People are starting to dump Gibson ES339s.

[Larry Mal]

I had one for a bit, terrible guitar. The "Custom Shop" label on there was an insult more than anything else, the whole guitar was just poorly executed. But I look at Craigslist every day, and look at "Gibson ES", and four out of five are 339s. Anyone else notice this?

[øøøøøøø]

Yeah, it's run its course.

"Henry" era Gibson has had a few of those.

Remember the Nighthawk?

[rhythmjones]

I haven't checked the used market, but I can agree with your assessment of the instrument.

There's something fishy with the neck joint, and the necks won't hold an adjustment. I have to reset the neck every time I have one in my hands. There's something very wrong with that. A neck should hold an adjustment until the next seasonal change, or a different string guage.

Plus I like the way a full-sized thinline feels. The small ones just don't work for me aesthetically.

[Larry Mal]

Yeah, but was the Nighthawk all that bad or just weird and unpopular? I'd buy one.

Didn't know that about the 339 and the neck. I just couldn't get along with it. My buddy was desperate for money and wanted to cut me a hell of a deal... I wouldn't have bought it at any price.

[thisisnickpaige]

I had no idea about the politics or the history behind them but i can verify they are popping up like mad on my local craiglist and other guitar sale pages that i have noticed. I never really connected the dots till i just saw this, weird.

[rrtxoso]

I like mine.

[Aeon]

I have one, it's a fine guitar. I agree that the "Custom Shop" designation is a bit of a misnomer, but mine and all the others that I've played were good instruments. If anything, they follow the pattern that is typical of Gibsons in general, and ES-33X's in particular: some are great, most are good, and then there are some out there that are poor (usually because of a bad setup, either by the factory or more often because of the owner/shop not knowing what they're doing).

They really sound/feel more like a chambered Les Paul than an actual full-sized ES-335. But they have several advantages over a Les Paul: they are wayyy lighter; have a bit of that semi-hollow woody-ness to their tone; they also enter into controlled musical feedback at much more reasonable volume (very useful in recording situations, but the feedback is still very manageable at stage volumes or practicing with a drummer).

I think this "trend" has more to do with the timing than anything inherently wrong with the guitar model. You figure, most people probably bought their new ES-339 several years ago, and now they want to swap it out for something different. Once guitars start entering the used market, they are then even more likely to start showing up for sale again since people are more willing to flip a used guitar than something they picked out specifically brand-new.

It's like how I expect to see the '65 Jaguars/Jazzmasters start appearing more frequently for sale around 2017-2019. Not because there is anything wrong with them, you just tend to see this timing trend for guitars -- the "early adopters" of a new guitar model probably aren't going to sell it for awhile, else why would they have bought it in the first place?

edit: Also, there hasn't yet been any famous guitarists playing them yet (that I'm aware of, anyways). The minute some famous player begins playing them, you can bet that the model will become more popular. It's tough to compete against the classics though, the Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, ES-335, Jazzmaster, etc. all have *decades* of famous players already associated with them. Per wikipedia, the ES-339 first came out in 2007.

[serial]

One of the Gibsons that I never 'got'. Ugh.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I always think they just seem plain wrong whenever I see one, and I've been a fan of ES-33Xs forever. My disinterest is such that it's never even occurred to me to try one out.

[Fearnot]

If anyone wants to dump their 339 on my doorstep, I'll do my level best to deal with it.

[s_mcsleazy]

I always think they just seem plain wrong whenever I see one, and I've been a fan of ES-33Xs forever. My disinterest is such that it's never even occurred to me to try one out.

i tried the epiphone 339 and while it may not be in the same price range as a gibson, it's still not worth it imho. it kinda screams to me "i am like a les paul only lighter..... LOVE ME" without actually having a great deal to love.

[Larry Mal]

And yet now there is the "ES Les Paul", which frankly looks better but I still wouldn't want it. Well, I would, but not enough to buy it.

I guess Gibson thinks people want the ES package in a smaller shape for some reason. Still, they are making a lot of cool ES stuff (I'm a big fan of the models), the 135 I thought was good value for the money, there is the ES335 Studio which now comes in a couple of attractive options.

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electri ... tudio.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[thunderroad]

I agree with fearnot...anyone is welcome to dump theirs at my house. I liked them from the first time I held one at the old MF outlet store in KC. Maybe they'll get really cheap. I'm not a big LP guy and the 335 body seems kinda big, but I like the traditional arch top/f-hole look.

[Fearnot]

I saw Epiphone has a new 'Casino Coupe' hollowbody that has the 339-sized body. If I see one, I'll definitely give it a spin.

[FunkyFlash5]

I guess my local guitar shop is still getting in quite a few of these new, but none used. Right now they've got one each of the Gibson 339 and 339 studio and one in each color of the Epi. Although the local market for me is rather odd since that local shop is Dave's Guitar, things around here tend to circulate pretty quickly