Gibson ES-339 Figured Sixties Cherry: (2020)
The Gibson ES-339 was first introduced in 2007 and is considered a more compact version of the larger ES 335. It is without doubt a modern classic, crafted with a maple centre-block and quarter-sawn spruce bracing. It’s equipped with high-end appointments such as a hand-wired control assembly with 500K potentiometers and orange drop capacitors. Pick-ups come in the form of the always stylish 57 and 57 Classic + humbuckers, and a nickel plated ABR-1 bridge. This particular 2020 model has a AAA figured maple veneer finished in a classic Sixties Cherry Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer and finished off with singly ply cream binding.
The comfortable neck profile is a “Rounded C” with a scale length of 24.75”. The Rosewood neck sports 22 medium jumbo frets with a Graph-Tech nut and Acrylic small block inlays. The headstock has nickel plated Grover Rotomatic tuning pegs with Kidney Bean Buttons while down on the body the control knobs are the Black Top Hats with Silver Reflector discs. The guitar is shipped with a standard Gibson hardshell case along with various accessories.
Personal Comment:
I bought this guitar because I have a fondness for semi-acoustics, particularly the ES 335. When I came across the ES 339 with it’s smaller body I had to give it a try. I’ve not been disappointed, it’s a very comfortable guitar to hold and play, the classic humbuckers can either give a very clean blues/jazz tone or an excellent over-driven punchy rock tone. I have over time tried various strings on this guitar and at present it is strung with D’Addario flat-wound stainless steel, which give the guitar a really nice mellow tone but a drawback is, the strings are a bit harder to bend to pitch if wanting to do rock lead guitar runs.
As you can see in the picture, at one point I did fit a Duesenberg Les Trem II non-destructive tremolo unit (Nickel plated) and while it was fine for gentle tremolo use, I found that tuning was an issue when the Trem was pressed a bit more aggressively. As my guitar journey is more about studio recording, a guitar that can go out of tune easily becomes a nuisance. I did try various lubricants but I felt it was not worth the hassle. At this present time I very much enjoy playing this guitar and is not one I would sell off too quickly. If you want to know more about this guitar drop me an email.