ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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seenoevil II
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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by seenoevil II » Fri Jul 29, 2022 7:49 pm

It's funny. I've anyways wanted the opposite. Hey, I have an idea. Let's rent the machine from The Fly. You throw your JM in, I'll put in my 335. We'll reach take home one of the mutants. Then, maybe we'll call Geena Davis. See what she's up to.
If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Kihtaristi » Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:28 pm

WilburBufferson wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:47 am
fuzzjunkie wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:17 pm
Image

The Novo Miris is a seriously good looking guitar, but it’s 25.5” scale.
How did you know that GREEN guitars are my thing? That is seriously awesome. How did you acquire it? Did you order direct? Do you find that the scale changes the sound appreciably (I realize that the design strays quite a bit in other aspects from the 335).
Novo Miris is not quite ES-335 style guitar. Even guys at Novo say that it is close in sounds to their solidbodies tonally (I have never played Miris myself though). That being said, my Novo with pine body sounds suprisingly close to my friends ES-335 with same amp, but it is still more solid body guitar and doesn't feedback so easily which is big part of hollow body magic.. My green fade colour Novo here in left:
Image

In that pic there is my old Fano that is quite strongly in the 335-camp and even maybe bit more resonant due to carved top. It can be had also with humbuckers. I often miss that guitar! That guitar with humbuckers would be my suggestion for 335-style offset. They might even do 24.75 scale, since I've seen them do many custom options besides the ones they mention in their web page.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Stephen_42 » Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:40 am

Someone suggested the Squier Starcaster earlier, but the Classic Vibe series is a lot better (and more 335-ish) than the affinity model they posted.

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-ele ... 90500.html

I love mine:
Image

I've often described it as more of an offset-335 than a true Starcaster, but I like it for that reason. It's got PAF style pickups (they're WRHB in style only), Gibson style bridge and tailpiece, Gibson style controls. Mine is an incredibly well made instrument and I'd definitely recommend trying one.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Sweetfinger » Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:51 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 12:54 am
MatthewK wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:04 pm
I guess the Starcaster reissues are an obvious suggestion -
... the plywood construction of these makes them not quite as woody and airy as the real thing.
Um, Gibson ES-335s are plywood. Always have been.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Lost In Autumn » Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:17 am

Sweetfinger wrote:
Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:51 am
Lost In Autumn wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 12:54 am
MatthewK wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:04 pm
I guess the Starcaster reissues are an obvious suggestion -
... the plywood construction of these makes them not quite as woody and airy as the real thing.
Um, Gibson ES-335s are plywood. Always have been.
I should clarify, there's something about the plywood construction specifically with the Affinity Starcasters mentioned previously, that makes them feel less lively than other guitars at a higher price point. I have one, it's a great guitar for the money, however, that is a heavy qualification. Even with extensive mods, (Les Trem, roller bridge, Fralin P92 pickups, switchcraft & CTS electronics), it still doesn't seem quite right. The neck is too thin, almost a Wizard profile and acoustically, it's slightly dead feeling.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by WilburBufferson » Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:09 am

Kihtaristi wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:28 pm
WilburBufferson wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:47 am
fuzzjunkie wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:17 pm
Image

The Novo Miris is a seriously good looking guitar, but it’s 25.5” scale.
How did you know that GREEN guitars are my thing? That is seriously awesome. How did you acquire it? Did you order direct? Do you find that the scale changes the sound appreciably (I realize that the design strays quite a bit in other aspects from the 335).
Novo Miris is not quite ES-335 style guitar. Even guys at Novo say that it is close in sounds to their solidbodies tonally (I have never played Miris myself though). That being said, my Novo with pine body sounds suprisingly close to my friends ES-335 with same amp, but it is still more solid body guitar and doesn't feedback so easily which is big part of hollow body magic.. My green fade colour Novo here in left:
Image

In that pic there is my old Fano that is quite strongly in the 335-camp and even maybe bit more resonant due to carved top. It can be had also with humbuckers. I often miss that guitar! That guitar with humbuckers would be my suggestion for 335-style offset. They might even do 24.75 scale, since I've seen them do many custom options besides the ones they mention in their web page.

I love that Fano!! What model is it? It looks like it would sit more comfortably on the lap. Did it? As I said, the shape of the Gibson is what makes it a ??? for me.


Looking at Fano's current offering of a similar model, it looks like the body on your burst is "longer" and less starcaster/335 in shape. Would you agree?

https://www.fanoguitars.com/gf6-alt-de-facto.html

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Sweetfinger » Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:51 pm

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:17 am
I should clarify, there's something about the plywood construction specifically with the Affinity Starcasters mentioned previously, that makes them feel less lively than other guitars at a higher price point.
I get you. My own suspicion, is that the newer laminates are made with modern adhesives, thermoset, catalyzed, or perhaps microwave activated, and perhaps the individual plies may be pressure treated with stabilizers/fillers, where the laminate construction of old would still be hide glues, aliphatic resins, and not from pressure treated/stabilizewd woods. Even newer high end guitars lack the "woodiness" of say, old Gibsons, Guilds, Harmonys, Kays, etc.
I have zero evidence, but guitars are just another item manufactured from wood. It follows that whatever methods are used in construction of other wooden products are likely used for guitars.
It's been so long since I played an actual 70s Starcaster, I don't recall if they were particularly "lively". I want to say they were quite a bit heavier than you'd think.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Embenny » Wed Aug 03, 2022 10:09 pm

Well, the thing that I learned from the acoustic world is that there's "plywood" and then there's plywood.

High-end guitars are often made with plywood (though acoustic guitarists like the buzzword "laminate" instead), but the number of plies and the way they're glued together don't resemble the cheap stuff in any way except nominally. I expect it's the same thing when it comes to archtops.

The cheap stuff is made of a massive number of plies of low-grade timber with a large amount of glue making up for the voids and defects of the individual plies, yielding a final product that has a higher proportion of glue and a lower proportion of wood compared to the expensive stuff where they glue a smaller number of nicer, thicker cuts together.

I'm sure the various price points of archtop electrics are similar.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by Kihtaristi » Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:08 am

WilburBufferson wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:09 am
Kihtaristi wrote:
Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:28 pm
WilburBufferson wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:47 am


How did you know that GREEN guitars are my thing? That is seriously awesome. How did you acquire it? Did you order direct? Do you find that the scale changes the sound appreciably (I realize that the design strays quite a bit in other aspects from the 335).
Novo Miris is not quite ES-335 style guitar. Even guys at Novo say that it is close in sounds to their solidbodies tonally (I have never played Miris myself though). That being said, my Novo with pine body sounds suprisingly close to my friends ES-335 with same amp, but it is still more solid body guitar and doesn't feedback so easily which is big part of hollow body magic.. My green fade colour Novo here in left:
Image

In that pic there is my old Fano that is quite strongly in the 335-camp and even maybe bit more resonant due to carved top. It can be had also with humbuckers. I often miss that guitar! That guitar with humbuckers would be my suggestion for 335-style offset. They might even do 24.75 scale, since I've seen them do many custom options besides the ones they mention in their web page.

I love that Fano!! What model is it? It looks like it would sit more comfortably on the lap. Did it? As I said, the shape of the Gibson is what makes it a ??? for me.


Looking at Fano's current offering of a similar model, it looks like the body on your burst is "longer" and less starcaster/335 in shape. Would you agree?

https://www.fanoguitars.com/gf6-alt-de-facto.html
Hi, my reply is little late, cause I visit OSG maybe couple times a week.

I think it sits more comfortably in the lap than the 335, but it is still a big guitar. It is little bigger and thicker than JM so it is not as comfortable as JM, but then again nothing is imo.

I think the difference on how my Fano looks and how Fanos on their webpage is just because of different angles. I think the shape has remained the same all these years. Feel free to ask more questions if you have something on your mind.. I try to visit more frequently for some time.

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Re: ES-335 sound in an Offset design?

Post by signaturefan74-98 » Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:20 am

that is a beauty!

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