ES-335 and Memphis Midtown

[C1-ocaster]

Finally sold the ESP Eclipse E-II to a very happy buyer, so I'm now hunting for an ES-335 in satin cherry.
GC sales rep tells me that the satin ES-335 is discontinued. So I called Gibson and their rep says that it's still showing on their price sheet and their sales dept says it is still a current model.
Odd.
The other big online vendors show a few in stock, so I that GC rep it wrong.

Anyone have one of these satin finish ES335's?
Do you like it?
I've played a couple and I LOVE the tone. To my ears they sound better than the gloss finish versions.
The tuners are the old style Klusons. Not my favorite tuners and I like the Grovers on the gloss models better.
Problem is that with the Klusons there are 2 holes to hold each tuner, so if I want to change the tuners I have to live with the extra hole.
Not a big deal I guess to have better tuners. I like locking tuners and that's what I'll likely put on.

The other guitar in question is the Midtown Custom. Gibson tells me it's no longer being made cause it was a short production run.
Also, those are made in the Memphis plant the rep says not the main one in Nashville, or is that the other way around.
Body size is between the ES-339 and ES-335, closer to the 335. Also, the top is flat not arched.
The neck looks really cool, looks like an LP Custom neck.
The guitar looks awesome but I've never played one and don't know anyone who has.
It's only $1400 so I wonder why the low price?
It's got Gibson Burstbuck pups, and the body is solid chambered mahogany, not laminated, with a maple top, so I'm sure it sounds different than an ES with it's all maple and laminated body. The fret board is "richlite", which gets some very positive reviews even though it's a man made product.
Anyone familiar with the Memphic Midtown? Please fill me in.

 

[gibson08]

PM sent.

 

[iplayloudly]

I had one for a short while. Sounded good and neck was comfortable, but I couldn't keep the dang thing in tune and couldn't get the intonation set up properly. I tired all the little tricks of the trade. Never had that problem with any other guitar in over 20 years of playing. I finally gave up and got rid of it.

 

[C1-ocaster]

I had one for a short while. Sounded good and neck was comfortable, but I couldn't keep the dang thing in tune and couldn't get the intonation set up properly. I tired all the little tricks of the trade. Never had that problem with any other guitar in over 20 years of playing. I finally gave up and got rid of it.

Yeah, I have read a number of people having a number of tuning issues with that guitar.
Too bad really, cause it's a beautiful looking guitar. I love that LP Custom neck on that body, very unique.
Seems the low price means that the luthiers didn't care enough to make a consistent product.
Some people say their Midtown's are excellent, but more say they have fitment, construction, and especially tuning problems.

Still I would think that a new real bone nut, maybe new tuners, and a fret job could make for a great guitar.
All those things won't cost too much, and given how little it costs maybe it could be made into a great player.

I think I won't roll the dice on that guitar after reading all the negatives plus your experience.
I'm going to go ahead and go with the ES-335.
Satin Cherry is the one I really like.
Last night I went to my local GC and played a satin and gloss through a Twin Reverb to see, hear, and feel which one I would like more.
Well, both of the guitars I played had their positives.
Given that the electronics are the same in either model it was interesting to hear the tonal differences.
Guitars can be unique even when built the same way and using the same hardware and electronics.

The gloss 335 had a distinctly tighter and punchier low end, and the low end sounded clearer. Even digging in with the pick the low end tone was clear and tight. With the satin 335 the mids were warmer and the high end clearer and more responsive.
The low end was great, but a bit grittier when digging in. I like both of them for different reasons.
I tend to play with a bit more grit anyway so the satin one is still more to my liking. Plus, I prefer the better response to lighter touch of the satin.
That could be because the finish is much lighter on the satin compared to the gloss.
The bass quality difference could also be due to the variation in pups. They use the same Gibson '57 pups.
And, maybe the gloss dampens some of the woods natural vibration so that the low end sounds tighter. Maybe.

The stain neck feels great. It's more like my Strat that also has a satin/oiled neck. The gloss is smooth too just a touch slower, but it also felt a bit thicker, again likely due to it's thicker gloss finish.
On the satin neck since the wood isn't covered, I could feel more of the grain, which on this particular stain guitar had a very very light spot around the 2nd to 3rd fret. Nothing major just a bit noticeable, but doesn't ruin the guitar at all.

I prefer the Grover tuners on the gloss over the Kluson's on the satin, but I'll likely change to locking tuners anyway.
Interestingly, the Grover's on that particular gloss 335 didn't have the best feel that Grover's typically have.
After the comparo I wasn't swayed towards the gloss. I wanted to see if there is something really better with the gloss model, but there isn't, just $500 more for the gloss finish.
I'm getting a great price on either cause I got a sweet 20% off coupon from GC.
My price for the satin is $2000 and for the gloss $2400.
I don't plan nor intend to sell the 335 I get, but neither finish retains more value.
ES-335's tend to hold their resale value evenly across the line and it's variations.
I'm really looking forward to getting mine. I've been wanting one of these for a long time.
After my LP Standard purchase and return I realized that LP's are not for me, and the ES-335 is THE Gibson I really want.

 

[stratotone]

If a guitar you love is having tuning issues and you know it's not how you are putting the strings on, spend the money to have a pro replace the nut and put on locking tuners. done and done.

Regarding gloss vs the satin finish, most of the satin guitars I've had sounded better than the gloss ones. Best sounding regular LP I've owned (out of 7 or so) was a faded standard. I buffed the finish to a shine and it sang like a bird. I really think a thinner finish is the way to go tone-wise on guitars.

 

[iplayloudly]

Another thing I should point out... the Midtown won't sound like a 335. It actually sounds closer to a semi-hollow Les Paul. If you're going for the 335 sound, you're definitely better off

 

[C1-ocaster]

If a guitar you love is having tuning issues and you know it's not how you are putting the strings on, spend the money to have a pro replace the nut and put on locking tuners. done and done.

Regarding gloss vs the satin finish, most of the satin guitars I've had sounded better than the gloss ones. Best sounding regular LP I've owned (out of 7 or so) was a faded standard. I buffed the finish to a shine and it sang like a bird. I really think a thinner finish is the way to go tone-wise on guitars.

On the tuning I agree.
The Klusons work ok, but I prefer a higher ratio tuner and I like locking tuners for the ease of changing strings.
For me locking tuners are an excellent upgrade more so for how much easier it makes changing strings.
Having the lock is just an added degree of tuning stability.
I wish Gibson would have used single screw tuners like the Grovers they use on most of the ES's.
The Kluson's may look vintage, but I'm not looking for a vintage replica, just a nice modern ES.
Most of the other ES guitars have the grovers so not sure why the satin 335 has the Klusons.

Nut jobs for sure. I think all of the regular non custom shop ES's use something other than bone.
And in my experience with Gibson LP's it's a crap shoot finding one that has a properly cut nut.

I too find that I like the tone of the satin more overall.
But the gloss 335 sure did have a nice tight and round low end, but I don't think that's a product of the thicker gloss finish. Or maybe it is, but I haven't read that to be the case.

While looking for my 335 I found some sweet looking "figured" tops and that now has me thinking I may want one.
It's interesting that the price difference between a plan top satin and plain top gloss is $500, but the price difference between a plain gloss and figured gloss is only $300.

The other thing is Gibson making very slight variation ES335's that are priced the same but have very slight differences.
For example, there is the ES335 gloss and then there is the ES335 gloss dot.
And, ES335 figured and ES335 figured dot.
They list them with different product numbers.
The only difference I can find is that the "dot" models use the ABR-1 bridge and the non "dot" use the AVR-II bridge.
The AVR-II seems to be a better bridge as it offers more tuning range.
Other than that I don't know what differences there are.
Anyone know what other things are different besides the bridge?