From: WAUGH@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Newsgroups: alt.guitar
Subject: Re: Soliciting Onions: ES 335, 355
Date: 14 Sep 92 20:14:10 GMT
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

You've picked a winner with Gibson's 300 series guitars.  The family is the
prototype of all semi-solid thin-line electrics as it was the first to appear,
I believe, in 1957.  They immediately became popular in all iterations and
swept across stylistic lines to become the favored instruments of rockers,
bluesmen and jazz players the world over.  They remain a good seller for Gibson
and have changed little in the thirty-five years since their introduction.

The models have ranged from a bare-bones single coil version (the ES-330) to a
top of the line, stereophonic, vari-toned glitz-axe with large pearl inlays in
the fingerboard and headstock, binding throughout and gold-plated hardware
(the ES-355).  Such diverse players a B.B. King, who prefers an ES-355 (his
beloved Lucille currently issued as a seperate model by Gibson), Freddy King,
who played many of his hook-laden masterpieces on an ES-335, and Larry Correll
who used a 335 in one of his early rock-inspired bands the Free Spirits.

The model has a unique tone that can be distinguished even when the guitar is
not amplified.  It has a full tone with the punch of a solid body without the
feedback problems associated with extreme amplification of true arch-tops yet
it does lack some of the bell-like sounds of those "auditorium guitars" due, no
doubt, in large proportion to the length of "2x4" that fills the center cavity.
This same 2x4 greatly simplifies neck mounting to be sure and accounts, along
with the use of laminated top, bottom and sides, for the reasonable price still
on the guitar.

Gibson introduced a new member to the 300 series with the ES-335S (for Studio)
about five years ago.  This sturdy addition to the line is a no-frills guitar
without the inlay, binding and F-holes that add to production costs without
significantly affecting tone (Another thin-line guitar without F-holes was the
Gretsch Country Gentleman which sold well and was played a time or two by
Beatle guitarist George Harrison.).  A feature of the 335S that does affect the
tone is the lack of pick-up covers.  This does quite a bit to "hotten" the
sound issuing from the already smoking '59 reissue pickups.  I tried replacing
the pickups on a 335S I owned with a Duncan JB in the bridge position and a
Duncan '59 neck in the other hole but wound up putting the stock humbuckers
back in as the output actually went down!

The 335S I owned was a pleasure to play with a 12" radius ebony fingerboard
(Yes ebony.  I know the new 335Ss have rosewood fret holders.), small dot
position markers and fiery passive electronics.  It was heavier than my Strat
but lighter than a Les Paul and could be work comfortably through a four set
gig.  I could get almost any tone out of it I wanted when it ran through my
new series Fender Concert, from mellow jazz to hard-edged rock.  It did Chuck
Berry to a tee and what more can you ask of an instrument?

The big brothers of the line, the 345 and 355, differed mainly in trim level
and the addition of vari-tone circuitry with stereo capabilities added to the
355.  The stereo is straightforward, like Rickenbackers, with one pickup in one
channel and the other in the other.  The vari-tone is not so easily described.
It acts like the mini-toggle switches on some of the newer guitars wherein the
pickup configurations are pre set and one rotates through them with the vari-
tones dial.  The traditional three position toggle switch is absent from these
models and one spins the dial for the different sounds, neck pick up only, both
pickups, bridge only, necl and bridge out of phase, etc.

Many of these early guitars have trapeze tailpieces but were soon fitted with
the stop tailpiece developed for the Les Paul.  A fine tuning tailpiece, the
TP-6, was offered for a bit and it currently offered on the Lucille model 355.

All things considered, the Gibson 300 series of guitars rank among the great
electric instruments of the era.  They can be seen, and heard, being used by
some of the finest players in all styles, from B.B. King to the guitarist in
New Orelans Square in Disneyland.  It todays world of neck-through, active
electronic, face painted flash axes the 335 and its siblings stand as a
monument to a good idea that has yet to see the sun set on it.  If you haven't
played one, go do it!  If you haven't owned one, consider it carefully.  You
may find it is more than you imagined.

Brian Waugh                       |    "What's for dinner?"
WAUGH@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU    |        Zha Zha Gabor

"Gibson doesn't pay ne to write reviews, but maybe they should."
Newsgroups: alt.guitar