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James... « Great besides some minor issues »
Published on 01/22/12 at 18:55 Body Type: ES-339
Body Wood: Maple/poplar/maple laminate
Top wood:Maple/poplar/maple laminate
Scale Length: 24-3/4"
Neck Joint: Set-in
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Neck Profile: Slender Players Profile - '60s slim-neck plus .030" front-to-back
Fretboard: Rosewood
Frets: 22
Nut Width: 1-11/16"
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Bridge: Fixed
Pickup Bridge: '57 Classic Humbucker
Pickup Neck: '57 Classic Humbucker
Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
Tuners: Kluson
Hardware color: Nickel
Pickup selector: 3-way
Finish: Lacquer
UTILIZATION
Gibson has been marketing this guitar as the ultimate hollowbody for the solid body player. But between me and most of the players I know this is just a budget 335. Or in my case since I'm a smaller guy, it's a 335 that doesn't make me look tiny. I'll start with the bad stuff. I ordered mine and when I got it I felt that the fretwork was not amazing. There are some poking frets in the upper part of the neck. I figured maybe the neck had shrunk and needed to acclimate but after a week it had not changed. This isn't something that's a total deal breaker but I would expect better from a high end Gibson guitar. Playability is good. Like a lot of gibsons it needed a nut filing to stay in tune. Nothing major. The body work and finish are good. Hardware all works as well as one would hope.
I really like how light weight yet solid body shaped it is. It's a super comfortable guitar and it looks cool too.
SOUNDS
As far as I know these have the same pickups as the 335's but the tone is fairly different to my ears. I have owned a couple of older 335's and to my ears the 339 doesn't quite have the depth and deep sound on the cleans that the 335 does. But the 339 has more clarity I think. It does not sound anything like a Les Paul as some people have tried to say. It's very much a semi hollow all the way. I really like to play mine through a Suhr Badger or a 65 London head. It seems to like british amps and I don't really care for it through anything 6L6. It's already a dark enough guitar as it is. Unless you play jazz and like that sort of thing.
OVERALL OPINION
Besides the pretty unforgivable fretwork I am satisfied. It's hard to find a Gibson these days that doesn't have some sort of issue. Almost all of them have poor nuts. Fortunately mine sounds great and the feel is mostly there. I might replace the tuners and have some fretwork done to it. In my opinion this is a great alternative to the overpriced 335. In fact these are a bit of a steal for what they are. Especially on the used market. Whether you do jazz, blues, or want to use it for rock I think it's great for all three.
Body Wood: Maple/poplar/maple laminate
Top wood:Maple/poplar/maple laminate
Scale Length: 24-3/4"
Neck Joint: Set-in
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Neck Profile: Slender Players Profile - '60s slim-neck plus .030" front-to-back
Fretboard: Rosewood
Frets: 22
Nut Width: 1-11/16"
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Bridge: Fixed
Pickup Bridge: '57 Classic Humbucker
Pickup Neck: '57 Classic Humbucker
Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
Tuners: Kluson
Hardware color: Nickel
Pickup selector: 3-way
Finish: Lacquer
UTILIZATION
Gibson has been marketing this guitar as the ultimate hollowbody for the solid body player. But between me and most of the players I know this is just a budget 335. Or in my case since I'm a smaller guy, it's a 335 that doesn't make me look tiny. I'll start with the bad stuff. I ordered mine and when I got it I felt that the fretwork was not amazing. There are some poking frets in the upper part of the neck. I figured maybe the neck had shrunk and needed to acclimate but after a week it had not changed. This isn't something that's a total deal breaker but I would expect better from a high end Gibson guitar. Playability is good. Like a lot of gibsons it needed a nut filing to stay in tune. Nothing major. The body work and finish are good. Hardware all works as well as one would hope.
I really like how light weight yet solid body shaped it is. It's a super comfortable guitar and it looks cool too.
SOUNDS
As far as I know these have the same pickups as the 335's but the tone is fairly different to my ears. I have owned a couple of older 335's and to my ears the 339 doesn't quite have the depth and deep sound on the cleans that the 335 does. But the 339 has more clarity I think. It does not sound anything like a Les Paul as some people have tried to say. It's very much a semi hollow all the way. I really like to play mine through a Suhr Badger or a 65 London head. It seems to like british amps and I don't really care for it through anything 6L6. It's already a dark enough guitar as it is. Unless you play jazz and like that sort of thing.
OVERALL OPINION
Besides the pretty unforgivable fretwork I am satisfied. It's hard to find a Gibson these days that doesn't have some sort of issue. Almost all of them have poor nuts. Fortunately mine sounds great and the feel is mostly there. I might replace the tuners and have some fretwork done to it. In my opinion this is a great alternative to the overpriced 335. In fact these are a bit of a steal for what they are. Especially on the used market. Whether you do jazz, blues, or want to use it for rock I think it's great for all three.