Legends of the Gibson ES335
| Posted in Guitar
The Gibson ES335 is often overlooked as a guitar to be seen with in a ‘look at me, I’m a rock star’ context. It’s far too conservative looking and being a semi, has the inevitable ‘jazz’ connotations.
In fact, it’s less prone to feedback than you’d think, and athough slightly less ballsy than a Les Paul, has a wider variety of tones available and sounds better when played at lower volume than the LP. It’s beautifully balanced too and you have total access to the whole fingerboard. Amazing that it’s been around for over 50 years and has never been out of production.
There are far too many different models past and present to go into here so I’ll just point you in the direction of a few guitar players that have championed the 335 down the years and made it into what I consider to be the best ‘all rounder’ of them all.
The first time I took notice of this guitar was seeing Eric Clapton at Cream’s farewell concert in 1968. Of course, Gibson have issued a replica of his original ’63 but this current model, the Cherry Block Inlay 335 looks pretty similar. Dave Edmunds was next, with his version of Kachaturian’s Sabre Dance, played on his original ’58 Blond, not unlike this one; Blond Dot Neck 335.
Who could forget Alvin Lee and Ten Years After at Woodstock? The Lee model, with its stickers and Strat pickup (!) was a Custom Shop Limited Edition and no longer available but originally would have looked like this; Cherry Dot Neck 335.
No article about the 335 is complete without mentioning Mr 335 himself, Larry Carlton. He’s an astonishing player, rooted in the blues but going ‘outside the box’ into Jazz and Fusion with inspiring results. Just listen to his inventive solo on Steely Dan’s ‘Kid Charlemagne’ and you’ll see what I mean.
Luckily, his replica Larry Carlton ES335 is still in production and a current model.
If you’re looking around for a new guitar and already own a Les Paul, Strat and Tele, get your hands on a Gibson ES335 and check out the superb playability, versatility and sheer musicality of the instrument. It’s in your hands……
Tags: Gibson
My favourite modern/present-day ES335 player is probably Jez Williams from Doves… he’s not really a proper technically gifted guitar player but the sounds he coaxes from that thing (with the aid of his incredibly complex FX and amp rig) are very atmospheric and different.
Historically, don’t forget Alex Lifeson either!
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