garyk's Reviews
2 reviews Back to garyk's Equipboard
44
Everyone should own one
Finding a great 335 is a worthwhile experience. Some are truly awful. Great ones are sensational. Play as many as you can. I stumbled across mine by accident, and it is now my #1 stage guitar. They are somewhat "swiss army guitars" that cover a lot of territory ... however ... to do this I have changed the pickups, with a DiMarzio SD in the neck and a GFS "P90" - esq type in the neck for brighter rhythm tones. This makes it much more versatile. Some models have maple necks (etc) and these are fine too. As with any guitar, but particularly the 335, go and play as many as you can. When you strike "gold" you will know it. Mine has a thinner neck, and medium weight. All fine by me. Any vintage has the potential to be good (or not so good) ... but the early ones are certainly something else.
44
"sleeper"
I came across mine by chance. You may need to play a few: mine sounds significantly better (and is heavier) than a similar one played. The not-so-good news is that the finish isn't great, (soft, marks easily) perfunctory rather than good. However, the sound is totally killer. I have had many Les Pauls ... over many years, and this one screams ... significantly. The bridge PU is about 14K (but never let DC resistance fool you) and sounds truly amazing. The quasi active electronics gives you some interesting tonal possibilities, like a "wah" on the neck pickup. Mine is very, very heavy. Fat neck like the oldies. Allegedly these are quite faithful 1959 copies in construction, and thus could be considered very inexpensive '59 repros, far less than other Gibson '59 reissues. Sound wise, I've never played a more demonic sounding LP. Its is the only LP I now own.