How much for this vintage Gibson ES-335?

[thom]

Srry, no pics yet, I'll upload em as soon as I get them.

 

It's a mid '70s one, walnut finish, supposedly in vgc, with a couple small upgrades/mods.

 

The seller wants me to make him an offer, and I don't have a clue about vintage gibbo values...

 

It'd really appreciate it if someone could just give me a rought idea of what to offer the guy. I might be too late already, I think I better answer his mail like yesterday...

 

Thanks.

[Flogger59]

Mid 70's ain't vintage, it's just old. Likely a maple neck, with a volute, trapeze tailpiece, and a coil splitter. They're not worthless (maybe 1500-2500 when pristine), but a general rule of thumb is drilled holes=-25%, headstock break =-50%, and refin =-50%. If the guitar has all three issues, then he should be paying you to take it away. Don't quote me on the value, check out some completed eBay auctions.

[CrackerD]

Funny, but in the 80's, the 60's stuff was considered vintage.

 

So, 30 years later, 70's is not?

[Flogger59]

Vintage is not a function of time, it's a function of goodness.

 

"That 1937 Chateau Lafitte was a great vintage." 1936 and 1938 are excluded from that.

 

A 1948 L7 is "vintager" than a 1959 Les Paul, but the LP is worth 1,000 times more.

[thom]

 

Mid 70's ain't vintage, it's just old. Likely a maple neck, with a volute, trapeze tailpiece, and a coil splitter. They're not worthless (maybe 1500-2500 when pristine), but a general rule of thumb is drilled holes=-25%, headstock break =-50%, and refin =-50%. If the guitar has all three issues, then he should be paying you to take it away. Don't quote me on the value, check out some completed eBay auctions.

 

 

Hehe, I was expecting someone to give me the old "70s isn't vintage" reply:)

 

It's as vintage as I can afford though:lol:

 

Any way to make sure this one isn't an exception that has a mahogany neck? I didn't even know there were maple neck 335's out there. I would guess the maple necks aren't necessarily a huge dissadventage, and maybe just take away a bit if the dark woody tone and make it a tad more bright and open..Right? I'd just have to try it out and hear it for myself I guess.

 

Btw, it has a stoptail instead of the trapeze (which would be one of those mods/upgrades I mensioned), the original paf's, and block inlays instead of dots (which I first thought was a pre-75 thing).

 

No coil splitter, but someone added a master volume right were the coil splitter normally is, so I guess they maybe replaced the original switch for the extra knob.

 

Anyway, if the test ride doesn't blow me away, I guess it'd make more sense to keep looking for a more recent used es-335.

['s mel gibson]

 

Mid 70's ain't vintage, it's just old. Likely a maple neck, with a volute, trapeze tailpiece, and a coil splitter. They're not worthless (maybe 1500-2500 when pristine), but a general rule of thumb is drilled holes=-25%, headstock break =-50%, and refin =-50%. If the guitar has all three issues, then he should be paying you to take it away. Don't quote me on the value, check out some completed eBay auctions.

 

 

It's a Norlin era guitar and there seems to be some scorn lurking for them. Not all were bad. It was in that era that they tried some crazy ideas. Just as crazy as now I suppose. The Reverse V, now the FirebirdX.

 

My question is, does the guitar look like a normal ES 335? Or maybe has a different style of pg and other strange differences?

 

Here's a 79 for $3,845

http://cgi.ebay.ca/GIBSON-es335-es-335-Tobacco-Sunburst-1979-VINTAGE-Exc-/390146956030?pt=Guitar&hash=item5ad6921afe

 

78 for a $3k starting bid.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/1978-Gibson-es-335TD-es-335-TD-bigsby-and-grover-tuners-/190471673194?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c58ff156a

 

72-$3,345

http://cgi.ebay.ca/GIBSON-es335-es-335-WALNUT-1972-Embossed-PAFs-VINTAGE-/390240126391?pt=Guitar&hash=item5adc1fc5b7

 

Not wild prices but still not dirt cheap.

[GCDEF]

 

Hehe, I was expecting someone to give me the old "70s isn't vintage" reply:) It's as vintage as I can afford though:lol: Any way to make sure this one isn't an exception that has a mahogany neck? I didn't even know there were maple neck 335's out there. I would guess the maple necks aren't necessarily a huge dissadventage, and maybe just take away a bit if the dark woody tone and make it a tad more bright and open..Right? I'd just have to try it out and hear it for myself I guess. Btw, it has a stoptail instead of the trapeze (which would be one of those mods/upgrades I mensioned), the original paf's, and block inlays instead of dots (which I first thought was a pre-75 thing). No coil splitter, but someone added a master volume right were the coil splitter normally is, so I guess they maybe replaced the original switch for the extra knob. Anyway, if the test ride doesn't blow me away, I guess it'd make more sense to keep looking for a more recent used es-335.

 

 

Don't mistake old for good. I've owned 4 335s and a Heritage 535. One of the 335s was a mid 70s and it was the worst of the bunch by a long way. Skinny neck, microphonic pickups, really muddy when you rolled the volume down. A brand new one would cost less and be a much better guitar.

[thom]

It's a Norlin era guitar and there seems to be some scorn lurking for them. Not all were bad. It was in that era that they tried some crazy ideas. Just as crazy as now I suppose. The Reverse V, now the FirebirdX. My question is, does the guitar look like a normal ES 335? Or maybe has a different style of pg and other strange differences? Here's a 79 for $3,845 http://cgi.ebay.ca/GIBSON-es335-es-335-Tobacco-Sunburst-1979-VINTAGE-Exc-/390146956030?pt=Guitar&hash=item5ad6921afe 78 for a $3k starting bid. http://cgi.ebay.ca/1978-Gibson-es-335TD-es-335-TD-bigsby-and-grover-tuners-/190471673194?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c58ff156a 72-$3,345 http://cgi.ebay.ca/GIBSON-es335-es-335-WALNUT-1972-Embossed-PAFs-VINTAGE-/390240126391?pt=Guitar&hash=item5adc1fc5b7 Not wild prices but still not dirt cheap.

 

Nothing unusal as far as I can tell.

 

Zero bids on all those ebay auctions, so I'm not sure I should take those prices too seriously...

[Flogger59]

Please don't think I'm dissing the instrument, Norlin made many fine Gibsons, hell, I own one.

What I am saying is the vintage market hasn't yet caught up to mid 70's ES guitars. I own a 1966 ES345, and it's old, but not strictly vintage. "Vintage" for thilines stops around mid 1965, when Gibson narrowed the nut width, so mine missed ultimate desirability by about 18 months. It's still an outstanding instrument.

Gibson went to block inlays in 1962. Maple necks were in the mid 70's, volutes from about 1971 or 72. The holes drilled for the stop tailpiece lower the value (even if it makes for a better guitar) by a good amount.

PAFs haven't existed since around 1962, after that they're "patent pickups", and by the 70's they're T-tops.

Here's an auction with IMHO an optimistic BIN, but they only had embossed pickups for a year or so.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/390240126391?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=174725611142&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=47073bd611e0a0b408871d67ffe5543d&itemid=390240126391&ff4=263602_304662

 

Another, but with a maple neck despite the description: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160487099758&rvr_id=174718825746&crlp=1_263602_304642&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=47073bd611e0a0b408871d67ffe5543d&itemid=160487099758&ff4=263602_304642

 

And another: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390226424281#vi-content

 

All those guitars seem to be unmolested, and in great condition, and I find the BINs are on the high side, but then, what do I know?

[Flogger59]

I would much rather pay for this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=200546419144&crlp=1_263602_304642&ff4=263602_304642&si=NLE%252BYKqJoK87cgWvVuRkUtObnsU%253D&viewitem=&guid=47073bd611e0a0b408871d67ffe5543d&rvr_id=174722133741&ua=WXF%3F&itemid=200546419144

 

When Gibson first reissued the dot necks in the early 80's there was a loud Halleluia from the guitar market, because now they were making them (largely) as they used to. I find a new Dot more desirable than a mid 70's guitar.

If you must go with an older guitar, you'll get FAR more bang for your buck with an ES345. You can find mid 60's ones for slightly more than a reissue 335.

[Mr_GoodBomb]

 

Mid 70's ain't vintage, it's just old. Likely a maple neck, with a volute, trapeze tailpiece, and a coil splitter. They're not worthless (maybe 1500-2500 when pristine), but a general rule of thumb is drilled holes=-25%, headstock break =-50%, and refin =-50%. If the guitar has all three issues, then he should be paying you to take it away. Don't quote me on the value, check out some completed eBay auctions.

 

 

I tend to disagree bout mid-70s now being vintage. Those seem to be the years a lot of people want lately. I like the basses from that era, and I've watched their prices double or more in the past few years, as well as their guitar counterparts.

[Bbreaker]

Any mods, whether you think is an improvement, diminish the guitars value drastically.

You'd be better off getting a used clean 335 that hasn't been modded.

That's just me.

Buy it if it doesn't bother you.