Thinking about a 335 copy...

[Michael]

I've been thinking about a 335 copy since I'd have to lose something nice to afford a "real" one. I'd appreciate any suggestions on my best bang for the buck. Thanks to all.

[Wally]

Check out the Epiphone guitars. They are generally well-made. The Korean factories put out good necks, as a rule. The weakest part would be th epickups. A used one could be had for not many bucks.

[Emmitt O.]

Wally:
I had a Heritage H535 for sevaral years before I made the leap up to the Gibson. Used Heritages like the one I sold, are equal in every way except the name to Gibsons. (I don't care for the headstock much, either.) I would recommend them highly. I still own a Heritage H576 which is more of a jazz body guitar. It will never be sold.

Check eBay and other sources, you can score a great Heritage for less than $1000 for sure. The one I sold with upgraded pickups (Seymour Duncans replaced the crappy Schallers that were in it) sold for $1025. That was a great deal for the buyer.

Made in Kalamazoo, MI in the old Gibson factory. I think they are better than the Korean/Japanese/Chinese imports. That's my opinion, YMMV.

Take care and keep us posted.
Emmitt O.

[Wally]

I agree with you ,Emmitt, about the Heritage being superior to the imports. Actually, I might not put the Heritage below the Gibson. I do have one reservation about the Heritage guitars that I have seen, though.. are they still using the Schaller roller bridge? If so, this precludes me from advising anyone to buy one without knowing that the bridge needs replacing. Once again, remember my post to you about the Gibson radius. Well, on the Gibson(German built) bridge, it is as easy to set the proper radius on the bridge as it is to regulate the nut to the first fret. You just have to use files and a radius gauge. With the roller bridge, the individual rollers have to be removed and certain thousandths of an inch removed by a machinist from certain of the rollers. This bridge is also used on the Fender Robben Ford guitars, which carry a 12" radius fretboard versus the 15" radius bridge. Mismatched radiuses are les than satisfactory to me and my customers.
You can guess by now that I am a fanatic for proper set-ups, right? There has never been a new guitar leave ANY factory that plays as well as it could or should. In my experience, Music Man guitars come closer than any other make in being correctly set up. Once a player experiences a guitar that truly plays well, the player will realize that the guitars that they have played in the past have not really been optimally functioning instruments.
Other than that, Heritage guitars are a bargain compared to some higher dollar USA made guitars. I have not seen a Heritage in some time to know if this bridge situation has changed.

[CharlieO]

I'd take a serious look at the Ibanez Artstar Series (AS-80, AS-120, AS-200). They are well-made 335 copies, and they all have the excellent Super 58 pickups. Check out the reviews at Harmony Central.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Ibanez/

[Emmitt O.]

Heritage still uses that silly roller bridge system. Every time you move a string it rolls the bridge to the left or right. Kind of annoying. They also have a funny stop tailpiece, too. But, I always replaced both of those items and the pickups. That's what make the Heritages nice.

Some models actually come with Gibson style tailpieces and other bridges, but not often.

Ibanez Artstars are nice. I've played a few and they do have some good tones. I don't care for the necks on them, as too thin. Perhaps they would work for you.

Take care.
Emmitt O.

[jazztop]

Heritage uses the Shaller bridge/tailpiece unless you specify otherwise. I have an H535 and H150 and they both came with Gibson style bridge/tailpiece. I've seen Heritage guitars in the web with the GIbson sty;e hardware.

It's easy and cheap to replace, if you do find one that has the Shaller hardware.
The Heritage guitars I have are nicer than many Gibsons that I've owned. The one exception for me is the Historic Les Pauls.
Phil

[Wally]

Don't mention the Historics, okay? It causes me much GAS! I just sold a '92 Jimmy Wallace, which is a very accurate 1960 Custom Shop production. I am jonesing for a '59 historic...I like big frets on a big neck. I am gathering funds...slowly, slowly....

[jazztop]

Aside from the necks (which are twice the size of a real 52-59 LEs Paul) , I think the Historic Les Pauls are the best guitars that Gibson makes.
I have a 58RI Authentic and the "aged" feel is so nice. I spent about an hour going back and forth between that guitar and my Heritage H150CM-ultra. They feel different and sound different so I'm glad I have both!

I played a real 58 burst a few weeks ago and I wanted that guitar very badly!!!!! It weighed around 8lbs, and had a nice comfortable flat neck similar to the Heritage H150 or the Gibson Les Paul Standard 50's style neck.
I rarely use distortion and the guitar had such a nice woody, sweet tone.
Then again, so do some new ones !
Phil

[eryque]

It may be late to jump in here, but I'll second the Epiphone Sheraton. I got mine including case & tax for about $650, and I think it's a much better buy than the Heritage. In fact, of the 3 Heritage 535s I've played in local stores, only one felt like a good guitar, the others had playability and construction problems.

My Sheraton is very well built for the money, for any money, actually. It's as well built as lots of guitars that sell for many times what this does. It came with a very good setup, smooth frets and low action without buzzing. And they seem to be very consistent. I've picked up a half dozen or so and they all have the same good construction.

The caveat on the Sheraton is that the neck and frets are nothing like a 335. It's thin and wide with lots of shoulder and small frets. I've come to like these frets a lot and don't know if I could go back.

[Teleman]

I picked one of the Hamer ES335 copies for my nephew. After a quick setup I was quite impressed by how good this thing played and sounded. ( It has Duncan Design pickups in it)
The guitar is made in Korea, has pretty good constructon quality, but the tone and playability is great.

I picked this up new at a closeout in a local store for only $299.

For that price you can't beat it.

[1964]

http://archive.guitarplayer.com/archive/gear/bt0002.shtml

[rhomco]

Want a real suprize? Just go try out an Austin 335 copy. At $400.00 it will blow away any of the Epi, Washburn, Hamer etc copies I have worked with. I do a lot of custom setup work in the DFW, Texas area and must say "wow, for a cheap guitar this one just stands out". They even got the headstock shape right!

[Itchy]

You can get a Tokai ES120 shipped to your door from Japan for about half of what a new 335 will cost you. It'll have nice flame, a nitro lacquer finish, the open-book headstock shape, excellent build quality, look and play every bit as well as the "real deal" (even though the real deal hasn't been made since the late '60s).