335 Bass

[ilan]

Not convinced about the ebony sans binding though.

Yep. Never liked the look of unbound hollowbodies, like the Lakland hollowbody or Höfner Verithin.

[drbassman]

Yeah, at Gibson, taking photos or videos is strictly prohibited and doing so will get you ejected from the tour immediately.  Like guitar building by them is so secret!  I didn't see anything that I didn't already know except how they did their binding.  The only CNC machine I saw was for cutting the tops and backs and routing for the controls, neck pocket and pups.  The initial cuts on the necks were done on a giant pin router with jigs.  The presses for doing the curved tops and sides were pretty cool to see as well.  Once they pressed the side pieces, a laminate piece about 16" wide, the individual side pieces are cut by hand on a big band saw.  Hand fretting and leveling too.

As I said, a lot more handy work than on a solid body instrument.  They turn out 60 instruments a day.  Not a big mass production plant for sure.  I wonder how many Fender roll out each day?

[drbassman]

Yep. Never liked the look of unbound hollowbodies, like the Lakland hollowbody or Höfner Verithin.

It's funny how something like that appeals to us. I feel the same way.  Especially on a hollow body with a curved top.

[drbassman]

While I wasn't enamored with the pups on these, I might have to get one because the burst is so beautiful!

[drbassman]

Yeah, I plugged a burst one in today and it followed me home.  It really does sound and feel good.  The pups are really strong and you can hear the resonance of the semi-hollow baody come through.  Hi, my name is Bill and I'm a bass addict..................

[drbassman]

I don't give a damn whether it's period-correct, faithful or whatever, it looketh nothing less than great! (Of course it's not a "Custom Shop" model, Music Zoo cocked that up.)

Well, the Music Zoo isn't being dishonest either. I just took the paper work out of the case and I have a nice little bound booklet that says the bass is a custom build by the custom shop in the Memphis plant.  It also has the VP of Custom Shops signature on it as well.  So, as far as the buyer might be concerned, it is a custom shop bass according to the Gibson gang.

That being said, it is a step up from the Midtown.  Much stronger pups and definitely more resonant.  It reminds me a lot of the sound I get from my EB-650.  A nice narrow, but slightly fat neck front to back make it easy to play and reaching the 1st. fret isn't too bad either.  Needless to say, it looks as good in person as it does in the pictures.  We'll see how she performs at practice tonight.

[4stringer77]

Custom eh? That's cool. Wonder why they didn't use any mahogany in this one.

[drbassman]

Here ya go.  BTW Uwe, it's not really all that off from my 69 EB-2.  There's no doubt they are very close cousins and this bass is a tonal improvement over the vintage basses.  While I have to work harder to play a 34" scale bass, they do have auditory characteristics that  a 30" bass can't typically match in the hollow/semi-hollow genre.

[drbassman]

Custom eh? That's cool. Wonder why they didn't use any mahogany in this one.

I'm just guessing, but maybe they didn't want to replicate the tone and sound of the old EB basses.  They could have easily done a 30" mahogany neck and SG style pups.  It looks like they are trying to break from the past.  They tried it with the EB-650 and that failed, maybe this will work better for them as this bass has a lot of the 650 characteristics.

[uwe]

A maho neck with a maple multi-layered body as with a hollow-body just doesn't make sense. Dulls everything down and takes away snap. Past the EB-2, Gibson did it only once with a bass: With the EB-750, not a good idea at all. While a maho body with a maple neck can sound well (the Fenderbird recipe), it doesn't the other way around (non-descript is the term) and is relatively seldom.

[4stringer77]

The midtown has a hog neck. Only the top is maple on the bod though. So is the midtown more non-descript?

[gearHed289]

Dang... I want one in cherry. Way more than I can spend though. Not saying it's not worth it. Looks like a killer bass.

[the mojo hobo]

Dang... I want one in cherry. Way more than I can spend though. Not saying it's not worth it. Looks like a killer bass.

I was just thinking that very same thing.

[drbassman]

There's no doubt the maple neck/body combo really makes this a crisp sounding bass.  With the stock rounds on it, it kicked butt at practice last night.  Whenever I bring a bass that doesn't have the snap that Uwe talked about, the guitar player complains.  Last night, the 335 was killer and everyone noticed and liked its tone/power.  Truth is, Uwe's right.  The Midtown is a softer sound, but it's strong too.  It also doesn't resonant the way the 335 does.  The 335 is strong, distinct and powerful.  I managed the 34" neck easily for a couple hours, so that's good too!

Yep, it's pricey, but I can cover it and make some room by selling a few things. My wife loved it and thought it was cool we had just toured the factory were it was made.

[uwe]

What a ringing recommendation! And I also now get it why they call it Custom Shop if its made in that other plant in Memphis.

Re the Midtown: I have no issues with maho necks on maho bodies or maho necks on maho bodies with a maple top, it's just that a maho neck on a maple body doesn't do anything for me. It has neither the warmth of a maho body with a maple neck (while retaining focus and adding snap), the attack of a full maple bass or the warmth and fullness of a full maho bass. Rather, the maho neck stunts the sound qualities of the maple body and vice versa.