Impressed with ES-336

[LPdeluxe]

Played an ES-336 at a store awhile back.....really nice feel, look, sound. Anyone else tried it? It's just a little smaller than a 335.

[CharlieO]

I had an ES-336 at home to play for a month or so. It belonged to a friend who wasn't playing it much. It was a nice-looking guitar (wine red), but like so many Gibsons, the fit and finish were really quite poor! The binding was sloppy, the F-holes were roughly-finished, and the body finish was nothing special. This is supposed to be a "Custom Shop" guitar!

The body size is nice, and I like the shape of the headstock (looks kind of like my Ibanez AS-80). Unfortunately, I had the Ibanez to compare directly to the ES-336, and it beats the ES-336 hands down. Better pickups, prettier (poly) finish, better binding, abalone fret markers, etc. for $325 used!

[jazztop]

I played an CS-356 for about 30 minutes at a local shop and was hugely impressed with the sound, responsiveness and articulation of that guitar. I don't care for the "mini" 335 concept but it was a superb instrument.
Sorry, Ibanez, Epiphone and everything else made by by Samick seems like junk to me.

[LPdeluxe]

I liked the size, maybe because I've been craving a Les Paul with F-holes like I've seen a few of. The finish on the one I played looked good, but I have seen a few new famous brand guitars that were pretty rough looking for the big bucks.

[CharlieO]

jazztop, your impression was formed by a mere 30 minutes playing in a music store. I had the ES-336 for a month, and was able to compare it to the Ibanez quite carefully. Yes, the Ibanez is a "cheaper" guitar with poly finish, a plastic nut, and Gotoh tuners, but it plays as well or better than the Gibson, the Ibanez Super 58 pickups (same as on the AS-200 and John Scofield models) sound great, and the Ibanez is more finely detailed, with 5-ply binding, abalone fret markers, etc.

Samick makes some decent instruments. Like Gibson, they offer guitars at different price points and levels of quality. My mid-90's Ibanez AS-80 is superior to the Epiphone Dot or Sheraton, which I believe are also made by Samick.

Some people just can't get past the "American is better" idea, I guess, and they miss some great instruments because of it.