Gibson ES-335 alternatives?

imalrightjack

Any advice on alternatives to Gibson?

Schnozz

Yamaha SA2200 is probably the best.

imalrightjack

Schnozz said:

Yamaha SA2200 is probably the best.

@schnozz Best alternative or better? 

chrisj1602

Eastman are great

Schnozz

imalrightjack said:

Schnozz said:

Yamaha SA2200 is probably the best.

@schnozz Best alternative or better? 

Best IMO (considering price too), but almost on a par - I think some prefer the SA2000.

Yamaha's neck humbuckers are incredible for jazz, but the bridge pickup has more definition than a Gibson (not as 'phat'); in addition to this, it's worth noting where the screws are should you like to swap pups.

The quality of build is more consistent.

imalrightjack

Good to know, @schnozz Thanks. I presume that means pickup switches aren’t easy?

Lebarque

Tokai

Roland

imalrightjack said:

Schnozz said:

Yamaha SA2200 is probably the best.

@schnozz Best alternative or better? 

The SA2200 is a better built guitar. It also has a thinner neck and push-push tapped humbuckers. The sound is brighter than an ES335. To some extent you can reduce the brightness with tone knob and amp settings, but it doesn’t sound exactly the same. However different ES355 versions sound different too.

imalrightjack

Lebarque said:

Tokai

Any particular years or models, @Lebarque ? Japanese models?

Thanks, @Roland ;

duotone

How much is the budget?

imalrightjack

duotone said:

How much is the budget?

@duotone ;Nothing fixed. Open to high end. 

Lebarque

imalrightjack said:

Lebarque said:

Tokai

Any particular years or models, @Lebarque ? Japanese models?

Thanks, @Roland ;

Yes, I would go Japanese. I used to have an Es120 which was excellent and can be had for about £750 used. Neck was a bit fat for me.

djl

Heritage are great and can be great 2nd hand - I own both Gibson and heritage and the heritage are as good in my opinion 

markj

I bought an Eastman t59v a few weeks ago from Peach guitar. Lovely sounding guitar especially  with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity's that it came fitted with. Not the best build quality, but was expecting better for £1600+  The guitar was returned for a refund and upped my budget and bought a second Custom shop 335. ( See NGD thread)

ThePrettyDamned

markj said:

I bought an Eastman t59v a few weeks ago from Peach guitar. Lovely sounding guitar especially  with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity's that it came fitted with. Not the best build quality, but was expecting better for £1600+  The guitar was returned for a refund and upped my budget and bought a second Custom shop 335. ( See NGD thread)

Interesting to hear this for balance - what was wrong with the eastman? Lots of popularity around them, I wonder whether the demand has increased beyond the point a small team can cope with. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Best value for a 335 copy would likely be one of the higher spec Japanese Tokai's - like a UES-160 or UES-135.

If you're open to really high end stuff then a Collings I-35 would probably be the pinnacle. Very expensive though!

Philly_Q

Collings I-35 looks great, but it's very expensive.

(Oops, didn't mean to echo @Dontgiveupyourdayjob's post, just thinking along similar lines)

markj

ThePrettyDamned said:

markj said:

I bought an Eastman t59v a few weeks ago from Peach guitar. Lovely sounding guitar especially  with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity's that it came fitted with. Not the best build quality, but was expecting better for £1600+  The guitar was returned for a refund and upped my budget and bought a second Custom shop 335. ( See NGD thread)

Interesting to hear this for balance - what was wrong with the eastman? Lots of popularity around them, I wonder whether the demand has increased beyond the point a small team can cope with.     It's a good guitar but for a bit more money I would buy a used Gibson. The build quality was only O.K. quite untidy in certain places. It played and sounded good though helped along with the Antiquity's.

chrisj1602

The Eastman varnish finishes are not 100% perfect but they are hand applied and lightly aged. They also do gloss nitro if the varnish is not your thing. Personally I love the finish on my T59v, it feels really nice on the neck.

duotone

I would probably go for an Eastman.  But these look interesting;

https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/hollow-semi-hollow-body-guitars/dangelico-excel-dc-in-vintage-sunburst

https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/hollow-semi-hollow-body-guitars/ibanez-jsm100-john-scofield-guitar-in-vintage-sunburst

https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/hollow-semi-hollow-body-guitars/schecter-corsair-custom-in-vintage-sunburst

oh_pollo

Tokai's seem really expensive at the moment.

https://reverb.com/item/34985479-tokai-ues198-sr

£2.5k is a lot of money for a guitar with a poly finish.