Gibson's Guitar A Week Program

Yeah....that's hot. Would be even hotter on a ES-335.

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I know, man. I've always been a Silverburst fan, but when I found this guitar in the PM Blues ad in Vintage Guitar magazine, advertised as "the rare cousin of the Silverburst finish," I went straight to the web site to see it in color. I about fell out of my chair. It is just too damn hot. And since we all love it, you know it's gotta be good...

By the way, go here: http://pmblues.com/content/services_...asp?record=903 to see that guitar in all its glory. Tons of photos.

Not sure. It's a neat catalog. Of the ES-335 players I know, most of them are jazz guitar instructors or classic rock guys who have 60's and early 70's vintage instruments. I would not consider a new ES series for myself unless it felt vintage (ie. thin block neck not the Les Paul style neck)....if I wanted the guitar to feel like a Les Paul, I'd buy a Les Paul. I actually think Ibanez does a better job with their John Scofield Artist at feeling like a vintage ES-335 than Gibson does with any of their modern models (although I have yet to play the Larry Carlton Model).

There are some nice early 70's ES models in the vintage room at the Guitar Center in Hollywood.... but I just couldn't justify $5000 right now.

Interestingly enough, a semi-hallow (ES series or perhaps an Ibanez JS Model) is on my list as my next instrument. I have enough Strats and Teles. I may be swayed by a PRS Single cut or a vintage feeling Les Paul, but I think I'm more in need of a semi-hollow given the amount of jazz/blues I play.

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There's lots of competition out there in the solid body guitar market...literally dozens of companies. Although Fender and Gibson's product lines differ in many ways, they're still after the same end users. And there are many companies going right after the Les Paul and SG product lines. So, they release the guitar of the week program as a strategy to generate buzz and capture market share in solid body guitars.

However, it looks to me like Gibson still owns the hollowbody electric guitar market. So, they launch the ES microsite and keep those guitars totally out of the fight. The ES site plays on the quality, heritage and dominant market position of Gibson's hollowbody guitars. In reality they've taken "ES" and created a Gibson sub-brand with it.

That's my theory...

I think the semi-hallow and hallow body market is much smaller than the solid body market...probably in the single digit percentages in comparison. I think for mass produced hallow bodies, Gibson is really the only vendor of note. Sure you could get a much less expensive off shore brand like Ibanez or even Epiphone, but they certainly won't have the resale value that an American made Gibson would.

I played a PRS hallow body a few days ago, and I thought it was pretty awkward (playing and sounding).

Interestingly enough when I was at Berklee, all of the very best players (guys that could literally play anything....like Kurt Rosenwinkle or the senior faculty) all played Gibson hallow bodies (ES series from 1xx-3xx). I think there is something to that. A few had Ibanez Artists or even L-5s.... but for the most part it was ES-335s.

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That's a good call. When one company owns the market, and the market is small, you're even less likely to see new entrants. So, create your microsite and tell the world, "the only hollowbody worth buying is a Gibson."

I found a used Ibanez Artist AS-200 from the late 70's/early 80's (the one the JSM was modeled after) at Guitar Center today. Unfortunately too many of the parts were rusted (all of the hardware and some of the frets). The neck did have that vintage 60's ES-335 block feel. They wanted $800... but it probably needs about $800+ worth of work. The finish was also very worn....but that may be desirable....a new one goes for $2000 and is still a little hard to find....still made in Japan, though. I might have a closer look at the Artcore series next time I'm there when there isn't a metal fest going on in the main room. A bland looking ES-335 with the dot neck sells for ~$2000 as well.

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Actually, Jason Wade, the lead singer of Lifehouse, has recently purchased a 1966 sparkling burgundy, which turned to gold color due to sun exposure

I uploaded a little video for you guys, where he talks about this guitar. Enjoy!

YouTube - Lifehouse's Jason Wade talks about his new guitar

regards,

Daniel

That's a very cool guitar. I like the way the finish has faded to gold. I can see why he loves it so much.