Another HB 335 - vids!

martinw · June 2015

I got this a few months back intending to pimp it rather than mod it as such. I paid £135 with a hard case, and as we know, it's a safe buy as I could have returned it had it been a dog.

Anyway, it wasn't. When I got it, I could tell it was a decent guitar, hidden under some crap hardware. It played and sounded ok, and was an amazing bargain for the price. The basic woodwork standard was excellent. The odd very minor cosmetic blemish here and there, but nothing more than you might find on a Gibson! It needed a set up, but was playable enough out of the box. I think it's a very attractive guitar, made from decent bits of wood, and it's resonant and a good weight....I'd guess at between 7.5 and 8lbs. Pleasingly, the finish isn't over thick.

The hardware however is where they save the money. It's poor by any standards, IMO, not even up to the 'usual' Chinese level, and miles behind something like Epiphone. The metal that the bridge, tailpiece and tuners are made from is one step above cheese. Step one was to replace all of it. I got nickel plated bridge and aluminium tailpiece from Axesrus, which even though it is their basic range stuff, is streets ahead in terms of quality...sharper casting, nicer machining, proper fit etc. (For example the original bridge and tailpiece bushings virtually fell out, as the castings were slightly 'withered', whereas the replacement ones were nice and sharp and consequently slightly bigger. The holes were exactly the right size, so the new ones were a gentle interference fit, as they should be).

I also fitted a set of nickel plated snot-green Kluson-alikes from Axesrus, again very nice, especially for the price. I bought a set of used Gibson Burstbucker pickups from @BluesyDave and fitted them along with new Alpha pots, switch and jack socket, again from Axesrus, and amber reflector knobs and a cream switch tip, to match a pic of a real sunburst '62 335 that took my fancy. The pickup rings are a pair I had lying around, cheap Chinese stuff, but again better quality than the HB ones. The pickguard is from Allparts, and fitted well, after 5 minutes dressing about 1mm off the pickup gap. The original delaminated as I was taking it off! Nice.

That left the frets and nut. I took it to @SteveRobinson with instructions for a level, but possibly a refret if required, and he took the decision to refret it, rather than struggle to do a decent fret dress, as some of the frets were a little low, and others not seated particularly well, so it was better just to start afresh. He also reckoned it was a good guitar and worth spending the money on. The nut was also replaced with a Tusq one. He fitted my favourite 9.5-44 D'addarios, and did a perfect set up. Thanks Steve, worth every penny.

I love this guitar now. Who cares what it says on the headstock, it plays and sounds great, and has got (unsolicited) comments as to how incredibly good it is from several very experienced players who've played it. Even my band mates said 'Wow!' It stands me in at around £400 maybe? Paid out over a period of months, so that I haven't really noticed it, and I don't think I could have got a better 335 for that kind of money. Very pleased!

No pics, but some vids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZI9hnifxXU&list=PLB5A004E81CB3EAC1&index=4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhgBirj-fc&index=7&list=PLB5A004E81CB3EAC1