I have played Les Pauls for years and love the one I have. But I have to say my Fenders have been getting a lot more playing time lately. A good Fender Strat or Tele is a thing of joy; versatile, well built and great sound!

This is my 2008 ES 355: minus pick guard partly in honour of KR, but mainly because it's quite high and a bit intrusive I found. Soundwise this is an incredible guitar with amazing sustain, maybe helped by the Bigsby - which adds even more to the weight of the instrument, making it a pretty heavy beast. Fender players will find the Gibson neck quite wide but you can get used to it. Plug into a decent Fender amp and voila, instant Keef. And more besides Downside: very pricey at around £2500 here. I had to trade in three other guitars to help pay for this.

[/img]

that is pretty


I have an ES 345 from 69 which I love

Quote
dadrob

I have an ES 345 from 69 which I love

Very nice! The Chuck Berry guitar?

And I love my '65 ES-335.

Cool guitars!

I'm jonesing for an ES-330 myself. That one is hollow bodied (not semi) and has two P90 pickups. Brian Jones played one, for instance in those '68 rehearsal pics in Tony Sanchez book.

Quote
electricmud

Quote
rollmops
I find the necks of tele and strat a lot harder to handle.

The Tele-necks were very different over the years. My 1971 american standard has a really thin rosewood neck. Perfectly for my small hands.

Tom

Well Fenders are longer and you have to strech a little but more.

I prefer Gibson as well (smallish hands).

But I love my Tele as well.

Quote
jazzbass
Yep can be had for around $2,000. but if you want a '59 like Keith's, be prepared to drop about $30,000.

Great guitar for rock, country, blues, rockabilly, bluegrass, they enen play nice and clean as a acoustic alternative but won't really crunch properly for metal or punk though.

An ES 355 for Bluegrass? I can almost hear Bill Monroe turning in his grave.. ;-)

I've got an Epiphone Dot.

I can honestly say...

..I wish I had a Gibson 355.

I can't afford a Gibson.

He I think I'm going to get one of these.



That looks cool.

Quote
jazzbass

Quote
2000 LYFH

Quote
Mathijs
Late 50's ES-355's are around $25.000, early 60's around $15.000, mid to late 60's around $8.000, 70's around $3500. New ones are $3000 for Memphis versions, around $4000 for CS versions. Keith's ES-355 most likely was more expensive than $25.000 as it's a black one, which is enredibly rare.

They're really fantastic guitarss in my opinion. The ebony board makes it have more snap than a LP, and the hollow body adds some air to the sound. There's really not any type of music that a 355 can't handle.

Concerning the weight: generally they are as heavy as a LP, although vintage ones sometimes are surprisingly light.

Mathijs

Thanks everyone!

Mathijs, nice review - are the late 50's early 60's hard to find and if you did find one, are those prices a fair price?

In general, would this made a good investment say 10/15 years down the road?

Also, how have you found to be the best way to find/buy guitars at these price levels?

Vintage guitars, especially Gibson and Fender can get very pricey and I would consider them to be a good investment if you don't overpay. How and where to buy at the best price is anyone's guess. I was at an auction in a small town in Pennsylvania about 10 years ago and they were auctioning some of Chet Atkins' personal guitars acquired from his estate following his death. I thought they were ripe for the picking at a great price as there were only a few bidders and again, this was basically in the middle of nowhere. I thought maybe I'd pick up a nice vintage guitar with a documented history of ownership by a country legend for maybe 2-3000 us dollars... well, two old guys in the back of the room (whom looked like farmers) promptly ran the bidding well in to the five figure range. If there is a particular guitar you are interested in maybe try a a saved search on eBay for a few months and see what the market yields for them. Don't go by the price people are asking, go by the price the guitar sells at. If it doesn't sell, it was priced too high. Wear marks, patina, etc are not gonna effect cost much at all for a correct guitar. Like many discretionary income driven collectables, the market is down a bit than years past. That said, I've still seen vintage Fenders and Gibsons sell for huge money. Educate yourself on what to look for, on Fenders, correct serial numbers and date stamps on the neck (bottom of neck, only visible with neck removed), pots, etc. Also, with Gibsons especially, watch out for pirated copies. I have a Chinese Les Paul that is virtual clone of a Made in USA LP, right down to the serial # on back and "Made in USA" stamp on back.

Happy hunting! Here's one to start your collection!

1959 Gibson ES 335

Thanks for the tips! Looks like the ES 335 Sold. Very high priced, certainly out of my range. My top price range will probably be $4-5,000, so looks like a 1970's or newer is what I will settle on.

Quote
Slim Harpo
This is my 2008 ES 355: minus pick guard partly in honour of KR, but mainly because it's quite high and a bit intrusive I found. Soundwise this is an incredible guitar with amazing sustain, maybe helped by the Bigsby - which adds even more to the weight of the instrument, making it a pretty heavy beast. Fender players will find the Gibson neck quite wide but you can get used to it. Plug into a decent Fender amp and voila, instant Keef. And more besides Downside: very pricey at around £2500 here. I had to trade in three other guitars to help pay for this.

[/img]

Very nice! Did you trade in your other guitars at the same place you bought this? Were you able to play it before you bought it or did you buy it sight unseen. I don't think I could ever buy a guitar through say e-bay without trying it out and then deciding...

Yes, LYFH. Luckily, I live near a guitar shop which has a massive stock. I tried nearly all the ES variants there and this 355 with Bigsby was in a class of its own. Really. But it was way over my budget (originally I was interested in a 335 dot, somewhat cheaper). So we talked about part exchange and they held it for me till I came back after a few days. (Try carrying three guitars in cases at once into a narrow shop entrance!) So it was bye bye Tele, Ovation and Dobro: hello Gibson.

I try to avoid making any rash online purchases, though I did fall for an O2 ticket recently.

Quote
2000 LYFH

Quote
Mathijs
Late 50's ES-355's are around $25.000, early 60's around $15.000, mid to late 60's around $8.000, 70's around $3500. New ones are $3000 for Memphis versions, around $4000 for CS versions. Keith's ES-355 most likely was more expensive than $25.000 as it's a black one, which is enredibly rare.

They're really fantastic guitarss in my opinion. The ebony board makes it have more snap than a LP, and the hollow body adds some air to the sound. There's really not any type of music that a 355 can't handle.

Concerning the weight: generally they are as heavy as a LP, although vintage ones sometimes are surprisingly light.

Mathijs

Thanks everyone!

Mathijs, nice review - are the late 50's early 60's hard to find and if you did find one, are those prices a fair price?

In general, would this made a good investment say 10/15 years down the road?

Also, how have you found to be the best way to find/buy guitars at these price levels?

Actually, most vintage guitars are easy to find these days. The market for vintage guitars has become so huge, that there's always a dozen sellers available fro a given guitar. In the old days when you wanted a '50's Strat you had to travel all through the country to find one, and when you found one it hardly cost more than a new one. These days they are incredibly expensive, and are advertised loudly for anyone to see.

I don't know whether guitars still are a good investment. They where for the last 150 years or so, when vintage Strats went from $5000 to $50000, but prices have become steady since 2007 or so for the most popular ones, and actually dropped for the less popular ones. The price for a '59 ES-355 has been stable at $25.000 for years, but if you look good you also see that these are hardly sold anymore. A dealer who has one for sale probably has it for sale for several years.

What you also see is that the Custom Shop guitars of both Fender and Gibson are so good that it is hurting the value of vintage guitars. Les Paul Juniors where $6000 a few years ago, but these have dropped to $4000 nowadays as CS models are just as good. Nobody is buying '70's Strats and Tele's anymore for big money, as any CS Strat or Tele simply is a much better instrument.

Further, I personally think that the market will dry up: many people who paid big bucks for vintage instruments where people who where teenagers in the 60's, made big money in the '80's, and start spending it on instruments from the time when they where young. This market is drying up. Also the years of the big rock bands seem to be over, and these where the guys whom could afford to pay $200.000 for a LP -when you have 200 million on your bank account who cares about that kind of money for a guitar.

Last: if you want to buy a vintage instrument you really need to know about vintage guitars, as there is so much crap available. A '59 Strat with all solder points intact is $50.000, the same guitar with a replaced volume pot is worth $35.000.

Mathijs

Quote
GravityBoy
I can't afford a Gibson.

He I think I'm going to get one of these.



That looks cool.

Damn.. went in intending to buy the 335 and came out with a 339 instead.



That's what happens went you start looking around and trying stuff.

This guitar is sweet.

Quote
GravityBoy
I can't afford a Gibson.

He I think I'm going to get one of these.



That looks cool.

hello; Don't waste your money. very poor quality and sound. If you looking for a semi hollowbody in the same price range. Look at Ibenez or Godin.

Well Epis do vary.

I had a custom Les Paul that was the dogs whatsits (ie. excellent).

I've been playing the Epi 339 on and off all day and it's sweet and looks gorgeous.

Needs better strings and a set up though - it's nearly there already.

Pickups are Epi Alnico II "classic" (supposed to be like 57s) and are passable.

------------
PS.

The Epiphone "E" badge on the pickguard has nearly come off already - no surprise there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-29 18:57 by GravityBoy.

Check out this beauty! (2004 Custom Shop ES 355 LTD)


I bet this has real fine action

Quote
2000 LYFH
Check out this beauty! (2004 Custom Shop ES 355 LTD)


I bet this has real fine action

Man I love the color and shape.................

__________________________

Yeah, wonderful shapes...

Nice body, Guitar or ???

Anybody looking for a good 335 on a budget could do worse than check out the Japanese Tokai copies.

You can pick up a nice used Tokai ES 120 for about £750 if you look around.

Quote
Spud
Anybody looking for a good 335 on a budget could do worse than check out the Japanese Tokai copies.

You can pick up a nice used Tokai ES 120 for about £750 if you look around.

When I wanted a semi-hollow some years ago, the ES was too expensive for me. I went for a Gretsch Electromatic instead. No regrets so far - love the sound

Nice guitars those .

They kind of have one foot in the traditional Gretsch camp but also cover the ES territory prety well.

Very versatile.

Really Shawn? Where have you seen Gibson ES-355's for $2K? Every where I have looked I've seen one less than $3500. I would love to find one at that price!

I own both Gibson and Fender. The Gibson's are really easy to play and almost play themselves, the Fenders I have to work at.

My favorite is my maple neck Telecaster. The rosewood(?) LP Jr. plays like a dream.