Gibson ME and CS

kswilson89

I've been looking at some Gibson ES-339s and have noticed that some have an ME serial number and tend to have Grover tuners and block inlays, yet others seem to have a CS serial, Klusons and dot inlays. Am I right in thinking that both models are made in the exact same place in Memphis and the CS serial is more of a marketing ploy than anything else?

chris78

Both made in Memphis. Spec changed in 2015 to include bloc inlays, burstbuckers and a different tone cap. Most recent models have Memphis historic pickups

kswilson89

chris78 said:

Both made in Memphis. Spec changed in 2015 to include bloc inlays, burstbuckers and a different tone cap. Most recent models have Memphis historic pickups

Thanks, the one I'm looking at has Klusons, dot inlays and '57 pickups, is this another recent change? 

Adamski

Get one with the MHS pickups - they are significantly better IMO than either Burstbuckers or ‘57’s. They’re the Memphis equivalent of Custombuckers on a Les Paul. 

crunchman

Adamski said:

Get one with the MHS pickups - they are significantly better IMO than either Burstbuckers or ‘57’s. They’re the Memphis equivalent of Custombuckers on a Les Paul. 

Wisdom.  MHS are great pickups.

I much prefer my ES Les Paul with MHS pickups to the 339 I had before.  Some of that is probably the different construction, but some of it is the fact that the MHS pickups are better than the 57 Classics.

chris78

kswilson89 said:

chris78 said:

Both made in Memphis. Spec changed in 2015 to include bloc inlays, burstbuckers and a different tone cap. Most recent models have Memphis historic pickups

Thanks, the one I'm looking at has Klusons, dot inlays and '57 pickups, is this another recent change? 

They’re the older models

chris78

Adamski said:

Get one with the MHS pickups - they are significantly better IMO than either Burstbuckers or ‘57’s. They’re the Memphis equivalent of Custombuckers on a Les Paul. 

Agreed, but if the price is right, get an older one with 57s, rip them out and get the boutique humbucker of your choice