Epiphone ES-335 Semi-hollowbody Review

Epiphone 335

Ok long time gear head ,been there done that, yup I used to have one of those kind of guy . I'm 60 years old been in music sense I was 15 first gig at 16. No buyer's remorse for this guitar. Let me add I have had many occasions when purchasing instruments online and the guitars I received were just fine, just not my cup of tea. For six hundred dollars this guitar is amazing ! Opened… read more it up, Tuned it up , plugged it in and no issues.I had told my wife before it arrived I wasn't going to use it on stage for a few weeks till I had it dialed in. I received it on Friday played it live on Saturday and Sunday! Even with factory strings! Ok the strings are out of here but wow . It stayed in tune ain't that something? Pickups sat great in the mix ( three piece band ) Lots of unsolicited positive feedback from the band and regular listeners who would have no problem telling me my sound was garbage. As I would in turn tell you if I thought this instrument was garbage. All the stuff you instantly think about upgrading when you buy a Epiphone… Forget it! Perfectly gigable as is. I will have the frets dressed and the action lowered but that's just personal stuff. I got this one as a demo so I received a excellent deal and the Stuff that was supposed to be scratched and dented? Is microscopic. Honestly I just don't see the damage.That tells me the Sweetwater team is a little OCD . Good for us right? I would have bought this guitar regardless of the discount but let's face the facts the groveling… I mean the " Hunny can I get this Conversation " is easier approached with " I can get it Right now for a screaming deal!! Thanks Sweetwater, Thanks Dan, Thanks Wife , Digging on the new ax . Tom

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With a professional set and fret level

The quality and sound is there but, for $ they can't take the time to do the fine touches as more expensive models. Thought I would take a chance and see if I could get a $ guitar to play as well or close to higher priced model. After a full setup and fret leveling it's a beautiful playing and sounding instrument.

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Great guitar!

I have several American made guitars, including a 2020 Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's. Gibson has stepped up their game and that is a great guitar! All guitars require a good setup to get them playing where you want them. That said, this guitar did require some setup work, but was surprisingly less far off than my Gibson was when I received it. The intonation was very close, and… read more the action was right at factory spec. I did have to do some work on the nut, which I also had to do on the Gibson. I think it's pretty well known that they cut the nut slots a little high at the factory. Some of this might boil down to Sweetwater's 55 point inspection delivering a product closer to factory spec. Either way, it's a great guitar that sounds, plays, and feels great and makes you want to play more! That's what it's all about in the end!

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Better than expected!

I can't say how this compares to a Gibson 335 because I don't own one but I can say the initial quality of this guitar compares favorably with my PRS SE guitars. I wasn't expecting a lot from the pickups and I debated ordering a set of Duncans when I ordered this guitar but I'm thankful I waited because they sound great. They have this mellow vintage vibe to them with just a little… read more extra heat. I kind of halfway expected the finish on the guitar to laid on too THICK like some other Asian made guitars but this one doesn't seem that way at all. It's almost like the people building this guitar were intent on building a beautiful musical instrument instead of just following a set of steps at the daily grind, I hope that makes sense. If I had to nitpick I would say the only thing I could be disappointed in is the truss rod cover screws are all screwed in at an angle instead of straight into the neck, like I said that's just a nitpick. If you're on the fence just buy one...from Sweetwater of course.

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Great Gibson Vibe!

When I first started playing I thought I had wasted my money. I dialed in the tone and volume and became quite pleased. I did not like the strings. I put on a set of Gibson strings and now I have a perfect instrument.

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Guitar guitar

Love this guitar! Plays amazingly! I play mostly jazz, soul, and R&B on it, but I can also rock Radiohead!

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Great Guitar, Even Better for the Price

This is a high quality guitar regardless of the price, but the low price makes it even better. My guitar has no flaws that I've noticed and it plays well and sounds great. The components appear to be high quality. I have been impressed with the tuners and the overall quality of the guitar. The only thing I will probably do is buff the fret ends a bit to make them smoother, but… read more this can be done rather easily. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase.

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The Real Truth

First thank you Sweetwater for your timely delivery and service as always. Second the playability is great. I have had no issues with this guitar and I have been playing it for a while now. It holds tune very well and it looks clean. For the price point I would say it is a great buy. Having owned a real Gibson ES335 I have to say this is on is not far off from the real thing. I… read more bought this Epiphone over the Gibson because it is solid wood and not laminate. The pickups do not have the growl but you can get that with a pedal when you dig in. All in all I have to say I saved my self some money buying this and I am very pleased overall with the performance of the sound and the playability of this guitar. I say, if you are thinking of buying a ES335 style guitar you can pull the trigger on this one. I hope this helps. I can't find anything bad to say about this guitar or I would say it! Keep on playing your heart out and best wishes to all.

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Such a deal!!!!

Purchased this "Inspired by Gibson" as I had already bought the Epi Les Paul Jr. I was so impressed with quality I figured the 335 had to be as nice. Yup. I never owned a 335 and always wanted. Would never be a main guitar but they always fascinated me. I considered a Gibson '58 ES but too much money for a guitar that wouldn't be played as much as my Lesters. Wanted the '58 for… read more the baseball bat neck which I prefer. Regular USA 335's all had the slim '60's neck which cramps my hand after too long. The necks on both Epi's are almost identical and although far from ball bat fat, very comfortable to the hand. Quality Control I'd give an 8 as this is almost indistinguishable from Gibson quality. The only reason not a 10 is electronics. The input jack got loose and dropped into body. Catastrophe!!! With the wonder of Youtube I fixed it fairly easily and now know how semi hollow bodies get worked on. The pickup selector switch is fried, gotta bang it into function. Will get new electronics, hopefully find '50's style harness with paper in oil caps. The pickups normally I would change out with some Seymores but these Epi's sound fine. Eventually I have a set of Manalishi pickups in a Lester for the Peter Green out of phase tone. Thinking I want those out of phase awesome PAF's moved to the 335 to cop a BB King thing. I know this is not the shortest review but I want to share my happiness in purchasing this guitar. As nice as any Gibson and almost indistinguishable. For the money, this Epi is no slouch. Saying, "Yeah, but it's not a Gibson. Robben Ford plays an Epi Dot I believe. Good enough for Robben Ford, good enough for me.. Buy one before there are no more... Enjoy!,,

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Close to the real thing

Just received mine yesterday, and after having plenty of time to play it, I can definitely say this guitar is awesome in every way. Epiphone has REALLY stepped it up this time around with their inspired by Gibson range. Like I'd imagine most people, I'm not a professional touring musician so I can't justify spending 3k or more on the real deal as great as they might be. I have been… read more lucky enough to play a few though, and I have to say that this Epiphone version is as close as it gets without costing a fortune. The finish and fretwork on mine are better than any other Epiphone I've owned. The styling and the hardware are very high quality and have a nice vintage vibe. I love the old vintage tuners. Through my deluxe reverb amp, the pickups really sing. I definitely feel like Epiphone has improved their probucker pickups. No need for all the push pull trickery. Lastly, probably my favorite feature on the guitar is the neck. I was never a fan of Epiphones slim taper neck. I've even stayed away from specific models just for that reason, but this rounded c neck is perfect. Not too fat, not too thin, it's right in the sweet spot. Overall I'm highly impressed with this guitar. If you've ever wanted a nice budget semi hollow guitar, this is the only way to go. As usual my experience buying this guitar through sweetwater was amazing. Shout out to my sales engineer Jimmy Hart who hooked me up. These guitars hadn't arrived yet, so I preordered one. Within a couple days Jimmy reached out and let me know they had some in stock and promptly sent one out. 2 days later I received it in perfect condition, and it was even in tune. Where else can you get this kind of service?

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