Epi Elitist 335 - Endangerd Species?

[Redrum]

After long deliberation, I finally orderded one of the Epi Elitist 63' 335's. Would have been nice to go for a Gibbo, but man, that's some serious coin. I, like so many others, am in that "middle-class" of 335 style guitars. Definitely want better quality/playability than the stock Epi's, but can't afford the steep price for a Gibbo.

The Elitist 1963 ES335 Dot looks sweet and it's difficult to find any negative comments from anyone about these guitars, but it seems they're becoming more difficult to locate and purchase. I noticed Gibson/Epi now only offers them in Natural as well (which I wanted anyway).

The Elitist line has narrowed down and I'm wondering if anyone out there may know if Gibson plans on discontinuing the Elitist line altogether.

Can hardly wait to get my hands on it.

[Miles]

It looks like they are slowly but surely being weeded out. I don't think Gibson appreciates guitars that are on-par or superior in quality for less than 1/2 the price of their bloated price tags. That's just my theory.

I own the natural 335 elitist. I think it's great. The only beef that I ever hear is the 60's slim taper neck, but almost all 335s have it and I find the neck to be just fine. The only current production 335 that has a 50's rounded style, I believe, is the "fat neck" 335 model, but that sucker is over $2600.

I had been on the hunt for a great 335 and was slowly saving up the money. I played as many as I could get my hands on but there was always something that drove me nuts about the ones I had found. Most of them cost upwards of $2500 and had flaws that I couldn't bear to spend that kind of money on:

-sloppy/jagged cut f-holes
-already damaged in various areas
-sub-par binding
-blemishes galore
-pickup brackets raised from the body (unfixable as it is where the holes were drilled)
-Poorly balanced (many were way too neck heavy and wanted to fall to the floor)
-sloppy visible wiring
-absolute shite cuts of rosewood as fretboards, just poor excuses really.

So, I stumbled across the epi elitist 335, and played it. It has the same neck profile as the other Gibson 335s aside from the "fat neck" model, and had a strikingly beautiful finish. It played very smoothly and I could see that there was a lot of attention to detail. The finished is hand rubbed poly, which might be a turn off for some. But for me, it's more dent resistent and the damn guitar resonates like crazy. Mine is well balanced and I really like how it plays. The pickups are just as good to my ears as the gibson USA pickups on their standard lines ( 490/498 - or burstbuckers) and the bone nut and gibson hardware is a great benefit. The natural finish is just stunning and I had a good look inside and I can safely say that mine is really well made and makes a lot of players look pretty bad for dropping so much of their wallets on a guitar that doesn't quite cut it next to a $1100 Epi. Anyways, I love mine. It's really versatile and if you're not nuts about the pickups, that's such an easy fix and certainly not a reason to not buy a guitar.

And for the record, I used to own 7 gibsons of various kinds. They have all left and I play the elitist and the best tele that I've ever played all the time.

When I buy guitars now, I play them unplugged for a long time. If they pass that test, they are likely to come home. For me, it's feel and response to the actual instrument meaning the piece of wood in your hands and how your playing feels on it. A lot of guitars sound just fine through a cranked tube amp, so tone is definitely second.

[Redrum]

That's my take as well Miles. I wanted the 60's slim taper neck carve and I definitely don't mind the poly finish either.

All things being said, it's hard to beat the Japanese work ethic and attention to detail. I have two other Japanese Fenders which are impressive as well.

It seems companies like Edwards, Tokai and Epi-Japan are truly giving their American counterparts a good run for their money - that's why I was wondering about Gibson discontinuing their Epi Elitist line.

[Redbell]

The best 335 I ever played was a cheapo Hamer Echotone.
Man, that thing was magic & $375!

[eru]

Originally Posted by Miles

It looks like they are slowly but surely being weeded out. I don't think Gibson appreciates guitars that are on-par or superior in quality for less than 1/2 the price of their bloated price tags. That's just my theory.

Heh, that's funny. Something weird, but I think that you're about as likely to get a really good epi as you are a gibson. This is, of course, based on very limited experience. But I've played epiphone les pauls, 335s, and SGs that sound as good unplugged as the best gibsons I've played. And you can afford to upgrade the electronics and still have money left for a backup or whatever.

Spending money is all well and good, but I don't think there's any reason do it just because of the name on a headstock.

[Robert1950]

Originally Posted by Miles

It looks like they are slowly but surely being weeded out. I don't think Gibson appreciates guitars that are on-par or superior in quality for less than 1/2 the price of their bloated price tags. That's just my theory.

+1 on that theory. A couple of months ago, I went into a major music store and tried many SGs. The Elitist was a very close 2nd. It beat out standards and 61 RIs. Oddly, the only one that was a bit better was a faded special

[bluegrif]

I've been wanting an Elitist Sheraton for quite a while. Probably the closest thing you can get to a 60s original without spending 5 or 6K for the real thing.
As far as the Gibson 335 goes, most of the modern Gibsons are functionally OK, but all the little cosmetic blems really bug me when you're laying out that kind of money. Why is it Gibson can't consistently cut a binding channel or produce a flawless finish when it seems to be no problem for any number of Korean and Chinese companies making sub-$500 guitars?

[Miles]

Originally Posted by eru

Heh, that's funny. Something weird, but I think that you're about as likely to get a really good epi as you are a gibson. This is, of course, based on very limited experience. But I've played epiphone les pauls, 335s, and SGs that sound as good unplugged as the best gibsons I've played. And you can afford to upgrade the electronics and still have money left for a backup or whatever.

Spending money is all well and good, but I don't think there's any reason do it just because of the name on a headstock.

For most korean epiphones, I've found the consistency to be the same as gibson. But of the only 3 elitists I picked up at Wildwood, all 3 were flawless, and I had to play and scour them for 2 hours to make the choice. I ended up making the choice on looks alone, which I usually don't do, but they were all three very good.

[mge80]

I have a natural Epi Elitist "63 Reissue ES-335 Dot, and it is easily one of my top 3 guitars. As soon as I saw it, I was hooked. I DO have different pickups in it, but I would have done exactly the same with any 335 guitar. I just wanted these particular pickups in it.

[62Tele]

My Elitist Chet Atkins (these days the Country Deluxe) is as good as any Gibson I've ever played short of some special vintage pieces. The neck is a little bigger than the 335s both in girth (kind of a U shape) and width (1 3/4" nut). The 335's I've played have been anywhere from decent to very good. Best value I've found to date - If they made a '59 335 Elitist (ie nice big round neck) I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Can't begin to count how many new Gibsons I've picked up and quickly put back down - just can't see how they justify the prices. Go Bill Collings.

[blutac]

Following on from the Hamer Echotone reply, i bought a Rally Neosound for £100. made in the same factory as the Hamer and i've gigged it 3 or 4 times now.

good binding, pickups are surprisingly good

i did put a little sticker on the headstock just to make it look nice tho :-)

it plays aswell as my elitist les paul

[chumbucket]

The Elites/Elitists are remarkably consistent compared to Gibsons. You could go through a bunch of them and only find slight differences.

[Redrum]

Do you folks who own one of these Elitist 335's know what size strings they come shipped with?

[Miles]

Originally Posted by Redrum

Do you folks who own one of these Elitist 335's know what size strings they come shipped with?

10-46

[Redrum]

Thanks Miles. I've been accumulating quite a few guitars over the years but I've got to say, I'm really excited about getting my hands on one of these.

Call me a non-conformist, but I really like the fact that it doesn't have the G-word on the headstock.

:BEER