Talk me out of Gibson Midtown Custom in ebony

johnonguitar

Something just keeps calling to me from this guitar. I've never played one and I don't know why but it just seems right.

It would also be the cheapest guitar I've ever bought since my USA standard strat in the 90's although that's due to inflation.

Should I just man up and pull the trigger?

dindude

Yes. Great guitars.

BloodEagle

Awesome guitars, and only £781 from Thoman, crazy price.

TimmyO

They are handsome things

johnonguitar

Lol so no one has a good reason not to buy this guitar then?!

mart

I fancied one a while back but no local shops had one, so I asked a pro guitarist friend to go and try one in a shop near him. He went in, looked at it, and just texted me to say it was the ugliest guitar he'd ever seen, and he loves Gibsons. Just go buy a 335 instead.

underdog

I've seen a couple in the flesh and find them more attractive than a 335 myself.

Phil_aka_Pip

I don't think they're ugly. If it feels and sounds good, and you can afford it, buy it.

littlethoughts

Talk you out of one? well, aren't their fretboards baked maple or richlite? I'm not sure how well they will age since it's a relatively modern material. Just playing devil's advocate, I'd be surprised if they wear or age any different to a rosewood board.

johnonguitar

mart;645439" said:

I fancied one a while back but no local shops had one, so I asked a pro guitarist friend to go and try one in a shop near him. He went in, looked at it, and just texted me to say it was the ugliest guitar he'd ever seen, and he loves Gibsons. Just go buy a 335 instead.

Lmao. To be fair I already have a Gibson Cher Atkins Tenneassean in the dark red colour. I'm kinda thinking this will be a gig friendly (well, 4 hour long function gig friendly) guitar that can give me a little of that flavour, be able to rock up when called upon and sound Robben Ford-ish through my Zendrive. It seems a bright guitar, could do the trick.



Ps. If your mate thinks that's ugly then I don't wanna know what beauty is

dindude

I wouldn't call them ugly but until you adjust they look a little off due to the flat top. Fine dead on as in the pic above, but in 3 dimensions it stands out more. However, I kinda like the simplicity of it.

My P90 loaded Midtown does an awesome Robben Ford impression, even if I don't!

chrisj1602

Definitely not ugly, and a great price, but i'd rather a full size 335 myself.

Phil_aka_Pip

I wish they'd make them with the pickup switch on the bass side horn. It should be where the LP and the ES-175 have it. If it's where the ES-335 and the SG have it then I will always fumble a pickup change. Pickup switch location is the only thing I don't like about SGs and ES-335s. I would like to play a Midtown though.

andy1839

I had a natural finish one when they first came out. It was a fine guitar, but I traded it within a few months.

johnonguitar

andy1839;645507" said:

I had a natural finish one when they first came out. It was a fine guitar, but I traded it within a few months.

Why did you trade it and what did you replace it with?

Do you buy and sell a lot of guitars?

Philly_Q

Don't buy it, it's got a Richlite fingerboard, are you crazy?

mart

johnonguitar said:

mart;645439" said:

I fancied one a while back but no local shops had one, so I asked a pro guitarist friend to go and try one in a shop near him. He went in, looked at it, and just texted me to say it was the ugliest guitar he'd ever seen, and he loves Gibsons. Just go buy a 335 instead.

Lmao. ....

Ps. If your mate thinks that's ugly then I don't wanna know what beauty is

Well, I was just making a game attempt to talk you out of it, like you asked!

Seriously tho, my mate's idea of beauty is a Les Paul, or a 335. If you want to try to argue with that, go right ahead - it'll be amusing!

I think one of his gripes was that the midtowns are flat tops, if I recall correctly. For me that's a big turn off - it's so obviously a cheaper, corner-cutting form of constructing a semihollowbody.

andy1839

johnonguitar said:

andy1839;645507" said:

I had a natural finish one when they first came out. It was a fine guitar, but I traded it within a few months.

Why did you trade it and what did you replace it with?

Do you buy and sell a lot of guitars?

Yeah, I chop and change a lot, occasionally one will stay. I traded a USA Jackson DK1 for the Midtown, then the midtown went as part of a number of amps and guitars I traded for a PRS Private Stock. I had issues with the neck pickup sounding really muddy. I think it was Burstbuckers in it, I also have them in a CR8 Les Paul and they were very different in the two guitars. I tried bare knuckle Emeralds in the Midtown as well as the original Scrapyard Dog prototype pup from Ash and nothing made it really sing like a good 335 or 336/359 does.

May have been the super solid back, which was just a slab of mahogany carved out from the front and then the tops stuck on. Didn't really vibrate unplugged. It was by no means a bad guitar, it was built well. Finished superbly for a production Gibson, but not a patch on my '68 335 which I decided was the only 335-a-like I needed.

octatonic

Buy one and I'll bum your mum.

johnonguitar

mart;645532" said:

johnonguitar said:

mart;645439" said:I fancied one a while back but no local shops had one, so I asked a pro guitarist friend to go and try one in a shop near him. He went in, looked at it, and just texted me to say it was the ugliest guitar he'd ever seen, and he loves Gibsons. Just go buy a 335 instead.

Lmao. ....

Ps. If your mate thinks that's ugly then I don't wanna know what beauty is





Well, I was just making a game attempt to talk you out of it, like you asked!

Seriously tho, my mate's idea of beauty is a Les Paul, or a 335. If you want to try to argue with that, go right ahead - it'll be amusing!

I think one of his gripes was that the midtowns are flat tops, if I recall correctly. For me that's a big turn off - it's so obviously a cheaper, corner-cutting form of constructing a semihollowbody.

Lol fair enough.

As regards the flat top, my main guitar is a Kotzen Tele. None flatter. I think I kinda like the idea

jazzlemming

I liked the one I played, but it didn't look so great in person. It's partly the flat top, but also those big plastic fretboard inlays. Also, I don't like black finishes generally! Oh, and to be really picky, I would rather have nickel hardware than chrome.

I would save up for a nice 335 instead:

Rusty 335