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Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
MythFX Minotaur and Midas Review
Bill's Guitar Blog recently acquired two effect pedals from MythFX and below you can read how we felt about them both.
A Look at the MythFX Minotaur Distortion Pedal
By: Ryan Coe
Let me preface this review by saying that ultimately, opinions of guitar pedals vary by personal taste, and the preference within. Over my years of playing, I have been recommended pedals that I think have sounded terrible. I have also found myself loving pedals that have gotten terrible reviews. I honestly think that half of the problem in reading reviews by everyday people on the internet is their inability to set the pedal how it is supposed to be used within a rig. Some people prefer to have a pedal that destroys other sounds that are trying to be put through your guitar. Personally, I cannot stand this. To me, guitar pedals should be looked at as building blocks and should be used to build additions on top of one another, as opposed to cancelling each other out, and even worse, interfering with the natural sound of your guitar.
With that being said, I want to give some background to my taste of music and my preference of sound within. I am a big fan of the blues, and all styles of music that incorporate its basic principles (most music). I love the simplicity and creativity of the music on the surface, but even more so, I love the complex train of thought that rests within, and this is where guitar tone becomes pivotal. Typically, I use low output pickups to let my amp (and pedals) maximize their tone. When it comes to distortion pedals, the common misconception is to maximize your gain. People like SRV, and bands like Led Zeppelin played so hard and heavy, that it led people to believe that gain in distortion is what was creating that sound. Truth be told, it was getting natural sound out of your amp, playing thick strings, playing hard, and putting the gain no further than 50%. The last step made it possible for every note to ring out clearly in their recordings. This misconception eventually became a style of its own when the evolution of hard rock created bands like Metallica and so-on. I say this because the MythFX Minotaur can play into both trains of thought for distortion pedals.
When I first plugged this guy into my rig, I set the 3-Way clip to their “soft” setting. This setting had a nice tone, and this was what I was most impressed with. The grind was mellow and not forced, and I could still hear my guitar’s natural tone within the sound being produced. Just a great “clean” sounding distortion and the sustain on it was practically non-existent, which I love in a distortion pedal. Although sustain will happen when it comes to distortion.
Their “hard” setting on the pedal was not within my taste of pedal at all, but all bias aside, it sounded great. This setting is for the likes of players who love to play into their gain, and love to double up distortion with maybe a tube screamer to get that naturally “loud” sound. I was also impressed by the lack of clipping between these settings, which is a great quality for the sake of live show. Just for the hell of it, I doubled up the “hard” setting with my Tube Screamer, and the Minotaur very much overwhelmed the sound of my Tube Screamer, leaving it only to pretty much serve as a boost/sustain. If this is your preference of sound, than this is the pedal for you.
Bill used the Minotaur with his band, a very Southern, heavy Marshall and humbucker, loud, rock band. In this capacity, it was perfect for leads or any time Bill had to create a large wall of sound within the rhythm section. Typically, Bill uses a TS-9 Tube Screamer to step up his sound for solos and leads but he was substituting the Minotaur and it filled the void nicely. Although a completely different tone than the TS-9, it served the purpose well.
Like almost all pedals, I have a few complaints about the pedal as a whole. Cosmetically, I believe it is too small. On the MythFX website, they seem to pride themselves in the size of this pedal, and I understand their angle. Some people enjoy small pedals so they have more room on their board. I however, am a huge fan of not having to worry about actually hitting the pedal or not. I am not the most coordinated person in the world, so by preference, I prefer a wide switch on the front just so I don’t have to think twice about it as I hit the pedal, which effects my play. Different strokes for different folks, Bill really liked the small compact size of the MythFX pedals.
Also, the gain on the pedal did not have as much range as I had thought. The 3-Way Clip was fantastic in terms of diversity of sound, so maybe that is how I became disappointed in the lack of range in the gain. Overall, I felt like the gain did not cater to either side of the push all too well, and I definitely expected bigger outcomes as I adjusted the pedal. There was no light gain, or really heavy gain, but the middle range was great.
All in all, it’s a good little pedal to have. Personally, I would only use the first soft setting, and part of me almost wishes they had created two separate distortion pedals so as to tweak the gain according to each Clip. I think that would be the best route, but I understand that people love combo pedals these days, so as to (mildly) diversify their sound. As far as the hard setting is concerned, this pedal absolutely dominates, which like I said, if that is your preference, you will not be disappointed.
A Look at the MythFX Midas Boost Pedal
By: Bill Bush
When I first held the MythFX Midas Boost pedal in my hands, the only thought that crossed my mind was “you can’t be serious.” How can anyone make a pedal so small and how can anyone possibly use a pedal this size? As everyone has heard since childhood, never judge a book by its cover.
Typically, a boost pedal is a boost pedal and that’s the end. They are notoriously unexciting pedals and there is nothing all that complex about them by nature. When trying out various boost pedals, it was important to me that there was minimal (if any) effect on my overall tone. The obvious goal is, you guessed it, to boost your tone. As simple as this sounds, this is a very difficult set of attributes to find in a boost pedal and I managed to only come across two pedals that accomplished this.
I put the MythFX Midas Boost pedal up against a Carl Martin Hydra Boost in my rig. Each pedal was used to try boosting my signal at the start of my effects chain as well as at the end of my chain to boost my tone for leads and thicker tones. Both pedals added absolutely zero coloring to my tone, which is exactly what I was looking for. The difference came in the power of each pedal. The Hydra Boost started to crunch up around 7 on its single boost knob and though this is fairly high up in its range, the boost only adds about 15 dB total so the added crunch is kicking into the tone at pretty low levels overall. On the Midas boost, there was absolute no overdrive whatsoever until I turned the single boost knob up to about 8. This would appear to only be “one higher” than the Hydra Boost but the difference is that the Midas has a range of 32 dB. The Midas gave me many more decibels of increase before any overdrive kicked in, thus giving me more clean and clear power.
I ended up trying the Carl Martin boost at the start of the chain just to give a very light boost to my overall signal. I had the boost turned to about 3 or 4 and just left it on the whole time. The Carl Martin simply did not provide the power/boost that Midas was able to give me so the Midas was the best option as a “step up” pedal. My main benchmark test was using the boost pedal to step my sound up slightly over the rest of an already loud Southern Rock band. I was able to set the pedal to either put me just slightly louder to make what I was playing stand out just a little bit, or crank the boost to completely jump on top of the sound for solos. I ended up completely removing the Carl Martin boost from my rig as I did not feel it was really serving enough of a purpose to take up valuable space and power on my pedalboard.
The construction of the MythFX Midas Boost pedal is not at all what I’d expect from a one-man company making the pedals out of their house. The pedal is extremely small and comes with the total fear of breaking it with the lightest step to hit the switch. After overcoming the intimidation, I quickly realized this pedal is plenty sturdy and would hold up just fine. The pedals are solidly constructed and do not waste any space. The input/output jacks are staggered so that there is just enough room for each cable to be plugged in.
Another space cutting measure, and possibly the only negative I have for this pedal, is the lack of a battery. These pedals do not take batteries and can only be used when a 9V power supply is available to you. This works fine for me because I use the VooDoo Lab Pedal Power 2 power supply, but many guitar players out there still just run their effects off of 9V batteries. Not having the ability the use a battery for this pedal immediately cuts out a rather large portion of the guitar playing market, however, if you have a power supply to use with this pedal, you will not be disappointed. I have ended up keeping the pedal in my rig and couldn’t be happier with it.
Overall, I find the Midas Boost by MythFX to be a wonderful, basic little (and I mean little) pedal. My original intention was to try out the pedal, review it, and then figure out a way to offer it up to the Bill’s Guitar Blog readers to get the word out about the blog as well as MythFX, but after all the use I’ve gotten out of it, I simply can’t part with it.
If you’re interested in checking out a little more about MythFX, and possibly acquiring their gear, head over www.MythFX.com. Tell them you heard of them from our site!
A Look at the MythFX Minotaur Distortion Pedal
By: Ryan Coe
Let me preface this review by saying that ultimately, opinions of guitar pedals vary by personal taste, and the preference within. Over my years of playing, I have been recommended pedals that I think have sounded terrible. I have also found myself loving pedals that have gotten terrible reviews. I honestly think that half of the problem in reading reviews by everyday people on the internet is their inability to set the pedal how it is supposed to be used within a rig. Some people prefer to have a pedal that destroys other sounds that are trying to be put through your guitar. Personally, I cannot stand this. To me, guitar pedals should be looked at as building blocks and should be used to build additions on top of one another, as opposed to cancelling each other out, and even worse, interfering with the natural sound of your guitar.
With that being said, I want to give some background to my taste of music and my preference of sound within. I am a big fan of the blues, and all styles of music that incorporate its basic principles (most music). I love the simplicity and creativity of the music on the surface, but even more so, I love the complex train of thought that rests within, and this is where guitar tone becomes pivotal. Typically, I use low output pickups to let my amp (and pedals) maximize their tone. When it comes to distortion pedals, the common misconception is to maximize your gain. People like SRV, and bands like Led Zeppelin played so hard and heavy, that it led people to believe that gain in distortion is what was creating that sound. Truth be told, it was getting natural sound out of your amp, playing thick strings, playing hard, and putting the gain no further than 50%. The last step made it possible for every note to ring out clearly in their recordings. This misconception eventually became a style of its own when the evolution of hard rock created bands like Metallica and so-on. I say this because the MythFX Minotaur can play into both trains of thought for distortion pedals.
When I first plugged this guy into my rig, I set the 3-Way clip to their “soft” setting. This setting had a nice tone, and this was what I was most impressed with. The grind was mellow and not forced, and I could still hear my guitar’s natural tone within the sound being produced. Just a great “clean” sounding distortion and the sustain on it was practically non-existent, which I love in a distortion pedal. Although sustain will happen when it comes to distortion.
Their “hard” setting on the pedal was not within my taste of pedal at all, but all bias aside, it sounded great. This setting is for the likes of players who love to play into their gain, and love to double up distortion with maybe a tube screamer to get that naturally “loud” sound. I was also impressed by the lack of clipping between these settings, which is a great quality for the sake of live show. Just for the hell of it, I doubled up the “hard” setting with my Tube Screamer, and the Minotaur very much overwhelmed the sound of my Tube Screamer, leaving it only to pretty much serve as a boost/sustain. If this is your preference of sound, than this is the pedal for you.
Bill used the Minotaur with his band, a very Southern, heavy Marshall and humbucker, loud, rock band. In this capacity, it was perfect for leads or any time Bill had to create a large wall of sound within the rhythm section. Typically, Bill uses a TS-9 Tube Screamer to step up his sound for solos and leads but he was substituting the Minotaur and it filled the void nicely. Although a completely different tone than the TS-9, it served the purpose well.
Like almost all pedals, I have a few complaints about the pedal as a whole. Cosmetically, I believe it is too small. On the MythFX website, they seem to pride themselves in the size of this pedal, and I understand their angle. Some people enjoy small pedals so they have more room on their board. I however, am a huge fan of not having to worry about actually hitting the pedal or not. I am not the most coordinated person in the world, so by preference, I prefer a wide switch on the front just so I don’t have to think twice about it as I hit the pedal, which effects my play. Different strokes for different folks, Bill really liked the small compact size of the MythFX pedals.
Also, the gain on the pedal did not have as much range as I had thought. The 3-Way Clip was fantastic in terms of diversity of sound, so maybe that is how I became disappointed in the lack of range in the gain. Overall, I felt like the gain did not cater to either side of the push all too well, and I definitely expected bigger outcomes as I adjusted the pedal. There was no light gain, or really heavy gain, but the middle range was great.
All in all, it’s a good little pedal to have. Personally, I would only use the first soft setting, and part of me almost wishes they had created two separate distortion pedals so as to tweak the gain according to each Clip. I think that would be the best route, but I understand that people love combo pedals these days, so as to (mildly) diversify their sound. As far as the hard setting is concerned, this pedal absolutely dominates, which like I said, if that is your preference, you will not be disappointed.
A Look at the MythFX Midas Boost Pedal
By: Bill Bush
When I first held the MythFX Midas Boost pedal in my hands, the only thought that crossed my mind was “you can’t be serious.” How can anyone make a pedal so small and how can anyone possibly use a pedal this size? As everyone has heard since childhood, never judge a book by its cover.
Typically, a boost pedal is a boost pedal and that’s the end. They are notoriously unexciting pedals and there is nothing all that complex about them by nature. When trying out various boost pedals, it was important to me that there was minimal (if any) effect on my overall tone. The obvious goal is, you guessed it, to boost your tone. As simple as this sounds, this is a very difficult set of attributes to find in a boost pedal and I managed to only come across two pedals that accomplished this.
I put the MythFX Midas Boost pedal up against a Carl Martin Hydra Boost in my rig. Each pedal was used to try boosting my signal at the start of my effects chain as well as at the end of my chain to boost my tone for leads and thicker tones. Both pedals added absolutely zero coloring to my tone, which is exactly what I was looking for. The difference came in the power of each pedal. The Hydra Boost started to crunch up around 7 on its single boost knob and though this is fairly high up in its range, the boost only adds about 15 dB total so the added crunch is kicking into the tone at pretty low levels overall. On the Midas boost, there was absolute no overdrive whatsoever until I turned the single boost knob up to about 8. This would appear to only be “one higher” than the Hydra Boost but the difference is that the Midas has a range of 32 dB. The Midas gave me many more decibels of increase before any overdrive kicked in, thus giving me more clean and clear power.
I ended up trying the Carl Martin boost at the start of the chain just to give a very light boost to my overall signal. I had the boost turned to about 3 or 4 and just left it on the whole time. The Carl Martin simply did not provide the power/boost that Midas was able to give me so the Midas was the best option as a “step up” pedal. My main benchmark test was using the boost pedal to step my sound up slightly over the rest of an already loud Southern Rock band. I was able to set the pedal to either put me just slightly louder to make what I was playing stand out just a little bit, or crank the boost to completely jump on top of the sound for solos. I ended up completely removing the Carl Martin boost from my rig as I did not feel it was really serving enough of a purpose to take up valuable space and power on my pedalboard.
The construction of the MythFX Midas Boost pedal is not at all what I’d expect from a one-man company making the pedals out of their house. The pedal is extremely small and comes with the total fear of breaking it with the lightest step to hit the switch. After overcoming the intimidation, I quickly realized this pedal is plenty sturdy and would hold up just fine. The pedals are solidly constructed and do not waste any space. The input/output jacks are staggered so that there is just enough room for each cable to be plugged in.
Another space cutting measure, and possibly the only negative I have for this pedal, is the lack of a battery. These pedals do not take batteries and can only be used when a 9V power supply is available to you. This works fine for me because I use the VooDoo Lab Pedal Power 2 power supply, but many guitar players out there still just run their effects off of 9V batteries. Not having the ability the use a battery for this pedal immediately cuts out a rather large portion of the guitar playing market, however, if you have a power supply to use with this pedal, you will not be disappointed. I have ended up keeping the pedal in my rig and couldn’t be happier with it.
Overall, I find the Midas Boost by MythFX to be a wonderful, basic little (and I mean little) pedal. My original intention was to try out the pedal, review it, and then figure out a way to offer it up to the Bill’s Guitar Blog readers to get the word out about the blog as well as MythFX, but after all the use I’ve gotten out of it, I simply can’t part with it.
If you’re interested in checking out a little more about MythFX, and possibly acquiring their gear, head over www.MythFX.com. Tell them you heard of them from our site!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Delay
Sorry everyone for the big time lapse in posts here. We have some pretty interesting stuff in the works (so WE think) but health issues have kept me/us away from the blog. Once we kick this, we'll be back in action.
Don't worry, nothing really serious, just energy zapping. Keep checking in to see what's here and tell your friends.
-Bill's Guitar Blog
Don't worry, nothing really serious, just energy zapping. Keep checking in to see what's here and tell your friends.
-Bill's Guitar Blog
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Gibson ES3xx Guitars
For whatever reason, ever since I have been remotely interested in guitars, I've always been partial to the semi-hollow Gibsons. To this day my favorite guitar of all time is the Gibson ES355. I didn't always know that much about the entire 3xx line of guitars but over the years I've managed to research them all quite a bit.
I did some work on Google and found a couple of basic articles regarding ES3xx guitars that I feel are pretty good introductions to them. There's obviously a lot more information to be found on all of them, but this may be a good starting point to learn a little of the history.
The first "article" discusses the history of the ES335. The 335 has easily been the most popular of the Gibson semi-hollows over the years so I thought it would be a good starting point to read about. The second "article" just shows a few examples of other Gibson semi-hollows and some information about them. There are A LOT more Gibson semi-hollow models out there than are discussed, but this gives you quite a few interesting models to start the investigating process. My favorite uncommon guitar discussed the in second article is the Trini Lopez...a really cool and rare guitar.
I didn't edit any of the articles. I literally just copied and pasted them into our blog. I aplogize for any grammatical errors in advance. I just felt there was some good basic information to be had in these reads.
Onto the pieces:
Vintage Gibson Guitars: Gibson ES335 (pasted from vintage-guitars.blogspot.com)
Gibson Es-335
--
Gibson Es-335 Guitar ( 1958 to present )
Thinline Semi-hollow Electric Archtop Guitar Also Known As The Es-335 TD.
1959 gibson es-335 guitarIn 1958 gibson introduced a guitar with a wood block that was glued to the top and back of the body which ran through the guitars' center leaving the sides empty , the guitar was called the gibson es-335 , the first semi-hollow body guitar.
The wood block not only made the es-335 guitar more solid but it also enhanced its woodiness warm sound and sustain.
Its ingenious body design structure plays a major role in gibson' history and paved the way for many gibson legendary guitars to come.
Cherished by many artists such as bb-king , eric clapton, chuck berry , joe perry, keith richards , george harrison, ritchie blackmore ... just to name a few.
The es-335 is coined by many as the best all around guitar in the world because of its versatility.
In 1958 when gibson first launched the es-335 at a list price of approximately $270 the guitar became an instant success and continued its historical journey until this very day.
The first year in production the es-335 had a brazilian rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays , 2 humbuckers , bigsby vibrato or stop tailpiece , bound top and back , neck joins the body at the 19th fret , 4 knobs ( 2-vol 2-tone ) , tune o matic bridge , pickguard extends below the bridge , large fat neck , and were made in sunburst or natural finishes. ( this model is highly desirable and sought after by collectors)
1959 : Cherry finishes were added
1960 : The es-335 had shorter pickguards and thinner necks
1961 : Natural finishes were discontinued
1962 : Dot inlays on the fingerboard were replaced with block inlays
1965 : Trapeze tailpiece replaced the stop tailpiece 12 string version also introduced
1966 : indian rosewood fingerboard instead of brazilian
1969 : walnut finishes were available
gibson es-335-12Note : In 1965 a 12 string version of the es-335 was also introduced and was called the gibson es-335-12 , ( see pic ) were made in cherry or natural finishes , various colors in 1968 and were discontinued in 1971.
In 1981 the gibson es-335 was discontinued and replaced with the gibson es-335 dot which was a reissue of the original 1960 es-335 with dot inlays.
The gibson es-335 dot was discontinued in 1990 and replaced with the gibson es-335 reissue in 1991 which are still in production today.
From 1981 to present gibson also introduced more variations of the gibson es-335 such as the :
Gibson es-335 artist :( 1981 )
had a large headstock logo , metal truss rod plate , gold hardware with 3 knobs .
Gibson es-335 Dot CMT :( 1983 - 1985 )
like the es-335 dot but with curly maple top and back , gold hardware , and were made in various colors .
Gibson es-335 Studio :( 1986 - 1991 )
No f-holes , 2 dirty finger humbuckers , cherry or ebony finishes .
Gibson es-335 Showcase Edition : ( 1988 )
black hardware , emg pickups ,white or beige finishes and were made in limited quantities - 200 made .
Gibson es-335 Centennial : ( 1994 )
Gold medallion on the headstock , were made in cherry colors , diamond inlays in tailpiece . ( not more than a 100 were made )
Gibson es-335 '59 Historic Collection : ( 1998 )
basically a replica of the original 1959 model with dot inlays .
Gibson es-335 '63 Historic Collection : ( 2000 )
based on the original 1962 model with block inlays .
Gibson also made es-335 custom shop guitars during the 80s and 90s with a custom shop logo on the back of the headstock .
Vintage Price Value For 2008 :
1958 > $60 000 to $75 000 ( Natural )
1958 > $50 000 to $60 000 ( Natural-Bigsby )
1958 > $34 000 to $41 000 ( Sunburst )
1958 > $32 000 to $39 000 ( Sunburst-Bigsby )
1959 > $75 000 to $100 000 ( Natural )
1959 > $50 000 to $65 000 ( Natural- bigsby )
1959 > $40 000 to $55 000 ( Sunburst )
1959 > $35 000 to $40 000 ( Sunburst-bigsby )
1960 > $25 000 to $35 000 ( Cherry )
1960 > $35 000 to $50 000 ( Natural )
1960 > $25000 to $35 000 ( Sunburst )
1961 - 1962 > $26 000 to $32 000 ( PAFs )
1961 - 1962 > $25 000 to $32 000 ( Pat # )
1963 - 1964 > $19 000 to $27 000 ( prices vary according to specs & color )
1965 - 1969 > $4 500 to $9 000 ( prices vary according to specs & color )
1970 - 1976 > $3 500 to $4 600
1977 - 1981 > $2 000 to $3 200
1965 - 1971 > $2 600 to $3 000 ( es-335-12 string )
1981 - 1990 > $2 300 to $ 2 950 ( es-335 Dot )
1981 - 1982 > $2 300 to $2 600 ( es-335 artist )
1981 - 1999 > $2 700 to $3 000 ( es-335 custom shop )
1983 - 1985 > $2 700 to $3000 ( es-335 Dot Cmt )
1986 - 1991 > $1 100 to $1 400 ( es-335 Studio )
1988 - 1989 > $2 300 to $3 500 ( es-335 showcase edition )
1994 - 1995 > $4000 to $4200 ( es-335 centennial )
1998 - 1999 > $2 200 to $2 700 ( '59 historic collection )
2000 - 2001 > $2 700 to $3 000 ( '63 historic collection )
1991 - 2000 > $1 700 to $2 300 ( es-335 reissue )
guitar price guide1958 - 1969 > Avg Upward Trend Of 21% A Year Since 2000
1970 - 1981 > 9% ( does not include the es-335 dot reissue )
Prices are according to 4 different vintage guitar price guides and rounded off to the nearest dollar .
***************************************************************************************
Gibson Archtop Guitars (from rocknrollvintage.com)
A brief history on Gibson Electric Acoustic Archtop models
Gibson Archtops come in an amazing range of models. The ES-350 was launched in 1947, and the first "new generation" Gibson electric archtops. It featured 2 fitted pickups and was designed ground up as an archtop electric acoustic archtop guitar. The single pickup ES-175 followed the ES-350 in 1949. Many consider the ES-175 as the first mass produced electric archtop from Gibson. Gibson launched a beginner electric in 1950 with the new 3/4 scale ES-140 model. In 1953 the ES-175 was offered with a second pickup. The L5 and Super 400 were top of the line jazz guitars and in 1951 Gibson added a CES designation with permanently installed twin pickups and controls. In 1955 Gibson launched Thin Line models often using the "T" designation after the model number. The new thin line guitars included the Byrdland and the ES-350T. Thin line guitars appealed to players who wanted a thinner, less bulky guitar.
The ES-335 was introduced in 1958. While it looked like it had a thin line body it was actually a semi-hollow body guitar as it featured a solid block of wood running through the center of the body. This made the guitar much less prone to feedback when played at high volume. The ES-345 and 355 were introduced in the same time frame however they offered stereo wiring and a six way selector switch called a "Vari-tone". TD models were deluxe variations. Vari-tone was unpopular with players and and many guitars had the vari-tone wiring removed. Gibson continued to introduce variations of standard and thin line guitars and in the 60's they began to release signature models including the Barney Kessel Custom (1961), Johnny Smith (1961) and the Tal Farlow (1962). The 1961 ES-330 is a little unusual as it did not feature a solid central block in the body and the neck was set further into the body. Gibson continued to release models in the 70's, 80's, 90's and may of these guitars are still available today.
The ES-345
The ES-345 was introduced in 1959 Gibson and was available until 1982. It was a a semi-hollow thin double cut body double cut body, 2 humbuckers, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs Vari-Tone. The fingerboard was Rosewood with parallelogram inlays and gold plated parts.
The Super 400 CES
Available in 1951 and still being sold today, originally featured a spruce or maple top, dual P-90 pickups, 2 F-holes, ebony fingerboard, inlays, sunburst or natural finish. Alnico V pickups soon replaced the P-90 pickups the humbuckers were added in 1957. The 1969 Super 400 CES had a solid 2 piece back. This guitar is still in production.
The ES-225T
Sold from 1955 to 1959. Feature a thin body single cut body 1 or 2 P-90 pickups, a trapeze bridge/tailpiece and a rosewood fingerboard with dot fingerboard inlays.
The ES-140T
Sold from 1956 to 1968. This is a 3/4 scale thinline guitar with a single P90 pickup and dot inlays.
The Gibson ES355-TD
In production from 1959 to 1982, the 355 was a thin body double cut semi-hollow with maple block down center. Vari-tone rotary tone switch and stereo wiring, 2 humbucking pickups and 2 volume and 2 tone knobs. Note the Bigsby vibrato and walnut finish.
The ES-175-D
Sold 1949 to the present. Originally had one P-90 pickup, and available in sunburst or natural finish. The D designation on this model denotes it's a dual pickup model. Still available but only as a dual pickup model.
The ES-330
Sold from 1959 to 1972. This is a hollow thin body rather than a semi-hollow with a deeply set neck. Featured 2 P90 pickups, trapeze tailpiece, pearl dot fingerboard inlays. This model has rectangular inlays where were added in the 60's.
The ES-335
Sold 1958 to present. 1958 Gibson ES-335 specs include thin double cutaway body, semi-hollow body, 2 humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, tune-o-matic bridge, and rosewood fingerboard. This later model has rectangular inlays.
The Gibson ES-340
The 340 was available from 1969 to 1984. It was a semi-acoustic double round cutaway with arched maple top, tune-o-matic bridge-trapeze tailpiece. It included two humbucker pickups, ,volume, mixer and two tone controls plus three position selector switch. It was available in Natural and Walnut finishes.
The Trini Lopez
Sold from 1964 to 1971. This guitar utilized a ES-335 thinline body with diamond-shaped soundholes, 2 humbuckers, Tune-O-Matic bridge and trapeze tailpiece.
The Byrdland
Gibson Byrdland Thinline Electric Archtop was first available in 1955 and is still available today. This was a thinbody short scale version of the L-5CES. Originally featured a carved maple back, 2 Alnico V pickups,ebony fingerboard with block markers, narrow neck in a sunburst or natural finish. The Alnico pickups were replaced with humbucking pickups in 1957.
The Barney Kessel
Available from 1961 to 1974. Featured double pointed cutaways, 2 humbucking pickups, tuneomatic bridge, trapeze tailpiece, rosewood fingerboard with parallelogram inlays, nickel plated parts in a cherry sunburst finish. In 1961 inlays were also available in a bow tie pattern.
I did some work on Google and found a couple of basic articles regarding ES3xx guitars that I feel are pretty good introductions to them. There's obviously a lot more information to be found on all of them, but this may be a good starting point to learn a little of the history.
The first "article" discusses the history of the ES335. The 335 has easily been the most popular of the Gibson semi-hollows over the years so I thought it would be a good starting point to read about. The second "article" just shows a few examples of other Gibson semi-hollows and some information about them. There are A LOT more Gibson semi-hollow models out there than are discussed, but this gives you quite a few interesting models to start the investigating process. My favorite uncommon guitar discussed the in second article is the Trini Lopez...a really cool and rare guitar.
I didn't edit any of the articles. I literally just copied and pasted them into our blog. I aplogize for any grammatical errors in advance. I just felt there was some good basic information to be had in these reads.
Onto the pieces:
Vintage Gibson Guitars: Gibson ES335 (pasted from vintage-guitars.blogspot.com)
Gibson Es-335
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Gibson Es-335 Guitar ( 1958 to present )
Thinline Semi-hollow Electric Archtop Guitar Also Known As The Es-335 TD.
1959 gibson es-335 guitarIn 1958 gibson introduced a guitar with a wood block that was glued to the top and back of the body which ran through the guitars' center leaving the sides empty , the guitar was called the gibson es-335 , the first semi-hollow body guitar.
The wood block not only made the es-335 guitar more solid but it also enhanced its woodiness warm sound and sustain.
Its ingenious body design structure plays a major role in gibson' history and paved the way for many gibson legendary guitars to come.
Cherished by many artists such as bb-king , eric clapton, chuck berry , joe perry, keith richards , george harrison, ritchie blackmore ... just to name a few.
The es-335 is coined by many as the best all around guitar in the world because of its versatility.
In 1958 when gibson first launched the es-335 at a list price of approximately $270 the guitar became an instant success and continued its historical journey until this very day.
The first year in production the es-335 had a brazilian rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays , 2 humbuckers , bigsby vibrato or stop tailpiece , bound top and back , neck joins the body at the 19th fret , 4 knobs ( 2-vol 2-tone ) , tune o matic bridge , pickguard extends below the bridge , large fat neck , and were made in sunburst or natural finishes. ( this model is highly desirable and sought after by collectors)
1959 : Cherry finishes were added
1960 : The es-335 had shorter pickguards and thinner necks
1961 : Natural finishes were discontinued
1962 : Dot inlays on the fingerboard were replaced with block inlays
1965 : Trapeze tailpiece replaced the stop tailpiece 12 string version also introduced
1966 : indian rosewood fingerboard instead of brazilian
1969 : walnut finishes were available
gibson es-335-12Note : In 1965 a 12 string version of the es-335 was also introduced and was called the gibson es-335-12 , ( see pic ) were made in cherry or natural finishes , various colors in 1968 and were discontinued in 1971.In 1981 the gibson es-335 was discontinued and replaced with the gibson es-335 dot which was a reissue of the original 1960 es-335 with dot inlays.
The gibson es-335 dot was discontinued in 1990 and replaced with the gibson es-335 reissue in 1991 which are still in production today.
From 1981 to present gibson also introduced more variations of the gibson es-335 such as the :
Gibson es-335 artist :( 1981 )
had a large headstock logo , metal truss rod plate , gold hardware with 3 knobs .
Gibson es-335 Dot CMT :( 1983 - 1985 )
like the es-335 dot but with curly maple top and back , gold hardware , and were made in various colors .
Gibson es-335 Studio :( 1986 - 1991 )
No f-holes , 2 dirty finger humbuckers , cherry or ebony finishes .
Gibson es-335 Showcase Edition : ( 1988 )
black hardware , emg pickups ,white or beige finishes and were made in limited quantities - 200 made .
Gibson es-335 Centennial : ( 1994 )
Gold medallion on the headstock , were made in cherry colors , diamond inlays in tailpiece . ( not more than a 100 were made )
Gibson es-335 '59 Historic Collection : ( 1998 )
basically a replica of the original 1959 model with dot inlays .
Gibson es-335 '63 Historic Collection : ( 2000 )
based on the original 1962 model with block inlays .
Gibson also made es-335 custom shop guitars during the 80s and 90s with a custom shop logo on the back of the headstock .
Vintage Price Value For 2008 :
1958 > $60 000 to $75 000 ( Natural )
1958 > $50 000 to $60 000 ( Natural-Bigsby )
1958 > $34 000 to $41 000 ( Sunburst )
1958 > $32 000 to $39 000 ( Sunburst-Bigsby )
1959 > $75 000 to $100 000 ( Natural )
1959 > $50 000 to $65 000 ( Natural- bigsby )
1959 > $40 000 to $55 000 ( Sunburst )
1959 > $35 000 to $40 000 ( Sunburst-bigsby )
1960 > $25 000 to $35 000 ( Cherry )
1960 > $35 000 to $50 000 ( Natural )
1960 > $25000 to $35 000 ( Sunburst )
1961 - 1962 > $26 000 to $32 000 ( PAFs )
1961 - 1962 > $25 000 to $32 000 ( Pat # )
1963 - 1964 > $19 000 to $27 000 ( prices vary according to specs & color )
1965 - 1969 > $4 500 to $9 000 ( prices vary according to specs & color )
1970 - 1976 > $3 500 to $4 600
1977 - 1981 > $2 000 to $3 200
1965 - 1971 > $2 600 to $3 000 ( es-335-12 string )
1981 - 1990 > $2 300 to $ 2 950 ( es-335 Dot )
1981 - 1982 > $2 300 to $2 600 ( es-335 artist )
1981 - 1999 > $2 700 to $3 000 ( es-335 custom shop )
1983 - 1985 > $2 700 to $3000 ( es-335 Dot Cmt )
1986 - 1991 > $1 100 to $1 400 ( es-335 Studio )
1988 - 1989 > $2 300 to $3 500 ( es-335 showcase edition )
1994 - 1995 > $4000 to $4200 ( es-335 centennial )
1998 - 1999 > $2 200 to $2 700 ( '59 historic collection )
2000 - 2001 > $2 700 to $3 000 ( '63 historic collection )
1991 - 2000 > $1 700 to $2 300 ( es-335 reissue )
guitar price guide1958 - 1969 > Avg Upward Trend Of 21% A Year Since 2000
1970 - 1981 > 9% ( does not include the es-335 dot reissue )
Prices are according to 4 different vintage guitar price guides and rounded off to the nearest dollar .
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Gibson Archtop Guitars (from rocknrollvintage.com)
A brief history on Gibson Electric Acoustic Archtop models
Gibson Archtops come in an amazing range of models. The ES-350 was launched in 1947, and the first "new generation" Gibson electric archtops. It featured 2 fitted pickups and was designed ground up as an archtop electric acoustic archtop guitar. The single pickup ES-175 followed the ES-350 in 1949. Many consider the ES-175 as the first mass produced electric archtop from Gibson. Gibson launched a beginner electric in 1950 with the new 3/4 scale ES-140 model. In 1953 the ES-175 was offered with a second pickup. The L5 and Super 400 were top of the line jazz guitars and in 1951 Gibson added a CES designation with permanently installed twin pickups and controls. In 1955 Gibson launched Thin Line models often using the "T" designation after the model number. The new thin line guitars included the Byrdland and the ES-350T. Thin line guitars appealed to players who wanted a thinner, less bulky guitar.
The ES-335 was introduced in 1958. While it looked like it had a thin line body it was actually a semi-hollow body guitar as it featured a solid block of wood running through the center of the body. This made the guitar much less prone to feedback when played at high volume. The ES-345 and 355 were introduced in the same time frame however they offered stereo wiring and a six way selector switch called a "Vari-tone". TD models were deluxe variations. Vari-tone was unpopular with players and and many guitars had the vari-tone wiring removed. Gibson continued to introduce variations of standard and thin line guitars and in the 60's they began to release signature models including the Barney Kessel Custom (1961), Johnny Smith (1961) and the Tal Farlow (1962). The 1961 ES-330 is a little unusual as it did not feature a solid central block in the body and the neck was set further into the body. Gibson continued to release models in the 70's, 80's, 90's and may of these guitars are still available today.
The ES-345
The ES-345 was introduced in 1959 Gibson and was available until 1982. It was a a semi-hollow thin double cut body double cut body, 2 humbuckers, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs Vari-Tone. The fingerboard was Rosewood with parallelogram inlays and gold plated parts.
The Super 400 CES
Available in 1951 and still being sold today, originally featured a spruce or maple top, dual P-90 pickups, 2 F-holes, ebony fingerboard, inlays, sunburst or natural finish. Alnico V pickups soon replaced the P-90 pickups the humbuckers were added in 1957. The 1969 Super 400 CES had a solid 2 piece back. This guitar is still in production.
The ES-225T
Sold from 1955 to 1959. Feature a thin body single cut body 1 or 2 P-90 pickups, a trapeze bridge/tailpiece and a rosewood fingerboard with dot fingerboard inlays.
The ES-140T
Sold from 1956 to 1968. This is a 3/4 scale thinline guitar with a single P90 pickup and dot inlays.
The Gibson ES355-TD
In production from 1959 to 1982, the 355 was a thin body double cut semi-hollow with maple block down center. Vari-tone rotary tone switch and stereo wiring, 2 humbucking pickups and 2 volume and 2 tone knobs. Note the Bigsby vibrato and walnut finish.
The ES-175-D
Sold 1949 to the present. Originally had one P-90 pickup, and available in sunburst or natural finish. The D designation on this model denotes it's a dual pickup model. Still available but only as a dual pickup model.
The ES-330
Sold from 1959 to 1972. This is a hollow thin body rather than a semi-hollow with a deeply set neck. Featured 2 P90 pickups, trapeze tailpiece, pearl dot fingerboard inlays. This model has rectangular inlays where were added in the 60's.
The ES-335
Sold 1958 to present. 1958 Gibson ES-335 specs include thin double cutaway body, semi-hollow body, 2 humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, tune-o-matic bridge, and rosewood fingerboard. This later model has rectangular inlays.
The Gibson ES-340
The 340 was available from 1969 to 1984. It was a semi-acoustic double round cutaway with arched maple top, tune-o-matic bridge-trapeze tailpiece. It included two humbucker pickups, ,volume, mixer and two tone controls plus three position selector switch. It was available in Natural and Walnut finishes.
The Trini Lopez
Sold from 1964 to 1971. This guitar utilized a ES-335 thinline body with diamond-shaped soundholes, 2 humbuckers, Tune-O-Matic bridge and trapeze tailpiece.
The Byrdland
Gibson Byrdland Thinline Electric Archtop was first available in 1955 and is still available today. This was a thinbody short scale version of the L-5CES. Originally featured a carved maple back, 2 Alnico V pickups,ebony fingerboard with block markers, narrow neck in a sunburst or natural finish. The Alnico pickups were replaced with humbucking pickups in 1957.
The Barney Kessel
Available from 1961 to 1974. Featured double pointed cutaways, 2 humbucking pickups, tuneomatic bridge, trapeze tailpiece, rosewood fingerboard with parallelogram inlays, nickel plated parts in a cherry sunburst finish. In 1961 inlays were also available in a bow tie pattern.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Bill's Guitar Blog on Myspace?
Yes! You can now find us on Myspace. The profile is as bare bones as you can get. We did send out some friend requests, but that's it so far. We just wanted to get the page registered but we will be working on building and developing the Myspace page in our spare time. Head over and add us as your friend! THEN, tell your other friends and help us spread the word!
The Myspace URL is:
www.myspace.com/billsguitarblog
Thanks, everyone!
-Bill
The Myspace URL is:
www.myspace.com/billsguitarblog
Thanks, everyone!
-Bill
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
MythFX
We have some pretty exciting news. We are in the process of developing our first relationship with an up and coming pedal/effects company called MythFX. We found them in a search for some gear and have been very intrigued ever since. We've reached out to them to do some work with them and they have been very positive and receptive. Keep checking back for some equipment reviews, articles, and possibly interviews.
We love what this young company is doing and we are really interested in their products. We will provide more detail and insight when we get some of the equipment in to review. For now, head over to their site and check them out (found below). Stop on over and say hello to Brian at MythFX!
Contact Information
We now can be reached via email at BillsGuitarBlog@gmail.com.
Email us with any ideas, comments, contributions to the blog, requests, etc... We're really looking forward to growing this blog and we need help from everyone to do it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Email us with any ideas, comments, contributions to the blog, requests, etc... We're really looking forward to growing this blog and we need help from everyone to do it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Introduction to Bill's Guitar Blog
Welcome to Bill's Guitar Blog. We thought it was time to start getting some formal blog posts out there for potential new readers.
First let us provide you with a little background to how this blog made its way to your computers. Creator, Bill Bush, has spent many years in the guitar world whether it's collecting gear, playing in bands, working in guitar stores, etc... To this day, guitars are a continuing passion for Bill and he has been looking for an outlet to share his love with others. Being in the heart of technology era, Bill figured what better vehicle to use than the internet?
After spending time considering the direction for the blog, Bill reached out to longtime friend, Ryan Coe. Ryan has also spent many years immersed in the guitar world and shares the same passion for music. Though a very diverse student of music, Ryan's true love is blues and the stratocaster. Once Ryan heard about Bill's new blog idea, he was 100% committed to coming up with ideas and directions to take the new venture.
So what kind of information will be found on this blog? Well, it could be anything guitar related. The intention is for the blog to be educational, entertaining, insightful, and diverse, however, the goal is not to have it bogged down with filler that very few people are interested in. We hope to make everything somewhat appealing to anyone that crosses the blog.
On the blog, you'll find equipment reviews of guitars, effects, amplifiers, and other equipment odds and ends. That's about as organized as we are hoping to keep it. We want the blog to be exactly what someone would imagine in a blog. Very open ended and free. You may read about gear projects people are working on, new equipment someone bought, personal rigs, articles, store reviews, etc...you name it!
Together, Bill and Ryan felt they wanted the blog to be extremely interactive with the readers and a semi-open forum in order to bring a well rounded presentation of guitar information for those interested. Though most of the information, reviews, etc... will come from Bill and Ryan, keep an eye out for guest contributors from time to time. Also, we will be setting up some form of contact so readers can submit information to us or make requests of things they would like to see up on the blog.
Hopefully Bill's Guitar Blog can gain some momentum and be a haven for guitar fans everywhere. We're looking forward to the future and developing relationships with the readers, other players, equipment companies, and generally anyone that may be interested in our little corner of the web.
Thanks for reading and keep your eyes posted for some updates coming soon.
-Bill's Guitar Blog
First let us provide you with a little background to how this blog made its way to your computers. Creator, Bill Bush, has spent many years in the guitar world whether it's collecting gear, playing in bands, working in guitar stores, etc... To this day, guitars are a continuing passion for Bill and he has been looking for an outlet to share his love with others. Being in the heart of technology era, Bill figured what better vehicle to use than the internet?
After spending time considering the direction for the blog, Bill reached out to longtime friend, Ryan Coe. Ryan has also spent many years immersed in the guitar world and shares the same passion for music. Though a very diverse student of music, Ryan's true love is blues and the stratocaster. Once Ryan heard about Bill's new blog idea, he was 100% committed to coming up with ideas and directions to take the new venture.
So what kind of information will be found on this blog? Well, it could be anything guitar related. The intention is for the blog to be educational, entertaining, insightful, and diverse, however, the goal is not to have it bogged down with filler that very few people are interested in. We hope to make everything somewhat appealing to anyone that crosses the blog.
On the blog, you'll find equipment reviews of guitars, effects, amplifiers, and other equipment odds and ends. That's about as organized as we are hoping to keep it. We want the blog to be exactly what someone would imagine in a blog. Very open ended and free. You may read about gear projects people are working on, new equipment someone bought, personal rigs, articles, store reviews, etc...you name it!
Together, Bill and Ryan felt they wanted the blog to be extremely interactive with the readers and a semi-open forum in order to bring a well rounded presentation of guitar information for those interested. Though most of the information, reviews, etc... will come from Bill and Ryan, keep an eye out for guest contributors from time to time. Also, we will be setting up some form of contact so readers can submit information to us or make requests of things they would like to see up on the blog.
Hopefully Bill's Guitar Blog can gain some momentum and be a haven for guitar fans everywhere. We're looking forward to the future and developing relationships with the readers, other players, equipment companies, and generally anyone that may be interested in our little corner of the web.
Thanks for reading and keep your eyes posted for some updates coming soon.
-Bill's Guitar Blog
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