A solid Favour
Having been a fan of ES-335 style guitars for years, I’ve worked my way through a succession of budget models. Now, I finally have the funds to get something a bit more serious, with my sights initially set on a Gibson Custom Shop model. After doing some research however I’ve realised that opening my wallet wider isn’t necessarily going to get me the spec that I imagined.
So, before I get any deeper into this can you please explain something to me? How come if I buy an entry-level 335 I get a laminated wood body? If I get a Gibson Custom Shop model, I get a laminated body? Even the beautiful Collings I-35 LC, which costs five or six grand, has a laminated body. I thought the big bucks would get me a hand carved solid top like you’d expect on a pricey big Gibson jazz guitar.
I realise I’m missing something obvious here. The bloke in my local music shop says that’s just what 335s are like, but I’d like a bit more justification for something that looks like corner cutting. Please fill me in. Bill Cheyne, via email Thanks to the rise of affordable solid-wood acoustic guitars in recent years, the word ‘laminated’ has increasingly become associated in guitar buyers’ minds with other terms like ‘cheap’, ‘cost-cutting’ and ‘plywood’. That’s what’s giving you the sleepless nights on your quality ES-335 quest, but to understand what’s going on you need to know your history too.
The big body jazz guitars made by Gibson, and other brands such as D’Angelico, in the 30s, 40s and 50s did indeed feature hand-carved solid tops. These guitars were designed to create as much volume as possible in the pre-electric era. To do that, the top had to vibrate freely. That’s why, even when you see some electrified jazz guitars from that era, the pickup is screwed into the end of the guitar’s fingerboard which is, in turn, clear of the top.
Released in 1958, the ES-335 model was not intended to develop the same acoustic power as a big jazz box. It’s an electric guitar. Laminating the body woods provides a stable platform for the humbucking pickups. The more stable the body, the less chance of unwanted feedback and, of course, the 335 also has a solid centre block running through its core to further impede the progress of the dreaded squeal. The equally laminated but all-hollow ES-330 model is way more prone to shrieking than its centre-blocked sibling.
Yes, it’s more cost-effective to laminate sheets of maple then press them into the shape of a guitar body than it is to set a craftsman to chiselling their way through a solid block of wood. In the case of the ES-335 however, laminating the body wood was the best way to create a guitar that combined the best traits of the electric solidbody and acoustic hollow body. That’s why everyone from Epiphone to the Gibson Custom Shop and boutique brands like Collings don’t mess with the original 50s formula.