1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

[chillytouch]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Chilly touch, I think that's a 330 not a 335. Can you double check?

If the serial numbers and condition confirmed in detail with you -I'll send you nice cash for that sucker.

I will double check the serial number. You may be right, i just guessed 335 because it looked like the pictures I saw. The shop checked the number and told me it was a 1966 but they didn't say 335. And as much as I want an evh usa really badly, I don't think i can sell my dad's guitar. I'm sorry man . I will confirm the serial though for you just for giggles.

I actually got it tuned tonight and tried playing it. Wow, the low end on this thing is amazing. I was having WAY too much fun with it!!! I just cranked everything haha, and yes i know im new and stink. I was having so much fun practicing back in black. Video below if you're interested lol

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PmmXgEl2_N02WSWAsdpUB0lVISxwxSh1

@ICTGoober. oh ok, sorry man. didn't know.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

First of all - it's a 330. It has P-90 pickups, single coils - not humbuckers. A 330 is fully hollow - not a solid center section like a 335.

And yes - play the damn thing. That's what they are for. It's actually better for the guitar to be in playing condition.

Should be a great axe for jazz, rock, blues, country, pop - almost anything but metal.

Have that bridge looked at a competent and experienced luthier. It's quite savable.

 

[Mincer]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I have a student with a 60's ES-330. It is a remarkable sounding guitar. If it were mine, I would hope to make my playing worthy of such a great sounding instrument. Get it in playable condition, and play the thing at home. It is also worth insuring at some point.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Play it. Keep it. If it is never what you love it can be your "other" guitar.
It is lovely and it is valuable but not "sell it and buy a house with the proceeds" valuable, so enjoy it and keep it as an heirloom. If you replace any parts keep the originals. Try not to beat it up. But normal use in your home won't hurt it and regular use will keep the parts (tuners, controls, frets) clean and in working condition.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I'm a little late to the party...been on vacation so I haven't kept up. And Goober beat me to the punch...

Yes that's a ES-330TD model, full hollow body (like the current Casino) not semi. pre-68/69 so neck joint at the 16th fret.

That's a very valuable instrument in addition to the sentiment (which is huge). Don't ever get rid of it, even if you decide never to play it.
I would personally replace the nut with bone and do a good file job on it so it will stay in tune. And I would replace all of the saddles. Keep the old parts in the case. I wouldn't do any other work on it (like a fret level, etc) unless there was just a spot or two where you are getting excess fret buzz.

Either keep it untouched (no nut or saddle work) as a collectible, or play it (with the nut and saddle work) as it was intended and enjoy playing a very great guitar. In any case, I would definitely never take it out to a gig or even a rehearsal. If that's all that you want a guitar for, then sell it ($4000-6000) and buy the playing guitar of your dreams, (even another 330 reissue, 335, Casino, Sheraton, or DOT), and pocket the change.

I've never seen one in that color on a 330. The 1960 model I had was in the traditional sunburst finish and I've seen them in natural and cherry and I believe it also came in walnut.

Does anyone know what that color is?

 

[Mincer]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I'd never seen that color, either. I think my student's is in walnut.

 

[chillytouch]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I'm a little late to the party...been on vacation so I haven't kept up. And Goober beat me to the punch...

Yes that's a ES-330TD model, full hollow body (like the current Casino) not semi. pre-68/69 so neck joint at the 16th fret.

That's a very valuable instrument in addition to the sentiment (which is huge). Don't ever get rid of it, even if you decide never to play it.
I would personally replace the nut with bone and do a good file job on it so it will stay in tune. And I would replace all of the saddles. Keep the old parts in the case. I wouldn't do any other work on it (like a fret level, etc) unless there was just a spot or two where you are getting excess fret buzz.

Either keep it untouched (no nut or saddle work) as a collectible, or play it (with the nut and saddle work) as it was intended and enjoy playing a very great guitar. In any case, I would definitely never take it out to a gig or even a rehearsal. If that's all that you want a guitar for, then sell it ($4000-6000) and buy the playing guitar of your dreams, (even another 330 reissue, 335, Casino, Sheraton, or DOT), and pocket the change.

I've never seen one in that color on a 330. The 1960 model I had was in the traditional sunburst finish and I've seen them in natural and cherry and I believe it also came in walnut.

Does anyone know what that color is?

I'm not sure what the official color is. Would the serial number somehow tell me if it looked it up? I have the original manual it came with but no receipt i don't think. It looks sunburst to me too. I let my guitar teacher try it when I took it to the shop to get it looked at and he was blown away by the condition.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

That's just too cool. Definitely one of those guitars that, if you ever DID sell it, you would come to regret for the rest of your life. That said, it deserves to be played as much as respected.

Thank you for sharing it!

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

330 = the best guitar model Gibson ever made, IMO.

I spent over a year shopping, playing literally scores of them, before picking a 1968, faded Sparkling Burgundy, 100 percent original except the case (which is '70s). I've never seen a better looking, or heard a better sounding, guitar. If you have a '66, you'd be a fool not to play the hell out of it (assuming it's in a good state of repair). I prefer the later models, myself, with small inlays, chrome covers, witch hat knobs, and the higher neck joint. I also prefer my Sparkling Burgundy faded completely out, while most people do not, so I was able to get the thing for a song.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I'm wondering if that's just the original sunburst finish and that the black burst around the edges has extremely faded. I mean, it's nitro and it has been over 50 years!
I have to admit that I've never seen one fade that much, but I suppose it's possible because afaik the ONLY colors it came in were sunburst, cherry, natural, walnut, and sparkling burgundy.

What do you guys think...have you ever seen a sunburst (on any Gibson) fade that much?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I just looked at the pix. Man, that thing is super clean, and the finish is rare (no way it's a factory 3TSB with a faded outer layer – that didn't happen, and the guitar is so otherwise clean that it obviously hasn't had to UV exposure necessary for finish fading). Its condition actually would give me pause about treating it like any old guitar, especially since it has such an interesting and rare finish. I play my '68 without pause, but it's nowhere near as clean. If your guitar wasn't a 3rd-generation family heirloom, I'd recommend selling it to a hardcore collector and using the money to buy a more "player grade" one. But since it is, just be super careful with it. Quite the find.

That said, 330s from that period aren't as valuable as some people are making them out to be. They are not from Gibson's most collectible period, and most find the 330 far less "usable" than the 335 (you can't account for people's poor taste). Additionally, if going for a hollowbody with P90s, most collectors tend to favor the Epiphone version of the same guitar, the Casino, because of The Beatles and Stones connections (Lennon/McCartney/Richards couldn't afford the Gibson versions when they bought theirs). 330s of that period are something like C to D grade guitars in terms of collectibility. Still "valuable," but not crazy valuable like some other '60s Gibsons.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I just looked at the pix. Man, that thing is super clean, and the finish is rare (no way it's a factory 3TSB with a faded outer layer – that didn't happen, and the guitar is so otherwise clean that it obviously hasn't had to UV exposure necessary for finish fading). Its condition actually would give me pause about treating it like any old guitar, especially since it has such an interesting and rare finish. .

Any idea what that color is?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

I'm not very sentimental about guitars anymore, and there probably is someone out there whose dream guitar that is. My '62 SG/LP sort of fits this bill. It's a cool old guitar that should be out getting worked. My kids don't give a crap about guitars, so ultimately I'm going to swap it with someone who will play and love it for something I'll play and love.

 

[Open lane]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

You know, that is a really sweet guitar. So, i was initially thinking "i'd play the piss out of it"

Then, i started thinking, i have several high end guitars i rarely touch for the reason of keeping them safe. Really, i'd be a hypocrite if i said i'd play it regularly.

I think it's a personal type of decision. I can see the arguments on both sides of the aisle. Whether you play it or not, i'd treat it well. It looks amazing.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Any idea what that color is?

It looks like a cherry sunburst to me. Basically, a 3TSB without the 3rd (outer) color.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Any idea what that color is?

P.S. I did some quick hunting online, and it looks like it wasn't actually rare at all, but the norm circa '65-'66. Rare in the grand scheme of all things 330, but seems to have been the standard color those years.

 

[chillytouch]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Thanks guys for all of the advice. I figured I'd give a quick update on this.

So, I brought it to my guitar teacher and he said it was in amazing shape and that even being away so long he didn't think it needed a setup and he thinks it'd be better just to play it rather then messing with the saddles. So they cleaned it up and put a new set of strings on it and I actually ended up giving it back to my dad. I guess seeing me play it rekindled his interest and it actually made him want to play again! So I gave him my small marshall amp and he is now practicing during his more boring retiree days. I'm actually so happy. It feels like we are now back into it together .

My wife and I are going to be saving for a house for the next 2 years so I will not be able to make any gear purchases for the foreseeable future. With that said, she has noticed that for the past 6 months or so I've been putting a good 2-3 hours a day into practicing so she allowed me one splurge before our plan went into effect. My dream guitar has always been a wolfgang (of which I did get the MIC version), but I didn't want to keep playing and once they stopped production feel like I settled for the knockoff. I couldn't even get to try one though because no shops stock them, so I tried a les paul at my local shop, liked it, and purchased it. But... I felt remorse. So I ended up bringing it back and finally bought the guitar of my dreams. Needless to say, I'm satisfied, and am loving life . :wave:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sn_8StsYwlvw0YButp-M5Llt6RYKvKPt/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sxniullr96ir0v9w8Gq60kyRq80JZxUk/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T-n39qvOzBwIaH_HA7Uu6SmvwE3dLjOp/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

The color is "iced tea burst". Gibson will refer to it as "lightburst". Same color as Larry Carlton's 335. The 335 was bursted on the back as well, but the 330's backs were often left plain walnut. I'd guess cherry red models are more prevalent. Necks in this era run narrow, 1-9/16", or less. The 335 had three individual tuners per side, my 330 were three on a single plate.

And though Casinos look the same, the is a difference in the body construction. One is 3-ply, one 5-ply (can't remember which.) I'm told that it makes a difference; the Casinos seem to be preferred.

Cool guitar.

Bill

 

[Open lane]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

It always amazes me, the wealth of information people on this forum have. Ha, i can hardly remember the model names/nums of half of my guitars and people on here remember specific colors of dif years. Wish i knew half the info people on here know. If i did, i might even be useful lol.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: 1966 Gibson ES-335, too old to play?

Thanks guys for all of the advice. I figured I'd give a quick update on this.

So, I brought it to my guitar teacher and he said it was in amazing shape and that even being away so long he didn't think it needed a setup and he thinks it'd be better just to play it rather then messing with the saddles. So they cleaned it up and put a new set of strings on it and I actually ended up giving it back to my dad. I guess seeing me play it rekindled his interest and it actually made him want to play again! So I gave him my small marshall amp and he is now practicing during his more boring retiree days. I'm actually so happy. It feels like we are now back into it together .

My wife and I are going to be saving for a house for the next 2 years so I will not be able to make any gear purchases for the foreseeable future. With that said, she has noticed that for the past 6 months or so I've been putting a good 2-3 hours a day into practicing so she allowed me one splurge before our plan went into effect. My dream guitar has always been a wolfgang (of which I did get the MIC version), but I didn't want to keep playing and once they stopped production feel like I settled for the knockoff. I couldn't even get to try one though because no shops stock them, so I tried a les paul at my local shop, liked it, and purchased it. But... I felt remorse. So I ended up bringing it back and finally bought the guitar of my dreams. Needless to say, I'm satisfied, and am loving life . :wave:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sn_8StsYwlvw0YButp-M5Llt6RYKvKPt/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sxniullr96ir0v9w8Gq60kyRq80JZxUk/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T-n39qvOzBwIaH_HA7Uu6SmvwE3dLjOp/view?usp=drivesdk

Happy ending to a nice story. Enjoy!