Check out this 335

[cheetah77]

I'm trying to negotiate a deal on this 335.

It was purchased in the early 80s from Norm at Norman's Rare Guitars in CA. Apparently Norm had six of these made in Japan and sold them all in his store, but held on to this one as his personal guitar.

I took it apart last night to restring it and check it out, the pups dont seem to be anything special, no markings except for a 6 digit ink stamped number, all the wiring is plastic wrapped, no braided wire. I was surprised to see a no wire ABR and equally surprised by the strict tolerances of the hardware. With the strings off, you can hold the guitar in any position and the bridge and tailpiece will stay put, they will come loose if you pull them though, a very nice fit. The neck is wide and not too deep with double ring Klusons, very fast and a joy to play. All in all a pretty nice 1960 dot replica.

I have offered my early 90s Gretsch Silver Jet, headstock signed by Billy Zoom as a trade.

What do you guys think?

[chrisjnyc]

Is it an Epi with a Gibson neck? When did Gibson build guitars in Japan?

If it's a Gibson, I would say it's worth about $1500-1600.

[Thumpalumpacus]

As nice as that 335 is, a Gretsch signed by Zoom is killer, to my mind. X fvckin' rocked.

[gypsyseven]

Sure looks nice and if it plays like it looks - get it!

[cherrick]

So, what are your plans for resale (value)? Unlike others, I assume this is a replica built in some Japanese guitar factory to closely resemble a Gibson ES-335, is that correct? I notice the top of the headstock is conspicuously missing in the photos.

If you're getting it cheaply enough to be able to justify a replacement wiring harness (Dr Vintage or RS Guitarworks) and replacement pickups (high Q PAF-esque) I would say take a chance.

It's just me but a ES-335-esque guitar with great pickups and a great wiring harness is a much more versatile guitar than a Gretsch pony-guitar any day, no matter whose name is inked on it. Let someone else pay for the .sig penalty.