Leaderboard

Back in July I treated myself to a little Lockdown Luxury. I got a great deal on this Epiphone ES-339 Pro in Pelham blue, which is a beautiful finish. It's so comfortable, and as a life-long bassist the chunky neck (compared to every other guitar I've owned) feels really comfortable. Everything about this screams quality, from the tuners to the way it sits on the knee. I would like to move the strap pin to the upper horn though to avoid that slight forward tilt. Unplugged it sounds great, and plugged in it's amazing. The previous owner replaced the stock humbuckers with a set of Iron Gear pickups - a Hot Slag in the neck and Rolling Mill in the bridge. I didn't realise until I went to collect and tried it out that these things have coil-splitting wired in, so that was a nice surprise. The Grover tuners are great with no 'wiggle room', which is something that's always bugged me on my cheap-o guitars! There is some light corrosion on the nut around the front of each tuner post and the fretboard and pickup covers are a little grimy, which I didn't notice until re-stringing. I'd like to have the frets polished too, so I might put her in for a set-up in a few weeks time. Until then she's playable, comfortable and envy-inducing! And of course, the main event. Pictures!

Ha, well... I think you'd find Gibson woulf od it if Gibson weremore in the business of selling aftermarket wiring and such.... I suspect in part nobody thought of these things when they we designed because there was no "aftermarket" availability in those days.... The cool thing abouyt a removablew back would be you could rpealce one if it got badly dinged up by buckle rash. Also, we could debate the effect of different back materials (and not using one at all) on tone - win!

Having tinkered with this guitar has resulted in me wanting to play it more.

Somebody should design a semi with a separate back-panel that screws off as a single piece....

My Squier Tele and Epiphone Casion Coupé seem to differ wildly, just as your Yammy and 339 do. I don't think you're doing yourself a disservice, it's just something you get used to and it can make you play differently, which I think is a good thing as it can lift you out of a stylistic rut. Vive la difference is what I say (provided it doesn't cause pain) Oh yeah, You know the rules...

Me too but it has cost me in the past. I remember in the early nineties seeing an explorer shape in a local guitar shop. An epiphone if memory serves. I was still mainly a metal head back then an had to have it. The guy let me buy on a lay away plan. And every week when I got paid I'd go and pay a bit off on it. Play it for ten or fifteen minutes and he'd put it back in the store room. A couple of months later it was paid off and I went and got it. And within a couple of days I knew I wasn't going to keep it