Gibson 335s: Memphis vs CS vs dot reissue, etc

PonchoGreg

So I'm not sure I understand the difference versus the various models of 335s that have been available in the past few years...

Looking at used ones I see all these denominations: Memphis, custom shop (which is straightforward enough), dot reissue, etc.

Which ones are actually custom shop versus regular US production line??

Doesn't help that the used prices are all over the shop. I see "Gibson USA" or "dot reissue" ones at around £2k. Given that brand new ones are £2.4k (for what I assume is just regular production 335s) that doesn't make sense to me. I would expect to see used "standard" ones around the 1.6k mark and CS ones more around 2.5k.

Can someone enlighten me on the various ranges?

WindmillGuitars

@PonchoGreg 335 designation over the last few years has been hard to follow. The difficulty mainly comes from the use of the word "Custom" - which is NOT Gibson Custom Shop in any way. Then throw in the other reissues, traditional models and limited editions and you end up with a spider diagram that makes no sense to the best of us. 

PonchoGreg

Thanks man, that gives me hope 

terada

I thought they were all made in Memphis these days (but could be wrong). 

PonchoGreg

Yeah that's the bit that's confusing me. It might just be that sellers for the few I've seen recently (not here) are a bit greedy with their prices. Probably doesn't help that everyone bar Peach seems to be out of the 2019 standard models...

tomajoha

PonchoGreg said:

Yeah that's the bit that's confusing me. It might just be that sellers for the few I've seen recently (not here) are a bit greedy with their prices. Probably doesn't help that everyone bar Peach seems to be out of the 2019 standard models...

Is that because they closed the Memphis factory and have moved production to Nashville, hence the absence of new Semi models over the last few months? The new one Peach has looks like it has a different sticker in the F hole than the usual Memphis sticker? 

PonchoGreg

Could be... Most places seem to have stock coming in October

uksaint7

By far the majority of 335s in recent years were made in Memphis, however a while ago a good deal of these would have been advertised for sale by retailers as 'Custom Shop', reason being is the Memphis plant was seen as being on a par with the Nashville Custom Shop. But then Gibson started pushing the 'Memphis' and 'Custom' designations for these two facilities to differentiate between them.

There were however a few 335s made in the Nashville Custom facility, mainly '59 and '63 reissues. I'm pretty sure the laminates were pressed in Memphis but then shipped to Nashville to be built. When I visited both the Memphis factory and Nashville Custom Shop in 2013 I saw reissue dots from both plants. 

StuartMac290

Can't really help you here because it's a bit of a minefield, but I have a Nashville Custom Shop '63 Historic 335 that is the best I've ever played, so if you can find one of them I'd say go for it! They tend to be pricey, though

koss59

I agree with Stuart, the Nashville ones I’ve played ( still own one ) were leagues ahead of any Memphis. When I toured the Memphis factory a few years ago the guide wasn’t even aware they made 335 in Nashville. The necks feel quite different to Memphis in my experience and fret work very different.

roberty

There's 61 and 59 reissues from Memphis here: https://wildwoodguitars.com/product-category/electrics/gibson-custom-memphis/es-335-series/

And a 345 and 335 dot in non standard colours from the custom shop here: https://wildwoodguitars.com/product-category/electrics/gibson-custom-shop/hollowbody-and-archtop/

Bit of a weird time because the es and hollow ranges were decimated in the recent shakeup. I'm sure they'll be resuming production soon from Nashville. Or maybe they're building and stockpiling them atm

brooom

I definitely prefer the post 2013 Memphis guitars to the Nashville ones. I've played several of both kinds and still have a Warren Haynes 61 ES-335 (Memphis) and wildwood 59 ES-330 (also memphis).

I prefer the neck shapes, the actual cutaway ear shape, the pickups, the 3 ply construction. Pretty much everything.

roberty

brooom said:

I definitely prefer the post 2013 Memphis guitar to the Nashville ones. I've played several of both kinds and still have a Warren Haynes 61 ES-335 (Memphis) and wildwood 59 ES-330 (also memphis).

I prefer the neck shapes, the actual cutaway ear shape, the pickups, the 3 ply construction. Pretty much everything.

  I've not played a CS 335 but I will say my 2018 anchor stud VOS Memphis is ridiculously good and I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with it

shugz

I have an older Nash made 335 and have sold vintage guitars and kept that one by choice. Great guitar.

Pretty impressed though by some but not all Memphis, think the quality is a little patchy but a good one still a thing of beauty. Gibson get a lot wrong, probably more than any other musical instrument maker I can think of but when the stars align and they make something decent, there's nothing much that compares.

Cheers 
Hugh

PonchoGreg

Thanks guys. Once stock is a bit more readily available I might do a trip to one of the shops and see what the new ones feel like

roberty

PonchoGreg said:

Thanks guys. Once stock is a bit more readily available I might do a trip to one of the shops and see what the new ones feel like

Good luck. I don't think you can go too far wrong tbh, should be easy to find one you like