335 style guitars with a smaller body

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

A potential budget alternative - Hagstrom Alvar. It's basically a shrunk down version of the Viking (their 335 knock-off).

https://www.hagstromguitars.com/electric-guitars/alvar.html

darthed1981

If you want an affordable option, Epiphone I believe make a "339 Pro" which is their 339 copy with their Probucker pickups, which are very good.

Jota

Ibanez AS series.

Philly_Q

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

A potential budget alternative - Hagstrom Alvar. It's basically a shrunk down version of the Viking (their 335 knock-off).

https://www.hagstromguitars.com/electric-guitars/alvar.html

The description on their website is quite amusing.  And I now know what guitars Ghost have been using.

Blueingreen

vincechu89 said:

Blueingreen said:

The smaller bodied 335-alike is my favourite guitar format.  I have a 336 and 339. 

What are your thoughts on the two? I’ve thought about either of these and go back and forth

Variations between individual guitars probably matter more than the differences between the two models. My impression is that the QC on the 336s is generally better. 

The orthodox view is that the 339 is airier and closer to the 335, while the 336 is closer to a solid body. IMO once you dial in your sound through your amp, pedals, etc the tonal differences are too subtle to matter. Others will disagree.

My 339 came with tall narrow frets and my 336 with more standard medium jumbos. I don’t know if that’s a consistent difference between the models but I preferred the frets on the 339. I’ve since refretted the 336 with 6100s. 

For me it’s the format that’s the winner with these. Both weigh just a smidgeon over 7lbs and they’ll do pretty much what a LP or 335 will do without the weight of the LP or the bulk of the 335. And people keep telling me how much they like the look of them.

JohnS37

darthed1981 said:

If you want an affordable option, Epiphone I believe make a "339 Pro" which is their 339 copy with their Probucker pickups, which are very good.

Yup.  That would be my choice unless you want to go for full-strength Gibson.
I still have a Harley Benton 335 copy that was professionally set up and plays great.  It is light and about 1” smaller than a 335 across the lower bout.  Pity about the name on the headstock and the cheapo Chinese fittings, but it plays just fine.  Depends on your budget.
As always, get in the store and try some.  There’s no substitute for noodling!

midlifecrisis

i have the epiphone 339. the smaller body, i think, makes it sound more les paul than 335 but a bit more "airier".?   unplugged its no louder than a solid les paul, unlike the 335 which seem  to ring out acoustically

duotone

Epiphone casino coupe?

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=Coupe

fretfinder

Blueingreen said: My 339 came with tall narrow frets and my 336 with more standard medium jumbos. I don’t know if that’s a consistent difference between the models but I preferred the frets on the 339. I’ve since refretted the 336 with 6100s. 

Interesting you chose jumbo frets for the 336, when you’ve said you prefer the 339’s 6105s to medium jumbos. Out of interest which do you prefer now out of the 6105s and 6100s?

Blueingreen

fretfinder said:

Blueingreen said: My 339 came with tall narrow frets and my 336 with more standard medium jumbos. I don’t know if that’s a consistent difference between the models but I preferred the frets on the 339. I’ve since refretted the 336 with 6100s. 

Interesting you chose jumbo frets for the 336, when you’ve said you prefer the 339’s 6105s to medium jumbos. Out of interest which do you prefer now out of the 6105s and 6100s?

I like big frets but height matters more than width so I prefer 6105s to “medium jumbos”, because they are taller. For the same reason on Suhr/Tom Anderson guitars I prefer “medium” to “heavy” frets. The nomenclature is very confusing. You’d expect the medium jumbo/heavy frets to be bigger: in fact they are bulkier but have less height.

It makes a big difference to me. I currently have six guitars and I have refretted all three that originally came with medium jumbo or heavy wire. I put 6100 on two of them and 6000 on one. Two came with 6105 and one with 6100 and I’ve left them as is.

The short answer is that I prefer 6100 to 6105, but so far I haven’t felt the need to refret my 6105 guitars because the difference is pretty subtle.

Funkfingers

Jota said:

Ibanez AS series.

Long ago, in a galaxy not remotely far away, Ibanez used to make their Artist model in a semi-hollow version with scrummy Super 58 humbuckers. 

BGG said:

I had a CS336 ... nothing like a 355 IMO, way more Les Paul. Sold it.

midlifecrisis said:

i have the epiphone 339. the smaller body, i think, makes it sound more les paul than 335 but a bit more "airier".?   unplugged its no louder than a solid les paul, unlike the 335 which seem to ring out acoustically

What they said.

The air capacity inside the body seems to be part of the equation. I sometimes wonder what would happen if Gibson took the -336/339 outline and made it four inches deep to reinstate the cavity volume of a -335/345/355.

chris45

I had a 339 (actually a 349) and it was a nice guitar but not noticeably different to my Les Paul so I moved it on.  As @Funkfingers says, the air volume is a big factor.  Of course with gain, effects etc humbucking guitars start to sound the same.  If you really want the airy sound but smaller body you could try and find a 390 (a smaller sized 330).

simonhpieman

72 Tele Thinlines are brilliant...

cbellanga

Gibson 275 is a bit smaller as well

fretfinder

Blueingreen said:

fretfinder said:

Blueingreen said: My 339 came with tall narrow frets and my 336 with more standard medium jumbos. I don’t know if that’s a consistent difference between the models but I preferred the frets on the 339. I’ve since refretted the 336 with 6100s. 

Interesting you chose jumbo frets for the 336, when you’ve said you prefer the 339’s 6105s to medium jumbos. Out of interest which do you prefer now out of the 6105s and 6100s?

I like big frets but height matters more than width so I prefer 6105s to “medium jumbos”, because they are taller. For the same reason on Suhr/Tom Anderson guitars I prefer “medium” to “heavy” frets. The nomenclature is very confusing. You’d expect the medium jumbo/heavy frets to be bigger: in fact they are bulkier but have less height.

It makes a big difference to me. I currently have six guitars and I have refretted all three that originally came with medium jumbo or heavy wire. I put 6100 on two of them and 6000 on one. Two came with 6105 and one with 6100 and I’ve left them as is.

The short answer is that I prefer 6100 to 6105, but so far I haven’t felt the need to refret my 6105 guitars because the difference is pretty subtle.

Thanks, good answer! 

Philly_Q

Funkfingers said:

Jota said:

Ibanez AS series.

Long ago, in a galaxy not remotely far away, Ibanez used to make their Artist model in a semi-hollow version with scrummy Super 58 humbuckers. 

AM series?