NGD - Epiphone ES-339

[Hellbat]

I've been wanting to experiment with a semi hollow guitar for a bit and these seem like a good foot in the door to see if I like it.



Quick early review in bullet format...

Fingerboard was FILTHY.
Frets were gritty as hell.
Spent about an hour polishing the frets and half an hour cleaning and oiling the fingerboard.
After the 3rd application of cleaner the fingerboard stopped staining the crap out of the cloth i was using to wipe it down.
Glue slop from the binding in the 15th - 19th fret area.
Poor job painting the black edges in the f-holes.
Some buzz/vibration on one of the components inside the body when certain notes are played. It seems like it will settle down as the guitar is 'broken in'.
Decent action, the neck is slightly thicker and more of a rounded profile than my J/C guitars. Similar shape to a PC1, but a little thinner.
Stock pickups sound really good in humbucker mode. Coil tapped gives you options but they don't sound amazing when tapped. May replace them with some Duncan P-rails.
Finish seems to be nitro, but could be poly. The clear isn't super thick which I like.
Very resonant with excellent natural sustain.

[asix]

im torn atm, i quite like the epi es 335. i had an jap epi sg 20 years ago and hated it. the pups were rubbish as where the machine heads. Thats all change-able i suppose maybe ill try one.

[VitaminG]

very cool. I was just watching the Andertons guys demo one of these on YouTube last week

[dvscool]

I actually like that. That's something different I would like to add to my stable. I could never justify the cost of a Gibson but maybe the Epi.....

[Hellbat]

im torn atm, i quite like the epi es 335. i had an jap epi sg 20 years ago and hated it. the pups were rubbish as where the machine heads. Thats all change-able i suppose maybe ill try one.

The machine heads on this are actually vintage style Grover's and work surprisingly well. I'll probably replace them with locking tuners eventually because I'm all about low effort string changes, but it isn't an urgent need. If anything will affect tuning stability on this guitar it would be the cheap ass plastic nut. I'll probably get it replaced with a bone style nut before too long, especially if I start using this with the band.

[Hellbat]

I actually like that. That's something different I would like to add to my stable. I could never justify the cost of a Gibson but maybe the Epi.....

Yeah the epi's are very affordable if you just want to dip your toe in the pool. Being in Canada, if I really dig the semi-hollow thing I'd probably to to a Godin Montreal as my move up the quality ladder.

[tomanyjacksons]

OMG, that's awesome. Great score.