The Gibson ES-335

Tone Monster number one. Big neck? check. PAFs? check. Stoptail? nope.

Tone Monster number 2. Big neck? Check, PAFs? nope. Stoptail? check.

Yes, this is a refinished 62 and is Tone Monster number 3. Big neck? nope. PAFs? check. Stoptail? Check. Again 2 outta 3.

In the last post I discussed how the tone of your guitar can be adversely affected by something as mundane as saddles that are too deep and worn. This post will take on what has almost been elevated to urban myth status. It seems there are an awful lot of people who equate big tone with big necks. It makes sense, after all. It is pretty well established that the “legendary” tone monsters are mostly 59s and 59s have big necks. But is the tail wagging the dog or are the “experts” wagging their tongues. Well, to be sure, there are plenty of wannabes out there who will jump on any bandwagon in sight. It’s human nature to want to sound knowledgable and be part of an elite group-that group being 59 Les Paul owners, I suppose. Or maybe even 59 ES-335 owners. In any case, is there any truth to the big neck equals big tone legend? Much as I love to debunk urban myth, there may actually be something to this. The best four guitars I’ve ever owned are a 59, a 59, a 64 and a 62. Three of the four have  big necks. All four have been unusually resonant unplugged and all four have had that sweet singing tone and wonderful sustain that we all equate with Golden Era Gibsons. Without getting into physics and the properties of old wood that I know very little about, it’ll be hard to convince anyone of anything. Simple physics-sound travels better through solids than it does through air. More wood=more solids. Does that equal more tone? Beats me but it sure seems that way. Most of you know how much I like 64s. They don’t have PAFs but they do have big necks and they are consistently great. I’ve had loads of them and never had a dog in the bunch. But what about that great refinished 62 dot neck that sounded so great? The neck wasn’t particularly small but it wasn’t all that big either. That one was resonant too which leads me to believe there are other factors besides size in this fight (sound familiar?).  The two 59s had big but not huge necks and were extremely resonant but also had great long magnet PAFs and shallow neck angles. The neck angle on the 62 and 64 were much steeper. Then, to complicate matters, three of the four were stoptails and one is a Bigsby. It’s pretty well accepted that a stoptail is a big factor in great tone (and sustain).  So, what is it? Luck? The wood itself? I think it’s more likely the confluence of a number of factors where the “right” combination (and the right setup) brings them all together. Will a fat neck increase your chances of getting great tone? I think it will but it’s only one of a few factors. It is no accident that 1959 is considered the pinnacle of the Golden Era and the neck is a big part of that. Of course, the market says a 59 is worth twice what a 64 is worth and that means that either the 64s are underpriced or the 59s are overpriced.  And, yes, there are twice as many 64 335s out there than there are 59s but neither guitar is particularly rare.  Also, just to throw a monkey wrench into the conclusion, one the top four tone monsters in my ES hall of fame is a 59 345 with a Varitone. In red. In fact all four are red. Does that mean red ES’s sound better than sunbursts? Of course it does. We all know that.

This is Tone Monster number 4. It has all the elements. Big neck, PAFs and a stop. But it also has that well known tone sucker-the Varitone. This guitar has the best neck pickup ever and tone to die for. The only rule is that there aren't any rules.

Those are some seriously heavily notched saddles. How you gonna vibrate freely if most of the string is being damped (not dampened) by the saddle?

I spent the weekend out riding the range and boy is my butt sore. OK, I’ve never ridden a horse in my life and we don’t have a lot of ranges to ride here in Connecticut unless you count the Wolfs and the Vikings (both gas and electric). We are going to take a look at the saddles on an ABR-1 to see if that’s what making you sore about your poor tone. I’ve played a lot of 335s (and 345s and 355s)- many more than the 200 or so that have passed through my hands. I keep a mental note of the great ones but I don’t really get down to hard analysis of what I’ve learned. Well, maybe it’s time I took a closer look. There are a bunch of assumptions that are made about 335s (and guitars in general) that aren’t always borne out by experience. There are more myths and assumptions with regard to tone than there are fingers on your hands. I believe that tone comes from a number of places; including from your amp and from inside your head. A really important factor is how freely the string vibrates and how those vibrations (and all the other vibrations that enter into the equation) are translated from mechanical energy into electrical. I’ve gotten a few early 335s that sound pretty dead when I get them but with a few tweaks and perhaps an upgrade or two, they turn into tone monsters. Let’s start with sustain. Everybody likes their guitar to sustain. The big problem I have with newer Gibsons is that they don’t seem to. I’m not sure why. They biggest improvement to sustain comes from making sure the saddles and nut aren’t restricting the free vibration of the string. Over 50 or so years, the saddle notches get worn and become too deep-or they were made too deep to begin with. I recently had a 61 that just sounded dull and lifeless. All I did was swap out the original bridge for a Tone Pros that I barely notched and it sang like a choir of angels. That’s it. The nut can do the same thing. If it pings when you tune the guitar or bend strings, then the slots are too tight. I don’t usually mess with nut files but I do lubricate the slots and that can help as well.  I always put on new strings before I start messing with the guitar. Old strings will sound dull and lifeless no matter great your guitar is. Make sure you keep the original bridge with the guitar or in a safe place because when it comes time to sell, you’re going to want to include it. If you are set on using the original bridge, make sure it isn’t sagging in the middle -just set it upside down on a flat surface and look at it. If the saddles are notched more than half the depth of the string, then you’re going to want to either replace the saddles or file down the tops so the notches are smaller. I use a flat file since the tops of vintage saddles are flat anyway. So, once we have the strings vibrating freely, what else is contributing to the tone? Pickup height is a big element. What about the resonance of the guitar itself? How does that play into the equation?  And what about neck size and tone? We’ll dig into that quagmire in the next post.

No sign of a sticker here. But really, is it the sticker that tells you everything? Not by a longshot. Look at the feet-the "L" tooling marks have to be there.

I don’t know of another seemingly insignificant piece of plastic that carries more weight than a PAF sticker. Even if you can authenticate the pickup 5 different ways, to most, it’s still not truly a PAF without that little piece of plastic film. If the pickup is from, say, 1962 and it says “patent applied for” it’s worth $1500-$2000. If it says “patent # 2737842, then it’s worth $800-$1200 even though its the exact same pickup (well into 1964, anyway when they changed the windings). If the sticker is missing, then you have to convince everyone that you aren’t lying. It’s kind of exhausting, actually. It’s well documented that a lot of pickups-especially in 64-didn’t get stickers. A lot of stickers simply fall off over 50 or so years. And while I understand the collectors mindset, I don’t always understand the mindset of the player. The collector will pay a premium for everything to be exactly as it left the factory. In fact, I’ll go a step further and say the collector wants everything to be as it should have been when it left the factory. That means no anomalies. No one off weirdness like heel stingers or custom hardware (like nickel on a 345). There are many, many documented non-standard things that show up on these guitars and I don’t blame the collectors for shunning anything that will call the authenticity of their guitar into question. The collector is paying a premium for exactly that. Authenticity. But once a guitar leaves the collectors realm through changed parts, mods or missing stickers, ya gotta lighten up a bit and use your ears as well as your eyes. I recently purchased a 64 that had no stickers on the pickups.  The covers were gone and I had to decide whether the pickups were original, correct or something else. Truthfully, the stickers alone aren’t enough to authenticate a pickup anyway. There are some very good fakes (and some really crappy ones). So, we look at other indicators. The L shaped tooling marks, the double shiny black lead wires, the not too neat square in the circle, the slight warp to the bobbins, even the screws that hold the pickup together. Granted, if the covers are intact, you’re limited in what you can ascertain-so it’s actually a bit of an advantage if the covers have already been off. I still look at the solder joints on the harness but that can be inconclusive as well. If they look tampered with, then you go to the next step. Are the wires the right length? Do the pickups sound right? Are the covers worn in a similar pattern? There’s a lot of amateur sleuthing going on and pickups are the prime suspect more often than not being the most expensive component on a PAF equipped guitar. I like to ask the question-is a non stickered pickup in an early block neck an unstickered PAF or an unstickered patent number?  They are the same, of course. I believe a missing sticker affects the value of a guitar-no question about it. You should spend less if the stickers are missing. But you should never assume that a pickup isn’t a PAF or patent number only because a sticker is missing. Nor should you assume a pickup is a PAF just because it has a sticker.

If the cover is off, look at the windings. They should be brownish purple. Or perhaps purplish brown. The "square in the circle" hole should be a little ratty looking. And both lead wires-the ones at the end of the pickup under the paper tape-should be black. No exceptions.

Long, long, short. All wide bevel. Yes, the one on the right has a partial refinish.

Funny, I thought I had covered this but a reader says no. And I think he’s right-I did a kind of general “plastics” post but never really got down to the nitty and the gritty (If you’ve spent any time under a vintage pickguard, you are well aware of the gritty part).  You wouldn’t think it would be that big a deal but pickguards are another good example of just how nutty collectors are. I can go out and buy an original 68 guard for $75. But a 66 (which is the same as a 61) will cost me more like $450. And if that isn’t nutty enough, a 58-60 will cost me in excess of a grand. Want a long guard for a 355? Good luck. Every time Gibson changed a part, it seems the motivation was economics. From 58-60 the pickguard on all 335s, 345s and 355s extended below the bridge-hence the term “long guard”. I think they look great and they have always been my preference for no other reason than appearance. Gibson, with the idea of using less plastic and thus saving a few pennies per instrument, shortened the guard in late 60 so that it extended only to the bottom of the bridge pickup ring. The transition extended into 1961 and 61 long guards are not common but they aren’t rare either. It seems to me (from observation) that the 345s got the short guard first and then the 335s. The 355s follow their own schedule because the guard is totally different. It is tortoise shell instead of black and has a separate binding rather than a bevel edge. They also tend to disintegrate over time, often due to “gassing off”. Google it-it’s science (and science is fun and good for your head). The 355s followed approximately the same schedule. I’ve seen a few short guard 60’s but I don’t recall seeing any long guard 61’s. All the 3×5 guards were held to the guitar the same way-a small screw up by the neck pickup and a bracket that inserted into a plastic block glued to the back of the guard. The bracket is a four part thing consisting of a threaded rod, an open nut, a closed nut and the bracket that screws into the binding at the waist. If you aren’t sure if your guitar was an original long guard or short guard, the position of the bracket will give it away. It’ll be lower on a long guard. Look to see if there’s more than one screw hole in the binding. Look to see if the plastic block on the underside was moved, look to see if the threaded rod has been bent. Any of those things will reveal that a short guard was substituted for a long one or (less likely) vice versa). The ES-335/345 guard is five ply b-w-b-w-b. The bevel is wide and the bottom white layer is wider than the top white layer. By late 66/early 67, the guard changed again. the shape is more or less the same but the bevel is much narrower. Probably another money saving change-it probably was cheaper to source the guard with the narrow bevel or it took less time to make them. You have to look closely because it can be very hard to tell a wide bevel from a narrow bevel in a photo. The angle is critical. The wide bevel is really wide. One other thing to look at-Look at the space between the top of the guard and the cutaway. It’s totally inconsistent. I had a 345 that extended a good 1/4″ past the cutaway. I’ve had others that end at least a 1/4″ below it. That’s what handmade means.

Narrow bevel guard on a 68. Also, look at how much daylight there is above the guard compared to the 66 345 below it

Wide bevel on a rare Mickey Mouse ear 66. Look at how far into the cutaway the guard extends.

Who doesn't love a red 335/345/355? I would have kept all of them if I could have. Left to right: '60, 64, 63, 60.

The guitar closet at my house. This is pretty much the whole collection. You can see a few 335s and 345s in their cases (black and brown), the Taylor 12 string, Robin Ranger in the square case and my tweed Tremolux (with a custom 2-10" baffle)and "El Grande"-a 54 Supro Spectator and a BF Fender reverb unit underneath everything else. The modern case in the back corner is what I use as a shipper if a guitar needs work..

You might figure that since I buy up most of the good (and well priced) 58-64 ES-335s, 345s and 355s out there, that I’ve played them all and my collection is complete and I’m happy to let all these wonderful guitars slip though my hands. Au contraire. That’s French for nope. If I kept every guitar I fell in love with, I’d probably have 20 or 25 guitars. I have only 5 “keepers”. I have a 64 ES-335 in red. I have a 53 J200. I have a 2003 Taylor 655 12 string. I have a 1998 Robin Ranger that was my son’s first decent electric and I have a rotating stock of ES-345s.  More about that later. But, like most players, I have a wish list. Really. You would think I would have found everything I want by now but I haven’t-or I have and I, stupidly, sold it. I’ve been searching for the most elusive one- a red 59 dot neck- for years and I’ve found a couple but they keep slipping through my fingers. There was one in Nashville not too long ago that was at Joe Glaser’s shop and my Nashville bud Kent tipped me off to it. By the time I got to it, it had (apparently) gone to Vince Gill. There was another in California that another guitar buddy had heard about and I missed that one too. I’ve also been looking for a blonde dot neck and they keep eluding me as well. I’m not about to spend $50K plus on a 335, so the likelihood of finding one I like is slim. I think the “blonde premium” is far too much (that goes for guitars and women) so until I find one (the guitar, not the woman-I’ve already got a blonde one) for $30K or less, I’m going to do without. The 345s, however, are another thing altogether. I’ve owned more 59-60 345s than any other model and year. I just love these guitars-especially the late 59 early 60’s with their very 64 like neck profile. What’s so interesting is that they are all different. There must be 4 or 5 neck sizes and at least 3 different body depths during this period. The reason I haven’t found a keeper is that I keep finding better and better examples. I almost always have one in stock but sometimes a customer asks me to find one and the only one I can find is the one in my closet. This happened recently with an absolutely wonderful sounding 59 sunburst. There’s a mint 60 living in the closet now that I’m quite taken with. Now, I’m partial to the earlier red ones but they don’t come up that often. The red 59 I had with a pair of zebra PAFs had the misfortune of showing up early in my adventure as a dealer. If I got that one today, I never would have sold it. While I appreciated how rare it was, I didn’t appreciate how great it was. It was also the earliest red 345 that has surfaced. It had that perfect fade that the early ones get. I called it “The Watermelon”. The photo will tell you why. So, I’d like to find another one of those. The next thing I want is a stoptail mono 355. These are pretty rare too but I’m going to see one this week in New Jersey. There’s another in Nashville that I know of. I’d really like to find a black mono stoptail 355 but I’m not sure it exists. Gil Southworth will probably write me to tell me he has one (he had the blonde 355SV stoptail in the book “Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years” by A.R. Duchossoir). So, if you’re out there and you enjoy reading my stuff and you have one of these guitars on my wish list, just pack it up and send it to me. I’ll send you a whole pile of money and a hand written thank you note.

The elusive red 59 dot. This one comes from Tom Hollyers wonderful site at www.es-335.net and I think I know who owns it. Maybe if I win the lottery, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse. I know of two others but they are both Bigsbys.

"The Watermelon" The best 345 I've ever owned and, like a dope, I sold it. It is the earliest known red 345.

Check out the gold Varitone knob. It's factory and pretty unusual. This is a very late 60 ES-345

I love  the really little stuff. The details that other 335 aficionados either ignore or don’t know about. Over the past few years, I’ve seen a couple of ES-345s that had an unusual Varitone switch. The chickenhead knob, which is usually black, is painted gold. When I saw the first one, I figured it wasn’t factory-it was just someones aesthetic choice. Then I saw two or three  more and realized that this is, in fact, a factory feature.

When's the last time you saw the pull ribbon on the case pocket of a 52 year old guitar look like this?

The guitar in the photo is one of the last 345s to leave the factory in 1960. It’s only about 100 numbers from the end of the year, so I figure its from the last week or second to last week in December. It has a number of features that are more common in 61-most notably the sideways trem which really only shows up on 345s for 2 years-61 and 62. It also has a white switch tip which is more commonly associated with 61. The long guard says 60 though, loud and clear.  But what about the gold chicken head? Gibson was always trying to eliminate steps in the manufacturing process. The thinking was, fewer steps means less production time which means lower costs and higher profits. There were dozens of cost cutting measures put into effect during the era, not all to the good of the instrument. That’s another post. But why add the step of spray painting the knob? Seems kind of dumb, doesn’t it? Granted, it was probably less than an hours work to do a years worth of them but still, the corporate culture was dictating otherwise. One other thing to note. You can see in the photo that the trem arm is in the way of the Varitone switch. Bad design? Well, partially. The ES-355’s that got the sideways often got a round knob rather than the chickenhead but there’s more to it than that. Back in 1960, nobody even made the ultralight gauge strings we’re all used to today. The average set of strings were .12’s and were probably flats. That causes a lot more tension on the trem and would cause the arm to sit closer to the housing, perhaps making enough room for the chicken head to actually turn. Or not. There isn’t much more to say about the switch but there’s plenty to say about the guitar. I’m pretty careful with my guitars but, even so, I still manage to whack the closet door with the guitar every now and then if I leave it open. Or, I smack the headstock into the wall in the laundry room where I do my repairs and setups. It just happens a couple of times a year. So how in the world does a guitar exist for 52 years and stay mint. It boggles my mind. This particular 60 defies logic, it’s so clean. It has one ding on the entire guitar at the very top of the headstock. That’s all. No wear, no checking. A little pitting on the gold on the trem and the shrunken tuner buttons are the only things that tell you this isn’t a reissue. I got it from the second owner who never played it (drummers, go figure). The original owner had it for more than 40 years, so I assume he played it once in a while. The thing that just blows me away is thecondition of the inside of the case. The ribbon on the case pocket always gets trashed first. This one looks brand new-like no one ever opened the pocket. There’s a reason these time capsule examples command a premium. How many are you going to come across? In the past two years since I’ve gotten serious about the vintage thing, I’ve seen 2. Both, coincidentally, red 60 ES-345s. Maybe they’re just too pretty to play or else it has something to do with the gold chicken head.

Here it is on my repair guy's bench. What's wrong with this picture? What's wrong is the guitar needs nothing, so why is it even on the bench?

Well, I had to proclaim that there are no mono non Varitone 345s only to have one sent to me today.

Just when you think you know everything, something comes along to remind you that you don’t. I mentioned in a recent post about how if there was a mono, non Varitone 345, that it would be very popular but, alas, while there are some 335s with the 345 inlays, there are no non Varitone, mono 345s. What exactly would that be-if not a gold hardware 335 with parallelogram inlays? Don’t forget that the binding on a 345 is different as well-the 335 has single ply and the 345 has 3 ply white black white. Had the ES-345 been available as a mono, non Varitone model, it wouldn’t have been very different from a 335. Really, just the top binding, the gold hardware and the inlays. I have found that the quality of the wood seems a bit better in 345s than in 335s-more figuring, usually but most of us don’t like too much figuring in our ES models anyway. I’ve seen some stunning flame-usually on the backs of 335s and, more often, on the front of 345s but usually it is pretty subtle-maybe a little flame or some birdseye. Nice. Subtle.  So, in keeping with the idea of a line of guitars with three models, it just wouldn’t have made sense to offer a mono 345. Perhaps gold hardware as an option on the 335 would have been just as nonsensical. The 355 is perhaps a different story since it was so much fancier with it’s heavily inlaid headstock and 7 ply top binding. It was clear that these “tuxedo” elements were meant to appeal to the showman (or woman) and I’m not surprised that they only offered red as the standard color, although black would have been very classy. I guess they didn’t want to cut into the sales of the Les Paul Custom. I’m told that Gibson used to bend over backward for artists and would make just about anything a well known player would want. That brings me back to the guitar in the picture. Well, it’s got a 345 fingerboard and gold hardware but anybody could do that to a 335. But wait, look at the binding. that’s 3 plies, folks. Here I go, shooting my fool mouth off about there being no mono 345s and, bingo, somebody can’t wait to prove me wrong. Looks to me like a 61 or 62. Nice shape too. UPDATE: April 2, 2012. April Fool. It’s a Photoshopped ’61.

The early 345s, and this is the earliest one I've owned in the late A30XXX range, have a hand wired Varitone switch with about 20 different components soldered to the switch. This 59 is the earliest known red one, which I had the pleasure of owning for awhile. The Varitone on this one did not suck the tone out of this guitar. This guitar would hold its own with any guitar including a 59 Les Paul.

I’m always awed by people who are wired differently than normal folks like me. That includes musicians who are so talented it makes me want to throw away my guitar and shout from the rooftops how badly I suck at playing after 45 years. It also includes tech geniuses who not only possess the vast amount of knowledge required to be a tech genius but actually understand how these things work. Knowledge is one thing-everybody can get that but understanding is something else. I learned calculus but I never understood it. Therefore I can’t use it. I consider Chris W. from New Jersey to be my personal tech genius and he is the one who answers my arcane tech questions and has worked tirelessly to try to dispel all the bad press the Varitone gets. That is until we both happened on the same conclusion about Varitones. I had owned a lot of 59-61 ES-345s and never once believed that the Varitone was the “evil tone sucker” it was reputed to be. I had, up until I started being a dealer, never owned a 62 or later 345 simply because I like the early ones and they were always relatively cheap (until the bubble). As I started buying up 62-64 ES-345s, I started noticing something distressing. They sounded nasal. yes, something evil WAS sucking the tone out of them and  suddenly the people I had been dismissing as raving lunatics didn’t seem so raving (or lunaticky). So, I did what any inquisitive red blooded American boy would do. I took it apart. What I noticed is that the Varitone in the 62 I was dismantling was different than the ones I had seen in my 59 through 61s. The 59 to 61 Varitone switch has about 20 c0mponents hand soldered to the 6 way switch. The 62 had two big orange square things with lots of little solder “legs” solder to the switch. They were, I found out, multivalue chips that had “printed” capacitors and resistors instead of individual components. I don’t remember if I suggested to Chris that this was somethingto look into or he suggested it to me but we both had the same thought. Maybe there is the original Varitone and then, there is its EVIL TWIN. It would appear, from Chris’ extensive and oh so geeky tests, that the later Varitone and the original Varitone are not the same. I can’t translate his tests into laymans terms any better than to say the original Varitone has what is, for all intents and purposes, a “true” bypass. The difference in tone between position one and taking the VT out of the circuit is imperceptible. That is not the case with at least some of the later “chip” Varitones. Here is a link to Chris’ Varitone paper called “The Variable Varitone”. I might add that they changed the Varitone again during the 60’s. They used a multivalue chip but it was a newer design. And it was blue. I can’t say much about it because I’ve never owned a 345 later than a 65. Perhaps they improved it. perhaps it was cheaper still. Care to make a wager?

Chris also does a video that illustrates “our” point which you can find here. I am currently in possession of his very cool Varitone pedal and I can vouch for the results. Not that I have the credentials to do so-I supplied some of the components so I get to vouch. Vouch, vouch, vouch. OK, I’m done.  This doesn’t mean folks will stop removing the Varitones from their vintage 345s but I hope that it will make them at least give a listen before they do. When I play a 345, I use the bypass position 95% of the time. If it sounds good to you, leave it alone. If it sounds nasal or thin (and its a 62 or later-although I don’t know exactly when the transition began) then perhaps a change is advised. My advice? Take out the entire harness and put in a new 335 harness or just have the choke (the big silver box) disconnected. According to Chris, that will bypass the Varitone but leave your guitar stereo. If you don’t use the Varitone and you really just want a cheaper vintage 335, then take out the harness and put it in the case pocket. The next owner will appreciate that. The good news is that your 345 will be close to half a pound lighter. Or you could just buy a vintage 335…which will leave your wallet around half a pound lighter.

This is what Chris built to test the Varitones from the early and "later" era. I'm not certain of the exact beginning and end of the transition from discreet components to the big "chip" type. I supplied the earlier switch which came out of a late 59. I also supplied the "half" choke (it's a mono circuit in the pedal) which came from a different 59. Chris bought the later switch off of Ebay.

Here are the guts. You can see the one on the right is just a jumble of components and the one on the left-the newer one-is a big orange square thing. I'm sure it was a lot cheaper to make the later one. Is it any wonder that cheaper isn't better?

There are 335s with a Varitone but I've never seen a 345 without one. I've seen a 335 with a 345 fingerboard but it didn't have the fancier binding. I think if 345 monos existed, they would be very popular.

When the great Ted McCarty ran Gibson back in the day, he was an innovator and a brilliant marketer. The semi hollow (or semi solid as he is said to have called it) was his idea and was based on trying to find some balance between the sound of a full hollow body and the fully solid body. He wasn’t the only one messing around with the concept but his was a lot simpler than other attempts. In fact, Rickenbacker still takes a solid block of wood and routs chambers for their “semi” hollow series (360 and others) as did Fender for the thinline Tele. Like most good marketers, Mr McCarty saw this as a complete line of instruments from the low end 335 to the top of the line 355. The new Varitone innovation and the stereo wiring would differentiate the models along with a few other, mostly cosmetic, elements. The bottom of the line 335 had dot markers, shared with the cheapest of all the Gibson lines. The 345 would have parallelograms which where a lot more work (and were also plastic) to install and were shared with the SJ and Country Western flattops. The 355 would have real MOP block markers. The body bindings (especially on the front) were more elaborate on the 345 and even more so on the 355. The headstock on the 355 was bigger and fancier and the 355 had an ebony fingerboard whereas the 335 and 345 had rosewood. Keep in mind that ebony was more expensive in 1958 than the now vaunted Brazilian rosewood. In fact, Brazilian was dirt cheap which is why they sold  (and cut) so much of it and pretty much destroyed the species. Environmental issues aside, ebony was considered the “better” (and more durable) material and the high end 355 got it. So, why the counterintuitive valuations in the vintage market? Let’s use 1960-61 as an example. The 335s still had dots, the 345s in red were now common and the 355 was still relatively popular. While 60 and 61’s aren’t the most popular year for any of these (59 is), I think it makes as good an example as any. Let’s compare the market for each. Not the stupid priced market of most Gbase or Ebay sellers but the real market-what these guitars actually sell for. I’ve sold at least a couple of each this year. The 61 dot necks I sold were both solid 9.0-9.5. Average price? $23,000. Both were stoptails and both were red. Three of the 5 or 6 60 and 61 ES-345s I sold this year were stoptails and in 9.5 or higher condition. One was a 9.5 and the other was probably around a 9.0. Average price? $16,000. That’s a difference of 30%. Yikes. I sold only one 61 355 this year but I did sell a couple of 59’s and since they all have trems, I’ll make the comparison anyway. What mucks up the comparison of the 355s is, of course, whether they are mono or stereo. I’ll do both. The  61 I sold went for $10000 (sideways, stereo, Varitone). A 9.5  59 (Bigsby, stereo Varitone) went for $14K. That makes the average $12K. The 59-61 monos went for an average of $13,500 but none were 9.5 condition so the comparison between stereo and mono is not very telling. So much for the details. So why this huge premium for 335s? Conventional wisdom say “oh, folks love the simplicity and workmanlike design of the 335 over its overly ornate counterparts.” While that’s true, to a degree, I don’t think that’s the whole story. I do think the Varitone controversy is a big part of it. The conventional wisdom is that the VT “sucks” the tone out of your guitar. That can be true but is not necessarily true-especially in the early 345s) Big news on this front is coming in my next post. The Bigsby on the 355 without stoptail studs (under pearl dots or “Custom Made” plaque) doesn’t help the 355 mono compete with the 335 either. In fact if you compare a Bigsby only 335 with a mono 355, the difference in price is rather slight. The problem with that comparison is that there aren’t very many Bigsby only 335s.  I’ve also found that many 335 collectors, who already have a stoptail 335 or two or three seem to have the desire to add a mono 355 to the herd. In fact, every mono 355 I’ve sold this year (4 or 5 of them) have gone to a player or collector who already has a stoptail 335 or 345. I also believe that if mono 345s existed, they would be hugely popular (who doesn’t like the fancy fret markers) and if stoptail 355s weren’t so freaking rare, they would also give the 335 a run for your money. So maybe Ted got it right-by keeping the models from competing with each other (by making them just different enough) he kept the entire line selling throughout the era and into the 80’s.  It was only after McCarty left in 66 and Norlin took over in 69 and started messing things up that the sales and quality began to seriously erode.

I really want one of these. The über rare stoptail mono 355. This is a 60. If there were more of these, they would be hugely popular but, alas, there are only a few of these.

This guitar had 29 filled holes in it. And a refinish. And it sounded and played great. You could buy a near mint stoptail 64 for $18000 or more or you could have had this for around a third as much for something that plays great and looks this good.

It’s really easy to be intimidated by the vintage market, especially if you start your search for  vintage 335 on Ebay. You’ll find 64’s for $50,000 and dot necks for $60,000 or more and you think you’ll never be able to afford one. Those aren’t real prices and, often enough, they aren’t for you, as a player. The biggest reason to own a vintage 335/345/355 is because they sound amazing and play beautifully. They are versatile and look great up on the stage. There are new ones that approach the vintage ones in tone and looks but they are new and you didn’t want a new one anyway. Here’s the main point: A compromised vintage guitar will usually sound the same as one that isn’t compromised. Refinished guitars sound the same as original ones. You could argue about poly finishes sounding different than nitrocellulose lacquer but, to date, I’ve never seen a vintage 335 with a poly finish. I don’t care how many extra holes have been drilled into the guitar, it won’t sound different than one with no extra holes. I promise. Really. I recently had a 64 that  had no fewer than 29 filled holes in it. This poor baby had seen three sets of tuners, two or three different trems, a backpad and an armrest. It had a repair under the bridge and two patched coil tap holes. And, it was refinished. I bought it dirt cheap and I sold it dirt cheap. From ten feet away, it still looked like a gorgeous vintage 64. It sounded like a choir of angels. OK, not the way I play but with a great player, I’m tellin’ ya…choir of angels. You can’t kill these guitars. You can play the crap out of them for 50 years and all you need to do to bring it back is maybe a refret and a new bridge and maybe a new nut. The idea that you have to spend $10,000 or more to get a great sounding “golden era” vintage piece is ludicrous. A Bigsby knocks off 25%. A 345 rather than a 335 knocks off as much as 50%. A 59 dot neck with no issues is going to cost you close to $30,000. A 59 ES-345 with a Bigsby might cost you a third of that. Take off the Bigsby, put on a stoptail and disconnect the Varitone and close your eyes. You’ll be playing the equivalent of a 59 dot neck. Same construction, same pickups (don’t forget to flip the magnet in one of the pickups if you convert to mono), same neck. You could argue that the cutout for the Varitone chokes changes the tone slightly but a lot of folks think the ones with the cutout sound better. I’m mostly neutral on the subject with a slight bias toward non cut centerblocks. There are plenty of collectors who are players and I see no reason not to buy the most perfect 335 you can find if you can afford it. Collector grade guitars have proven to be a terrific investment if you disregard the last few years of decline. But even with that, if you bought a fine vintage piece before the big runup of 2005-2008, you’re still way ahead. But if you’re on the outside looking in, take a look at the ones that are loaded with issues. Even if the original pickups are gone, most of the magic will be still be there if you get a decent set of modern PAFs (the usual suspects-I like Rolphs, Throbaks and Sheptones) and make sure you’ve had a pro set it up if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself.  Another good approach is to buy the year you want , issues and all and slowly bring it back to its former glory. You can’t unbreak a headstock or bring back an original finish but there are finishers out there who can duplicate the finishes of the era and repair guys who can stabilize a broken headstock so it will never give yo a moments trouble. All the parts that might be wrong are out there and you can get find them at reasonable prices if you’re patient.  It won’t be worth double in ten years but it will appreciate with the rest of the market and you get to play it. Isn’t that why you buy any guitar?

This is another 64. It had all correct parts except it had PAFs instead of the correct patent numbers. Tough. This guitar sold for $7500. Refinish? Nope. Broken headstock? Nope. Factory reneck and it played and sounded awesome. No extra holes either. Don't look at the issues as issues. Look at them as bargains.