This Git is on Fire
This 59 ES-345 is a real crowd pleaser even if the crowd is probably mostly Les Paul aficionados. Too bad somebody stole the pickup covers.
I like a little more subtlety to my flames on a 335 and this 60 I had last year really spoke to me. Sold it to a friend so I could still play it (and look at it) once in a while.
Ask the Les Paul guys what makes their guitar so special and many, if not most, will wax poetic about the flame top. They will use adjectives like insane, sick, wild, awesome and, if they can find the umlaut, über. When you ask an ES guy what makes his guitar so wonderful, it will likely be the tone. That’s not to say that LP’s don’t sound great-they do. But I wonder whether the tail has started wagging the dog with all the talk of flame. But we’re not going to talk about flamey Les Pauls. We’re going to talk about awesome, über flamey ES-335s and 345’s and 355’s.
Does this look right to you? I dunno. The wood is pretty, for sure but an 80’s dot reissue is supposed to look like the real thing and it doesn’t
The usual 58-64 “Golden Era” 335 is not flamed. You’ll find a bit more figure in the 345’s and 355’s of the era but even then, they aren’t common. In fact, you are more likely (and I don’t know why this is) to find figure on the back than on the front. I had a red 62 ES-335 with the most exquisite flame but it was only on the back. Go figure. I kind of like of bit of figure in my top whether it’s a bit of birdseye, or some flame or some blister. It gives the guitar character-makes it look a little less run of the mill without shouting “..hey look at me…I’ve got über flame.” Most of you know how much I like the 81-85 dot reissue but I have to say that the very flamey blonde ones just don’t look right to me. They are garish to my eye. That kind of figuring just looks wrong. And I know there are plenty of early 80’s owners who absolutely love them. But, to me, the point of a reissue is to re-create the vibe of the original and while there are flame topped blonde 58-60 ES 335’s, there aren’t many and they aren’t garish. That said, enjoy your flame topped ’81. It’s still a real nice guitar. Look at a watermelon red 59 ES-355 with a top that is as plain as the nose on my face and you’ll still be looking at a beautiful instrument. No one will say to you “hey, too bad it’s a plain top.”
It’s interesting that “insane” flame tops command a premium among Les Paul buyers. And that goes for the originals and the reissues. How much that premium is, or should be, is kind of all over the place. Reissues for $20,000 because it’s got a great looking top seems excessive. But then, an extra $50,000 or more for a very well figured 59 seems a little excessive to me as well. I’ve certainly seen ES sellers ask for huge premiums when they have a highly figured one for sale. There was a very attractive 59 ES-345 out of the UK a while back that was priced at close to $30K if I’m remembering correctly. That’s about a $10,000 premium. I recently bought a very flamey ’60 and paid perhaps a $4000 premium and currently have a 59 with some serious figure that probably has a $3000 premium. So, I can’t deny that there are some real dollars attached to these figured tops (and none to the figured backs). But the larger point is that a 335, 345 or 355 can be insanely beautiful and have awesome tone without even the slightest hint of figuring. That’s what great design is all about. A 335 doesn’t need a fancy top to look great. It’s a bit like a beautiful woman. She looks great in Armani but she also looks great without it.
That’s more like it for a flamed blondie. This is the Jackie Lomax 335.
Unfortunately, the front of this 61 was as plain as the girl who won the spelling bee in your 6th grade class.
I prefer 345s with great tone and tastefully flamed tops and backs.
And I’m betting I’m not the only guy in our little cadre who won the grade school spelling bees. Fess up Charlie- we know you’re a literate polymath 🙂
I completely agree with you Charlie, I don’t even particularly like flames on Les Pauls. But isn’t your argument exactly the same for PAFs, and you can’t even SEE the sticker?
Give me a few birdseyes or some subtle figure to keep things interesting and I’m happy…I had an early ’59 ES-355 TDSV that had an amazing tiger-stripe two piece back…to Charlie’s point, why’d those wacky Gibson luthiers use the flamey stuff on the back of the fiddle? Interestingly, classic year Epiphone ES models often have some nicely grained plywood…case in point, the back of my ’62 Riviera has some nice birdseyes on it…
I have a 62 335 and a 64 345 and both are very plain, which I like. But I have always felt that Gibson (and Fender) exported the plainer guitars and kept the ‘better’ grained ones for their domestic market. That actually suits me quite well!
Not sure Gibson was that discrimiating even back during the Golden Era…case in point, the Gibson catalogs touted how Les Paul Standard tops used “the finest” (or words to that effect) curly maple yet we’ve seen how variable the tops can be on Bursts…from super-curly to super-plain. Further, I had a ’59 Burst (momentarily) that had amazing flames on the treble-side and was virtually plain on the bass-side so not even well “book-matched!”
Hello everyone!
I’d like to buy a natural/blonde dot 335 and I’ve just found the one in attachment. Made in 2005, says the seller. I do prefer plain-top 335s but they’re so hard to find!
I was wondering in which year Gibson started releasing figured-top 335s, a long ago or rather recently? In other words, are figured tops a fad or classic?
Thanks for your help!
M
There were figured blonde 335’s in 1958. Nice ones too but the norm was non figured. There were no blondes (OK there were a few) during the 60’s and a few in the late 70’s. In 1981, the reissue dot neck appeared and many of them-especially in 84-85 had heavy figure. They never looked authentically vintage to my eye but they are quite popular. Buy what you like and not what convention tries to dictate.
Thanks for your insight cbelger, I’m honoured you made time for my post!
I saw this and thought of the forum. I was wondering if brown lines like the one on the right horn in the picture attached are to be expected on figured-top 335s. To be honest, I don’t find it too appealing and I was surprised when I saw it on a $2,500 guitar. Again, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts.