The ES 335 – a great guitar, perfect for Rock, Jazz and Blues, first built in 1958, and still going strong today. Many variations have been made, BB King’s Lucille, Tom Delonge’s signature (actually an ES333) and Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads” have all been huge sellers, (well Clapton’s was limited to 250 but the price tag was huge), a beat up old cherry red one would be on my Christmas list every year. When I think of rock n’ roll I think of Chuck Berry slamming his 335 through Johnny B Goode and I wanna duck walk across my lounge room.
If I were to buy the one below though I would duck walk it straight back to the seller and demand a refund.
This fake ES 335 is one of the newer breed of fake Gibson guitars out there at the moment, they appear to be real, headstocks aren’t as dodgy looking as they used to be, maybe a two screw truss rod cover and available to buy online from apparent local sellers but shipped from China. A quick glance and it looks pretty good, but look closer and some things just aren’t right.
The shape of the pick guard has more in common with the Epiphone 335 Dot by the way it curves down again towards the treble cutaway and is larger than it should be. The input and pickup selector switch do not appear to be placed correctly in relation to the pots and f holes and the case is not something a Gibson guitar would arrive in. Remember a Gibson ES 335 is made in the Gibson Custom Shop and should come with the appropriate case.
As you can see in the picture of this real ES 335 from the Gibson website these guitars also feature fret board binding that is missing from the copy, (again something you will find in similarity to the Epiphone Dot guitars). Also look out for an orange label inside the bass f hole of a Gibson semi hollow / hollow body guitar, this is noticeably absent from the first image though has been found in some copies.
