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

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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lususnaturae
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by lususnaturae » Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:38 pm

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sal paradise
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by sal paradise » Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:54 pm

lususnaturae wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:38 pm
Image
OMG :-*

What are they?
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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

Post by Embenny » Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:22 am

Both look great from here. Can't compete with nostalgia, though. When you have a personal connection with an instrument like that, it's a really special thing.
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by lususnaturae » Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:35 am

sal paradise wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:54 pm
lususnaturae wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:38 pm
Image
OMG :-*

What are they?
1967 Rickenbacker 335 and a 1969/70 Gibson ES-335.

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

Post by MrFingers » Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:00 pm

I caved in… but it feels right!

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

Post by sal paradise » Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:25 pm

MrFingers wrote:
Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:00 pm
I caved in… but it feels right!

Image
It looks it too 🔥 🔥 🔥

More info? And pictures please.
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by Dok » Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:22 pm

I'm surprised I haven't ever opened this thread in two years, but I had some time today due to recovering from surgery last Friday and would love to chime in with some thoughts!

Gibsons are kind of a complicated thing to me, as someone who is from Kalamazoo originally, and has grown up with all sorts of lore about the original Kalamazoo factory which still looms large in the city as a location with historical significance, as well as of course the Heritage guitar company. But throw that in with a very strong culture of Midwest utilitarianism, 90s punk-rock ethos, and just sheer economics, and Gibsons were not guitars that were generally practical for or seen often in my cohort of late Gen-X/early Millenial indie rockers of the day. You know, for all the same reasons everybody else generally used cheap Fenders in the 90s.

And so my guitar lust was usually confined to Fenders of a general sort, and mostly the kind that were financially attainable but really more about what kind of sounds were possible and whatever kind of combo of affordability + utility that I could find. And so I started with G&Ls, etc etc, but I never felt like I absolutely had to have a FENDER, and I think the Squiers of the last 10 years are such great guitars that I honestly can't justify spending more money on the Fender version of nearly any of them. I have three Fender-style electrics and two of them are partsmasters that started as either 100% Squiers or Fenders that I've swapped many parts out of due to ergonomic and sonic preferences, and one is a custom-built Fender-alike that was handmade by my dear friend who is a luthier who actually cut his teeth building guitars for Heritage. Anyway, my electric guitars are 100% dialed to my specifications and I want for nothing in that department, mostly, and it just does not matter to me what the headstock says. 8) Whenever I'm considering a big purchase, especially with music gear, I have to be able to justify that whatever it is fills a need or a sound that I can't currently accomplish with the gear that I have, which means I haven't even really thought about a new electric guitar purchase for quite some time, with the exception of a guitar with P90s. Even then, the need hasn't been strong enough to justify a P90s Gibson and I'm pretty good at talking myself out of stuff I don't really need. You can probably imagine where this is going.

But I've never felt about Epiphones the way I do about Squiers - they really seemed like cheap knockoffs that were almost intentionally compromised in one or two specific ways (for a long time it was that awful slim-taper D neck profile) in order not to siphon too much market share away from the more expensive Gibson models. I just never played one that I liked, but I also never played a Gibson where I was like "oh fuck I have GOT to have this". Too picky, too frugal, and the fact that you can't swap out a set neck if it doesn't feel right made it a pretty tough to justify proposition for something I wasn't 100% in love with.

But all that changed when I bought an Epiphone "Inspired By Gibson" J45 on a whim last year. Great guitar, especially after I did some work to it, so definitely not perfect out of the box, but I knew it was in there somewhere and I was able to bring it out after spending a few hundred extra dollars on it. I ended up recently ordering a "real" J45 (although that's a bit of a different story), but just to say that this experience made me much more open to the Epiphone brand again and so I started checking out the IBG models whenever I'd run across them in a guitar store. Like many here, I don't even bother to plug electrics in at the store because it's generally immediately apparent whether or not the guitar is going to work for me just by feel and unplugged sound alone, and I have to say that every single 335 and SG I've played in that line has been nearly flawless by my standards. Well-built, excellent fit and finish, and really amazing price points all coming together to actually make me think "Damn, I gotta figure out a reason not to bring this guitar home with me". Like others have said on this thread, I actually like having gear that's a little different than the standard compliment because it feels a little more like my own thing. I'd be 100% comfortable gigging with any of these IBG Epiphone electrics and feeling great about it and not just for the price. Check 'em out. I think if you can get over the "headstock-itis" there is very little difference between them from a sound and feel perspective, which will always trump aesthetics for me.
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by Embenny » Mon Nov 14, 2022 10:28 pm

I think I want an Epiphone 335 more than a Gibson, because they're willing to do things like this:

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That's just plain fun. As much as I've been enjoying Gibsons lately (and I have, a lot), they're worse than Fender in terms of offering the most boring and limited colour palette imaginable. I don't even like the Epiphone "blueberry burst" that much, I think it would look ten times better if they had that darker mauve from the upper bouts around the whole perimeter instead of the bright blue on the bottom, but at least it's interesting to look at.

I give less than zero fucks that Clapton used a red 335. I want to see colour on a $3k guitar, or at least the option to have it. Instead, it's sunburst, red, natural, and black...over and over and over.

Someone local to me is selling one of those blueberry 335s, and I'm working hard to resist it, but everyone seems to rave about how well they play, and that finish is eye-catching if not polarizing.
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by hulakatt » Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:21 am

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Nov 14, 2022 10:28 pm
That's just plain fun. As much as I've been enjoying Gibsons lately (and I have, a lot), they're worse than Fender in terms of offering the most boring and limited colour palette imaginable.
This is Gibson's biggest shortcoming but I don't think the non-traditional colours sell well when they do go crazy and offer one. If they sold well, they'd probably keep offering them. I see LPs, SGs and even 335s offered with some cool finishes from time to time, they just don't seem to be regular runs.

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

Post by tammyw » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:09 am

Yeah, I really like Gibson's Blueberry Burst, and there was quite a bit of variation amongst individual guitars, but in the end I went with the Glacier 335 since I already had the Blueberry SG.

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

Post by MrFingers » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:30 am

There is now that limited edition “deep purple” which looks kind of cool…

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

Post by hulakatt » Wed Nov 16, 2022 8:03 pm

Shame the purple didn't have gold hardware.
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Re: The Psychology of GASing for a Gibson (es-335)

Post by kamillebidan » Wed Nov 16, 2022 9:58 pm

I wish they offered the ES-335 P90 variant in that color, I think I would not be able to resist.

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

Post by mediocreplayer » Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:28 am

This purple is too navy for my taste. I guess this comes from the "deep" part?

I considered getting the LP Special in this color but I figured if I am spending that much it needs to be actually purple. The Special in anything other than yellow feels wrong also.

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

Post by Embenny » Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:37 am

tammyw wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:09 am
Yeah, I really like Gibson's Blueberry Burst, and there was quite a bit of variation amongst individual guitars, but in the end I went with the Glacier 335 since I already had the Blueberry SG.
Oh man, that Glacier finish is perfect for a 335.
mediocreplayer wrote:
Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:28 am
This purple is too navy for my taste. I guess this comes from the "deep" part?

I considered getting the LP Special in this color but I figured if I am spending that much it needs to be actually purple. The Special in anything other than yellow feels wrong also.
Yeah, that's a little too close to black for my taste. I'd love a more vibrant purple on a 335, like the shade used on the Anderton's Squier models they keep bringing out.
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