NGD really late!

[Surgeon]

Re: NGD really late!

that's a beautiful color!

[Diego]

Re: NGD really late!

How could you NOT like it? They just ooze cool.

Congratulations man!

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: NGD really late!

Wow, what a beauty! Very nice score.

[The LudNuts]

Re: NGD really late!

Wow nice guitar and it's Gibson those are expensive! xD

[SrDeMaFp]

Re: NGD really late!



BOI-OI-OI-OI-OIIINNNGGG!!!

[Lazarus1140]

Re: NGD really late!

Beautiful ... can't wait to hear it!

[gilaltom3]

Re: NGD really late!

Looks awesome, man! I love the way that neck looks on the back!

[JaySwear]

Re: NGD really late!

Hot damn! I love those bursts

[voggin]

Re: NGD really late!

Looks awesome, man! I love the way that neck looks on the back!

Yeah, the neck and the front and back are lovely. What's funny (and what doesn't come through in the picutures) is that the wood on the back is much nicer than the front, in my opinion. The front is more "regular" maple grain, but the back has a sort of ripply/flamish effect in the middle, which is really cool. I suppose it was chosen for a back because it would have looked a little unusual on the front, but I wish they had taken the braver/more creative route and tried it. I think it would have been really cool and unique.

The wood grain on the mahogany neck is really tight and consistent. I think they used a nice piece of wood there.

Anyway, here is my review:

I got this at the end of December (the 29th, I think.) My local Long and McQuade had it there for a month or so. I got it used for $1600. I'm actually feeling pretty lucky about that now. I'd been saving for one for some time, and had been planning to buy new. The new ones were listing for 1999.00. I was excited when the used one came in, because it would speed up my timeline. But I wasn't too concerned, because I still thought the 1999 price was reasonable. If I couldn't get this one, I'd just wait a while. However, I notice that in the new year, at least in Canada, the regular price has gone up a few hundred dollars. So if I hadn't gotten this one, I would have either been set back another 6 months or I would have had to wait for a (presumably) more expensive used one.

This one has the thinner, 30/60 neck, which I preferred to the '50s style, although that was nice too (it wouldn't have been a deal breaker on a well-priced used one for me, but if I were buying new, I was going to opt for the 30/60.) I actually really bonded with this one when it was used on the shelf. The previous owner had the action higher than I prefer, but I could tell the frets and nut were very good, and that I could personalize it (I play very lightly, so I like the action quite low. I'm always for an easy life.)

I set the action where I like it, and the guys at L&M were great about tinkering with the truss rod to get it perfect (truss rods are the one thing I hate to monkey with: the whole process always seems counter-intuitive to me). So now it's set up (for me) perfectly. I don't know how much of a "plekking" these get at the factory (the Gibson website speaks vaguely only about the nut) but it seems to have worked very well. No "pings" from the tuners, everything lined up right.

The frets are very good. I like the tall-but-narrow Gibson jumbos, but that's a personal preference. I can say, objectively, that the work is really well done. The binding (which is a great nicotene-stain yellow) covers the fret ends, and there are no irregularites between the binding and the frets (I've never paid this much for a guitar, so I was pretty anal about checking it over). The only down side, and it is pretty nit-picky, aesthetically, is that the white nut looks really white compared to the binding. The fretboard is a very nice piece of rosewood, well finished.

Since it was used, I expected some dings, but I find it hard to believe the previous owner ever played it. There are no marks, no buckle rash, nothing. He (I assume it was a he) put strap locks on it, so I assume he either used it or just does that with every guitar he gets.

As to fit and finish/quality control. Everything's fine. No excess finish, binding is perfect, no rasp marks, etc. I don't think I just lucked out in this department, because the new ones all looked good to me too. Maybe, being a newer model, the CNC's and other machines used on the 339's are more up to date or something. I'm neither a Gibson hater or fanboy, so I think I'm both realistic and objective in this department. The f-holes are painted, rather than bound, to hide the maple/poplar/maple laminate, which looks fine and probably cuts costs in a very unobtrusive way. The burst is beautiful, very well done and balanced.

Acoustically, the guitar sounds very bright and "alive". It isn't terribly loud unplugged, but a very nice tone. It came with 10's, and I put another set on, but I'll probably move down to 9's (see my easy life comment above). I find I spend a lot of time playing it unplugged, and as it's my first semi-hollow, I find I really like the unplugged sound. I don't know if that is because of the guitar specifically, or just something I've discovered about semis.

Plugged in, the guitar is amazing. most of the online reviews say something like "between a lp and a 335". And while I think I know what they're trying to say, it doesn't quite capture the tone. I don't want to call it bright, because that doesn't really do the sound justice. It's almost a shimmery-ness or sparkly tone (if that helps at all.) With overdrive, it sounds to me like a brighter than usual lp, whereas clean it's tighter than 335s I've heard and played. (when I say "tighter" I don't mean that as in "better", just trying to describe it.) It actually sounds more like a 355 than a 335, but I have no idea why that is.

It came with the stock 57 classics. Not everyone's cup of tea, but in this application, I think they were a good choice. The acoustic sparkle (and the maple center block) seems to take any mud out of the neck (I don't find it muddy at all, just what I've read on this and other sites). As I said in an earlier post, they are good quality pickups, so I'm in no rush to swap them out.

The "memphis tone" circuit (as I understand it, a logarithmic pot) actually works as advertised. You don't lose any high end when you roll back the volume. This is pretty cool, although I've had to change 20+ years of habit, using the volume knob as a tone modifier (I've always just rolled back the volume a tad when I wanted a little less treble.) The volume and tone controls work very well: 5 with both seems to be what you'd expect half to be in both applications. The pickup switch is quiet and feels sturdy.

I play sort of jazzy-blues to overdriven blues and rock, and I get all the tones I want out of this guitar. I've cranked it with ridiculous overdrive (why not?) and it sounds pretty good to me. I doubt if you'd use it for shred-type stuff, but it stays pretty tight cranked. I think it would be pretty versatile for a live guitar, as you could cover a lot of ground with it. The treble pickup clean is pretty snappy, almost tele-ish, so I think a country player could even get a good tone out of it (if there is a good country tone, but that's my bias).

My favourite tone, other than clean, so far is the guitar through a Jekyll and Hyde overdrive side, full up with 3/4 tone, through the clean channel on my Hot Rod Deville with a bit of echo/delay. Great for Allman Brothers-type blues (was just playing Stormy Monday last night). I have never used my tone knobs so much on a guitar before. If you use both pickups, the combinations with the volume and tone controls are pretty amazing.

I'm probably still honeymooning, but I really like this guitar. Like my early 90s '62 strat, it'll be a lifetime keeper. (I've had the strat for almost 20 years while other things have come and gone).

A final note about $ value: I think these things, with last years prices, were a great bargain. I don't know if the price went up this year everywhere, or just in Canada. If it has, I can't say the new price is unfair, but if you were considering one of these, you should try to snatch a leftover at the old price or a used one before the used market catches on to the new pricing.

[jcthejester13]

Re: NGD really late!

I wish my Hagstrom Viking Deluxe could mate with that, and see what kind of beautiful offspring they would produce.

[lex666]

Re: NGD really late!

sweet!