Flame top 335’s
Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024
Mmmmm. Flame maple. Makes a nice neck for a Stratocaster or a gorgeous top for a Les Paul. It’s the LP feature that sets collector’s hearts aflutter but a flamed 335? Not so much. It’s also pretty good firewood.
I spend a fair bit of my time on this blog ribbing Les Paul owners-all in good fun, of course. Yes, the R9 guys love to scavenge vintage parts to get their reissues closer to a real burst. And they buy vintage cases to carry them around in. And they argue about who has the bigger neck and the hotter pickups. I look on from a short distance and chuckle to myself at the folly of relic instruments. They also ooh and aah over their figured maple tops and, honestly, I don’t blame them. I love figured maple. I love it on a Les Paul and I love it on a 335 (unless it’s blonde-more on that later).
I’ve sold a fair number of bursts over the last few years (and a few R9’s as well) and the first question I usually get is “how’s the top?” followed closely by “how much does it weigh?” I don’t think anyone has ever led with “how’s the top?” when buying a 335. Figured top 335’s are rare. Oddly, the figured wood is more frequently on the back of a 335 so it seems that perhaps the folks at Gibson wanted 335’s to have a plain top. But every now and then, I get a 335 (or 345 or even more rarely, a 355) with a figured top. It is often a smattering of birdseye but some times it is a striking edge to edge flame. With a sunburst finish (or even a red one), it looks stunning. In the 80’s, when Gibson reissued the dot neck 335, they used a lot of figured maple and, to be honest, on a blonde, they don’t look quite right. I’ve always preferred a blonde to be grainy but relatively absent figuring. It’s just what a blonde 335 should look like to me. Your mileage may vary, of course.
A spectacular flame top on a vintage Les Paul adds a lot of money to the selling price. My experience is that it can add 30% or more to the price. So, if I’m selling a plain top 59 for $350,000, then a flame top might cost close to $500K. That’s a huge difference just for cosmetics. On the other hand, a flame top 335 commands very little premium. Even if it commanded 30%, 30% of say $80,000, for a very clean 59 sunburst, the actual cost of the flames are a fraction of the LP number. But they don’t command 30%. It’s more like zero to 10%. The demand simply isn’t there and maybe that says something about 335 players. Or not.
How many flame top vintage 335’s are out there? Not many. I’ve owned in the ballpark of 600 58 to 65 ES guitars. And I’ve seen hundreds more listed online that I haven’t owned. I can recall dozens that have flame on the back and very light figuring on the top but a full tilt edge to edge dazzling flame top is almost non-existent. I can recall perhaps eight to ten over the past 30 years or so (it’s hard enough at my age to remember what I had for breakfast). I’ve had six myself.
I think most 335 players aren’t looking for a fancy top-just a great guitar and they get that almost every time if they buy a 58 to 64. I’ve seen only one irretrievable dog of a 335 out of around 600. All the rest have been anywhere from good to unbelievable. But 599 out of 600 were decent players. There are some ugly ones-some of the reds from 61-64 have faded to a pretty ugly brownish red but most are still very attractive. Whether a flame top makes it even more attractive is in the eye of the beholder. When that eye belongs to me, I’ll take the flame top (as long as it plays great too)
I don’t usually name my guitars but this one was called (by someone other than me) “Kentucky Woman”. It was so named because it came out of rural Kentucky. I sold it, bought it back, sold it again and recently bought it back again. She’s no case queen but she’s a looker for sure. Big neck, hot PAFs and a great player.
There are red flame top 335’s too. This super rare red 59 is perhaps the prettiest guitar I have ever seen. It’s back in my hands but it’s going back out the door next month.
