tbonesullivan Posted August 21, 2009 Author Posted August 21, 2009 they are... but I jumped on that 535 for $1200. I like the color, it's had the roller bridge replaced with a real TOM, and it was free shipping. so now... the wait begins.
Sam Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 I have previously owned a Gibson ES-335 Studio (no f-holes) I'd not seen one of those before. Do you feel that the lack of holes altered the 335 recipe much? Easier to get to the electronics!
3of5 Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 Epiphone Elitist 335. Made in Japan. Boffo. Rats, try again. Bare with me as I learn how to paste a picture.
JohnnyB Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 Epiphone Elitist 335. Made in Japan. Boffo. Rats, try again. Bare with me as I learn how to paste a picture. Some web sites won't let you copy their pictures. That particular website is https, which means it's a secured website. Try this:
GaryT Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 Ya the Heritage were coming out for a bit with Seths and Tune-o-matics instead of roller bridges. Cool though, be interesting to hear how ya like it. There nice guitars. The Seths in my Maple-Top pro just seem much differently EQ'd than the Spruce Top NP. Just a hair difference in resistance makes a difference in the EQ and listening. Though PAF style pick-ups the Maple-Tops set are more mid-range focused than my Spruce Top. But I agree a set of Pearly Gates would make a nice change. I like Gibsons BB-Pro in the neck with their 498 in the bridge also. I use that set in my SG Standard and it Rocks with the Alnico V.s Here's the Maple Top NP.
GaryT Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 I bought one of these Artcore Customs for under $500. and was very surprized at it quality. I wound up trading it for a USA Telecaster but they are worth $5 bills all day long used. I didn't care for the Custom 58 pups though I do like the Super 58's. But that a small issue. Also my 135 and Spruce-Top. The 335 I sold, it had a 60's profile neck and next to the 135, just no comparison. The 135 with the Trap blew the 335 away. 57's sounded much better more open and airy. I had a 03 135 with a TOM and Stop-Tail and I also didn't care for that as much as the 02 135 w/Trap same deal as the 335 basically. Out of any Hollow or Semi-Hollow I've played over the years by far I like my Birdseye Newport the best. I bonded with it immediatly and frankly just haven't put it down since purchase. And the Trap tail 135s are cool piece's BUT. they do have QC issues. I bought mine from a Hamer dealer in CT that phoned me when the 135 came in. He suggested I come down and play it, he was impressed with it and thought I would also be. He was 100% Right.
tbonesullivan Posted August 21, 2009 Author Posted August 21, 2009 My one friend who had two 535s.. the first had the Schaller pickups and Schaller roller bridge.. the second had a Standard tom, and I think covered SD 59 pickups. He liked those a lot better than the Schallers. If the schallers are supposed to be PAF... they should sound somewhat like the seth lovers. My main concern is that the schallers may not have quite enough bite/snarl for me, at least in the bridge position. For the neck position. I tend to like a more "airy" pickup with a nice mellow sound... so I doubt that would need replacing.
JohnnyB Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 This thread is making me pull out my Ibanez AS180 and Newport for a little fun. I like my AS180 better than pretty much any 335 or 335-like instrument in this thread, except for the occasional exceptional ES-335. Heritage 535s may equal it on tone (but not with Schaller pickups), but feel rough in the hands compared to the Ibanez. To answer the earlier question, the non-f-hole ES-335 Studio sounded more "solidbody" than what I expected out of a semihollow thinline, but I can't say for sure that it's the lack of f-holes. There are plenty of f-holed Gibson ES-335s out there that sound like bricks too. I considered it a poor man's Lucille. Got it for under $700, but I soon found that no amount of truss-rod adjusting would take the wave out of the neck, which kept the action high. Even with that, I had no trouble selling it at a tidy profit.
3of5 Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 Epiphone Elitist 335. Made in Japan. Boffo. Rats, try again. Bare with me as I learn how to paste a picture. Thank you JohnnyB. Here I go again. And blast you Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; I believe Microsoft Live to be a secret portal to hell.
GaryT Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 I liked my 200 and 180 Ibanez, and as I mentioned I really like the Super 58 pick-ups. BUT............I am very anal about neck profile. My Ibanezs [except for the Artcore custom-5-piece neck] all had thinner necks including my 02 335 Gibson which was a 60's profile Gibson. Many things come into play when buying a guitar. Today a BIG issue for me is neck prifile. I prefer a larger necks like Gibsons 59 profile [like my SG and 135]. Or in the case of my Custom Built Newport, a PRS Wide-Fat carve. It has just become very apparent to me that larger necks do not fatugue my fretting forearm. As for Semi's with No-F-Holes. I owned a 03 135 TOM/Stop-Tail which is actually a inbetween instrument of the 135/137. But IMHO it had a baffled Tone which I honestly believe was a direct result of the missing F-Holes. Here I'll show you a photo. Also on this model the finish is Satin not Gloss Nitro. But I found this same issue to bew true with a BB-King USA Gibby I almost bought. Here's another great example of a KILLER playing sounding Hamer Atrist ustom I let go simple do to the seriously thin neck profile. Semi-Hollows have been elusive for me. Its taken some time to find the ones I felt were "perfect" I also checked out the Elitest Epi which I didn't buy. But I came VERY close to. Great condition and the price was $700 with OHSC but after extensive conversation with the owner, he described the neck profile as Gibson 60 and maybe slightly thinner. Now I realize many prefer this. But I have a gunshot wound to my left forarm [war] from the late 60's which annoys me after a bit of playing. Fat Large necks do NOT bother my arm. But hey, take all this with a grain of salt. Whats true of me might be OPPOSTE for you. Inatantly what comes to mind with the more popular Semi's and Hollowbodys out here today is BANG For The BUCK? I have seen Newport Pro's in EXCELLENT COND. for $1000 w/OHSC used in MINT cond. Thats a HARD price to beat for a HAND BUILT electric as opposed to a Production Line or an electric built from another country. Especially when you figure in SETHS, CTS pots, Schaller Tuners and Bridge's. 14 coats hand buffed Nitro, Dove Tail neck joint and on and on and on.. Hamers quality is second to none. And as I mentioned early in this post, to compare or exceed the Hamer quality you really have look at instruments like Collins for example. This is NOT to say that other Semi's are not cool and you that you can't find a great instrument from other countrys. But the Hamers are the ONLY electric to date I will buy on-line sight un-seen. And should you buy another Brand? I wish you all the luck in the world..Seriously! What I have come to the conclusion too, is my owm personal opiniaon which I developed after playing guitar for close to 40 years. I was VERY lucky buying my Spuce Top Newport. A bunch of us happened to be on the Hamer Forum back in 03 when MF was discontinuing selling USA Hamers. MF made a mistake and listed the TO Newport Pro's for $599.00 instead of $1599.00. Well to make a LONG STORY short MF honored the price and all of us at the Hamer Forum that pulled the trigger were given the $599 price. Only in Transparent Orange though. Its all that was left. And if my memory serves me right 4 of us actually recieved the Newports. Which is just a incredible deal. If the basic 335 shape is your desire? Why not try a Echo Tone by Hamer. They are also pretty Cool electrics that with some electrics will hold their own. Just Saying. BUT THIS IS MY BABY!!!!!!!
JohnnyB Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 I liked my 200 and 180 Ibanez, and as I mentioned I really like the Super 58 pick-ups. BUT............I am very anal about neck profile. My Ibanezs [except for the Artcore custom-5-piece neck] all had thinner necks including my 02 335 Gibson which was a 60's profile Gibson.Many things come into play when buying a guitar. Today a BIG issue for me is neck prifile. I prefer a larger necks like Gibsons 59 profile [like my SG and 135]. Or in the case of my Custom Built Newport, a PRS Wide-Fat carve.It has just become very apparent to me that larger necks do not fatugue my fretting forearm.I totally hear you on that one, and it probably has a lot to do with why my AS180 did not stay as my number one. As a 335 copy, it's excellent--good woods, good parts, beautiful sunburst with a hand-rubbed look, beautifully put together with meticulous binding and detail. There's a lot about the neck I like as well--the maple center keeps it straight, and the fast profile is good for single-string soloing and licks. But as you said, when chording I want a thicker neck to fend off hand fatigue. That may be why I liked the Norlin-era Dot reissue over a lot more prestigious 335s--they have a '59 profile neck.It is also why--like you--my "baby," my #1, is a Newport. I love the Newport neck, and when that thing is in my hands I don't care whether it exactly "cops a 335 vibe" or not. It has a wider range of tonalities and expressivity that even the best 335 will never have. The Newports--all of them, spruce, maple, korina, Phat Cat, Seths, Bigsby, tunamatic, stoptail or tailpiece--have a feel, tones, and responsiveness beyond what is typically expected even in an expensive electric. At the time I bought mine I said it redefines what an electric guitar can do. Since then, Hamer's new guitars such as the Monaco, Superpro, and Talledega continue to redefine the electric guitar's tonal and dynamic ranges and playability.
GaryT Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 Believe it or not my second choice was a ES-339. But I have a friend who records down in the DC area. He has a Newport Pro Custom [Gold Trap-Tail]. And a ES-339. He is really the one that steered me in the Newport direction. And though he loved it it [339], he installed a RS-Kit pots/caps, and a Light weight Stop Tail and bridge along with neck work done where the board meets the neck. So what once a $1799 Gibson quickly involved to a $2500 dollar piece. BTW here's a Ibanez 180 I built with all Gibson Hardware. [Gothic SG] Fron a AS-73 to a AS-180, TO A Set off US electrics. BUT............................Though a Strat player at Heart ... I DIG SEMI's.
GaryT Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 And heres some Gibbys! Here's the Strats minus the one I just built.
Brooks Posted August 24, 2009 Posted August 24, 2009 Damn! Curse my genetics! @ 5'7", 335's are way too huge for me to play with a straight face. same here. i tried a 335 years ago, too big. same thing w/ the newport. tried hamer anniversary and artist, both were great but kinda bright. my fave guitar is a duotone; great jazzy neck pup tones (esp w/ phatcat), great bridge bucker rawk tones (esp w/ BBQ). plus acoustic output. perfect.
tbonesullivan Posted August 24, 2009 Author Posted August 24, 2009 whoa! when did this become the "post your guitars" thread? not that I mind, I wonder if I should participate hehehe.those are some nice guitars up there. I'll have to post a buncha pics once the 535 arrives.
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