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Epiphone ES335 (Dot) woth Mods * LOTS OF PICS *


waswell

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This is my newly acquired 2000 Epiphone ES335 (Dot). It was completely stock and is "Made in Korea".

 

Here are the mods I've done so far:

 

* Lindy Fralin Pickups - Pure PAF (8.0 neck/9.0 bridge)

* Custom Made Gibson Style Pickguard

* Grover Deluxe Vintage Tuners - Kluson Style

* Tusq XL Nut

* Black Reflector Knobs (Gibson)

* White Switch Tip (Gibson)

* Painted Pickup Ring Screws (black)

 

Only mod left is to change out the complete wiring harness and add PIO CAPS.

 

The Grovers were a direct fit(10mm). Only holes to drill were the 12 holes on the backside. Please make sure you drill the holes first so you don't split the wood or break off a screw head. Put masking tape on the drill bit so you don't drill too deep. Very easy to do if you follow these general instructions !!!

 

Pickguard was purchased on ebay for $40

 

Hope you enjoy the pics :)

 

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A nice series of mods so far, not sure about the knobs, not a big fan on reflectors, but the rest looks pretty classy indeed, congrats.

 

I tried the Gibson black top hats but it just didn't look right to me. If the newer top hats had the brighter lettering of old it might have worked, but from a distance they looked boring. Wish I would have taken a pic for comparison purposes before I returned them.

 

Thanks for the comments :)

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This is my newly acquired 2000 Epiphone ES335 (Dot). It was completely stock and is "Made in Korea".

Only mod left is to change out the complete wiring harness and add PIO CAPS.

Waswell,

 

Congrats on a fantastic job. A real beauty. Those are some very good pics as well.

I'll bet it plays as good as it looks.

 

Just out of curiosity, did you do all the work yourself?

What kind of PIOs do you plan on adding?

Also, are you going to stay with the modern wiring or are you going 50's?

 

Willy

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I tried the Gibson black top hats but it just didn't look right to me. If the newer top hats had the brighter lettering of old it might have worked, but from a distance they looked boring. Wish I would have taken a pic for comparison purposes before I returned them.

My preference is for Speed Knobs or knurled metal ones, but that's just a personal preference and probably wouldn't suit the look that you're going for.

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Waswell,

 

Congrats on a fantastic job. A real beauty. Those are some very good pics as well.

I'll bet it plays as good as it looks.

 

Just out of curiosity, did you do all the work yourself?

What kind of PIOs do you plan on adding?

Also, are you going to stay with the modern wiring or are you going 50's?

 

Willy

 

Willy,

 

Yes I did all the work myself. Not really complicated or difficult. I think anyone can do it if you take your time and do the research :) Not sure what PIO's at this time since I would like to find a pre-made harness. I might go with tundratone as they seem to get high marks and YES I will be going for that 50's sound.

 

Thought I would share the mods now because what's left will not change the looks one bit.

 

Thanks for the compliments and have a great day :)

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My preference is for Speed Knobs or knurled metal ones, but that's just a personal preference and probably wouldn't suit the look that you're going for.

 

This was the Gibson I used as a reference for my mods. Still debating about the truss rod cover as I don't want to loose the "Gibson" script.

 

img3454dh.jpg

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I think the knobs look killer and fit the guitar perfectly. What really looks great is that pick guard. Wow. It all looks great, what a stunner. Well done.

 

Only thing I could possibly think of to make it look any better would be to ditch the truss rod cover and replace it with a blank one that has that sort of "bound" look where the white really stands out, but that's just me.

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Stunning, simply stunning.

I think the knobs fit perfectly for what you wanted to accomplish.

As for the truss rod cover, it is an Epiphone by Gibson, so I like it.

The only truss rod cover I would replace it with is the one with the Epiphone epsilon.

That would be a nice addition.

 

Love the pickguard. Was it an auction on e-bay or a seller?

I like that it does not have the screw through it.

 

As you can see from my list below. I love Epiphone archtops.

My Riviera is cherry, so i am ok with my Natural Dot.

 

Mark

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Really nice job waswell, congrats.

 

I'm torn about the knobs, the reflectors look factory correct, but I've alway liked speed knobs too.

 

The only thing I would have done differently is the wiring along with pups, especially the switch and jack. I think those Lindy's will sound even better when new pots, switch, jack are installed. If you want to make it easy on yourself, here's a link to the Mojotone harness: http://www.mojotone....ewired-Assembly

 

Great work and keep us posted!

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Love the pickguard. Was it an auction on e-bay or a seller?

I like that it does not have the screw through it.

 

 

It came without any holes so you could drill them based on your instrument specs. I wanted the Gibson look so I used a spray adhesive on the backside of the guard and attached it directly to the assembly. It worked great as I too didn't want the extra hole.

 

Here is a link to the pickguard auction:

 

My link

 

Thanks for your kind words :)

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Very nice! I put the same tuners on my Dot and I love the vintage look.

 

I almost went with the look of your avatar but was hesitate to drill holes in the top. Once you do that you're committed and since I was torn between the 2 looks I decided to pass, after-all, I can always go to that look in the future. Ebay even has the "Custom Made" plaques for sale and I own a Bigby B7 so I was pretty close to pulling the trigger. I do love that look !!!!

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Looks Nice!! I just bought my Epi 335...

 

Do you have a link to where you got the knobs?

Or what type or part# of them?

 

I bought genuine Gibson knobs at Guitar Center. I couldn't find them on their web site but they are available here:

 

My link

 

Keep us posted with your 335.

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  • 11 months later...

Okey, it's a bit old topic, but anyway.

I bought my Epi Dot this year. (before that I played four years with a handmade semi-acoustic guitar, I loved it, it was very playable and it didn't have so much wood inside as Dot, so the sound was nice and open, but the mics were terrible) I*ve also tried out couple of Gibson Es-335 guitar at store (I know it's not the best place in the world) and the neck was slightly thicker than Epi, so it was better. I thought also that picups were bad and didn't sounded good stock on my Dot, comparing to for example Blackmore's 60's early 70's sound.

 

Mods I did on my Epi aren't so shocking, cause I use my guitar to play, not to garnish it.

So it has now:

- Gibson Burstbucker #1 at the neck ( sound is amazing, thru all-valve head it sounds like raindrops falling on the roof, and it breahts again)

- ToneProsT3BT-C Tune-O-Matic Bridge ( a bit more sustain, and again the sound opened a bit)

- Göldo Skull Knops ( not those traditional Gibson style)

 

Haven't done anything radical, 'cause I play a lot so all of my time I spent on that.

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