New Old Guitar Day!
I got together with my oldest/dearest friend today for a NYE celebration. As we were about to wrap it up, he disappeared for a bit and came back with this: a 1960 Gibson ES-330T. He made a bit of a presentation of it, and said "this is now yours".
I know, right?!?
Like...I mean...WHAT?
I've known about this guitar for a long time. His grandmother gave it to him when we were in our teens or early twenties. We started playing guitar together when we were about 13. I stuck with it, he didn't. But at the time his grandmother knew that he played, and a friend of hers had given it to her many years earlier. It was just hanging out in her attic, and she didn't play guitar at all. So she gave it to my friend, and he never really played it either. Over the years I've ogled it and played it acoustically a couple of times, always in love with it. And today, he gifted it to me.
It's all original, except for the tuners. The original Klusons were replaced with more modern Grovers, and from what I can tell, it's been refretted at some point in its history (the fret nibs are all neatly cut off and the frets are in incredible condition for a 62 year old guitar). It's got some bangs and bruises, and the poly finish is checked up pretty good. But DAMN! What a looker!
I plugged it into my Marshall tonight and...I was a little concerned. The volume/tone pots need a little attention, and it just didn't sound how I expected (this was my first time ever hearing it plugged in after all these years). It just didn't sound quite right. But later I plugged it into my Fender '68 Custom and WOW. It just sings through that amp. Potentiometer issues aside, it's chimey and percussive. That old P90 pickup has a lot of dynamic range. I'm still in shock, I guess. I just don't know what to say. I'll get to know it better in the coming days.
So happy New Year, and a very happy new/old guitar day for this fella!
NOGD
Re: NOGD
damn .... he should have made a presentation and filmed it!
That's freakin' awesome .... an amazing and pretty uncommon guitar and it's worth 5k or more too although I understand that has nothing to do with why you value it
Congrats on such an awesome friendship
That's freakin' awesome .... an amazing and pretty uncommon guitar and it's worth 5k or more too although I understand that has nothing to do with why you value it
Congrats on such an awesome friendship
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CrowsofFritz
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Re: NOGD
Nice! Post some toans with the Fender amp!
“Naaaaaaaaaah man. I ain’t touching that mic. That thing’s expensive!”
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WhiskeyJack
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Re: NOGD
Beauty!!!! That is one hell of a gift!!! I would be speechless. I camt wait to hear it and see it in action on the channell.
So cool Tad!
So cool Tad!
Re: NOGD
Thanks fellas! I'm going to spend more time with it tonight and get to know it better.
The tone pot is definitely wonky...instead of going from 1-10, it kind of goes in random order through its sweep
There are bright spots, dark spots, and 1 and 10 sound the same. I'm afraid to know what I'd have to go through to replace it. When I got my Hagstrom, I started watching videos about doing a pickup swap on it and it just looks like a total nightmare to do anything with the electronics in a hollow-body. And this has even smaller f-holes than the Hag. I'd have to take it to a pro because I'd probably break something out of frustration.
My friend did take it to a shop in Tulsa 15 or 20 years ago and they did a setup. They did a pretty good job, too. I know this because it still has those same strings on it
The tone pot is definitely wonky...instead of going from 1-10, it kind of goes in random order through its sweep
There are bright spots, dark spots, and 1 and 10 sound the same. I'm afraid to know what I'd have to go through to replace it. When I got my Hagstrom, I started watching videos about doing a pickup swap on it and it just looks like a total nightmare to do anything with the electronics in a hollow-body. And this has even smaller f-holes than the Hag. I'd have to take it to a pro because I'd probably break something out of frustration.My friend did take it to a shop in Tulsa 15 or 20 years ago and they did a setup. They did a pretty good job, too. I know this because it still has those same strings on it
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musicturtle
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Re: NOGD
Wow! That is awesome @Tadpui!
What a cool guitar to add to your collection. And what a meaningful way to get it.
What a cool guitar to add to your collection. And what a meaningful way to get it.
Re: NOGD
I'm going to direct a few guitar owning friends of mine to this thread... they need to up their game. 
Re: NOGD
At last a proper guitar in the G&b board. Its a beaut...
The sound of those come across as a little strange largely because of the position of the pickup. P90's are not supposed to be in the middle, they like to be right at the bridge or for jazz right at the neck. Once you get used to it they can sound really good and I mean really good. Change out the pots would be my advice. Those things don't last for ever.
Top guitar.
The sound of those come across as a little strange largely because of the position of the pickup. P90's are not supposed to be in the middle, they like to be right at the bridge or for jazz right at the neck. Once you get used to it they can sound really good and I mean really good. Change out the pots would be my advice. Those things don't last for ever.
Top guitar.
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einstein magoo
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Re: NOGD
WOW! What a beautiful thing! The guitar, the friendship, the gift, the guitar...the guitar!
Fantastic way to begin a new year. the guitar!
Fantastic way to begin a new year. the guitar!
Re: NOGD
I've played it quite a bit more and you're right. That middle pickup placement lends it a similar sound to the middle pickup on a Strat, but still different than that too. It's kind of in the way of my picking hand...I have to make a concerted effort to play in front or behind it, because my pick clips it if I try to play naturally.muttley wrote: ↑Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:02 am At last a proper guitar in the G&b board. Its a beaut...
The sound of those come across as a little strange largely because of the position of the pickup. P90's are not supposed to be in the middle, they like to be right at the bridge or for jazz right at the neck. Once you get used to it they can sound really good and I mean really good. Change out the pots would be my advice. Those things don't last for ever.
Top guitar.
It's a surprisingly bright guitar. It sounds most similar to my '65 Jazzmaster, almost too bright until I get used to it or just play it hard. It's got a ton of attack and dynamic range.
But yeah, I'm going to have to do something about these pots. I intend to play this guitar, just like my others. It's not a wall decoration, so I need to bite the bullet and either attempt to change the pots or hire somebody to do it for me. It's got a set of .010 strings on it that are old enough to vote, so I need to set it up for my preferred .011 strings as well. It's a compact feeling guitar, although I haven't measured the scale length yet. I'm getting the impression that it's even shorter than the common Gibson 25.5" length.
Re: NOGD
This is one reason I'm not a huge fan of three pickup guitars... I find the middle pickup gets in the way of where my hand naturally wants to be. Not so bad on a strat but a mate had a Les Paul imitation built by a custom builder friend with 3 humbucker pickups and I really just didn't like having that middle pickup/housing there.
Not to mention the added complexities in the electronics when most people are firmly set on bridge pickup, tone on 10 mode anyway.
I wonder about whether aesthetics, rather than sound, given the age of the thing, played a role in the position of a single pickup guitar like you've got there @Tadpui - as an object being viewed by a non-guitarist, that pickup LOOKS like it's in the right place and any other position would look a bit strange, but we guitarists might prefer it elsewhere, perhaps.
Not to mention the added complexities in the electronics when most people are firmly set on bridge pickup, tone on 10 mode anyway.
I wonder about whether aesthetics, rather than sound, given the age of the thing, played a role in the position of a single pickup guitar like you've got there @Tadpui - as an object being viewed by a non-guitarist, that pickup LOOKS like it's in the right place and any other position would look a bit strange, but we guitarists might prefer it elsewhere, perhaps.
Re: NOGD
This thing sounds like the tone knob goes to 15Armistice wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:18 pm This is one reason I'm not a huge fan of three pickup guitars... I find the middle pickup gets in the way of where my hand naturally wants to be. Not so bad on a strat but a mate had a Les Paul imitation built by a custom builder friend with 3 humbucker pickups and I really just didn't like having that middle pickup/housing there.
Not to mention the added complexities in the electronics when most people are firmly set on bridge pickup, tone on 10 mode anyway.
I wonder about whether aesthetics, rather than sound, given the age of the thing, played a role in the position of a single pickup guitar like you've got there @Tadpui - as an object being viewed by a non-guitarist, that pickup LOOKS like it's in the right place and any other position would look a bit strange, but we guitarists might prefer it elsewhere, perhaps.
But yeah the pickup location is taking some getting used to. It does fill a unique tonal niche that none of my other guitars do, so I'm happy to have it in the arsenal.Oh man, I love the catalog page for that! I'd actually just taken a tape measure to it right before I saw this and yeah it's 24.75". It's a shorty!