ES-335 vs. Lucille
Jonathan Harrod
Hey folks,
Look, I know I promised a while ago that I was
about to get an ES-335. I've been busy, O.K.?
The thing is, I've just learned that Gibson
Lucilles are quite a bit cheaper new than
regular 335s. This seems somewhat mysterious
since Lucilles have a variety of extra features.
Anyone own a Lucille or know why they would cost
so much less?
Thanks in advance,
Jonathan
Andrew Gregg
>Path: pacit.tas.gov.au!newsroom.utas.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!foxhound.dsto.gov.au!fang.dsto.gov.au!yoyo.aarnet.edu.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!torn!nott!bnrgate!corpgate!crchh327.b>Path: pacit.tas.gov.au!newsroom.utas.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!foxhound.dsto.gov.au!fang.dsto.gov.au!yoyo.aarnet.edu.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!torn!nott!bnrgate!corpgate!crchh327.b>
r.ca!jharrod
>From: jha...@bnr.ca (Jonathan Harrod)
>Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
>Subject: ES-335 vs. Lucille
>Date: 16 Aug 1994 11:42:51 -0500
>Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Richardson, TX
>Lines: 17
>Distribution: world
>Message-ID: <32qqab$4...@crchh89f.bnr.ca>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: crchh89f.bnr.ca
>Hey folks,
>Thanks in advance,
>Jonathan
Although this may seem stupid, B.B's Lucille (maybe not his current one) was a
355. I know this does not answer your question, but having owned a '62 Cherry
355 for 4 years now it might be that the "Lucille" is more a 355 copy/reissue.
AG
Frank Coffman
:
: The thing is, I've just learned that Gibson
: Lucilles are quite a bit cheaper new than
: regular 335s. This seems somewhat mysterious
: since Lucilles have a variety of extra features.
: Anyone own a Lucille or know why they would cost
: so much less?
From the literature I've seen, the Gibson Lucille is different from
an ES-335 (335-dot) in that it has no f-holes, has a varitone switch added, has
the standard Gibson humbuckers as opposed to the '59 reissue humbuckers,
and the taper of the neck is different. They are similar in construction
materials, basic design, and I would imagine sound pretty much the same. There
are some other cosmetic differences (position markers, tailpiece design, trim, etc).
The 335 probably costs more because it's a "reissue". Also, the 335 seems to
come in finishes that show off the grain (sunburst, cherry) and tend to cost more,
as opposed to finishes like black, which is cheaper, presumably because they use
the more select woods for the premium finishes.
I don't know what a Lucille goes for, but a good price for a sunburst 355-dot seems
to be ~ $1350. What do Lucille's go for anyway?
--
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| Frank Coffman |FAA Technical Center, Mail Stop ACN-400c |
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William G. Sacks
: Hey folks,
: Thanks in advance,
: Jonathan
Not having spoken to anyone at Gibson about this, my first guess
is the absence of f-holes on the Lucille. The routing costs a bundle.
And with that in mind, you might want to have a look at the
Studio 335s. No binding on the neck, no inlay on the headstock, no
f-holes, and coverless 490 series pickups (instead of the vintage '57s on
the standard 335) gives you a quality instrument for roughly $700. The
tonal differences of the pickups are the only thing that might make me
blink. But if you were to grab a pair of 57s and put them in there, you'd
still come out ahead on the Lucille's base price.