NGD: Epiphone ES-335

[Alex Kenivel]

The electronics thing drives me bonkers -- I don't know what it is in the Epiphones that causes so many issues on this front -- you'd think the plug-in harness would be less susceptible to bad solder joints, etc.?

Glad you found a good one!

Thanks and thank you for warning me about the electronics. This one crackles just a teeny tiny bit when switching pickups.

I've been hearing nearly 100% good things about recent IBG Epi's, other than the price increase! The others you played are likely older?

They've gotten a lot better even since 2020. Went looking for a Cheap LP for my son and every Epiphone was sad.

Older ones didn't have the open book headstock, right? There were only a couple of those and I don't think I touched them.

 

[Warmart]

Thanks and thank you for warning me about the electronics. This one crackles just a teeny tiny bit when switching pickups.

They've gotten a lot better even since 2020. Went looking for a Cheap LP for my son and every Epiphone was sad.

Older ones didn't have the open book headstock, right? There were only a couple of those and I don't think I touched them.

Yeah, the headstocks are changed as well, more Gibsonny. Is that a word??

 

[TubeStack]

Looks great! Enjoy!

 

[la szum]

Looking forward to more Jazz Cabbage.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Oh yeah, pretty much forgot to say: Nice looking guitar.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I had some time to play it last night and this morning. Still needed a few setup tweaks to get rid of some buzzing that was audible through an amp but I'm about ready to put the truss rod cover back on. I realized I didn't post a good picture of the headstock. Love the open-book look.

The tuning stability so far has been good. It feels great to play now that I've addressed some sharp fret ends and nut corners. We'll see if I jive with the gloss neck come summer. I expect to be sanding it down. I'm still getting used to the TOM bridge, I haven't had one on a guitar for over 10 years but now I'm remembering where I liked to rest my hand most of the time - kind of wedged in between the bridge and the pickup when muting with my right hand.

I played through some of my HX Stomp presets and most of them that were made for my Ibby AZ work well but I wanted to build one specifically for this guitar. The few first amp models that I gravitate toward (Grammatico GSG, 2203) didn't quite hit the mark like I was hoping but I landed on one of the new L6 Original models, the Aristocrat (boutique from the Catalyst amps), and really liked its clean/EOB tones - to full on rock with an OD up front.

This morning I plugged into my 50W Stealth and I don't think I even touched the knobs for it to sound really good. Even on the red channel, dropped D, chugging and doing diminished riffs/runs sounded great. I didn't buy this guitar to play metal but it's cool that I can go there.

 

[Eagle]

I just got a Sire in for a pickup swap, putting a set of SD Antiquates and probably a full rewire. The Guy wants Kluson style Gotoh as well .

 

[Sascha Franck]

Make sure to check the HX' Princess (I'd use the Mandarin 30 cab, just happens to be my favourite allround cab), dial back Drive and Sag a bit and play some funky stuff. James Brown calling.

 

[the-trooper]

I just got a Sire in

You accept Sire to work on?!

 

[Eagle]

You accept Sire to work on?!

That’s how I know what they are like. This one is rather heavy and the finish is very thick. I will take some pictures when I get around to taking it apart.

 

[la szum]

This morning I plugged into my 50W Stealth and I don't think I even touched the knobs for it to sound really good. Even on the red channel, dropped D, chugging and doing diminished riffs/runs sounded great. I didn't buy this guitar to play metal but it's cool that I can go there.

Yes! That kind of honk and bark of a 335 with metal is fun as fuck! I used to tune my Gibby to
drop C... and it was tighter than your local Escape Room.

 

[the-trooper]

That’s how I know what they are like. This one is rather heavy and the finish is very thick. I will take some pictures when I get around to taking it apart.

That'll be interesting to see, especially since I stumbled on this video yesterday (there are English subtitles).
Luthier's takeaway, overall great guitar, neck is not the best cut out there but since it's roasted there should be no stability issues.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

The fretwork on the high frets isn't the cleanest but functional. Can't really tell from a distance.

 

[Byrdman]

The fretwork on the high frets isn't the cleanest but functional. Can't really tell from a distance. View attachment 19835

I have a Epi 335 and after a fret leveling & polishing and setup it played and sounded great. Since then I put in 50's wiring from Tonemanguitar.com and Gibson 57 classics and now it is even better. If you ever decide to change out the wiring, I have a trick I'll share with you to help save a lot of time working the electronics through the f hole.

 

[Iron1]

Congrats! I had one of these last year and had a lot of fun with it.

 

[lerxst_x]

I have a Epi 335 and after a fret leveling & polishing and setup it played and sounded great. Since then I put in 50's wiring from Tonemanguitar.com and Gibson 57 classics and now it is even better. If you ever decide to change out the wiring, I have a trick I'll share with you to help save a lot of time working the electronics through the f hole.

Please share…thinking about Seth Lovers for mine….

 

[Eagle]

I have a Epi 335 and after a fret leveling & polishing and setup it played and sounded great. Since then I put in 50's wiring from Tonemanguitar.com and Gibson 57 classics and now it is even better. If you ever decide to change out the wiring, I have a trick I'll share with you to help save a lot of time working the electronics through the f hole.

Bridge pickup rout is open on one side on most.

 

[Byrdman]

Please share…thinking about Seth Lovers for mine….

If you are wanting to change the wiring, this is what I did below. The pickup wires have routing that is pretty easy to get the wires down to the f hole to solder them to the pots.

I used some fuel tubing for a scooter/moped that will slide over the end of the pots about a foot or so long but still fit through the hole when attached to the stem. Push it through the hole where it should go to the f hole opening, slide it over the pot stem and SLOWLY pull it back through. You can also run the nut down the tubing so that as soon as the pot comes through the hole you can put it on the stem but don't tighten it all the way. It will take a few times to get it down, but it is a lot easier than using string or any other technique I found.

If all you want to do is pull the pots just to solder the pickups, you may be able to attach the tubing to the stems before you bring them to the f hole to solder. Good luck!

 

[gearJunkie]

She's lovely! I don't know how I missed this. Congrats on a beautiful specimen.