Gibson ES-339 Studio Electric Guitar (with Gig Bag)

No longer available at zZounds
Take away the f-holes, binding and neck pickup, add a smoking Dirty Fingers + humbucker -- and voila! You get a stripped-down ES-339 that is a tonal bad boy.

What's special about this item?

Feature: What it does:
Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup Great sustain, wailing lead tone, crunchiness
Tune-o-matic bridge Adjustable action and precise intonation
Grover Rotomatic tuners 14:1 gear ratio for exceptionally precise tuning
Semi-hollow body Enhances sustain, more open tone and feel

The Gibson ES-339 Studio electric guitar is a less familiar, but no less compelling solidbody design. It follows the overall contours of an ES-335, but has been rounded down to slightly smaller proportions for a more compact feel. The electronics have been pared down to a single super-hot Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup in the bridge position that delivers all the power you'll need -- seriously.

A Stripped-Down, Solid-Bodied Beast

The ES-339 Studio employs a more compact take on the semi-hollow body design of the ES-335, coming to you with the same laminated maple and a solid maple center block -- but without the f-holes. Overall, this gives you a guitar with more sustain and punch than the ES-335, and less prone to feedback. The neck is carved from a single piece of quarter-sawn maple and topped with a baked maple fretboard with elegant pearloid dot position markers on 9 of the 22 frets. A familiar Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge guarantees a great string lie, while the Grover Rotomatic tuners keep you squarely in tune.

Dirty Little Secret

The ES-339 Studio's single Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup is ready to open up new tonal realms in your hands. It replicates the original Dirty Fingers pickup from the 1970s, incorporating three powerful ceramic magnets to give you the hottest output you're likely to find on a an electric guitar. The tone, however, remains rich and filled with character at any volume level. The sound of Gibson's Dirty Fingers Plus lends read more itself equally well to a clean, chorused sound as it does to an in-your-face shred tone. The pickup's overwound coils also come to you with adjustable pole pieces, so that you can fine tune the output on each individual string. You'll find your Volume and Tone knobs just under the bridge.

Features:

- Laminated maple body with solid maple center block
- Maple Neck
- Baked Maple Fretboard
- Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup
- Pearloid dot position markers
- Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge
- Grover Rotomatic tuners
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- Body Type: Double Chamber, Semi-Hollow
- Top: 3ply - Maple/Basswood/Maple
- Back: 3ply
- Neck: Mahogany
- Fingerboard: Baked Maple
- Radius: 12"
- Nut/E.O.B: 1.693/2.040
- Inlays: Pearloid Dot
- Nut Material: Black Corian
- Width: 1.693
- Nut Slots: Gibson PLEK System
- Tuners: Grover Rotomatic
- Plating: Black Chrome
- Tuning Ratio: 14:01
- Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
- Pickups: Dirty Fingers Plus (Ceramic)

Includes Gibson Gig Bag

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-444-2766

Gibson ES-339 Studio Electric Guitar

The Gibson ES-339 Studio electric guitar offers a comfortable solidbody size with the warmth that a semi-hollow has to offer. Featuring a Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup, Tune-O-Matic bridge, Stud tailpiece and Grover Rotomatic tuners, the CTS pots on the Gibson ES-339 Studio ensure solid tone control at your fingertips. 100% American made, the Gibson ES-339 Studio offers a minimized feature set that delivers pure Gibson Tone with every strum.

Features:

- Dirty Fingers Plus humbucking pickup
- Soft edge body contour
- Black Chrome TOM bridge and Stud tailpiece
- Grover Rotomatic tuners
- 100% American made in Memphis, TN
- Includes Gibson Gig Bag

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. (2 ratings)
Submitted June 8, 2015 by Robert F in Pocatello, ID

"Very solid, but lacking setup."

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Finish on mine I received recently was very decent. No noticeable issues in the fit+finish, but the setup was dismal even for the approximately 2 years that'd passed between it leaving Gibson and getting to me. High E was unusable out of box. After about an hour of setup work on my bench, it now plays stupidly well, perhaps as well as *any* guitar I own. Sonic options are more varied than I expected - rolling the tone to about 50% nets fairly classic 335-type tones, and the pickup is incredibly high output as claimed. Can run it at 50% and it still sounds good, but full-open it has a throaty, discernable voice that works well providing you don't want to accompany a gospel band in a sensitive funeral service. I don't blame Zzounds at all - box was still sealed from Gibson, and I"m very happy with the instrument, just be aware that like many Gibsons, it's going to need more than just a quick tweak to get playing well (or at all, in this case).

Sound
Sounds like a 335 on steroids, which is what I expected. Much more full-range sound than I'm used to from a bridge bucker, which is not a bad thing.

Features
The non-standard color and the lack of F-holes were a huge reason for purchase in my case, even though I was considering another semi- or full-hollow instrument. You don't see those every day. Only thing that feels cheap on it are the tone/volume knobs, which is an easy fix. Wish they'd read more used speed knobs. The ones included reminded me of the cheap stuff that gets shipped on imports, not on MIA guitars.

Ease of Use
Once set up properly, very playable. If I couldn't have done my own setups, I would have shipped it back in a heartbeat. I'm used to minor tweaking ordering online - but some $300 Fender-style guitars have arrived with better setup even after surviving a container ship ride. Bucker is more versatile than I'd have thought, it does perfectly good clean but not surprisingly, shines with pedals and amps that like high output PUs.

Quality
Under the hood, everything looks good. Tuners are top-notch, the fretwork is much better than I'd expect on a Studio, and the finish is even and not sticky by nitro standards at all. It's the glorious love-child I wanted between a 335 and a LP DC (the two things I was considering before buying this!). Also, the included gig bag was actually decent - doesn't seem like an afterthought, and if I still gigged, I might use this providing I was the one handling the instrument.

Value
Compared to a current production Epiphone Casino I got last year from Zzounds, it's got a little better finish, the tuners especially are better, and it feels just a little more solid. You can tell where some of the money difference is. Is it worth twice the price of the Casino? Heck if I know, but I'm enjoying them both.

Manufacturer Support
Haven't dealt with Gibson on this one. However, let it be known that there's no product manual or anything other than a certificate of authenticity included in the package. If you need an owner's manual, etc...you're going to be visiting the Internet.

The Wow Factor
If you've ever wanted a blacked-out stealth 335 or 339, this is your guitar - no F holes, no chrome, . In a perfect world, it would have had speed knobs and a matching black chrome PU cover..but you can't have everything. It makes me happy every time I pick it up, and because of that I can't see myself being unhappy any time soon.

Musical Background:
Seriously retired home recording guy with lots of fun toys and live experience.

Musical Style:
Free jazz, noise, soundscapes, instrumental
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4 of 4 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
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No longer available at zZounds

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