Help 335 Kalamazoo

[barcaamilcar]

Hello all,

I'm about to buy the 335 posted below, made ​​in 1981.

I wish someone would help me identify if it is real or fake Gibson.

The pickup selector is black, and the knob does not seem to me to be original at the time.

Thank you all for your help.

Amilcar

[StijnV]

The guitar looks original to me.

 

I have attached the specifications of the Es-335 from 1980.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stijn

[rlan52]

It looks perfectly real to me...

[barcaamilcar]

Thanks guys for the answers.

What intrigues me is the black pickup selector, and knobs that do not seem original. By the way, the serial number is 80791082.

[j45nick]

Thanks guys for the answers.

What intrigues me is the black pickup selector, and knobs that do not seem original. By the way, the serial number is 80791082.

 

 

The serial number is a legitimate format for 1981, manufactured on March 20 of that year. Knobs and selector switch tips are easily changed in a few seconds, and frequently are changed over time if someone wants a different look.

 

The f-holes look a bit large to me, but that may just be the perspective of the camera.

 

This guitar also still has block inlays and the multi-piece laminated neck. The dot re-issue started sometime in 1981, as did the return to a one-piece mahogany neck, I believe, so this may be a transition guitar, since it has a stop tail rather than the earlier trap tail.

 

What is the width of the fretboard at the nut? It should either be 1 11/16" (43mm) or 1 9/16" (just under 40mm).

 

It looks to be a nice guitar, but these usually go fairly cheap. Price should probably be around $2K US in today's market.

[barcaamilcar]

Hello J45.

Thanks for the help, but I think I just get disappointed with the laminated neck that you described. I believe that one piece mahogany neck has more sustain and sounds warmer than the laminated neck.

I have not played it yet. I can not say what is the width of the fretboard at the nut. I'm looking to buy at ebay.

Now I am in doubt whether or not to buy this guitar. thank you

[j45nick]

Hello J45.

Thanks for the help, but I think I just get disappointed with the laminated neck that you described. I believe that one piece mahogany neck has more sustain and sounds warmer than the laminated neck.

I have not played it yet. I can not say what is the width of the fretboard at the nut. I'm looking to buy at ebay.

Now I am in doubt whether or not to buy this guitar. thank you

 

I can't really address the sonic differences between laminated and solid necks on the ES 335. Both of my ES 335's have solid mahogany necks.

 

For an electric like the ES 335, most of the sonic character comes from the pickups, not the construction woods.

 

A lot of people like the early 80's ES 335's, particularly the dot re-issues. If you really get into vintage ES 335's in any form, you need to read Charlie Gelber's ES-335 website/blog, es-335.net, where he analyzes everything (and I mean everything) about the ES 335 through the decades.

[L5Larry]

I think I just get disappointed with the laminated neck that you described.

 

Of the Gibson's I currently own, or have previously owned, I found I prefer the laminated maple necks to the one piece mahogany. Don't ask me why, they just seem to feel and play better to me.

 

I used to have an ES-335 with maple neck and currently have an ES-345 with a mahogany neck. Even, or especially, on the similar models, I preferred the maple.

 

I would NEVER discount the virtue of ANY guitar based solely on the type of wood the neck was made from.

[Danny W.]

Of the Gibson's I currently own, or have previously owned, I found prefer the laminated maple necks to the one piece mahogany. Don't ask me why, they just seem to feel and play better to me.

 

I used to have an ES-335 with maple neck and currently have an ES-345 with a mahogany neck. Even, or especially, on the similar models, I preferred the maple.

 

I would NEVER discount the virtue of ANY guitar based solely on the type of wood the neck was made from.

 

Funny, I had always felt this way too, but in the '90's I bought an ES-355 with a one-piece mahogany neck and found I liked it so much that I soon purged most of my the maple-necked semis and replaced them with mahogany-necked ones.

 

This doesn't apply to L-5-type guitars, where maple is the only way to go.

 

My 1971 ES-355 had a 3-piece mahogany neck--I thought that was just dumb. Of course, it also had a volute and a nut width of barely over 1.5", so the laminated neck was the least of its flaws.

 

Danny W.