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I have the chance of buying a very nice all original vintage Gibson ES 347 1979 for €1950 or I could wait and work my ass off till I have €3200 and buy a new ES335 '63 reissue. What do you guys think I should do. I'm a jazz/fusion/blues/pop and latin player. I studied jazz and I incorporate jazz improvisation in any style I play so I need an all around guitar for this. I don't play hardcore jazz often..most of the time a fusion of different styles and this type of guitar is great for that.
Any advice or wise words would be very welcome and if you have some experience ( pro's and cons ) with these guitars please share.
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10-07-2014 07:40 PM
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I own an '88 Gibson 347 and I wish I had a '63 reissue.
The 347 is really a great guitar. You have to consider that the pickups in the 347 are called something like Series VII
and very similar to Dirty Fingers, so high output pickups. I heard many people complaining because the clean sound
from the amp seemed like being filtered through a blanket placed on the guitar speaker.
Can you try both and then decide?
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Swapping the pickups in the 347 would be an option ;;; there are many good PAF style pickups available now for not a whole lot of money. plus it does have an ebony fingerboard which I personally would consider a big plus over a 335.
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It depends mostly on cosmetics. The 347 has gold, ebony/blocks, and bound headstock. And the coil splitter. Getting beyond mystique, I'd say the 347 is the nicer guitar. JMO
Originally Posted by entresz
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I'd do the 347 in a heartbeat given the price differential. It should be more versatile with the coil tap switch and I'm a sucker for an ebony fret board. Then there's the scarcity factor, too.
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Do '79 Gibsons have 3-piece and/or maple necks? Or did the 347 escape from that all together? Or was Gibson already out of the Norlin-period by then? I don't think so, right? Not saying those neck are worse or better, depends I guess. And body-shape? Norlin-era 335s have a different body shape that I don't like so much (but I don't see how the sound would suffer from that, so it's not really an issue).
Even better alternative: try to find an ES-333, they go for about $1,200 and have all the 335-vibe you'll need!
(love mine)
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I had an ES-347 many years ago and it was a nice guitar. I preferred the gold hardware and ebony fb/block inlays to the plain appointments on an ES-335. I also really liked the fine-tuning stop tailpiece. Mine had a maple neck and a volute, which many people dislike, but it didn't bother me. I thought the pickups sounded a little odd for jazz, so I eventually ended up selling the guitar for that reason. Looking back, I should have tried changing the pickups because the guitar had a lot going for it.
Keith
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Every 347 I've owned or played had a very narrow nut. I don't really mind this as much as most...heck...I play a Byrdland, but some seem to find the narrow Gibson nut unplayable.
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Are you sure about that? Strange.... Originally Posted by customxke
In my opinion the nut is like a 335 even if I didn't measure it.
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Which era 335? 335s will have the widest nuts Gibson put on an electric guitar, and the narrowest. And everything in between. The maple necked 3XX guitars I've played usually had narrow nut widths. Originally Posted by Jazz_175
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Ah, you may be correct about the maple neck. I didn't think about that. Originally Posted by Little Jay
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Is it this one by any chance?
http://link.marktplaats.nl/855131280
Is sure looks nice. Pics are a bit vague, but on no. 4 it looks like it has a 3-piece neck, probably maple. (But hey, so does an L5!)
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Yep that's the one. After doing some research on the ''dirty finger'' pick ups I decided to try some Es 335's and I fell in love immediately. Originally Posted by Little Jay
Found a very nice used ES 335 '60 reissue for a very good price…I'm getting it this sunday.
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Check out Dave Stryker. He's a long time ES-347 player
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You might want to read this discussion on The Gear Page, if you haven't already:
New Pickups for Gibson ES 347 - The Gear Page
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Cool! Do report back about how you like it! Originally Posted by jboetius
(preferably with some pics ;-) )
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Be careful with the VOS range.
You certainly want to check the finish before buying at that price. They can have many flaws and sticky necks not to mention wether or not they are using laminate rosewood (which they did with the VOS Les Pauls).
Unfortunately Gibson are up to more tricks than ever these days. Id prefer something from the early mid 90's or before.
I think Gibsons guitars of recent aren't very good. They seem to have taken a dive again imo.
Weird parts
Cheep woods
Weird woods?? Richerlite??
Bad finishes,
Poor fit and finish
Poor necks, especially the mahogany ones.
So yeh I would go for something a little more tried and tested.
This is not a Gibson bashing exercise and merely my opinions of the current Gibson output, especially the VOS range. I'm sure most will disagree and thats fine, my opinion of Gibson is not high and I'm sure this is well known.
I like to think I have something called perspective. Ses the guy who just bought a Byrdland (1992 though ;-)Last edited by Archie; 10-14-2014 at 09:06 AM.
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Well, if you got your guitar last sunday, this is probably abundant, but here's a nice alternative for (a lot) less money:
? Gibson elektrisch-akoestische gitaar ES 333 - Snaarinstrumenten | Gitaren | Akoestisch - Marktplaats.nl
I think the ES-333 range offers extraordinary guitars for the money! (Which is probably why they're discontinued....)
(Love mine!)
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Well everybody is entitled to their own opinion..nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying that I disagree with you..I have absolute no experience with Gibson guitars so I should thank you for sharing this with me…happy to learn..
The most important thing about any guitar for me is the sound and the feel and for now I'm in love with the ES 335's. Of course if you pay a lot of money detail and finish are important but I guess I'm not so picky about that. I teach and gig a lot so it will be beaten anyways.
I was suppose to pick up my Es 335 sunday but the guy who was suppose to buy my D'angelico NYL-2 cancelled..so hopefully it will happen this week…I really can't wait to put my hands on that guitar..I literally can't sleep these days because of excitement .
I'm selling this baby btw
? D'angelico NYL-2 New Yorker - Pak nu je kans! - Snaarinstrumenten | Gitaren | Elektrisch - Marktplaats.nl
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Sure, Gibson has lemons, but you are an experienced player (I googled you ;-), so if you play it and you like it then it's all good!
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Bumping this old topic for a final conclusion: some weeks ago at a jamsession I met the topic-starter playing a new cherry red ES-335. When we talked we found out we 'met' before on this forum., so it felt a bit like I contributed to his new purchase :-) Long live the jazz guitar forum!
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