The Good;
Plugged straight into my Alessandro Working Dog the ES-339 has a real high quality sound.
Bridge pickup has lots of bite and I would say this guitar has a very snappy sonic character.
Neck pickup is really meaty and rolling off the tone can give you a nice modern jazz sound or a
gorgeous woman tone with overdrive. Don't expect big full Wes Montgomery Jazz sounds from the
smallish body, that's not where the 339 excels. The biggest surprise is the middle 2 pickup position which
yields fantastic Gretsch style tones with a lots of chime and nails American blues.
Can’t wait to try it with my Vox AC15 TBX. It's a very expressive guitar.
The Memphis Tone Circuit is perfect for this guitar with the two tone controls providing a very usable
full tonal range and surprisingly little volume drop from 10 to 0 compared with most tone controls.
Backing off the volume controls retains the tone as Gibson claims.
Switching to my Orange Tiny Terror and cranking it, the 339 just sings!
When you dig into the tall medium jumbo frets it oozes British blues or classic rock tones and with a bit of
volume you can get nice, controlled feedback. Backing off the volume you get great alt country tones with a
snarl and switching to the neck pickup the 339 goes into indie rock or Radiohead territory.
Comes with a nice but not outstanding Gibson Custom Shop case, case candy and COA.
The Bad:
Here is where I have some issues. For a Gibson Custom shop made guitar, the nut is very
badly cut and setup was poor. I experienced lots of nut binding and the guitar would not stay in tune
until I did a quick setup and some adjustments. As the frets are tall this compounds the tuning problems.
A good setup is a must but I find this to be the norm for Gibson or Fender these days.
Also I wish they would use the Gotoh tuners instead of the Klusons which are very average quality-
this guitar deserves better.
This guitar will be a classic! Perfect addition to any guitarsenal. It’s not a 335 but covers similar territory.
Much more comfortable to play than a full size semi hollow and has a unique sonic signature.
If you can afford it or find a great deal don’t hesitate-buy one!
Jon St. James
The Verdict; This guitar will be a classic! Perfect addition to any guitarsenal.
It’s not a 335 but covers similar territory. Much more comfortable to play than a full size
semi-hollow and has a unique sonic signature.
If you can afford it or find a great deal don’t hesitate-buy one!
Jon St. James