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1983 ES-335 Value?

Todd68

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Feb 13, 2004
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1,718
Hey gang,

I have an opportunity to get one of these in natural finish with Shaw's pickups. It's made in Nashville as far as I can tell by the serial number. $2800 - nice shape. I really know very little when I stray from the Les Paul camp. How do these compare to current production models (USA or CS Memphis/Nashville) Thanks for your help.

Todd
 

Joe Desperado

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Jun 8, 2004
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Rated very good. Even compared to the recent historics it's very good. 2800 would have been a smokin price last year. Right now 2400 seems more the norm. I paid 1800 for a black one last month. The ones with custom shop stickers seem to comand a tad bit more. I don't think there is any difference between the two. Just make sure it has a big neck. A few are skinny. Most are fat.
 

Joe Desperado

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The one for $1600 was way under priced even though it had a damaged finished area on the back of the neck. I original tried to buy that one...but it got sold out from under me.

EBAY has seen quite a few in the $2300 range in the last month or two. Color is a huge part of the price. I think the Naturals go for the most as they are most acurate to the 59 era. Sunburst and Reds next. The black one I got was a great buy and an awesome guitar. Not to many ES335's made in black so I am glad I found it.

JD
 

Koko Brown

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Jan 30, 2008
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The one for $1600 was way under priced even though it had a damaged finished area on the back of the neck. I original tried to buy that one...but it got sold out from under me.

EBAY has seen quite a few in the $2300 range in the last month or two. Color is a huge part of the price. I think the Naturals go for the most as they are most acurate to the 59 era. Sunburst and Reds next. The black one I got was a great buy and an awesome guitar. Not to many ES335's made in black so I am glad I found it.

JD
That $1600 335 was on their site for quite awhile. I thought about it because the SN was so close to mine, so I wrote to them asking if it still had the Shaw humbuckers and they replied "I have no idea what the pickups are." You'd think with what 'killer vintage' guitars sell for they'd have enough $$ to buy a Phillips screwdriver. Plus, that price did seem too good, even with that rash on the neck. I hope somebody somewhere is digging it, regardless.
 

Joe Desperado

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That $1600 335 was on their site for quite awhile. I thought about it because the SN was so close to mine, so I wrote to them asking if it still had the Shaw humbuckers and they replied "I have no idea what the pickups are." You'd think with what 'killer vintage' guitars sell for they'd have enough $$ to buy a Phillips screwdriver. Plus, that price did seem too good, even with that rash on the neck. I hope somebody somewhere is digging it, regardless.

Yep. I am not sure if your the one that told me about it or not...but someone here did. I contacted them right away. I offered to trade a JMP 50 watt 2x12 combo which is pretty rare. They said they would be interested in the trade. So I asked them to let me know what the final deal would look like and I would drive down on the weekend with the amp. I didn't hear from them for days, so I sent another message that stated I wanted the guitar and to let me know what the trade value of the amp was, so I could complete the deal. No reply for another week or so. I sent an email to them saying I wanted the guitar and to let me know what day i could drive down to get it. (400 miles). The finally wrote back and said it was sold.... too bad.

But in the end, for about 300 more (with shipping) I got a slightly later version in black that is pretty darn minty in condition. Its a killer guitar.

Good luck to the OP.
 
R

red59dot

Guest
If its a one piece neck, it's priced about as high as I've seen. If it's a 3 piece, its way high. I sold a one piece 83 last winter for $2800 and a spectacular 85 one pice for $3000 a few months ago. These are really excellent guitars especially if you like the rather dark Shaw PAF tone. I usually swap out the Nashville bridge directly with a Faber-fits without modification. A set of longer studs and a lightweight tailpiece is a nice upgrade as well. I dropped a pair of real PAFs into the 85 for awhile and it just killed but it didn't make sense to try to sell it that way. BTW, the body shape on the earlier ones is a little strange-the ears are kind of narrow and cartoony looking. The 85 was almost dead on as far as the ears went. Check out the photo-the 83 is on the left, the 85 on the right
83-85comp.jpg
 
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Troels

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The original 1958 to 1962 Mickey Mouse ears have a completely different curve ALL the way from the waist to the top of the horn. Modern reissues such as 1985 are not even close to the originals when it comes th body outline. The small differences like those you've pointed out on the picture is caused by the substitution of the old style wooden molds used by Gibson i Kalamazoo with the new type that only support the body sides on a few points - as used today - leaving much more tolerance for the sides to move before top and back are glued on.
 
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red59dot

Guest
The original 1958 to 1962 Mickey Mouse ears have a completely different curve ALL the way from the waist to the top of the horn. Modern reissues such as 1985 are not even close to the originals when it comes th body outline. The small differences like those you've pointed out on the picture is caused by the substitution of the old style wooden molds used by Gibson i Kalamazoo with the new type that only support the body sides on a few points - as used today - leaving much more tolerance for the sides to move before top and back are glued on.

True. But the 85 is very close to my 64. The 83 hardly even looks like a Gibson. None of them have accurate MM ears, in my opinion-not even the Historics. You can't convince me that the variation between the two guitars I pictured is a matter of tolerance. Those have to be 2 different forms-the length of the rims would be different and I can only assume they are sized before they are glued. If you measured the distance from the end pin to the neck on the 2 guitars (around the rim), there would be a significant difference. Unfortunately I can't do that because they are both long gone.
 

Joe Desperado

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es335.jpg


This is my 87. It appears to have fairly round ears. Not quite 59 I guess, but not bad either. This is a great guitar.

JD
 

skylabfilmpop

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Dec 12, 2006
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I have been collecting these for a long time. Natural early 80's still seem to be getting close to $2500, cherry gets much less, the reason being that both the cherry finish is a different finish thatn Gibson classically would have used (analine dye and clear lacquer vs a cherry tinted lacquer), and that a lot of the cherry , burst and ebony ones are natural finish which has been overshot with an opaque color for QA reasons (funky grain, etc). I have owned quite a few from the same period, within a week or so of each other and they are all very different from each other in terms of neck carve, body shape and dimensions (waist, bout etc may vary by 1/4" or so). A good one is a good one though and really worth the bread, even at a premium. If you think the pickups are dark, know that gibson was using 100k tone and 300k volume pots at this time, and probably 300k all around in the late 80's. swapping out the pots or wiring harness is usually a great first step on dialing these in.
 

roysessions

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Jun 23, 2016
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clearly the price has gone up in 8 years. I am surfing around and see that most of the custom shop natural ones are going for the mid to high 3's now. My question is do you think they are worth it compared to some of the newer/more accurate models that Gibson Memphis is producing the past few years? I hear the early 80's are pretty good with the shaw pickups, but I'm still curious what the owners think??
 

RnB

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I hear the early 80's are pretty good with the shaw pickups, but I'm still curious what the owners think??

I have an '85 SB dot neck. Kinda did a bit of a makeover w/ mine, but nothing that can't to be returned to it's orig state. The biggest changes for me were ridding Gibson's wide/low frets & the Grover kidney tuners. I refinned the hdstk & installed vintage style tuners. Had Shaw's in for a long time, but a few years ago, I rewired it w/ 500k CTS pots & switched the Shaws out for a set of Throbak SLE-101's. While the Shaws were OK, Throbaks were heads above Shaw's. I also replaced the Nashville bridge to a Faber ABR-1 w/ Ti saddles & added an Alum TP. I'm happy with it now...

I'll go along w/ what others have said. Blonds & Custom Shops command more $, while the 1st Dots of the 80's had 3-piece necks w/ a Volute. A quick search on eBay & Reverb should give you an idea of current values ?

just B4 restringing...
6VDIusL.jpg

dNLn4Zs.jpg
 
Last edited:

springhead

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Feb 12, 2016
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I have an '85 SB dot neck. Kinda did a bit of a makeover w/ mine, but nothing that can't to be returned to it's orig state. The biggest changes for me were ridding Gibson's wide/low frets & the Grover kidney tuners. I refinned the hdstk & installed vintage style tuners. Had Shaw's in for a long time, but a few years ago, I rewired it w/ 500k CTS pots & switched the Shaws out for a set of Throbak SLE-101's. While the Shaws were OK, Throbaks were heads above Shaw's. I also replaced the Nashville bridge to a Faber ABR-1 w/ Ti saddles & added an Alum TP.


I changed the stock 300K pots on my black '84 to 500K. Brighthened things up in a good way. Not sure I like the feel or taper of the pots (CTS) though so might swap again to others of same 500K value.

What difference did you notice from the bridge and tailpiece change? And was that a Faber that sits on the original studs or did you go the whole hog and change the studs?
 

RnB

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Nov 9, 2004
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What difference did you notice from the bridge and tailpiece change? And was that a Faber that sits on the original studs or did you go the whole hog and change the studs?

The bridge & tp change certainly gave the guitar a more open airy sound (almost acoustic sounding when unplugged). The pot changes were definitely the strongest point in opening the guitars potential. The Throbak pickups also played into the equation. With all the upgrades I made, it all added to a much improved sound.

IIRC, I believe I did the complete Faber bridge conversion. I was also looking to drop a little weight with the tuner & TP change. These changes were done some time ago as I’m in my 70’s & no long into playing out. The 335 sits in it’s case now, but still like playing my Strats. :jim
 

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
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I had an `81 Dot reissue in Cherry Red. I had bought it new in 1988. It was wonderful guitar. I wish I had kept!! It had a few wacky things like the bridge and shitty pickups, but I put a real, non-wire ABR-1 and a set of Seymour's Pearly Gates. I had a 4x10 1959 Bassman that I plugged into. Stupidly I got a PRS Custom (with a Tune-o-matic & Stoptail) and sold the 335 in 1991. serial # 80351018
If anyone knows where it is, please let me know.
Thanks!
 
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