For Non Collectors Only
An absolutely brilliant '63 ES-335 but look where they put the stop tail. Yikes. What did they do, use the Bigsby as a guide? It's right where the tension bar on the Bigs would be. But, wow, what a player.
If you collect ES-335’s, 345’s and/or 355’s, this post is not for you. If you play them, then readon, by all means. I’ve done a number of posts about 335’s with issues and this is another. What I love about a vintage 335 is the neck, the tone and the look. The first 2 are not affected at all by most issues that devalue a collectible guitar. You could argue that a poly refinish might adversely affect the tone and you would be right. You could also argue that a repaired headstock might do that too and you would be right again. But perhaps not. Once again, whether you get to play a guitar before you buy it comes into play. On Saturday, I drove 150 miles to Albany, NY to see an issues laden ’63 ES-335. I had made a tentative deal to trade my 65 Jazzmaster plus cash for it. It had a lot of things wrong with it and I knew this deal might wind up being a colossal waste of time-3 hours up and 3 hours back. But, since Albany is ony 15 miles from my home town of Scotia, NY it wouldn’t be a total bust. I could go see my oldest brother and his family who were visiting my elderly parents (who still live in the house I grew up in) and I could stop in and see a guitar enthusiast friend from college who lives in Schenectady. And my wife came along which I always enjoy even though she says she feels like a “gun Moll” every time she goes on a guitar finding mission with me. I met the owner in a local Starbucks since he was meeting me halfway. I was late. Issues? You want issues? Well, I knew the guitar had had the misfortune of having a stop tail installed in the way wrong position, so that pretty much cut its value in half. I knew the pickups weren’t original and that the case was an old Epiphone. The pickguard was home made and the bracket was wrong. It had no less than 7 extra holes in it from a Bigsby and a moved strap button. Here, I’m trading a fairly nice, all original 64 Custom color Jazzmaster (Oly White) for this and cash??? Am I out of my mind? You might think. But wait…here’s where it gets good. Some 63’s have that great 64 neck. The pickups were older than the originals (they were very early patent #’s-purple wire/black leads). The condition was a solid 9.0. The frets and fingerboard were perfect. There was no amp but I knew that if it felt good when I played it, I would be hooked. I made the deal. This will always be a player but when you add up the cost, it’s a great, great guitar for a few hundred dollars more than the price of a Historic. This no beater, it just has the stop in the wrong place. The proverbial $5000 holes. Had this guitar it’s original Bigsby and no stop, it would have been a $14,000-$15,000 guitar. So, I’ll get the stop moved to where it belongs and plug the holes and I’ll buy a repro or original pickguard. A player is a guitar you can leave on the bandstand between sets or in the trunk of your car after a gig while you and the bass player get a drink and not worry about it. I might even invite the drummer if he doesn’t get too loaded. If my player can be a great vintage instrument at the same time, then I’m a happy camper. For you gear heads, the pickups are from a 61 or 62 Les Paul (SG) and are hot, hot ,hot at 8.61K and 8.55K. I guess the winder was out with the drummer the night before.
I think your initial comment about “using the Bigsby for a guide” was quite correct. I’ve seen several others with the conversion that appear obvious that they used the original trapeze as a guide. Someone without the experience or knowledge of what they’re doing looks at it and sees that’s where the string “connect” at, and goes with that.
True enough. You would think they would have consulted any of a zillion ways to learn where it goes but back in the 70’s when everybody was “customizing” their 60’s (and 50’d) guitars, it wasn’t so easy to get a photo or another guitar to compare it to. In fact, while growing up in the 60’s I don’t remember seeing more than a few 335’s anywhere and I went to a lot of concerts as a teenager. Everybody seemed to play Fenders (Strats and Jaguars) or SGs and the occasional Gretsch back then. So, without the easy research of the internet, maybe the information just wasn’t available and logic dictated that the strings should stop where the trapeze or Bigsby stopped them. Who knew about things like break angles? If it played, it was good.