ES-330 has arrived!!

[tjalla]

Mr Fedex man dropped off the package today and I'm a happy chappy (esp if you followed the minor dramas in getting my money to the seller.)

Only had a chance to play it quietly tonight, but I'll let it rip soon and give a proper gig report. Already I can tell that letting go the Guild Starfire III-90 was a worthwhile move... this ol' Gibby has a warmer resonance about it acoustically, and these P90s are alive!

The guitar is real nice and light, with some checking on the finish. I can't wait to crank it up through my new-acquired amp... I traded my Starfire III-90 for a Tone King Comet 40B 8)

I just looked at my rig tonight and though "I can't believe I own this"

Trev

[BLACKCAT69]

I know you were sweating it a bit.

[TheGoodTexan]

Very cool. I didn't post on the other thread, but I did follow it. I thought you were about to be screwed!

I'm glad that you finally got it, and that you're happy with it.

[Joe Bonner]

Trevor,

Glad to hear it worked out fine. Enjoy it!

Joe

[Blazer]

Ah the ES 330...

A guitar of which I hope one day to be owning.

You know, the Epiphone Casino (which basically is the same guitar save for a different name and headstock) is praised into heaven by many (mostly because of the Beatles) but at a vintage fair I had the privilege to play them side by side and the Gibson was a much better guitar.


Well I guess it was my biased opinion but I think that tobacco sunburst finish and the "open book" gibson style headstock suit the overall look and style of the guitar better than it does on the Epiphone version.

[teledude66]

it's a 62 ES-330 my grandpa gave it to me, my first real good guitar i don't play it much anymore, but it is where all my drive and desire for the guitar was born

http://www.eye85.com/home/gallery/1_es-330.JPG

[mk]

Glad to hear it -- I was a little concerned from your description of the transaction.

I know exactly that feeling about looking at your gear -- enjoy it!

[tjalla]

1. The P90s appear to be out-of-phase with each other. I'm not sure if this an error from the factory, or if either pickup has been replaced, or if something's been re-soldered back incorrectly. Tho unexpected, its actually a pretty cool sound, especially one you get different shades of phase-cancellation from tweaking the vol knobs. Of course, T-Bone licks benefit from this!

2. The neck PU sounds wonderful, but is a bit louder than the bridge. There's not much room for polepiece adjustments as the polepieces only turn a few rotations before "sticking". I may consider putting a spacer of sorts under the bridge PU to bring it closer the the strings.

3. Low, wide frets (original!) are gonna take some getting used to, as is the narrow-ish nut width. The neck profile fattens up nicely from the 4th fret up, and is pretty chuncky at the 12th...

All up, it does feel and sound very nice. I'll be gigging it this weekend, and I'll have a better overall feel for it after. One of my favourite guitar players, Enrico Crivellaro, (who I am lucky to also call a friend) is visiting Singapore this weekend, and seeing that he's the one who seriously turned me onto an ES-330, he can assess mine in comparison with his. His guitar is seen here with Alex Schultz and HIS ES-330;0) http://www.enricocrivellaro.com/Alex.JPG

I'm about to relocate to Australia in a couple of weeks, but once I'm settled I'll get more pics and hopefully some soundclips - if I can figure out how 8)

Cheers,
Trev

[tjalla]

Originally Posted by Blazer

You know, the Epiphone Casino (which basically is the same guitar save for a different name and headstock) is praised into heaven by many (mostly because of the Beatles) but at a vintage fair I had the privilege to play them side by side and the Gibson was a much better guitar.

Very cool to know. I think ES-330s are sleepers on the vintage market, as no-one has *really* made them popular.

I know someone here who's has a late 60s ES-330 and a MIJ Epiphone Casino (rare pre- Elitist era). We'll be doing a shootout soon. Should be fun...

Trev