The hunt for a new 335 begins... Advice welcome!

DDtB

SRD81 said:

It took me about a year of playing 335s in shops all over the South East before I finally found the one for me. I went into the search thinking that I wanted a fat neck sunburst 50s model and actually came out with a 2014 Cherry ‘63RI Memphis VOS.

This resonates with me.  In my head, on paper, a new Sixties Cherry 335 dot neck ticks the boxes.  But I've not really had more than 5 mins with one and haven't tried any others.

Keen to try a couple different variations and neck shapes to be more confident in whatever the ultimate choice becomes.

Feels like something I shouldn't buy online randomly tbh.  Was happy enough doing that with the 62 AVRI strat as there's less variability with them vs the likes of a 335, from what I can tell and no wood grain to consider etc, just colour.  I'm sure all 335s all great in their own ways, but want to find one that feels right to me here.. and looks ace to my eye too obviously.

Peach would be great to visit but would require a fair effort and some planning, so the trick is trying to do that at the same time they might have some 335s in.  Hoping to spend a day wandering shops in london and stumble across the perfect 335 too.  1st world problems.

tomajoha

From my experience the Custom Shop (Nasville made) ES's are worth holding out for if you can find one at a decent price. The Memphis guitars are great but I find they have quite high/square frets that I personally find a little irritating. The custom shop stuff tends to have nicer fretwork that just feels right. I've never played a bad Nashvillle Custom Shop but I've played a few meh Memphis's.

I get the whole wanting it to be Gibson, but I'd echo that there are some lovely alternative in Japanese-made Ibanez and Yamaha's.

Just my 2 cents..

elstoof

Andertons have 2 cherry 61 dot neck CSs in stock at the moment. Not sure if Peach are open to visitors at the moment

Zoonyboy

Definitely, definitely meet and play your next guitar. The Yamaha SA2200 is a fantastic top quality alternative with GREAT tone and playability (currently I have 2), Collings are amazing, too, but pricey now. Have you tried a late 70s or early 80s Gibson 335? Wow, they were making some excellent guitars back then. Not "vintage correct", but even they are kind of vintage now, and play and sound wonderful, usually. I used to sell them. If you can find one at a sensible price, give it a whirl.

Dominic

I've played a lot of  Gibson 335 s .......I have played one that was lent to me for a while and it was magical
Failing that every other one I have played has been very Meh
I have played some top of range Tokai ES series ........every single one has been superb

Basher

Another mention for the Memphis reissues from a few years ago.

@SRD81's '63 reissue which would, I'm sure be amazing.

On a slightly related note, I picked up a 2015 ES-345 when Peach were discounting them and I've been delighted with it.

Not what I was looking for but glad I took a chance on it. I'd previously owned a couple of high-end Yamahas (SA2100, 2200), a Japanese Tokai (with upgraded Seth Lover pickups), an Orville ES335 (high quality Japanese copy) and a couple of cheaper variants.

The Tokai was probably the best and I liked the chunky neck. The Yamahas were nice enough but sounded more like solid-body guitars to me and had quite slim necks, as did the Orville. There's something more open and "plunky" (in a good way) about the Gibson that I really like. Slightly chunkier-than-slim "rounded 60s" neck and low output pickups with lots of clarity. Cosmetically, the mucky grain is not everyone's cup of tea but I much prefer the look to flamed guitars like the SA2100 and the Tokai I had.

DDtB

Basher said:

Cosmetically, the mucky grain is not everyone's cup of tea but I much prefer the look to flamed guitars like the SA2100 and the Tokai I had.

 Love the grain on that.  Ideally I'll find something with an interesting pattern too, rather than the more uniform flame style grain that is usually sought after.  On a les paul I want it uniform and flamey but for some reason on a 335 the idea of a more 'mucky' grain appeals.

robinbowes

@DDtB ;FYI: Yamaha SA2200 for sale here: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/221593

I have one of these, it's very nice.

DDtB

So.. going to be in London this weekend and have a free day on Friday and thinking about heading to Denmark st in search of 335s and other nice things.   Although going by some of the recent threads in here, that is likely to be a waste of time!

Anywhere else anyone can suggest where I might find some nice 335s.  If not, wife wants to go to the tower and do some touristy stuff!  Save me!!

Fishboy7

Have you seen this one?  Pretty good price for a brand new Nashville CS built 335.

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/gibson-custom-1959-es-335-reissue-vos-vintage-natural/942209

PonchoGreg

If you are going to Denmark st, might as well pop into 66 Sounds. I tried a couple 335s there when I was on the hunt a few years ago, including a very tasty CS one. Hopefully they should have a bit of stock at the moment, I'm sure you can check that online beforehand.

I eventually nabbed a 2011 Memphis one (so not CS), used and it is still my favourite guitar to date. But the guy was local to me, I had the opportunity to try it first through a lovely amp, think about it and come back etc. At that price point and with the variance in Gibson specs / quality, I would definitely aim to try before buying.

Best of luck on the search, it is indeed a lovely process!

ElectricXII

@DDtB ;If you're not too far from Dalgety Bay you'd be welcome to come and try my 2015 Gibson Memphis ES-335 to get a feel for whether this year and model might work for you. I've added a Bigsby B6 with a Towner Tension Bar (didn't want to drill for a B7). The finish is nice with subtle grain showing through (see second pic).

mark123

@markblack looks to be selling a cracking one look at his" value my guitars "post next to yours in this section.

DDtB

ElectricXII said:

@DDtB ;If you're not too far from Dalgety Bay you'd be welcome to come and try my 2015 Gibson Memphis ES-335 to get a feel for whether this year and model might work for you. I've added a Bigsby B6 with a Towner Tension Bar (didn't want to drill for a B7). The finish is nice with subtle grain showing through (see second pic).

Very kind offer.. much appreciated... cheers!

Not sure if I'll be through that way anytime soon.  Small world though...I actually lived in Dalgety Bay for a few years and even went to the primary school for a bit.  

mark123

mark123 said:

@markblack looks to be selling a cracking one look at his" value my guitars "post next to yours in this section.

 @DDtB this was for you @markblack ; is selling a nice one.
see " value my guitars " title in this section.

Adamski

Basher said:

Another mention for the Memphis reissues from a few years ago.

@SRD81's '63 reissue which would, I'm sure be amazing.

On a slightly related note, I picked up a 2015 ES-345 when Peach were discounting them and I've been delighted with it.

Not what I was looking for but glad I took a chance on it. I'd previously owned a couple of high-end Yamahas (SA2100, 2200), a Japanese Tokai (with upgraded Seth Lover pickups), an Orville ES335 (high quality Japanese copy) and a couple of cheaper variants.

The Tokai was probably the best and I liked the chunky neck. The Yamahas were nice enough but sounded more like solid-body guitars to me and had quite slim necks, as did the Orville. There's something more open and "plunky" (in a good way) about the Gibson that I really like. Slightly chunkier-than-slim "rounded 60s" neck and low output pickups with lots of clarity. Cosmetically, the mucky grain is not everyone's cup of tea but I much prefer the look to flamed guitars like the SA2100 and the Tokai I had.

Hey I have the same guitar from that same deal! I played a load that day looking for the best one (they had like 8 in stock at the time) and me and john were going back and forth and just agreed that they were all spectacular. Like you I chose one with a more interesting grain. I have been surprised how much I’ve used that rotary knob to select the different sounds because I honestly thought I’d just leave it at full humbuckers and use the three way (I originally went in for a 335). Brilliant guitars - £2399 (or whatever it was) seems like a bloody steal these days. 

breezytele

I have two lefty Memphis es models.  
2015 es 335 ‘63 reissue VOS (cherry)
2015 es 330 ‘59 reissue VOS

Both are fantastic guitars, but I’ve got a deposit down on a Collings I35LC Vintage 
and when it arrives I doubt I’ll be needing all three.

Anyway, I’d recommend checking out any of  those Memphis VOS reissues if you get the chance.

matone

Been impressed by every Memphis/Historic made one i`ve seen ,they`re much better than stuff made in the 80`s/90`s for tone and sounds.....

DDtB

So we popped down to Denmark street and had a quick look in a few shops.  The construction noise in the street made it really hard to enjoy window shopping though.

The guys in the shops were really nice and keen to let me try anything.  Not a huge amount of 335 choice though so just browsed this time.  

There was a very nice 335 in NoTom, but it was sunburst and although very very tempting, think I’ll hold out for Cherry.  

Some cracking 60s and 70s stuff there and in general prices didn’t seem any higher than outside of London too, for new and used stuff.

Part of the fun is the hunt and it’s definitely underway now… Wallet finger is twitching…

duotone

Shame that there wasn’t too many 335’s available to check out.  If you come down to London again I would happily wander around a few shops with you, maybe GuitarGuitar in Camden is worth a look. 

I have 70% settled on getting a Sire H7, which means a trip to Andertons, but need to try and compare with similar priced Epiphone etc. to make sure.