charlie brown Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Just curious...there was a LOT of interest, and some purchases made, of the new Epi ES-345 and ES-355, some time ago. But, there's been no mention of them, lately. What's up? Any more purchases? And, if so, how are they? Did some of the "QC problems" get squared away? That often happens, in the early stages, of the "first run," of a new guitar, unfortunately. But, they usually sort it out, pretty quickly. Just curious... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billybob Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm just about to put an order through to Thomann with an ES-345. Should get it in a few weeks I think. I'll be sure to put in a post when I get it, explaining what I think of it. Can't wait though, really looking forward to seeing the thing in my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Color? Out of curiosity... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Outstanding! We'll be anxious, to hear your report/evaluation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billybob Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Color? Out of curiosity... CB Cherry This one: Hopefully it looks as good in real life as it does in the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billybob Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I think I might be ordering from the first run batch, since this guitar only became available at Thomann very recently, in January, so I'm sure it is part of the first group that Thomann has recieved from Epiphone. However, since the guitar has been available elsewhere since around November-December, Thomann may not have recieved their batch till after the first run. Hopefully there isn't any quality problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougg330 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Cherry This one: Hopefully it looks as good in real life as it does in the pictures. I saw a new Dot at the local GC yesterday in Cherry that blew my mind. The color was MUCH better than I had ever seen on an Epi - a little deeper and much more transparent, more like an old Gibson Cherry finish. If your 345 has the same finish, I think you'll be very happy with it. BTW, I just put down my '61 Casino Reissue after a little play time with my amp. Can't get over the sound of this baby. Between the '61 Cassy and the 339's I played at GC, seems like the current crop of Epi's is really outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrasso Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 CB, my third 355 in White came over the holidays and I decided to keep this one. The finish flaws on this on were very minimal. F holes had no rough edges. The only thing that was not 100% was the binding on the top left hump. It looks like the binding was sanded just a little too much. Not that noticeable. But just like the other two, this was setup great. The pickups have great tone. No photos yet, but a great guitar. Still not that happy with their bound pick guard. The top area where the predrilled hole is counter sunk very tight to the binding. Bought an after market tortoise shell guard with no center hole. Bought an after market 335 mounting bracket. The after market guard is a lot lighter than the original. Still looking for a bound one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueman335 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Cherry This one: Hopefully it looks as good in real life as it does in the pictures. That does look sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I went and looked at one a few weeks back. The quality was awful. Everything about the 355 was bad, and i mean everything. Didn't stay in tune at all. I was so disappointed. Went for a Broadway in the end. I kinda saw the difference now between Korean made and China, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Well, not staying in tune, may be just a set-up, or "strings" problem. I've played Gibson ES-345's and ES-355's that have had those problems. But, after they're properly set-up, and the strings are changed, or..at least, stretched...everything settles down. But, it could have been just a "bad" example, that got out, too? CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 On my Epi 355 the strings were binding badly in the nut, causing tuning stability issues. Most strings were "pinging" when bent. A few minutes with a piece of folded over sandpaper widening the slots cured it and tuning was very stable after that. I eventually replaced the stock nut with a Tusq (just due to perceived improvement in quality, not tuning stability), which also needed some widening of the slots. The stock nut actually wasn't bad after fixing the slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Yeah, "Nut" problems are very, very common! I've either replaced, or modified the nuts, for the better, on most all my guitars, at some point. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 It has been a while since I posted: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/74436-epiphone-new-old-es345/page__p__1013187__hl__345__fromsearch__1#entry1013187 Well, I have gone and got one. A cherry red as in the pic posted above (I'm lousy with pics so sorry folks). First impressions: Perhaps because I owned a 1965 Gibson 345 (stupidly sold a long while ago) I approached the prospect of trying the Epi with a measure of doubt. Around 1997 I bought my (then) schoolboy son an Epiphone Les Paul standard (my son can actually play the thing while I just mess around. That particular model had an alder body with maple (thin) cap although it was a very nice sunburst with a bit of flame. But the pickups stank! I had to change them for Seymour Duncan PAF (neck) and JB (bridge) and after that the Les Paul sang! So as I went into the shop to try the Epi ES345 I thought it'd be the same - lousy pickups. My first impressions just looking the guitar over were very favourable. As someone said above the cherry red is translucent so you can easily see the grain of the wood through it. The wood is nothing fancy but it is nice to see real wood grain! The pickguard doesn't come fitted (it is black) and that is something I'll have to do since I like playing over the neck pickup and resting my pinky on it. However, I think I'll upgrade to a tortoiseshell guard anyway. So far as I could see the guitar was well finished and looked the dogs danglies. The neck is described as 1960s D shape and certainly felt very comfortable in my hand. Action was ok but a very slight buzz on the 6th string 5th fret A note (the only buzz anywhere on the guitar and it is slight). The parallogram fret markers are described as "pearl" and they certainly look genuine to me. Damn good fakes if that is what they are. I was plugged in to a Roland Cube 40 clean channel via the mono outlet and now this was the chance to see what the pickups were like. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe I may come to be more fussy as time goes on but the pickups are way better than was on my son's Les Paul. And then the big moment came to try the varitone. Somewhere on YouTube is (or was - I'm not sure if it is still there) a video of a guy demonstrating an Epi 345 varitone and as he puts the guitar through the 1 - 6 positions he notes that most of the selections "sound like mud" and - to be honest - listening to the video he is right! Well, NOT this guitar of mine buster! Each and every position of the varitone - no matter what pickup selection I made sounded clear as a bell and was notably different in each case. As I switched from by-pass (notch 1) to selection 6 (coil split equivalent) I was pleased to note the extent of tone change and its quality of expression. In other words, the varitone not only works, but works well. So, needless to say, I told them to "wrap it up"! And when I got home I couldn't keep my mitts off it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billybob Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I seem to hear a lot of complaints about the quality of these guitars. Starting to make me worried. Any idea how long it takes for the second run of a guitar model to begin after it is released? I'm hoping that if my guitar is not part of the first run, the chances of a dud might be lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyGibson Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Conventional wisdom used to be the first batch was alway excellent so folks would talk and spread the word. Then things would loosen up a bit. Maybe they decided to skip the first stage? I keep looking at the 339's (both Gibson and Epi), but wouldn't want to order one without playing it first. I just don't like the hassle of a return if it's not right. And I haven't seen any in my GC store yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Conventional wisdom used to be the first batch was alway excellent so folks would talk and spread the word. Then things would loosen up a bit. Maybe they decided to skip the first stage? I keep looking at the 339's (both Gibson and Epi), but wouldn't want to order one without playing it first. I just don't like the hassle of a return if it's not right. And I haven't seen any in my GC store yet. Hi Billy, Interesting you mention the 339. As I was purchasing my 345 yesterday the shop had just taken delivery of a whole bunch of 339s and I had a brief look at one. Nice guitar! A good bit smaller than the 335 size but the natural finish one I saw looked the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billybob Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 My ES-345 has just arrived, a lot earlier than expected too. I've been having nightmares because of all the stories about dodgy guitars, where my guitar would arrive and it would be just a plank of wood which barely resembles a playable instrument. Thankfully, it's come in one piece and though I haven't had the chance to plug it in yet, there seems to be nothing that would make me consider returning it. Oh yeah, and she is seriously sexy. The gold hardware is beautiful, the cherry finish with the grain is sexy and I love the split pearl inlays. The action set up is good for me, though I'm very used to acoustic guitars, so its low and comfortable for me in comparison, other people might think it's high though. Tiny bit of sloppy paintwork in the f-holes, but nothing that concerns me, you have to look real close to spot it. Some problems I have had are not related to the guitar itself. I thought we were getting two pickguards, one black, one tortoise, but I only got the black one, and it doesn't fit around the pickups. Also, I thought we were supposed to get an economy cord too, but I can't find one. Anyone know any more details on this? Overall, really happy so far, can't wait till I can get a chance to plug it in. I'll post pictures of it soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Billybob, I certainly didn't get a cord with my ES345. I did get a 5 ply black pickguard which does fit up exactly with the pickups although as I have said above in my posts I will likely fit a tortiseshell aftermarket pickguard. I understand the Epi 355 model has a tortoishell guard supplied instead of black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I think "Epi" saw our thread on the "included" cords................. ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Davis Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 First off, thank you for having me as i am nubee to this forum and new to EPI/Gibson owners. looks like a great forum. I received my ne ES-345 two weeks ago and I finally got to test her out. The quality is very good cosmetically. I know some had misc finish issues. This is the white model and it is a beauty! I plugged it into my old Crate Tube amp. The sound to me is very good and with addional options of the varitone it has a great range of tones. The action is ok, higher up toward 12th fret and good down by the cowboy chords. I will have my tecj set it up and replace the strings, I have not changed the strings as I don't want to waste a set since i will have to change during setup. Overall i like this guitar and I think it is a great value. Now I have never played a Gibson ES-345 so i cannot compare. I can tell you that the new 335s from Gibson are not any better at 3x the price. i have been playing acoustics(Martin-Taylor) only for the last two years so this will be different for me. I do own a 78 Tele and Ernie Ball 1990 Music Man Silhouette, this guitar rounds out my electrics for diverity. Are there must have mods for Epi guitars, like upgraded tuners... That you guys do? Thanks Zuma sulkes band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 G'day SD, welcome to the forums, there's a terrific bunch around here, I hope you like the place. Glad to hear you're so happy with your 345, and it sounds like yours seems to be issue free as well, they're great guitars, especially considering the price, hope you enjoy yours, HNGD to you. One of the first things to upgrade on a Bigsby equipped guitar is the nut and bridge, a TusqXL nut is self lubricating, only costs about $10 and will aid in tuning stability, the part number for Epis is PQL-6060-00, I'd also recommend a Wilkinson roller bridge, they're built like a tank and the rollers will also help with your tuning, they cost about $25. Because your strings expand and contract when using the Bigsby, it's good to lessen resistance as much as possible. Wilkinson Roller Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I like locking tuners, and put them even on my Dove. For the high ratio, very easy string changes, and then on top of that, tuning stability with the bigsby. I like tusq nut. But I also think tusq saddles do just as well as roller bridges. white tusq nut, black tusq saddles. If I were happy with the rest, I'd leave it, though I always add dunlop dual design straplocks. Great looking guitar.. congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Davis Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Thanks guys. Also, I would like to verify the roller bridge, is there no different models of this, all the same size? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilkinson-Gold-Guitar-Roller-Bridge-fits-Les-Paul-New-/330635962770 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I would like to verify the roller bridge, is there no different models of this, all the same size? http://www.ebay.com/...w-/330635962770 That's the right one, the post spacing should be 74mm, but they've oddly used imperial sizes to describe a metric product. I calculated it and 2 29/32" = 73.81875mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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