Best Jazz sounding Gibson ES model

**twilightblue100** · 07-10-2012, 04:38 AM

Hi Guys , I am in the market for an ES335, 345, or 355. In your opinion which one would will give me the truest Jazz sound. I'll be using my Henriksen jazz amp. I play standards in a jazz band. Most of the time I'm playing Rhythm, the horns take lead. Thank's for any input. Just saw a video of Dave Stryker playing his ES 347. That is exactly what I am looking for. A 335 with gold hardware, full binding,and large inlay .what more can you tell me about the extra selector switch ? Availability etc?

**hot ford coupe** · 07-10-2012, 05:57 AM

I think the main difference between all 3 models is in the decorations. The higher the number, the fancier the guitar. Other than that, they;re pretty much made the same. For what you want the guitar to do, it probably won't make much of a difference. I've owned a 335 and a 355 and I didn't notice any difference in sound.

**stevedenver** · 07-10-2012, 09:26 AM

I like the historic with long neck Tenon
Imho there is a difference
Slight overall but real

It often seems like plain sounds better
Obviously not....
But there is some truth

You want jazz
Go light in weight

**mr. beaumont** · 07-10-2012, 09:55 AM

How about a 330?

**docbop** · 07-10-2012, 10:06 AM

I first had a 345 and didn't like the varitone so when I got a chance I traded it in for 335 and still have and love it. I gets a good tone for about anything.

**kris** · 07-10-2012, 10:17 AM

es-175D

**twilightblue100** · 07-16-2012, 06:40 PM

Just saw a video with Jeff Stryker. I really liked the looks of that ES 347. What can you tell me about that, other than they stopped making them in the 80's? Is there anything with those inlay's,Binding,& gold hardware?

**AlsoRan** · 07-16-2012, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by docbop

I first had a 345 and didn't like the varitone so when I got a chance I traded it in for 335 and still have and love it. I gets a good tone for about anything.

What was wrong with the Varitone circuit, doc?

Did it cut out to much of one frequency or something?

**Michael Lewis** · 08-09-2012, 09:06 PM

The music is in YOU!!! The guitar is just a tool. Find the guitar that best suits YOU, then play the frets off it. There is no ultimate jazz guitar, but there may be one for you. You will know when you play the right guitar because it will form a connection with you ( or you to it). Look to yourself for subjective decisions. You wouldn't ask someone else which flavor of ice cream you like best would you? Guitars are much the same in that regard. Find your best choice and have fun.

**docbop** · 08-09-2012, 09:34 PM

Originally Posted by AlsoRan

What was wrong with the Varitone circuit, doc?

Did it cut out to much of one frequency or something?

Didn't like any of its sounds.

**Patrick2** · 08-09-2012, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

The music is in YOU!!! The guitar is just a tool. Find the guitar that best suits YOU, then play the frets off it. There is no ultimate jazz guitar, but there may be one for you. You will know when you play the right guitar because it will form a connection with you ( or you to it). Look to yourself for subjective decisions. You wouldn't ask someone else which flavor of ice cream you like best would you? Guitars are much the same in that regard. Find your best choice and have fun.

Ok . . . so there are a couple of "Michael Lewis' " Are you Michael Lewis the recording artist . . . Michael A. Lewis, the arch top and mando' builder . . . or just someone who happens to share the same name with them??

**Patrick2** · 08-09-2012, 10:25 PM

Well . . . all . . .. I just hit up Michael Lewis' profile and saw his web site listed there. This is none other than Michael A. Lewis . . . one of the top arch top builders on the planet!! He seems to have "snuck in" under the radar with the above being only his 15th post.

Let me be the first to welcome you here to the jazz guitar forum. It's really great to have you here. Your D'Angelico Replicas made a huge splash at the NAMM 1994 Show. I see Stan Jay of Mandolin Brothers often. He still raves about #12-001. And your New Yorker Supreme #12-036 is beautiful. It should have been on display at the Met in NYC, right next to John Montelleone's guitars.

Hope you can stop in and say hi to us every once in a while.

**Flat** · 08-09-2012, 11:22 PM

Just saw a video of Dave Stryker playing his ES 347. That is exactly what I am looking for.

Brother, deep in your heart you already know what you want. ;-)

Listen to your intuition. Go for it. There are loads of ES-347's on eBay.

**hot ford coupe** · 08-09-2012, 11:38 PM

Patrick, you took the words right out of my mouth. Michael is definitely right about where the music is. I know I keep saying this one thing but I know it to be true. I spent a ton of money buying guitars just to learn that there was no ultimate guitar. Comfort and playing ease can never be overestimated. I've played some of the supposedly best vintage instruments only to find many of them uncomfortable and hard to play. They caused my hand to cramp to the point where I couldn't get halfway through a 1 hour gig. Yet I continued to search and search and ignored the most playable guitars in my collection. The only new thing I've bought in a long time was that Heritage made Gretsch because what I was playing was getting too expensive to take out.

**Patrick2** · 08-10-2012, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by hot ford coupe

Patrick, you took the words right out of my mouth. Michael is definitely right about where the music is. I know I keep saying this one thing but I know it to be true. I spent a ton of money buying guitars just to learn that there was no ultimate guitar. Comfort and playing ease can never be overestimated. I've played some of the supposedly best vintage instruments only to find many of them uncomfortable and hard to play. They caused my hand to cramp to the point where I couldn't get halfway through a 1 hour gig. Yet I continued to search and search and ignored the most playable guitars in my collection. The only new thing I've bought in a long time was that Heritage made Gretsch because what I was playing was getting too expensive to take out.

I've got very different criteria for buying a guitar. That's mostly because I'm now just a hobbiest and no longer a working pro . . (hey!! Wasn't there a thread not to long ago on what qualifies one to be a pro?? Let's not go THERE again!!)

Usually, when I see a guitar . . if my first impulsive reaction is . . . "I want it" . . then I've pretty much made up my mind right then and there . . unless the guitar is an absolute dog. But, most of what I buy now are crafted hollow body arch tops. More than likely, if a good quality arch top has serious tone issues . . it's usually attributable to some sort of a structural issue that can be corrected. If the tone problem is just due to less than highly musical wood . . . then, while the tone will not be fantastic . . it won't suck either. I'm pretty much OK with that. If it's a structural issue . . . loosened kerfing, tone bars or X braces that have pulled away, etc., . .. I have people like Aaron Cowles that can easily and inexpensively correct that.

I will usually look past other insignificant thing that might not perfectly align with my own opinions on what makes the perfect guitar. I have a Golden Eagle, inset neck pup . . with a 1-3/4" nut width and a neck profile that is beyond big. It's huge! I play it and love it for its other redeeming qualities. I have a Super Eagle that has a neck profile that is much thinner than I prefer. But, when I saw it . . . I had to own it.

Right now, the most comfortable guitar (arch top) I own, is the Golden Eagle I had made for me in 1994. It's slightly smaller than a triditional Golden Eagle and considerably smaller than my beloved L5 Wes and L5 CES. But, it's not as small as a Sweet Sixteen or an ES 175. The lower bout is 16-3/4" wide by 2-3/4" deep. The body length is 20". That was not by my spec . . . it's just the way the guitar was built. When I saw it completed and played it . . I took it. Jim Deurloo said if I wasn't happy with it, they'd build me a new one. I wasn't going to wait another 12 weeks . . . so I took it. It has since become the last arch top that I would ever sell.

But, I currently have an inclination towards the bigger bodies. Been playing my SEs an awful lot and my 18" Unity. So, I really never know what my mood will be. But, it's very rarely driven by tone above all else.

**eddy b.** · 08-10-2012, 12:06 PM

Twillight Blue you may also want to look into an Es 137 I own a "classic" model and find it has an excellent jazz tone and is well suited to many other styles of music.