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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | A lot of folks don’t think Gibson's contemporary models compare very well against their similarly priced competition. That may very well be, but their older gear still holds its own. I have a vintage ES-335 that I decided to use at a weekend private party where the hosts hired us to play a lot of old stuff from the 50's (rockabilly, doo-wop, etc.). I took a ‘52 Tele RI and my old ES-335 with a coil tap switch. After going back and forth a few times, I pretty much stuck with the 335 switched in single coil mode played through a Deluxe Reverb (tremolo is a must for slow 50's tunes) and a delay pedal. It sounded fantastic for this purpose. Private geezer parties are great. I love their music genre, they’re affluent and pay well, they don't hear so well so too much volume doesn't seem to be an issue, and the gigs are over early. Some of them even recognized the 335.
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Joined:
May 2009
Posts: 364
Location: Bellevue, Washington | Great lookin guitar, always been partial to the 33x models. Is that stop-bar stock? I didn't think most of those had fine tuners on them. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Yes, on this particular single year limited edition model. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 92
Location: San Francisco, CA | Life without a good ES-335 would not be worth living.
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Yes, on this particular single year limited edition model. What year is it? |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | '78 - '80 ... White, red, and black rectangular label: Custom model w/finetune tailpiece and three knobs instead of the usual four...plus the coil tap: 1978 is probably correct...The 1979 Artist edition had this setup but with three mini switches and no F hole...Brad? |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Actually, Vintage Guitar has this as a 1977...anyway, it's a nice one Brad! |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Its a 1979, and according to Gibson, the only year the CRS (and its CRR sister) was produced. CRS stands for country rock stereo. Many believe that the 70's weren't very good for most production Gibsons, but some say the custom shop still produced pretty reputable gear. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | so close, but no cigar...lol
It's a beauty! |
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Joined:
September 2009
Posts: 180
Location: michigan | AT that time Gibson was building stuff in Nashville, and Kalamazoo (Which is now Heritage Guitars). The so-called Norlin Years get a bad rap. I still have a 1979 Les Paul custom that I treasure. One of the good ones. Based on the serial number, you can tell if it was manufactured in Kalamazoo or Nashville. I have found the Kalamzoo guitars (had a chance to compare 3 like models over the years) from this era are better than their Nashville counterparts. I have also heard that Kalamazoo at that time was the custom shop. There were a few models released as KMZ I believe(for Kalamazoo).
I sure miss my 1979 335.
Over the years, I love my Heritage Guitars and my Ovations ...
BTW: Great 335 you have there... |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1486
Location: Michigan | back in the day i couldn't afford one but that was the guitar of choice for me . i did finally get an epiphone casino (1966) and now that has become a favorite of mine. i am told that it is the same guitar as the 335 without the wood block in it . i do know that the epiphone is a much lighter guitar than the 335 . that one is a beauty professor .GWB |
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Dug out the 335 this weekend
