the bling on the Sheraton to almost any Gibson 335. I never owned an Epi Dot so I can't comment on them.

I have ownd two Sheratons and I really think the Sammick made ones are the best out there.

[Chefman]

Wow. Just wow. Speechless.

[Thermionik]

Yeah - I gotta apologise to ItchySox for the way the thread went.

 

In trying to encourage him on his DOT/Sheraton quest I have probably scared him off guitar altogether.

 

So if you are looking in, ItchySox, let us know what you ended up getting and how you are finding it.

 

Always nice to hear first hand experience of Epi's, n'est pas mes braves.....

[ItchySox]

It looks like you guys are wasting your time. Itchysox has been gone since the 3rd post.

 

Is it safe to come out yet?

[ItchySox]

Yeah - I gotta apologise to ItchySox for the way the thread went.

 

In trying to encourage him on his DOT/Sheraton quest I have probably scared him off guitar altogether.

 

So if you are looking in' date=' [b']ItchySox[/b], let us know what you ended up getting and how you are finding it.

 

Always nice to hear first hand experience of Epi's, n'est pas mes braves.....

 

I'm here, just keeping my head down.

 

Thank you all for your comments btw.

 

I was looking at this: http://5b982.easyurl.net

 

Which appeared to be (all things considered) a good looking instrument, however it went quite high as I anticipated. Yup, I know, online auctions...

 

Asking a question like that as I did was probably a stupid thing to do on entering a strange forum and I should know better, so sorry for that. I should have looked around a while.

 

I reckon I'll get a dot for now and see how I get on with that. Now what colour should I get..?

 

Incidentally, this is what I got when I was 17, I won't speak the name...

 

 

This was 31 years ago and that was my lovely girlfriend playing sax. Ah, well.