Opinions on newer Gibson ES-330 '59 reissue

[ewall]

I may have the option of purchasing my teacher's Gibson ES 330 59 reissue. It's in pretty pristine condition. I plan to try it out in a few weeks. Not sure of the price. I had been looking for a 335 type guitar looking at the much less expensive Eastmans in particular. I do like a chunkier neck profile which this apparently has and 2 P90 pickups. Anyone have any experience with one of these? There's no shortage of opinions on the Forum

[ezyrider]

I have a 2015 ES 330 59 reissue. It is awesome! I had the opportunity to play a few real vintage 330's at Carter Vintage in Nashville including a 59, 60, 67 and 68.
At least my reissue feels, plays and sounds similar to the vintage 59. The necks on the 60, 67 and 68 are obviously different. It is one of the guitars I will not part with. If the price is acceptable to you, I don't think you will be disappointed. It is different than a 335 however, so you should be certain of what you want before taking the plunge. Of course, it goes without saying.....eventually you should have both.

[rpjazzguitar]

I may have the option of purchasing my teacher's Gibson ES 330 59 reissue. It's in pretty pristine condition. I plan to try it out in a few weeks. Not sure of the price. I had been looking for a 335 type guitar looking at the much less expensive Eastmans in particular. I do like a chunkier neck profile which this apparently has and 2 P90 pickups. Anyone have any experience with one of these? There's no shortage of opinions on the Forum

The 330 looks like a 335, but the 330 is hollow and the 335 is not. The solid block in the 335 reduces feedback -- and changes the tone. From there, it's taste.

[Mark M.]

I have played a number of er of the ‘59 reissues and I own a ‘60 reissue. They are great guitars and have a vintage feel to them. The ‘59 necks are chunky but feel great. My ‘60 is slimmer but also feels excellent. It is maybe the best playing guitar I own.

[Jimmy Mack]

I echo Mark M.'s response above, but I have the Epiphone version. It is a '61 RI Casino, (pretty much the same guitar but made in China to Gibson specs). It is lightweight, with a chunky neck that is wonderful. But th body and neck combination yields a very lively guitar excellent for jazz, blues or rock, and the P90's are very very good.

Just remember that 335's are heavier, P'90's are not hum-cancelling, and the hollow body may make the guitar vulnerable to feedback at high volumes.

BUt you have the best scenario, try before you buy, and you know the previous owner.

[lammie200]

I have an ES-390 which is the smaller hollow body brother to the 330. It isn't a vintage reissue though. It was a new model circa 2013 or thereabouts. Decently chunky neck. Definitely not thin. It doesn't really feedback but you can dial that out with a noise gate which I do with some of my other hollows. I love the thing and am feeling like I will pick it out this time and play it tonight. A 330 with P90s would be awesome IMHO.

Also, some P90s are dead quiet. I have a 1965 P90 on an ES-125 TC that just doesn't hum. I don't know why but I would be a fool to complain about it. Unique and very musical sounding guitar even if it was student grade.

[LesB3]

Just remember that 335's are heavier, P'90's are not hum-cancelling, and the hollow body may make the guitar vulnerable to feedback at high volumes.

Actually, the Gibson P-90's in my USA Casino reissue (2021) *are* hum-cancelling in the middle position, but don't know if that translates to the Gibby or not.

[Marty Grass]

Here's my understanding of the ES-330. The absence of the center block seen in the ES-335 created some issue of neck pocket stability. The neck joined more deeply into the body to compensate.

I do recall quite clearly that Heritage sorted out a way to address this. At the time I followed the design, as told by Marv Lamb at Heritage, but have forgotten now.

My old Gibson did hum a lot when playing blues and rock, and feedback was an issue. But once those issues were under control, it did the blues really well. The neck placement has the advantage of a feel of a shorter neck. Being a lighter guitar, it otherwise might tend to neck dive.

I have a Heritage H-530. This is a smidge thinner in the body compared to the ES-330, about 1/8th". This is not very noticeable in action. Mine has humbuckers. I included the label to show it's not a ES-535. It will feedback sooner than a true semi-hollow but not like a jazz box.

[Marty Grass]

With regard to the '59 reissue, all I can say is that I played a mid 60s one for years. Great guitar.

[Question]

A few questions for you instrument experts.

On the Gibson 330 re-issues, where exactly does the neck join the body, and is it possible to actually get up to the 22th fret on this model?

I have a Gibson ES175T with 20 frets where I can only get up there by putting my thumb in front of the fingerboard!

As someone mentioned; Heritage makes a 530 model where the neck joint is similar to a 335, is this model neck heavy?

Also in both the Gibson 330 and the Heritage 530, does the bracing allow for mounting humbuckers?

I am aware that there would probably be a few screw holes to fill when removing the P-90s.

Thanks for your expertise!

[Jimmy Mack]

Not the guitar in question, but my Epi Casino RI '61 has a neck join at the 16th fret, and I personally prefer my 335 neck join at the 19th fret. It's less cramped feeling.
Yes the Casino's neck feels shorter. But upper fret access is limited. Plus, even when sitting and playing, I have to look directly down to see my fretboard. Makes me uncomfortable when compared to playing my 335 or L5. I really realized this when playing in my blues group and soloing.

This is something that is hard to get into words, but that's my experience playing these diff. guitars. That is why it is so important for guitar purchasers to actually get the guitars into their hands - and play them both sitting and standing.
Especially if they plan to be playing the instrument for any length of time, and really playing it! Runs and esp. chord work can be very different on varying necks and scale lengths - and different for diff. players. But cramped necks are not where I want to be when working out chord melodies.

To add to "Question's" question, Gibson's RI 330's of recent years featured 2 diff. models: one with neck join at the 15th fret and the "L" model with neck join at the 19th fret. IIRC

[ezyrider]

The ES 330 59 reissue joins at the 16th fret with reasonable access to the 18th fret. Beyond that is difficult. I just don't play the type of music on the 330 that would require going that high up. The 335 joins at the 19th fret.

[Marty Grass]

As someone mentioned; Heritage makes a 530 model where the neck joint is similar to a 335, is this model neck heavy?

Also in both the Gibson 330 and the Heritage 530, does the bracing allow for mounting humbuckers?

I am aware that there would probably be a few screw holes to fill when removing the P-90s.

Thanks for your expertise!

AFAIK, I have the only H-530 that came with humbuckers. If the top had humbucker cutouts, it seems like the model would handle humbuckers. A standard H-530 would accept humbuckers built in the form of P90s also.

I don't know what to say about "neck heavy". I haven't heard anyone complain about that. The center of gravity is a bit different than the H-535.

[Hammertone]

I may have the option of purchasing my teacher's Gibson ES 330 59 reissue. It's in pretty pristine condition. I plan to try it out in a few weeks. Not sure of the price. I had been looking for a 335 type guitar looking at the much less expensive Eastmans in particular. I do like a chunkier neck profile which this apparently has and 2 P90 pickups. Anyone have any experience with one of these? There's no shortage of opinions on the Forum

I've played a few of them. I love fat necks and the '59 RIs that I played had wonderful big necks. IMO, they were all really excellent guitars.

[GuitarJay]

I've had a number of ES-335s over the years, including a Historic '59 reissue that I owned for over 20 years. I also have a Wildwood '59 ES-330 reissue.

I owned both guitars for a period of time. Both played beautifully, and the '59 neck on my 330 is a hair bigger than on the 335. I think the 335 could cover a bit more sonic territory than the 330, probably due to a combination of semi-hollow vs fully hollow and humbucker vs P90. But, for me, the things the 330 do - I play mostly jazz and blues these days, whereas I played a lot more rock during the period I owned my 335 - it does superbly.

After having both for a while, I sold the 335. It was my #1 gigging guitar for many years, so I was sad to see it go, but the 330 is working better for me now. Upper fret access is limited, but if I really need that, I have other guitars that I can turn to.

The 330 feels like it is made of air, it is so light. That's a benefit for me as I am staring at 60.

[lammie200]

...

The 330 feels like it is made of air, it is so light. That's a benefit for me as I am staring at 60.

Staring at 60 isn't so bad. It's when it starts staring back at you is when things become a bee...otch.

[Christian Miller]

I may have the option of purchasing my teacher's Gibson ES 330 59 reissue. It's in pretty pristine condition. I plan to try it out in a few weeks. Not sure of the price. I had been looking for a 335 type guitar looking at the much less expensive Eastmans in particular. I do like a chunkier neck profile which this apparently has and 2 P90 pickups. Anyone have any experience with one of these? There's no shortage of opinions on the Forum

Great jazz guitar. I know a few players who gig 330s and similar. Grant Green sound.

Not the same sort of thing as a 335 IMO. The 335 is more like a solid body in some ways. The 330 is sort of like a half way between the 335 and the 175, but with P90's if that makes any sense.

The Eastmans are worth a look too. Many options. I heard someone play one of the higher end models (solid top fully hollow thinline?) and it sounded amazing.

[jzucker]

my luthier said a couple new gibsons he's looked at have dowel rod reinforcing the neck joint. Doubt I'll ever buy a new(ish) gibson again

[Little Jay]

A few questions for you instrument experts.

On the Gibson 330 re-issues, where exactly does the neck join the body, and is it possible to actually get up to the 22th fret on this model?

I have a Gibson ES175T with 20 frets where I can only get up there by putting my thumb in front of the fingerboard!

As someone mentioned; Heritage makes a 530 model where the neck joint is similar to a 335, is this model neck heavy?

Also in both the Gibson 330 and the Heritage 530, does the bracing allow for mounting humbuckers?

I am aware that there would probably be a few screw holes to fill when removing the P-90s.

Thanks for your expertise!

Neck joint at the 16th fret. Accessing the 22nd fret is nearly impossible.

They are not neck heavy.

An ES-330 is braced like this:

I imagine the Heritage 530 is braced the same way. This bracing allows for humbuckers indeed, but you need to enlarge the P90-cutout.

This is my ES-125 that had a humbucker installed by a previous owner. Notice the extra cover I installed to cover up the enlarged cutout:

[gggguitar]

As was noted above, a 335 is going to be much heavier than the 330, and the neck joins the body at the 19th fret instead of the 15th fret as it does on the 330.

I have a 2011 ES 330-L (the "L" means long neck) that is basically a hollow 335 with P90s that weighs 6.5 lbs. Gibson made versions of the 330-L in the past but I don't know the history of all those models.

Lot's of options for HBs that fit a P90 route and for hum cancelling P90s. Emily Remler famously played a 330 with humbuckers.

The 330 is a fairly unique and wonderful guitar (when you find a good one) and P90s are fantastic.

Good luck.

[Jimmy Mack]

The same could be said about some Epiphone Casinos. They are modeled after the Gibson 330's and have P90's.
They varied year to year. And then varied by country of manufacture, and then price point(s).

But when you find a "good" one, you may have found a "great" one.