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Es-330L


TinyBabyBrandon

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So the search continues and I'm checking out all my options. In a different topic I was kind of exploring the differences between the 335 and the 345, all the while I've been looking into the 300L as well. I like the upper fret access and I've read some really good things about this guitar, but then I've also read a lot of negatives. Like the body being joined so low to the neck on a full hollowbody is a recipe for disaster and that the tone also suffers for this reason. I've also heard it's muddy and feeds back like crazy. anyone have any direct experience with this guitar, preferably the reissue? I love me some p-90's and I was thinking this might be a great guitar to really get some nice woody jazz tones, maybe more so than the 335 could deliver, but is it versatile too? Some many questions, and it's pretty much impossible to find one to try. Curses!!! Thanks again guys!

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Hi Fretplay, yeah ideally I'd love to get a vintage one of anything, 335, 345 or 330, but they are just SOOOO pricey, but I'll keep an eye out. For both you guys, Versatile and Fretplay, do your 330's have the recessed bouts giving better access to the upper frets or do you have the original, more casino style neck to body connection? I am just wondering if what I've heard about the the long neck version is true, that it's tumultuous at best and a tone killer. Also what are your opinions on a 1 pick up model of this guitar? Tone-wise what do you get from that p-90s smack dab in the middle?

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Any of these guitars are good guitars. What they do, they do well. Maybe if you ask yourself what you want from the guitar it could give you more clues. Theres no guitar that is going to be able to do everything so to speak. You have to find one that fits with the tones you like using. The 330 and 335 really are chalk and cheese. Different beasts. I like the 330, but I like the 335. I dont envy your position of having to choose without playing both first.

Look for any footage or recordings of 330's and 335's being played. Thats the best audition you are going to get sound wise! Both guitars will share some common ground but also have sounds that the other one cannot do.

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What Aerial Man said. Very wise advice.

 

I've owned both, and they're both great instruments. Very different, though, obviously. One major difference to remember is their weight. 330's are relatively light, and comfortable to play for extended periods.

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One major difference to remember is their weight. 330's are relatively light, and comfortable to play for extended periods.

 

Good point. Also ill give a vote for p90's too! they just sound so satisfyingly rude to me. More vibe, more attitude. But clean up so well they sound almost acoustic. So great for those kind of blasted out shonky/twangy sounding blues chord colours [cool] And great for covering more british indy sounding stuff too.

 

But it's the fingers that really make the sound come alive with p90's. Playing a bit sloppy just makes them sound even more harmonic and nasty!

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Yeah, I do love me some p-90's, that's for darn tootin'! As far as what I looking for out of this guitar is to be decidedly different than my other main electric which is an SG 3 pickup custom. That guitar is pure rock and roll, and for this I'd like something that is a little more on the cleaner, jazzier "woody" side of things, but can still get nice and dirty. I play in a band that's kind of this psychedelic wizard folk type thing. We can get pretty heavy, but more often its delicate or even an acoustic-y vibe, which has led me to the semi-hollow or hollow body world.I'm a big fan of the sound of these guitars, and I'm also getting into chord melodies and jazz stuff so I'd like a guitar that can really satisfy those inclinations. The one thing that still worries me about the 330 is the feedback. Because when you're on stage and a song calls for so many different things from one part to the next, I really want a guitar that can handle it all. I use a lot of echo, a lot of analogue delay and do some wacky stuff, I just don't want the guitar go into exorcist mode, wildly vibrating and causing an all encompassing low end boom that shakes the heavens and refuses to relent!

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If feedback is a big concern for you, then you could buy a 335 and stick some humbucker sized P90's in it. But then really your desire for jazzy sounds is limited, and im sure not that satisfying if thats your thing.

If you want jazzy allthe way through to crunchy and les paul whailing without the feedback issue (there is some nice feedback) you could go with a 137 classic with humbucker P90s. It's what I have and I think that really this guitar covers the most ground. You wont get it to quite sound like a full hollow but it's really good for playing almost anything. Ofcourse this does not satisfy GAS for a 33* model, but I would definately consider it!

 

And lastly I would say also that maybe you should not worry too much about feedback with a 330. Feedback can really add something to your performances lets face it, it sounds cool. Music is what YOU make of it. Practically every guitar in existance is capable of making good music, it's down to you to make it good!

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And lastly I would say also that maybe you should not worry too much about feedback with a 330. Feedback can really add something to your performances lets face it, it sounds cool.

I have an older brother who played a 330 in clubs for years. He said it wasn't difficult to control feedback, and that he enjoyed using it.

 

I've been a jazz player for a long time, and have focused a lot on chord/melody playing. One thing that a 335 might have over a 330 for this kind of playing (let's say "probably", although you never know for sure) is the sustain quality that I think is nice for playing solo arrangements. That's just one consideration, though. Sometimes what you gain in terms of sustain, you'll lose in terms of that traditional hollowbody archtop tone.

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I've got a 1970 Kalamazoo model so I think the neck joint is OK for normal wear and tear.

 

I run stage volumes between 85 and 100 db (A weighted, slow response) and have no feedback problems. Note: anything over 85db causes permanent ear damage unless you use ear attenuators.

 

So if you are having feedback problems, you are probably playing too loud.

 

I also have a Casino (Epiphone's contribution) but as you can see, it doesn't have the upper fret access.

 

GuitarCousins3.JPG

 

I love them both.

 

Notes

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******UPDATE******!!! So I hit up the ole guitar center last night and I got my hands on a '61 single pick up 330. I ran it through a blackface princeton and a newish deluxe reverb reissue. Let me tell ya, I dug it! It was really an effortlessly playing guitar, maybe a little too effortless actually, I think it was strung with 10's but I might go 11s on this particular guitar and raise the action a bit (you don't hear that too much I bet) but it had a really nice sweet sound to it. Really a fantastic guitar. I cranked the deluxe and sat right in front of it, and the feedback was really controllable, actually. I could sustain octaves up and down the neck and it was, as Gibson states in the reissue's description, very "musical". the thing was they were asking what I felt like was way too much given the current market on these guitars, and there is no way I was paying over 5g's, vintage or not, clean or not (which this one was, VERY clean), but it's given me a nice idea on what to expect from this guitar. It's a little more subtle than a 335, and I really liked that about it. I might hold out for a reissue to come up, preferably in sunburst and make a little purchase, so back off ebay, y'all, and let me find a good one!!!

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Hello.

I,ve got one reissue ES330L (2009)

Great, great guitar. I recommend it. Much better than a 335 for jazz, blues and classic rock but with the limitations that everybody knows: Feedback at very high volume. If you use to play with a light overdrive you won´t have problems but if you are a Metallica fun :lol: this is not your guitar.

you can hear its great sound in this video:

And, finally, this is mine:

P3210006.jpg

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Hello.

I,ve got one reissue ES330L (2009)

Great, great guitar. I recommend it. Much better than a 335 for jazz, blues and classic rock but with the limitations that everybody knows: Feedback at very high volume. If you use to play with a light overdrive you won´t have problems but if you are a Metallica fun :lol: this is not your guitar.

you can hear its great sound in this video:

And, finally, this is mine:

P3210006.jpg

Cool, thanks for the vid, I've definitely seen it though. I've scoured the ole information super highway for all things 330L! My thing is I do want to crank it sometimes, and I do use a vintage Big Muff, and while its no Metallica, it still is real distorted, but we'll see. My mind still isn't made up. For the price it's a great guitar...if you can find one!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the ES330L reissue. Bernadette is about a year old now. The finish has hardened a lot but the neck is still a bit sticky. I had her set up with a plek machine to round off the square edges on the frets and with medium action. She is beautifully resonant and everything I want in a guitar for the blues. I love this guitar and find myself playing her for hours every day. Bernadette is one in the holy grail collection for delta blues.

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I as well have the Gibson ES 330L and it was perfect right out of the box . Great action and tone plays like a dream and it stays in tune oh yes its a sunburst .

 

Love the way the P 90s sound and Ive compared the Casino side by side in fact it was the Lennon Limited version and ended up selling the Casino because the 330 L just suited me better .

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It's truly almost impossible to find a 330L in stock to play, so I took a leap of faith & bought one online (but with full return rights). Mine is a 2010 model in Beale St Blue. The 30/60 neck is extremely comfortable to play. Workmanship is very good. Only needed truss rod tweaking, and lowering of the low E string's nut slot. As for the pickups, I prefer the tone of P90s, which are very responsive when playing clean.

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There are some great pictures on the net of ES-330 players. Martin Barre is standing with his first guitar, with chrome pu covers. And there are several great shots of Brian Jones on stage with the Stones.post-37963-058112500 1322776611_thumb.jpg

There are a ton of Grant Green photos too.

 

grant-green.jpg

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