Review Discount Gibson ES-335 Dot Archtop Electric Guitar, Cherry

Gibson ES-335 Dot Archtop Electric Guitar, Cherry

The story speaks for himself. The ES-335 guitar is one of the most important of all time. Since its introduction in 1958 as the world’s first semi-hollowbody electric guitar was a pillar of players eager to balance the beautiful, round, soft tones perfect for jazz and blues with the board and support a solidbody thoroughbred.

Countless legends of music have immortalized Gibson ES-335.

Today, the Gibson Custom Shop creates exacting duplicates of the ES-335 as the first left the plant in Kalamazoo, in 1958. That year only 267 were built, but the original vintage 335s has grown steadily in popularity, peaking in 1967, largely thanks to Eric Clapton to high-profile use of a cherry-ES-335 in the band Cream.

Body and Finishes

The Custom Shop ES-335 is available with many finish options, which reflect the choices of color that have evolved over the model 50-year history. In satin finish trans black and cherry are available, with a light maple top, back and rims. Ebony is only available in light maple. With figured maple top, back, and look for the option, cherry, tri-burst, antique natural, burst of light and color sunburst vintage are available. Red wine, brown trans, Beale Street Blue, and Cinnamon Burst finishes are also available in limited quantities, together with the hardware in gold, for the simple models and figured maple.

Regardless of color, the ES-335 retains its classic proportions: 16 1/2-inches wide, 20 inches long and 1 3/4-inches deep. The neck is a piece of mahogany under a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard inlaid with mother of pearl and a single-ply binding. Furthermore, there is a single-layer binding on the top and back.

Hardware

All hardware is nickel, and there’s a classic ABR-1 bridge with lightweight aluminum tailpiece Stopbar. Length of neck is 24 3 / 4 inches with a 11/16-inch nut width of 1. Models have satin tulip shaped vintage style tuners, and figured top and come with plain kidney-shaped Grover tuners. Browse Custom Shop ES-335s are powerful ’57 Classic humbucking pickups, two volume pots and two pots of tone and three way pickup selector switch. They are strung with Gibson Brite Wire .010 strings and I’m sure in a case surrounded by black Levant.

Famous Players

Spanning several decades, the ES-335 has been in the hands of countless musicians. Numerous performances by Chuck Berry Alvin Lee’s incendiary performance at Woodstock to the Police 2008 tour in New York, the ES-335 has been the instrument of choice for all players who are looking for gorgeous,, mellow tones, tempered with a border and support a full – blood solidbody electric as the Les Paul.

Nitrocellulose Finish

Applying a nitrocellulose finish to any Gibson guitar is one of the more intensive parts of the guitar process. A properly applied nitro finish requires extensive man hours, several evenly applied coats, and an exorbitant amount of drying time. But this fact has never influenced Gibson to change this time tested method, employed since the first Gibson guitar was swathed with lacquer back in 1894. Why? For starters, a nitro finish dries to a very thin coat of a polyurethane coating, which means there is less interference with the natural vibrations of the instrument, enabling a more pure sound. A nitro finish is also a softer finish, which makes it easily repairable. It is possible to touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finishes, but you can not do the same on a poly finish. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous in nature, and actually becomes thinner over time. Not “seal” wood in an airtight shell – as is finishing poles – and allows the wood to breathe and age properly.

All VOS (Vintage Original Spec) guitar series will use a proprietary process that includes unique steps for staining, wet-sanding, and hand-rubbing, the guitars reflect what subsequently treated for 40-years-guitar looks like. The result is a remarkable patina that will delight even the most demanding enthusiasts.

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