The ES-335 brought hollowbody tradition and solidbody performance together in 1958, and is still one of the all-time classic guitar designs. Gibson’s Custom Shop offers this variation on a theme with a plain top and satin lacquer finish.
Body and Hardware
Plain laminated maple top, back, and rims
Width: 16-1/2 in.
Length: 20 in.
Depth: 1-3/4 in.
Single-ply binding on top and back
Nickel hardware
ABR-1 bridge, stopbar tailpiece
Neck & Headstock
1-piece mahogany neck
22 fret rosewood fingerboard
Pearloid dot inlays
1960 slim taper neck profile
24-3/4 in. scale length
1-11/16 in. nut width
Vintage tulip tuners
Electronics and Strings
‘57 Classic humbucking pickups
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch
Brite Wire .010 strings
Includes black levant case
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The sound is what makes a classic 335, in my opinion. The tones are pure and sweet, and thick throughout the register. A 335 can scream but to me it's at its best playing beautiful, mellow lines. I've had a bunch of guitars and have listened to scads more, but there are very few that can match the all around balance and purity of these old 335s.
This is a 1965 Cherry Red ES-335 with a Bigsby tailpiece. Believe it or not, I've had it all that time. I played in some bands back in the 70s but otherwise I've just played it around the house. It has two humbucking pickups and volume and tone controls for each one, and a pickup selector, and a Tune-O-Matic bridge. These are just teh features I like, because I like to keep it simple and don't do anything fancy.
Everything on this guitar is pretty much the way it was when Gibson shipped it out 40 years ago. I've had one of the pickups rewound to give it some juice but that was optional on my part. The wood is flawless, and the workmanship is perfect, too, so far as I've ever been able to tell. I really don't know how they could be any better.
I have no idea about the warranty or customer support. There have never been any problems so I've never had occasion to look into these things.
Andrea (12/05/2004)
I play blues and this guitar has the right sound. The classic 57 pickup's (and the burstbuckers) ar among the best pickup's gibson has put on anything for many years. I play it through a 1966 Fender Super Reverb or a Fender Blues Junior, sometime with a fulltone fulldrive 2 or a tubescreamer infront. Classic blues sound! Also have a cherry 1972 Gibson es 345, a 1966 Gibson es 330 and a 1967 Epiphone riviera, this one's tone/sound are as good as the 72 es 345, but the finish and craftmanship isn't near the 72 or the 330 and riviera. But it's ok, and i got it to use it live without have to worry about dings or getting it stolen e.t.c..
I got this one in a straight deal for my 1978 Les Paul Custom. It's A 2005 US made standard 335 in satin cherry finish with the 57 classic's Pickup's(PAF ri?). Mahogany neck and tulip cluson deluxe tuners. The neck is fat and the frets are high but thin. The neck is "unbound". The satin cherry is not a nitrocellulose finish. It looks like an old 335 cherry that has faded! Came with the Canadian TKL-case. http://www.gibsoncustom.com/flash/products/es/335Satin/335Satin.html
The set-up on this guitar was bad. A 0, zero. The neck pickup frame didn?t go in parallel with the strings. Had to get it of and reshape it. The overall finish, colour, knobs, hardware e.t.c. is ok. nothing more, BUT… there is one thing about this guitar that i don't understand. The neck seems to be prepared for bindings but is without binding?? On my guitar there is a sharp edge on the sides of the neck instead of the binding. This is not good and seems cheap! I e-mailed Gibson about this and the reply was: "The reason for the guitar not having binding on the neck is to make the guitars more affordable"… Cant see how they could do any money on this..
I e-mailed Gibson some questions about the model and got an answer in 12 hours.
Sven Svensson (01/20/2006)
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Featuring an ultra thin, two-horned body, the SG Series addressed two of what Ted McCarty saw as the major issues of the now-retired Les Paul body style: weight and limited access to the upper treble register. The new body shape of the SG Standard was dramatically lighter than the old Les Paul, and offered access to the entire fretboard. Now part of Gibson’s proprietary new Vintage Original Spec series — the next step in their journey toward perfection.
Body & Hardware:
Solid mahogany body
Nickel hardware
ABR-1 bridge, lightweight aluminum stopbar or Maestro tailpiece
Neck & Headstock
1-piece mahogany neck w/ long neck tenon
22-fret rosewood fingerboard
Acrylic trapezoid inlays
Single-ply cream binding
1960 slim taper neck profile
24-3/4 in. scale length, 1-11/16 in. nut width
Holly headstock veneer
Vintage tulip tuners
Electronics & Strings
Burstbucker 1 and 2 humbucking pickups
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch
Vintage Reissue .010 strings
Includes Custom Shop case, certificate of authenticity, and custom care kit.
As years pass I switched over to blues. Don't mind some free punk jazz.
IMO the guitar has a very rich and somewhat "distant" sound compared to the sound produced by my modest LP Faded armed with Probuckers Pro.
Nashville, 2001. Specifications as described in the previous review. Thanks for taking a trouble!
Mine is mahogany, all hardware is gold plated.
More exciting is that one of those twenty five Explorers'58 historical reissue (expected to be sold in Japan, as we know) happened to be purchased by me in Kiev, Ukraine in 2006. (+ the huge vintage-type case).
As far as I know two guitars of this breed were available for sale in Kiev, Ukraine, via a Russian guitar shop.
Just perfect.
I got replies by e-mail from Gibson Co and Gibson Europe containing the detailed info I requested the very next day.
I am sure the guitar will not need any repair in the future.
Yuriy Storozhuk (02/04/2008)
Awesome, Solid Guitar
This SG is the ultimate in SG design, if you ask me. It has a great finish (Cherry) and even a tremolo! Also, I love this guitar because I think it's the one U2's The Edge plays.
Anonymous Musician (Jun 15, 2008)
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