You need to speak to Fourth Feline who posts in here. He has done some great research on 335's and settled on a Tanglewood with MQ's in the B/N. Have a look back to one of his threads on a search.
There are a lot of builders who are currently making some good quality 335 guitars
Tanglewood
Vintage
Indie
Peerless
Adam Black
Yamaha
ect
All need a p/u swap and a maybe pots and switches changed depending on whats in them to start with.
Cheers Johnny ! :)
I have not tried or seen all of the above, but my impressions so far , are :
1) Based on direct experience :Tanglewood : being the cheapest to buy, yet the machine heads, wiring, pots and pickups are fine as they were really. To be specific - the TH502 I bought had Grover Machine heads from the factory, full size 500K volume and tone pots and sheilded wire as standard. I even ended up putting the 'stock' pickups back in - as they seemed fine. Even better news for more recent buyers , is that ( according their very helpfull staff who I e:mailed for more info ) my pickups where from the ceramic P/U era - whereas production has moved to Alnico pickups . It set up really nicely - and plays really slinky. The downside ? probably that mine was basswood laminate body and mahoghany neck - so the bass strings do not sound as bright and articulate with Alnico II / weaker pickups as my ( maple ) 'Vintage' Archtop. I got mine 'shop soiled' - but only about £140. The most affordable and solid option ended up being the Tanglewood.
(Bear in mind I always swap the plastic nut off of my guitars for something more resonant- and Tanglewood / Vintage have plastic nuts ).
Vintage : Better choice of woods, and more authentic if you want something that
looks directly like a Gibson copy. The action set up rattle free easily as well - the downsides being that the machine heads were very light weight 'Wilkinson'
copies of pressed metal Grovers and a bit weedy. They held tune well, but I wanted the weight / more solid shaft / front headstock washers of real solid cast Grovers. The pickups where only just o.k. - but probably a bit bright/ stiff sounding for an archtop. The Volume and tone pots where minatures - but at least had the right value ( i.e. 500k ). Set up wise and generally, I could have gigged this straight out of the delivery box.
Aria : I tried one of these in a shop, and the neck action on it was awful. No amount of lowering the bridge and adjusting the trussrod could get the action anywhere near the neck. Yes, I probaly got a bad one - but it did seem to suggest that ( unlike Tanglewood / Vintage ) in the same price brackets -
where was the quality control between factory and distributor ?
Buy the Vintage if you probably want to upgrade bits / re-wire and change pickups but end up with a nice end result ( I.e. deliberate copy of an unaffordable brand ) - due to the neck / frets / body being very good from an assembly / luthier standpoint. I could get mine for £250 - with the intention of upgrading - and as I like the ES-175 look , did just that.
For 'ready to play off the shelf' - I was very tempted by
Peerless, but had something like the pickup(s) been not quite to my liking - there would be no upgrade budget left. They have had the sense to use proper Grovers, bone nuts, selected woods though.
2) Based on specifications / reputation but NOT direct experienceEastman : Seemed to be going for the best product quality - and the appearance of a guitar worth much more . I have not seen / handled one myself - but those helpfull chaps at Foulds of Derby seem to know their product, especially when it comes to Jazz orientated guitars and accessories. If I look at photos of their ( Eastman ) Archtops, they ( as has been mentioned by Gingataff ) look less glossy / plasticky than Vintage / Tanglewood / Aria / Hagstrom and even Peerless. I would go for Eastman if spending more serious ££££, but probably be torn between them and the Peerless in the realm of Archtops.
My
Vintage guitar turned out great, but I bought,
knowing that it was going to be an affordable base for deliberate modification. All it had to do ( for me ) was to play VERY slinky when fitted with 12s, or 13 top Flatwound strings ; be well assembled ( including neat binding e.t.c ) - and look the part of a Gibson Archtop. The idea being to knowingly spend £250 - then copy / better something that Gibson retail at about £2,500.
Yamaha : Had I had oodles more cash, the SA2200 is seemingly legendary. The problem for me ( during my 335 hunting days ) - being that the price ( if we are talking 335- a - likes ) puts it in the 'Why not get a good Gibson second hand and retain a higher re-sale value later' category.
So :
For 335 types , try the
Tanglewood first. After you set the nut / action up to your liking, It could be a complete solution without mods.
Vintage for naughty impersonations of Gibson, but potentially budget for pickups, pots and and tuners e.t.c.
The other ' higher ticket' versions ( i.e. Yamaha / Eastman / Peerless ) if you see one you like so much you feel easy about paying the extra ££ and not modifying it.
Happy hunting ! :)
