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  #1  
Old 01-17-2019, 07:45 PM
Logdy Logdy is offline
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Default Epiphone ES 339 opinions?

For the price they look sweet.. I used to play a LP Studio but never could bond with it...
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  #2  
Old 01-17-2019, 08:03 PM
HeyMikey HeyMikey is offline
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I recently bought a used one for cheap money as a no worry player. It’s decent. I haven’t put it fully through it’s paces but it plays well. The size is great. You’re not gonna get the same sound you will from a full size 335 variant, but it’s a good all purpose guitar. Kind of in between a semi-hollow and a solid. The design is a winner. One day I’d love to try the real thing - a Gibson 339 to compare

The coil tap tone knobs and pots don’t impress me when tapping the coils. Untapped they sound fine. I may look into upgrading them. I have coil splitting on my 347 which is much nicer and distinct. Bottom line the Epi version has good bones and is worth the price. It gives you a good platform to upgrade the pups, tuners or pots if you want to customize it a bit.
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Old 01-17-2019, 08:08 PM
RoyBoy RoyBoy is offline
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Default good base for modding

I have one. For the price, they're hard to beat. Extremely comfortable, light, contoured to the body well. Acoustically has the semi hollow thing going on. To produce a guitar at this pricepoint, they have to cut corners on hardware. I pretty much immediately upgraded the bridge, nut and tuners- graphtec and gotoh. With the tapped probuckers you can get a pretty wide range of tones but it will not sound like a Gibson 335- that's going to take some serious ($$$) pickups. I've experimented with a few low-cost aftermarket PAF style PUs but still haven't found that magic. Think I'll drop in some HB sized P90s for the tone I'm seeking
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Old 01-17-2019, 11:43 PM
Jerry D Jerry D is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoyBoy View Post
I have one. For the price, they're hard to beat. Extremely comfortable, light, contoured to the body well. Acoustically has the semi hollow thing going on. To produce a guitar at this pricepoint, they have to cut corners on hardware. I pretty much immediately upgraded the bridge, nut and tuners- graphtec and gotoh. With the tapped probuckers you can get a pretty wide range of tones but it will not sound like a Gibson 335- that's going to take some serious ($$$) pickups. I've experimented with a few low-cost aftermarket PAF style PUs but still haven't found that magic. Think I'll drop in some HB sized P90s for the tone I'm seeking
It's not supposed to. It's a 339, not a 335.

Maybe you should have bought a LP.
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  #5  
Old 01-18-2019, 10:02 AM
Beechcreek Gary Beechcreek Gary is offline
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I have the 339 Pro. It's a nice guitar. The coil split option is nice to have but I rarely use it. I have a Player series Telecaster and an Epi Les Paul studio & the 339 is the one I usually grab when I feel like playing.
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Old 01-18-2019, 10:49 AM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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I just sold the HB version and still have the P90 version (same guitar, different pickups). Many don't like the neck profile - it's a flatish "D" that's thin, not a fuller "C" preferred by some. I can see what they're saying - the D has shoulders the C doesn't have, and the treble-side shoulder means a wider finger spread to, say, make a proper G chord.

That said, I sold the EPI HB version because I got a Gibson 339 (1 PO 2018) and, though I really liked the EPI, even I have to draw the line at "2 of the same guitar" (I just sold 1 one of my 2 Gibson ES 390s, so I can say that, now). Before selling, I measured the necks and, but for the Epi's D shoulder, the necks measured the same, up/down the neck, thickness, width, etc., so that was nice. I do prefer the C on the Gibson, but it's sticky nitro.

The newer (2012-on) Epi 339s come with Epi's Alnico Classic Pro pickups, which are supposed to replicate Gibson's Classic '57s. They may, in fact, do that, but I, with my low experience level, couldn't get a nice warm sound out of them, even on a tube amp. I could have spent more time experimenting with pickup height, as those *may* be Alnico V magnets (Gibson's '57 Classic has alnico II) and a little hotter output pickups, but I tried up and down and down they just got quieter, not any sweeter/warmer.

When I got a buyer on the hook, I took it to a public space with a Blackstar 3 battery powered amp and he went at it with a bunch of low-volume stuff - he could play pretty well. The Epi HB sounded fantastic under his hand. He was a dedicated single coil guy and said he really liked that HB sound. I couldn't disagree with what he was getting out of that guitar, and was developing seller's remorse as he played. He said he'd looked at a bunch of Epi and Gibson semihollows w/HBs, and he bought mine.

But, then I went home and played the newish Gibson 339 and those MHS (alnico II) pickups are exactly the sound I was looking for - even I could produce it. So I felt a little better.

In short, I really liked the Epi 339 and would still have the HB version if I hadn't tried/gotten the Gibson. I intend to keep my Epi 339 P90 version for the foreseeable future. Nice mild lower output pickups on that - very sweet neck pickup, especially.

Build quality on both was excellent, BUT the used P90 version came to me with vicious fret end sprout so I'll need to smooth those out (a common complaint I've seen), so watch for that. The HB version was perfect, but it was a 2012 and someone may have worked on it before I got it.

Anyway, the EPI 339 is/was a great guitar for me and I'd recommend it.
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Old 01-18-2019, 12:40 PM
Logdy Logdy is offline
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Thanks for all the good feedback... I only have a D18 but my instructor pointed me towards this model..
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Old 01-18-2019, 02:16 PM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logdy View Post
Thanks for all the good feedback... I only have a D18 but my instructor pointed me towards this model..
Another thing I like about the semi-hollow design is you get some tone/volume when played acoustically (not plugged in) - good for quiet practice. Solid body = just strings. If you're wanting even more unplugged practice tone, consider the Epi Casino Coupe - same body size, but fully hollow, and with decent P90s. Same D neck as the 339s (for better or worse).
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Old 01-18-2019, 05:59 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logdy View Post
Thanks for all the good feedback... I only have a D18 but my instructor pointed me towards this model..
What kind of information did you tell him that made him point the ES 339 towards? Guessing you're looking for a comfortable, semi hollow body sound?
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  #10  
Old 01-18-2019, 07:14 PM
GHS GHS is offline
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I have the Epiphone Dot ( ES-335 body type). I like it, great neck, nicely finished frets, balances nice. The Epiphone line up for Les Pauls, ES-335,339, the Squiers for their Telecasters, Strats, Jaguar bass guitars all do the job fine for what they are. The price point would allow you to buy all of the above for about 1600 dollars. This gives you a wide assortment of tones and body types without having to sell your car ( and maybe more) to do it. Hey, I'm not playing with Clapton anytime soon. I play out with my friends and for my own enjoyment. If your pockets are deep enough, knock yourself out and make Gibson and Fender happy, no problem with that, they all are great guitars. A nice electric makes practice time at night quiet and easy on the fingers. Headphones into an amp with a practice track is even better. I say go for it. I never had to send any of the above back for repair ( think Toyotas of the guitar world).
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Old 01-19-2019, 05:04 AM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logdy View Post
Thanks for all the good feedback... I only have a D18 but my instructor pointed me towards this model..
I only have a D18 he says. (Just about my favourite acoustic on the planet).
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  #12  
Old 01-19-2019, 06:33 AM
LeftIsRight! LeftIsRight! is offline
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As someone metioned above, the issue with many epiphones is the lower quality hardware and electronics. You can swap all of that with top of the line stuff and still be under budget compared to the Gibson’s verion of that guitar.

One more issue is the neck profile. There is nothing you can do about that. If you like it, then no problem. Personally, i prefer Gibson’s neck profiles vs the Epiphone’s. But again, neck profile is a matter of personal preference (like most things guitar related).
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Old 01-19-2019, 07:44 AM
harpspitfire harpspitfire is offline
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i cant help much, but i went with my friend to get a used one, i do play it somewhat, not to sure which 339/335 it is, but its more the size of his les paul then the big one- sounds very good with the p90,s, action and neck are great, it was $300 with a hard case, and i like it much better then his $2300 les paul
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Old 01-19-2019, 11:09 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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I have a recent Epi 339 with the P90 pickups and the Epi 335 Pro of the same vintage.


Love love love the pickups in the 339 P90 model. There are a lot of different tones there depending on how you hit the strings and your amp character and gain. I think I get more range of sound out of them than the coil split and humbucker 335 Pro. P90s are single coils, and are even more susceptible to single coil hum from electrical interference than other single coils. For home use this is not a huge issue, you can just choose to not play it next to an interference source. The smaller body is lighter and less obtrusive.

My 335Pro has a bit more body resonance that I tell myself I can notice while playing though a clean amp at lower volumes. I don't dislike the pickups and find them much clearer than some older Epiphone humbuckers. The coil split is nice to have, particularly when you play with both pickups on or for some rhythm parts. Get an Epi and swap out the pickups is a classic tactic for decades now, but I don't feel the need here.

Both have the unusual neck profile mentioned above. I don't mind it. My 335 Pro came with the fretwork just perfect and a good setup right out of the box. My 339 Pro had a couple of slightly high frets, which I dealt with myself. I think this just means examples vary, it's not an argument for one of these Epi models over the other. Try before you buy, or be prepared to return and ask for a different example if buying mail order.

I can't speak to long term reliability of the electronics, as I've only owned them for a year. They don't feel bad in use. The tone pots on both have an odd taper, not much treble attenuation until the last part of the pot's travel. I just have to use that last bit of travel to get that the few times I feel the need for it.

I sort of thought I'd experience both and keep one. Hah! I've kept both. They each do slightly different things and sound great and feel good to me doing them. I think they are both an excellent value.
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Last edited by FrankHudson; 01-19-2019 at 10:04 PM. Reason: clarity, typo
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  #15  
Old 01-19-2019, 01:55 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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The Epis coming out of China now have earned a very good reputation. The electronics are actually quite good, but I bought my 2014 335 with the intent of upgrading them with world class electronics (BCS Vintage Wiring Kit + SD Antiquity HBs). The wiring kit and pups cost a total of $300 at the time. I installed them myself and bought an Epi case, so total cost of the guitar was about $750.

The hardware functions well, and I have seen no need to replace it, although many players do.

This guitar never ceases to put a big grin on my face. No need for tremolo or reverb when playing this guitar. Some of the best money I have ever invested.
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