SOLD: 1989 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst

john_skaar

**SOLD**

Hi

The purge continues! I'm putting my 1989 Gibson ES-335 up for sale! It's a very clean example and I have uploaded a number of pictures here for you to have a look at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_skaar/albums/72177720296927171/with/51901786779/

I've gone over the guitar from headstock to end pin while I've owned it to make sure everything is working as it should, from the tuners to the electronics, to the truss rod, and I'm happy to say that everything is in perfect working order.

The guitar was made before the custom shop existed, and according to employees of the time, those who worked on these guitars were later moved to the custom shop when that department was opened. 

It's fitted with a remarkable set of Lollar Imperials, a newly assembled harness with 550k TVT (True Vintage Taper) pots and SoZo Capacitors (0.010 in the neck, 0.022 in the bridge). The harness still uses the original switch and jack, and the remaining parts of the original harness will be included with the sale too. The guitar also has the original brown hard case. The tuners are Kluson keystones, replacing the original Grover Rotomatics.

The guitar has a lush sunburst, and the front of the guitar is a lovely plain maple, with the back of the guitar showing some beautiful birdseye marbling on it.

The neck has a great profile, rounded in the hand and not flat on the back, similar to a '59 spec without the excessive shoulders many modern 335s (and other models) seem to be born with these days. The neck measures 0.837 inches at the first fret and 0.967 inches at the 12th fret. The nut width is 42.89mm with a string spacing of 35.63mm. The neck also has the thinner binding which was used in this era, similar to what you get on the custom shop historic guitars these days.

Something that is very important with 335s, at least for me, is that the neck is set at a great angle (lower than modern 335s). This means the pickups don't sit miles above the pickup rings, and the bridge doesn't float excessively above the body. This results in a more comfortable playing position, reminiscent of the 335s built when they were first introduced in the late 50s (except the first 1958 model, which was set very low and needed to be corrected by 1959!).

The guitar is very clean and tidy with no damage or abuse, and it plays very well. It has been fitted with a Bigsby at some point in its life, and if you're interested I do have a Bigsby B7 (USA made, not a cheaper licensed one) that I can sell, and if required, fit for you.

There's very little fret wear aside from very light areas under the thinner strings at the open chord area (headstock end), which is purely cosmetic at this stage (not noticeable when playing). I do have all the tools and knowhow required to do full fret levelling, dressing/crowning and polishing, but there's not enough wear to qualify for a dress. At this stage, all it would do is remove good material from other frets elsewhere on the board, in order to "erase" something that doesn't need fixing, which is not something I recommend doing.

The late 80s and start of the 90s are considered the "modern golden era" of Gibson by many (including myself), when they were working to change the image and reputation they gained during the Norlin era. This guitar also falls within what has been called the "good wood era", when stocks of old wood were still being used, before newer, faster produced woods were being bought.

With prices of new 335s going though the roof, not to mention the Historics (with incorrect neck set angles!) which are now approaching vintage 60s prices, this guitar is a sound investment, as well as a great player. It's 32 years old, which puts it in the perfect bracket: "vintage", but not so old that you will risk running into maintenance headaches any time soon, like many mistreated 50s/60s guitars suffer from. I can't see this guitar developing any issues, the fit and finish is just fantastic.

I'm asking £2,550 + fully insured postage. Alternatively, I could deliver it to you if required to ensure a safe handover (or meet halfway if it's a litte further away), unless you're heading to the Farnham, Surrey area at some point, in which case you're welcome to collect

Any questions, please do get in touch, and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can

John

john_skaar

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Courier postage added to the description

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prlgmnr

Thanks to this post I am now noticing the immense variance in neck angles from one 335 to the next (at least when people have included photos that show this) and am starting to understand why people say you have to play a lot to find the one you like.

john_skaar

prlgmnr said:

Thanks to this post I am now noticing the immense variance in neck angles from one 335 to the next (at least when people have included photos that show this) and am starting to understand why people say you have to play a lot to find the one you like.

It's strange that they vary so much these days! Setting them at a lower angle, even when allowing for tolerance, should be pretty straight forward!

It's not like they reserve the lower angle for the Custom Shop Historics either. I played a number of new Historics before I bought this '89, and the majority of them had high set necks and felt a bit "blocky" for lack of a better word, almost like the neck was bolted on, not sleek and streamlined like how a semi with a low neck angle would feel. I also have a '68 that has a nice low angle, and the '89 I'm selling is slightly lower than that, very similar to a friend's original '62.

Another gripe I have with all new 335/345/355 guitars is that there's often more of the pickup showing above the pickup rings than the height of the rings themselves, which is a side effect of the steep neck angles where the pickups and bridge need to be raised higher to clear the neck and allow for playable action, which accentuates the visual imbalance.

This became a bit of a rant (sorry!), but it's meant to help people identify the differences between a new and old guitar. The new offerings from Gibson are phenomenal guitars for what they are, don't get me wrong - I'd happily own one - but as far as historical accuracy goes, they keep missing the mark which is frustrating when you know what potential has been lost in each guitar they build.

They keep doing it on purpose it seems, probably so they have some new "more accurate" feature to market on the next revision and bump the price again

john_skaar

Bømp 

john_skaar

Note: I may be interested in a part exchange + cash for a Fender Vibro Champ Reverb '68 Custom (10 inch speaker version) 

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Price drop! 

john_skaar

Some extra photos added to the Flickr album (link in the original post)

achilleslondon

Hi. Can I ask you what do you use to ship the guitar insured?
Sorry if I am not here to buy the guitar, but I am searching for good options for shipping.

john_skaar

achilleslondon said:

Hi. Can I ask you what do you use to ship the guitar insured?
Sorry if I am not here to buy the guitar, but I am searching for good options for shipping.

Hi! Someone on here said that Overland Express are a good company as they allow you to insure the value of the guitar in case of damage or loss (which others rarely do).

They deal with the normal couriers (UPS, DHL, FedEx etc.) but the insurance is through Overland themselves as the Broker, which is why they offer it as a bolt on 

I've used them for a few things now and I'm very happy with the service

achilleslondon

Thanks! 

john_skaar

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Price drop to £2,650 

richardhomer

That looks like a lovely guitar! GLWTS

john_skaar

richardhomer said:

That looks like a lovely guitar! GLWTS

Thank you It's a killer guitar, just needs a home