I've been looking for an ES-335 style semi-hollow guitar, specifically in red, and decided to take a chance on an Epiphone ES-335 Pro from Musician's Friend for $349 with free shipping. Recent Epis look real good so I went for it. Should have it next week. I'll post more then.
Didn't you have that red Hamer?
Good memory! I sold that to buy a MIJ Epiphone Elitist 335. That was a mistake- I liked the Hamer betterOriginally Posted by silent j.
. I sold the Elitist and bought my Martin 000-15M and have desperately wanted another semi-hollow since.
Looked at one on MF. That guitar looks great. I love the block inlays. If they only made it in a lefty.
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
Well, I just remembered that you were so happy with the Hamer I almost bought one like it! Still, the Martin was a good end to that road.Good memory! I sold that to buy a MIJ Epiphone Elitist 335. That was a mistake- I liked the Hamer better
WOW congrats....played one like that at G.C. last weekend ......great instrument. Well done!!!
The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.
T. Roosevelt
I have a VERY nice MIK Dot, 98 or 99 I think. It is a very good example of one of these type guitars, but I can't help but believe that this is a little nicer. I am thinking the neck is going to be awesome.
Some people snivvle, and whine about off shore axes, 335 types that aren't real 335s etc. Friggin gets old. Its either a nice playing sounding axe or it isn't.
These on the other hand look really nice, and if they feel like they look, and sound like they feel - WOW!
tell us more as it gets checked in.
BTW - I have wax potted pups from a 78 Les paul in mine...
the neck is not chunky at all, but not quite as thin as some of the nice ones I have played. That said, my black Sigma has almost an identical profile, which is why I kept it.
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
I can be a little overly fussy about the details sometimes, but I really like the sound and feel of an ES-335- the slightly hollow sound makes humbuckers work for me- and don't have a lot of money to spend right now.
I mentioned in a previous post that I tried a US made ES-335 that I loved the sound and playability of but it was crudely built.
The Epiphone Elitist ES-335 that I owned and the Heritage H535 that I tried were both beautifully made but felt and sounded "tight" and uninspiring. The MIK Hamer Echotone was a fine guitar though the neck was pretty skinny.
I was biased against the Dot partially because a former band mate bought a natural one several years ago and the neck was made out of five pieces of oddly cut, weirdly grained mahogany in five varying shades of green-ish color. It also had barbed wire fretboard edges and other setup issues that I can easily resolve nowadays.
I played a new Dot and Sheraton at GC a few weeks ago and preferred the Dot. It felt pretty nice, the frets maybe a tad smaller than I like but the neck felt good and the guitar sounded like an ES-335. I played an ES-335 Pro back when they came out and it felt nice and had a good sized neck.
A few friends recently bought new Epis and they've been consistently good guitars. Also, if any guitar is well suited to overseas production it's laminated semi-hollow electrics.
I love the sound of semi-acoustics. And I am definitely into the Epiphone Casino.
I don't own one because they don't feel comfortable for me, they feel too big. I prefer more compact guitar shapes.
As for yours, Epi makes some GOOD guitars, especially the semihollow/hollow bodied ones. You can't go wrong with most of them.
P.S. PIcs or it didn't happen.
I like Casinos. I've got a thinline fully hollow guitar- a 1959 Gibson ES-225TD. Even though I'm not a big guy- barely 5'9" tall, I find full size thinline guitars fit me well- I've had a few-The Epi Elitist 335 and Hamer shown above, the Gibson ES-225TD, a Gibson ES-135 and a fully hollow Epiphone Sorento. Some F-holes-I love the sound of semi-acoustics. And I am definitely into the Epiphone Casino.
I don't own one because they don't feel comfortable for me, they feel too big. I prefer more compact guitar shapes.
As for yours, Epi makes some GOOD guitars, especially the semihollow/hollow bodied ones. You can't go wrong with most of them.
P.S. PIcs or it didn't happen.
Beautiful herd you got there, Don.
I only have the '59 ES-225TD and my grandfather's mandolin left from that collection. I sold the ES-135 and Sorento to buy the ES-225 and sold the Carvin AE-185 to build an awesome RC 4x4 rock crawler.
The new guitar is out for delivery!
Btw what mando is that?
It's an Old Kraftsman. I think Kay made it. It's a cheap one but it was my grandfather's (he played a variety of inexpensive instruments). My mother remembers it from when she was very young (she's 75 now). He gave me that, a banjo (which I cleaned up and gave to my aunt) and his machinist's toolbox full of tools when I was a teen (about 35 years ago). I guess that was the benefit of being the oldest grandson and having some shared interests with him. The mandolin is in great shape and just needed restringing to be playable.
I received the Epiphone today. What a nice guitar! Right out of the packaging, the guitar was in tune with itself but almost 1/2 a step sharp. The neck has very little relief and the action is very low but it plays really well and sounds good- I'm leaving it as is for now. Chords are in tune all the way up the neck and big bluesy bends are easy. The pickups are a little on the warm side but not super hot and the coil splitting is actually useful. I used the guitar for rehearsal and got a really good variety of tones out of it. It was less than inspiring on a couple of surf tunes but everything else sounded great.
The neck is slightly on the thin side but is wide and feels good and the guitar is fairly lightweight- almost exactly 8 pounds. The craftsmanship is not on par with the Epi Elitist ES-335 that I used to own or the Heritage H535 that I played recently (though it's nicer to play than either of those guitars), though it's pretty similar to some of the US made Gibsons that I've played.
Overall, I'd say that it's well worth the $350 that I paid for it and I'd recommend it.
Last edited by Don; 06-03-2015 at 07:32 AM.
Pics or it did NOT happen
Btw I already said that but you got one of the coolest avatars here
Here's a quick unedited couch shot take with my phone-
Play it in, dress it out, set it up - hang out, bond, and get a little dirty with it!Here's a quick unedited couch shot take with my phone-
THEN -
Followup report to be filed please!!!
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
Oh, Epis... Played them for a looong time... It was cool.
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