songsmith1950
New member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2005
- Messages
- 213
Yesterday I made the trip to Guitar Center again. You know, the one you make when you know you can get something you have been wanting.
For a while I have been wanting one of the Epiphone 335 Studio models. The sound was great but the tuners and other items kept it from being something I would buy for sound alone.
Yesterday I had the money and tried what I thought to be the same guitar in a "real" Gibson. It is the satin ES335. It has the 57 classics and other nice things as well as tuners that keep it in tune.
It brings to mind a late 50's 335 I had for a while, along with an early 60's I had at another time. The resonance and the vibe of it is so close to those two that it is astounding. The feeling of the neck is also a lot like those were to the best of my memory.
I had a 2001 ES335 Dot Reissue that I just really didn't like. It sounded and felt so sterile. Even cranked it never really broke out into the buzzsaw that to me makes a 335 so wonderfully full and authoritative. My earlier models surely had that sound as well as a feeling of being bonded to that axe as it wailed. Something my 2001 never had.
Perhaps it is that my late 50's model was 15 years old when I had it. Or that my early 60's, (62 if I remember right) was 25 years old when I had it. I finally played what was left of the frets off the neck and then like a fool let her go for something else.
The satin does not feel so polished and finessed as the reissue dots do. The reissue was a fine guitar and beautiful for sure. Every detail perfect. Except for the ability to really let go and resonate when you wanted to drive yourself and your guitar into that next level of bliss. Perhaps it is the satin finish on the wood that lets her do that.
Or perhaps it is just the knowing that you can pull long lost sounds out of your toolbox and make them wail.
Perfect in build? Probably not. I will stop playing it and look someday. No noticable buzzes. At least no more than any fine 335 I have owned and far less than the 62 I wore the frets flat on.
This is a keeper.
Just right for a little ride on my own type of magic carpet.
Songsmith1950, playing since 1963.:dude:
Tom
For a while I have been wanting one of the Epiphone 335 Studio models. The sound was great but the tuners and other items kept it from being something I would buy for sound alone.
Yesterday I had the money and tried what I thought to be the same guitar in a "real" Gibson. It is the satin ES335. It has the 57 classics and other nice things as well as tuners that keep it in tune.
It brings to mind a late 50's 335 I had for a while, along with an early 60's I had at another time. The resonance and the vibe of it is so close to those two that it is astounding. The feeling of the neck is also a lot like those were to the best of my memory.
I had a 2001 ES335 Dot Reissue that I just really didn't like. It sounded and felt so sterile. Even cranked it never really broke out into the buzzsaw that to me makes a 335 so wonderfully full and authoritative. My earlier models surely had that sound as well as a feeling of being bonded to that axe as it wailed. Something my 2001 never had.
Perhaps it is that my late 50's model was 15 years old when I had it. Or that my early 60's, (62 if I remember right) was 25 years old when I had it. I finally played what was left of the frets off the neck and then like a fool let her go for something else.
The satin does not feel so polished and finessed as the reissue dots do. The reissue was a fine guitar and beautiful for sure. Every detail perfect. Except for the ability to really let go and resonate when you wanted to drive yourself and your guitar into that next level of bliss. Perhaps it is the satin finish on the wood that lets her do that.
Or perhaps it is just the knowing that you can pull long lost sounds out of your toolbox and make them wail.
Perfect in build? Probably not. I will stop playing it and look someday. No noticable buzzes. At least no more than any fine 335 I have owned and far less than the 62 I wore the frets flat on.
This is a keeper.
Just right for a little ride on my own type of magic carpet.
Songsmith1950, playing since 1963.:dude:
Tom