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Official CS-356 and 336 Registry (post your pics here)

andreja marovic

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Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
2,688
My 2007 336 :applaude :

336_1.jpg

:headbange :applaude

Always loved the simplicity and beauty of the cherry red finish in 335 looks.
Beautiful guitar...not to fancy just what it needs to make the hair on the chest rise.....:salude
 

teddy boy

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Mar 11, 2006
Messages
280
Great thread!

I'll have to post my new purchase, an 04 Wildwood Honeyburst 356 a.s.a.p.!
 

LostDog

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Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
141
I have not had the time to make my own pictures but here are the ones that made me buy it:

06_cs346_.jpg

06_cs346_cu.jpg

06_cs346_bk.jpg

06_cs346_bkcu.jpg

I have changed the tailpiece to an Gibson aluminum one and added thumb slicers to the control knobs. I love to customize my guitars and my Les Paul gave me much room for upgrades :hmm but this CS-336 was almost perfect from the start. I will post detailed pics as soon as I find the time to make them but so far, playing this 336 keeps me busy :hank
 

generankin

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Joined
Mar 31, 2003
Messages
299
My daughter has just decided she wants to go to Miami University - which costs more than 2X as much as the University of Wisconsin. Some things have to be sold, and chief among them are an old masters painting and a gorgeous Italian motorcycle (a Bimota db-2). The CS 356 CA Stinger might also go on the block, but I have not a clue what I should ask for it, should I actually put it on the market. Any ideas?
 

clayville

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Feb 25, 2004
Messages
5,736
C'mon Gene... you can convince her she's a Badger at heart!

Tough call. Doesn't seem like a great market for getting full value (whatever that might be) out of anything a little non-standard and unfamiliar like these are. A lot of these seem to be going unsold at the buy-it-now or reserve price on the 'bay this year (336's too, for that matter) -- but I don't study it that closely. Personally, I think the new 339's have undermined the number of available buyers in a "I think I'll try this instead -- it seems like such a bargain" kind of way. I'm not so sure the market is capable of recognizing the premium paid new for a 356 over a 336, or for the fat neck (at the time), or for the CA treatment, or the Stinger designation. A lot of "inside baseball" upticks at once, if you see what I'm saying. I'd hate to see it go at Fire Sale rates...
 

mmcquain

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Sep 21, 2005
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2,646
Great thread! I'll have to post my new purchase, an 04 Wildwood Honeyburst 356 a.s.a.p.!

Please post those pics... I too have a 2004 Honeyburst Wildwood Edition 356 and I love it. They are fairly rare (only 40 made IIRC). Did you happen to get the one that was on eBay a while back?
 

teddy boy

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Mar 11, 2006
Messages
280
hey mmcquain,

Still haven't got around to taking pictures! Been too busy playing it. I've been really pleased with it. What a great guitar! I'll post the pics soon!

Nope,didn't get this off ebay...
 

generankin

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2003
Messages
299
Gene~ Hope you can keep your CS356. They are truly special guitars. I too believe that the introduction of the lower priced, and totally different 339 has diluted the market for reasons stated by Clayville.

If you are looking for possible pricing, these 'dealer' listings might help give a starting point...

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/Ge...1&F1=2&F2=2&F3=2&Keyword=gibson+cs356&Track=Y

Good luck!

Useful info ... and maybe I won't have to sell anything quite yet. We can maybe cover tuition etc. (and there's a lot of "etc.") for a couple of years. The picture is going to go, as Olde Stuff seems to do well in a falling stock market (and I am not in love with it), and the Bimota has so extreme a riding position that it hurts my aging neck & wrists that it oughta find a new home ... but it is a wierdo among bikes as my 356 is among guitars (as Clayville quite accurately pointed out), such that a buyer isn't hiding around every corner.

So I think the 356 just might stay in the house a bit longer.
 

SSSGGG

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Joined
Jun 12, 2002
Messages
41
Clarification please. On the Gibson website they list only two colors for the 356: faded cherry and sunburst. Yet I am seeing various other colors of 356 here. Are these special production runs, special orders, or what? And how did 356 owners know about these other colors?
 

mmcquain

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Sep 21, 2005
Messages
2,646
Clarification please. On the Gibson website they list only two colors for the 356: faded cherry and sunburst. Yet I am seeing various other colors of 356 here. Are these special production runs, special orders, or what? And how did 356 owners know about these other colors?

Yes, they are special runs. For example, my CS356 is a "Wildwood Edition", which is part of a limited run of 40 guitars in honeyburst that Wildwood Guitars in CO (FYI - they're a forum dealer and gret to deal with) special ordered back in 2004. I got it from another LPF member via eBay. I'm not sure if he was the original owner from Wildwood or what.

I know that Saul at Centre City Music (another great forum dealer) has done a couple of special orders of the CS336 in Koa and also a run of blue flametops. And on his web site there is a picture of Tommy Shaw (Styx) with a really sweet looking CS356 in blue flametop (also purchased from Saul IIRC).

The trick is to talk to some of the big Custom Shop dealers (Wildwood, Centre City, Matt's Music, etc.) and let them know what you are looking for. Also, ask them if they are doing (or have done) any special runs in different tops, etc. They may be able to get something done from the Gibson Custom Shop if they have enough interest in it. I think the current minimum with Gibson is an order of 25 or more for a special run.

Also keep watching eBay and talk to other forum members since we may run across things from time to time. I personally would be glad to let you know if I see something in particular that you may be looking for if you want to drop me a line with details and how to reach you. Good luck finding what you want...
 

clayville

Active member
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
5,736
Long story short, I bought mine new from a special run done for Music Machine (another forum dealer that was great to deal with) back in 2003 -- before Gibson forbid almost all dealers from showing individual guitars online. Back in the day (i.e. before about 2004-5) many dealers with technical savvy and marketing expertise would showcase guitars on their websites, ordering up large batches of special runs and custom colors to distinguish themselves in the online marketplace.

Selling online all over the world -- or even across town for that matter -- undermines the territorial exclusivity that Gibson grants to its dealers (in Gibson's mind and in the minds of the dealers losing business to online sales that parachute into "their" territory, or so the argument goes I believe). Wildwood's current website (Gibson approved) is what the sites of half a dozen or more dealers looked like five years ago. Some of those dealers stopped selling Gibsons entirely (or for a while) when the "no individual guitars" policy was instigated.

Many LPF members will tell you that they fell in love with the look of an individual guitar and bought while surfing online and as a consequence have bought more guitars than they otherwise might have.

In the case of my CS-356 (a fairly new guitar design at the time), after lots of real world legwork I could find only a single example (a 336) within 200 miles of my home in Boston. So I bought it online from Washington State. If I couldn't at least have seen it, I never would have done it... and couldn't be happier that I did.

A search on "policy" will probably turn up lots of rants on this online pictures topic...
 

LostDog

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Mar 16, 2005
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141
Selling online all over the world -- or even across town for that matter -- undermines the territorial exclusivity that Gibson grants to its dealers (in Gibson's mind and in the minds of the dealers losing business to online sales that parachute into "their" territory, or so the argument goes I believe).

That argument unfortunately is still in use - although you will find much more online dealers showing all their current Gibson inventory then some time ago - they are not allowed to ship outside the U.S. When I was looking for a new 336, there were only two available in my country, both priced double as much as the US street price. And of course, in the U.S. there were so many wonderful looking 336s available - but not for export.

Fortunately I found a used one in mint condition in the U.S. as at least for the time being the export of used Gibsons from the U.S. is unrestricted....:ganz
 

stevieboy

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Joined
Mar 18, 2002
Messages
243
Don't want to over "hype" my guitar, as I had a recent thread about it, but this is the Official Registry, after all, so I'll take this opportunity add my new ebony CS-336.

3364.jpg
336ears2.jpg
 
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