Gibson 339 vs Gibson 336 - what's the difference?

[hunter]

They seem to have different woods - I think the 339 is built like the 335 with maple laminate, whereas the 336 has a solid hollow mahogany back.

What does it mean tone wise?

[PhilKing]

The 339 will sound more like a 335, where the 336 will sound like a chambered Les Paul.  There should be more hollowness to the 336. 

[hunter]

Thanks Phil, something like that I thought as well.

So I guess the 336 is overall more like a thinline Tele, a less resonant affair than the 339 and won't give you that feedback and big bottom end experience that a 339 should?

So after all the 339 is much more interesting, at a lower price tag, right?

No surprise you can't get them anywhere ...  :x

[PhilKing]

In the reviews everone has commented that the 339 sounds really like a 335 and you don't notice much affect on the sound from body size.  I played a Les Paul Florentine at NAMM in the 90's and didn't really think the hollow body and f-holes did much to change the sound from a Les Paul custom!  However NAMM is not a good place to try things because of the noise level and setups that you can play through.

[Philly Q]

Another difference - the CS-336 only comes with the '60s slim-taper neck, but the ES-339 has a choice of the slightly bigger 30/60 neck or the big '59 neck.   Always nice to have a choice!  :)

[viking]

They seem to have different woods - I think the 339 is built like the 335 with maple laminate, whereas the 336 has a solid hollow mahogany back.

    There is a big difference.The 336 is builded like the PRS hollowbody:the body is made with a single solid piece of wood "carved"(not sure about the english word..)inside.The 339 is like a 335 but smaller.