The Gibson ES-335: A Short History

Interesting, so my 1968 SG I used to gig with - that I remember really liking to play - was made during the period Gibson went to narrower necks - before they switched back to wider necks. The way my hands are shaped narrower necks are more comfortable to play and is one of the reasons I really like The Slime.
 
To hell with those expensive Gibsons with the plywood tops...
I know they sound good, and play like buttah, and look really elegant
but they cost too much.

I bought a 2014 Epiphone ES-339 during the great 2015 Gibson bash-fest
and have never looked back. The Epi is also a plywood top semi-hollow
guitar with a center block of solid maple: harking back to Les Paul's log
as pointed out above. I bought my Epiphone for about 1/8 the price that
Gibson was asking for their ES-339 model
Caledonia 2016@100.jpg
I spent about three hundred upgrading my Epiphone (including getting a hard
case for it)... add that to the $339.00 price from M/F and it's still about 1/5 the
price of a new Gibbie ES-339. You do the math. With my upgrades, the
Epiphone can take her place onstage alongside instruments costing eight
to ten times as much, and not give up a thing.

I love my Gibsons, don't get me wrong. But I have managed to get great sound
from some of Gibson's least expensive models. And this Epi seems to continue the
tradition begun in Kalamazoo in 1958, according to that video which was WAY TOO OCD
for my patience. *laughs

I'm only mildly OCD about guitars...can you tell?
In general I prefer to play them rather than fuss over small details that no one important
will ever perceive... Knowing full well that the most important person observing a guitar
is the player... and also knowing that an equally important "person" observing a guitar
AND it's player is the audience... that great collective spirit that we all try to lasso and
throw down in the arena, and then hog tie the spirit and brand it.

Confess... that's what it's about. AND it's also about the groupers...
groupies-580.jpg
 
Col Mustard said:
To hell with those expensive Gibsons with the plywood tops...
I know they sound good, and play like buttah, and look really elegant
but they cost too much.

I bought a 2014 Epiphone ES-339 during the great 2015 Gibson bash-fest
and have never looked back. The Epi is also a plywood top semi-hollow
guitar with a center block of solid maple: harking back to Les Paul's log
as pointed out above. I bought my Epiphone for about 1/8 the price that
Gibson was asking for their ES-339 model
View attachment 34114
I spent about three hundred upgrading my Epiphone (including getting a hard
case for it)... add that to the $339.00 price from M/F and it's still about 1/5 the
price of a new Gibbie ES-339. You do the math. With my upgrades, the
Epiphone can take her place onstage alongside instruments costing eight
to ten times as much, and not give up a thing.

I love my Gibsons, don't get me wrong. But I have managed to get great sound
from some of Gibson's least expensive models. And this Epi seems to continue the
tradition begun in Kalamazoo in 1958, according to that video which was WAY TOO OCD
for my patience. *laughs

I'm only mildly OCD about guitars...can you tell?
In general I prefer to play them rather than fuss over small details that no one important
will ever perceive... Knowing full well that the most important person observing a guitar
is the player... and also knowing that an equally important "person" observing a guitar
AND it's player is the audience... that great collective spirit that we all try to lasso and
throw down in the arena, and then hog tie the spirit and brand it.

Confess... that's what it's about. AND it's also about the groupers...
View attachment 34115
Click to expand...

Col as always you are right on point. I feel the same about the Epi 335 I bought this pass summer. It looks beautiful and plays as good as
my Gibsons and G&L. In time I will change the tuners and pickups. When the pots start to get scratchy I will upgrade the controls then.
My Epi 335 is my #1. The Ice Tea Burst is gorgeous. Thanks to @eSGEe for pointing it out to me.
 
Yes an there's a place on this boat for all of us... I do love my Gibsons.
AND a used Gibson retains value better than other brands.

I confess that if I owned an '05 Gibson ES-335 '59 RI, I would be very slow to sell it.
Maybe being pore would make me value it more than its former owner did... Dunno.
I regard the ES-335 as one of Gibson's best designs, as I also regard the SG.

I had to sell a lot of my most favored possessions this year, due to unexpected medical
problems suffered by my ladylove. I sold my boat, I sold my gun collection, I sold about half of
my instruments including all of my 'vintage' ones. I sold my house. I sold fishing lures and
gave away a lot of my cool things that nobody would buy. I gave away my hunting gear and
thick North Country camo coveralls. I knew I wouldn't need those things in Tucson.

But I didn't sell my Gibsons. And I didn't sell my Epiphone ES 339. I 'fostered" it at the home
of another player, who I know will play it and change the strings once in a while. So I didn't have
to transport it after my home was sold. And I know where it is, and can get it back (I think).
We'll see if my friend bonds with the Epi the way I did. He's already fallen arse over teakettle for
my Tele deluxe. And his wife has too, so I know that will get played also.

I miss my Epiphone, but I have a fine (small) collection of instruments to comfort me.
I kept the five on the right with me, and I have them now...
the Epi and the Fender are in the arms of good friends.
GrpOf7_2@100.jpg

To return to thread: I have to say that IMHO the Epiphone is a fine substitute. The Gibson costs eight times as much
and has also a plywood top, and is also a semi-hollow design. If I had one, I would treasure it, but since I don't I
can rock just fine with the Epi. It was cheap enough for me to afford to mod it just the way I like it, so I have a dream
guitar in disguise. I like that very much.

Gibson elegance is not cheap... unless like me you luck into some great deals on guitars that have it.
But it's worth it if you have the dough ray me. If you do, more power to you.
So our '67Plexi is not wrong to favor it. But any of us would not go wrong
to favor the sturdy practicality of a MIM Fender like my Tele, or the amazing versatility
of a humble Epiphone like the blonde above with the mouse ears
and the jangly (or tough and gritty) P-90s.
 
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Here is another take on 335's, Gibs or others made with similar features and essentially copies of the original 335 style. A 335 in good hands can really shine across many styles/ genres of music. Col likes his Epi 339, Chas and I have experience with Epi 335's, VoxAC30 and RVA have 335/345/336 type Gibs, while my dear and departed good friend Mitch used to play a Harmony 335 type. The end result and conclusion I'd like to make is a 335 type guitar is a top notch tool to make good music, good fun and hours and years of enjoyment for anyone lucky enough to own one.
 
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Im Grote-------
Grote 1.jpg
grote 2.jpg

Full hollow -- well put together NO HUM (not sure how they achieved that ) new 169.00

and TBTH I sound the same on it as I would a 5k 335 ......

It play WONDERFUL jazz chords ( I need to learn a few more) -- and looks decent---

bridge is "o.k."
nuts decent
tuners hold
it is what it is and I like it
(Grote makes a true 335 copy---also-FYI)
 
Not a 335, but when I was buying a EPI Dot I saw an EPI Joe Pass model guitar. It was different than this guitar Joe plays here.
According to some, this 1 pup, ES 175 is a custom, made for Joe guitar.


Single Pickup Gibson ES-175 vs. ES-165 Herb Ellis

In this video, Joe pass gets some great tone from an (I presume older) single pickup version of an ES-175 while being accompanied by the talented Bob Magnusson on upright bass. How would this guitar d
www.jazzguitar.be
 
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