The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

[Larry Mal]

[Larry Mal]

The 335 is a Les Paul in baggy clothing. They feel different to Les Pauls but I bet a large majority of players cannot tell them apart sonically.

True, but I much prefer the 335 form factor to the Les Paul's. I just love the way those ES guitars feel under my arm. Feels like home.

My Les Paul just feels like another guitar. Well, my Les Paul is awkward and heavy, and nothing I really enjoy playing. Sounds OK.

[luau]

Oh, I didn't know your 175 had P90s in it.

At this point my 330 has Kinman noiseless pickups that are based around the old Gibson "staple" pickups, that is, they look like P90s but have Alnico rods in them.

So they are humbuckers anyway. They don't sound quite like PAF pickups, but they do sound great, and if I let my 335 go I'll pay down some bills and call it a day. It'll make my father in law happy.

My 330 is more than enough guitar, frankly, if it was the only guitar I would ever have for the rest of my life I would be doing great.

Yep. I rarely plug it in and probably should have tracked down an L-4C instead.

Neat pickups in your 330.

And yeah, any one of my guitars would suit me forever and would be more than I actually need.

[Larry Mal]

I should never have clicked on that.

[wooderson]

The ES-335 balances much better for me seated than a Les Paul - I always feel like I'm struggling to keep a Les Paul from sliding off backward.

Plus they look cooler.

[seenoevil II]

I sweetened these up with the sliders but note the different shade of carpet in all 4 shots.

I honestly hesitated posting photos because I felt my camera wasn't good enough (I may have been correct about that).

[luau]

Great looking guitars.

I've been posting crappy pics forever and haven't been run off yet.

[hulakatt]

I've played a lot of Gibsons and a lot of cheaper alternatives, even still own an Edwards LP. I've never thought that any of the alternatives actually felt, player like or sounded like the Gibsons they were imitating. Some may have been better, most weren't but they all clearly were not the Gibsons they mimic'd. The most I can say about the Epi Dot I owned it that it was shaped mostly the same as a 335.

I've also never really understood the QC hate. I have a significantly higher proportion of Fenders with serious QC issues than Gibsons with any, even finishing flaws. Maybe I'm just hitting really, really lucky but I can't think of any Gibson I've owned or picked up in a shop that had any noticeable flaws but I've been unlucky enough to get Fenders with serious wiring issues, dead pickups and even 2 non functional truss rods.

Never experienced one of those "ubiquitous" broken headstock things either and I've never babied any of my Gibsons. I've gigged a few, long and hard, slamming them all over in cheap gig bags. Put some dents in and busted some plastics and a tuner or two but never a headstock.