Gibson Custom 1964 ES-335 Reissue VOS - Vintage Burst Review

I Waited Too Long to Get an ES-335

I took a month to write this review, played the guitar everyday and took it through its paces. I've had humbucker guitars before but always favored single coils, with a Fender Strat being my main for 15 years now. I've been intrigued by the ES-335 hollow-body form for some years but I just couldn't pull the trigger. Also, I've never bought a guitar without first trying it out. The… read more outsize lower bout was a worry for my medium physical stature (5'10" and 170 lbs). But this guitar was hard to find locally and our current situation just made it worse. But I know Sweetwater will accept a return with just minor financial risk to me. My first impressions of this guitar is that I may have waited too long to get one. This guitar responds to you. You feel the guitar and strings vibrate against your hands and body. Attack is not immediate like a solid body with a tiny bit of a musical sag. It has lots of sustain when asked for. But it will jangle, snap & sting, quack & honk, cry & sing. I am a hybrid picker and the pickups eagerly respond to changes in finger and pick attack. Amazing dynamics. You can both savage and tickle this guitar. The Custombucker pickups are a tad bright but easily tamed with the guitar's tone & volume controlsad, and some amp EQ if needed, even in a bright amp like a '64 Princeton Reverb. I've played with boost/overdrive and delay pedals. It sounds great through a Mesa Lone Star Special. The neck pickup is excellent and has awesome woman tones. You can get some Les Paul sounds out of this guitar - great rock sounds. And of course it's been used by many jazz and blues players over the years. This is quite a versatile guitar. The 2-Volume, 2-Tone Gibson set-up gives great tones in the middle position. I've forgotten that about Gibson-type guitars. The neck on this guitar, to me, is the strongest playability feature. The '64 neck (with a dark Brazilian rosewood board) is not as meaty as a '59 but not as thin as a '61. It plays and feels fast. I have smallish hands but the early '60's overly thin slim-fast neck always felt weird for me to play. It also has the slightly wider nut width that Gibson brought back in the mid 60's. Body size has not been an issue and I prevents neck dive. Definitely stood on the sidelines too long to get an ES-335. I think I will always be a Strat player and there are some things that a Strat can do that the ES-335 can't. It's a different guitar but it's also all its own. It'll never beat a Strat in comfort and playability, but I think it's about to earn a permanent place in my small collection. Shout out to my Sales Engineer Randy Poteete for answering all my questions, sending me some cool sound clips, seeing the sale through, and getting my deal favorably changed after (even) better financing terms came just days after the sale. How awesome is that?? Thank you Randy and Sweetwater!!!

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Gibson SG Standard '61 or Custom Shop ES 335

First time to physically visit Sweetwater and I was totally wowed. We drove about six and a half hours, stayed overnight and got to Sweetwater early in the day. What a beautiful facility! From the time we walked in, to the time we walked out, Sweetwater made us feel very welcomed. Friendliness and an accommodating nature were just two of the ingredients that made our trip to Sweetwater… read more a wonderful experience. I played the Gibson SG Standard '61 and the Gibson SG Standard. Greg Baum was helping me and he brought out a Gibson Custom Shop ES 335 in a Heritage Cherry Sunburst with a beautiful flame maple top; a gorgeous guitar. Within a very short period of time, I knew it was going home with me. Greg got me the special Santa Claus pricing on it too. Greg's patience, knowing what questions to ask for my needs/wants, and friendly advice were spot on in making the deal the best music gear buying experience I've ever had. We had a great meal in the Sweetwater cafe while Greg was getting all my stuff ready to go. Thanks Greg Baum and Bart Amburn for making every buying experience from Sweetwater, past and present, smooth, easy, and completely satisfying. AAA +++

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