Anticipation...
Anticipation...
Now you've gone and made me anxious as well!
Nice..Can't wait for the guitar porn...
My favorite phrase.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
Shows how old I am... The Heinz Ketchup commercial with Carly Simon was playing in my head.
Come on truck!
What happend?
Who let the magic smoke out?
The suspense is killing me!
What happend?
Who let the magic smoke out?
The eagle (not the dove) has landed! I'm not home though. I leave here in 1/2 hour and it takes about 45 minutes to get home.
Accounting for my shaky math skills, you’re home and loving it too much to post?
What happend?
Who let the magic smoke out?
LEAK IT NOW! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!
I've played the guitar all night (except when I was cleaning the bearing chunks out of my son's race car's oil pan).
It's a 2016 (built in 2017) Memphis ES-335 figured in cherry red. A "floor model" from CMS. I put "floor model" in quotation marks because this guitar has never been out of its case except for CMS to put paperwork in it. It was a great deal- a no brainer, really. I paid less than what they're asking for floor models on their website. I paid much less than I've seen used ones for. I could never justify paying over $3k for a guitar like this- I live in a world where that kind of expense just can't be justified.
The guitar looks great, sounds great, plays great, and is a pretty comfortable weight (a tad heavier than I like them). It's got 10s on it and it plays great though I prefer 9s. I almost didn't go for it- I was put off by idea of the new smaller frets. Then I played a used one at my local GC last week and it was great (that guitar was identical to this one and $750 more after taxes!!! I dig it!
A red '60 style ES-335 with a slightly thicker neck is my dream guitar so I think this will work out well. I considered a '63 VOS but I like a rounder neck. I considered a '59 VOS but really couldn't afford it and really like red and blocks. I may put reflector knobs on it (Philadelphia Lutherie Supply has really nice ones) at some time.
Sorry! No pics yet!
Last edited by Don; 10-24-2017 at 07:40 PM.
I just posted this in the thread about the Memphis factory closing-
In most respects, this ES-335 is the most nicely built Gibson I've seen, except one issue that may be a deal breaker- the sanding or buffing marks from the polishing process are quite noticeable. I don't recall seeing these on the early 2000s ES-135, Les Paul Junior and Gary Moore Les Paul or 1993 Les Paul Studio that I used to own.
This bothers me on a guitar that I paid $1800 for- maybe enough to return it (or sell it to someone who doesn't mind). Can you imagine if I paid the list price of $3649 or the typical street price of $3400 new?
Maybe I'm too fussy- I've seen a brand new $50k GMC Yukon with a much worse paint job!
I'm going to look at some other recent Gibsons in see if it's a trend.
In any case, I might look at a Heritage H535.
The right dealership would hopefully knock off a grand or enough to cover TT&L at the very least if you brought it to their attention. Gibson? They're not going to do anything guaranteed... not even an apology as that's an admittance. I posted up in the other thread too and again... what a shame. I wouldn't mind seeing pics although showing pics obviously does nothing to alleviate your frustration. Too fussy? Not even!
Where are them PICS?
My reply, reposted for further debate here.
IMHO, I wouldn't return or sell a guitar because of that...
I dare to say that virtually any guitar at any price/quality range will have something crooked if you look closely enough.
Over the years, QC has varied widely, and there are guitars with very few minor flaws and ones with more apparent ones... I can't judge without being able to see yours, but for instance, Fenders with crooked screwholes or lumps underneath the paintjob have always been a consistent fact.
If you read lots of guitar forums, you'll probably see MANY people bashing on Gibson's finishes all the time...
Me? I don't really mind these particular individual details. It's part of the guitar's character. Just liie we have skin signals, tattoos and scars... My favorite guitar has 3 slightly crooked screws, the pickguard doesn't quite "sit" perfectly ok, but I never cared.
I always say: it's a guitar, not a Fabergé egg. If it looks good from an arm's distance and plays good, then it's perfect enough. Do you love it? Keep it and forgive the minor defects, just like you do with women.
My 0.02 cents...
I somewhat agree with Sérgio. My 1957 ES-225 has a warped pickguard, and tuners and knobs that I replaced because the originals had just worn out. Neither is original equipment spec. I played that guitar for years, and took loving care of it, even though it's got knocks on the headstock and other blems. Maybe because I didn't get it new do these "flaws" not bother me.
My modus operandi is to buy guitars that look good and sound good. I don't modify them to sound better and I don't modify them to look better. I bought a 1998 LP Special that was a "player's guitar" and not a showpiece. After nearly 20 years and having been in who knows how many hands, it looks pretty good as it is. I don't drag my guitars behind pickup trucks to give them that "reliced" look, and I avoid mistreating them, but if a guitar speaks to me, I'll grab it no matter the flaws.
And if a flaw truly impacts how the guitar speaks to me, it won't be my guitar for long!
I somewhat agree as well. And I do embrace the character of my guitars- the fretboard wear up past the 10th fret on my '59 ES-225, the checking on my '64 Epiphone Olympic, where my grandfather's thumb wore through the finish on his old mandolin, where my pinky wore about 1/16" into the wood by the bridge on my Tele, the smell of an old Fender amp...
This is different. This is a lack of craftsmanship. A finely crafted tool that shows handwork and, later, wear, is a beautiful thing. That's not what this is.
These scratches do not affect playability, tone or the guitar's stage presence (if you've ever played a red ES-335 on stage, you understand what I mean).
I'm working on pics. I've got a few and am working on where to host them. PB is done and my LilyPix account still works but is full.
Ah, sorry that I missed that. Then I guess that's a game changer. Like you said, you can return or maybe even sell it and recoup funds so that's good. I guess I misinterpreted when I first read and thought those were sanding/ finishing issues from the factory. Is keeping it out of the question?
There's a very strong possibility that I'll keep it. It's a great guitar for the price that I paid, with a cosmetic "flaw" that you can't see unless you're looking for it (but is hard to "un-see" once you've seen it). As much as an ES-335 is my dream guitar, it's not my main guitar. I'm a Tele and Strat player through and through.
I'll post pics soon. Looking for a hosting site.
It still has plastic on the pickguard.
too bad. send it to me and I'll run it through a wood chipper for you.
at least its top isn't partially stoved in below the bridge, but that was a used guitar, not a floor model.
Phew! Slap a few stickers on it, and everyone will think you're Alvin Lee. And they won't notice any blemishes.
Beautiful guitar, Don!
Wow!
That is pretty.
I was really upset with myself after I put the first ding on my R8.
15 years later, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me now.
If it is something that you are going to focus on everytime you look at it...
Does it setup, play, and sound like you want?
What happend?
Who let the magic smoke out?
Beautiful and perfect enough!
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
Thanks guys. We just viewed this guitar in the hard linear florescent lights of my office- where I first noticed the scratches and it's fine. You really have to look for them.
I'll be playing the guitar at a small jam during lunch. I'll let you know how it sounds.
Beautiful! Buff it out. If you ain't rubbin' you ain't racin'! Don't look at the sides of the headstock if you don't want to get pissed. Gibson heads = orange peel like a GM paint job...
I can't see anything bad at all either.
And I bet noone will, except for a perfection-driven owner.
I just played a small jam with the guitar and it sounded great.
My ES 335 has the nicest neck of any guitar I own. It plays really smoothly and sounds amazing.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
I was really amazed with the guitar's tone at our jam. Very full, rich and complex. Chords that often sound thin were really nice. Awesome sound. I was using a 5F1 tweed Champ clone that was only set at about 4. I occasionally used a Prince of Tone overdrive.