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Gibson Memphis 1963 Reissue ES-335 VOS

akstrat61

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Feb 16, 2004
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Can a few of you shed some light on these guitars? There one for sale locally and I'm thinking of pulling the plug. Tone, playability, neck shape and cost comments would be appreciated. The one for sale is a Block Neck.:jim
 

AA00475Bassman

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I had a 2014 335 Rich Robinson VOS very nice guitar these guitars have a small neck profile .
 

akstrat61

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I wish they had a profile shot of all the neck shapes they use and how they compare to others? I do not care for small necks, that would be a deal breaker for me.:hank
 

AA00475Bassman

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If you do not like small necks you will not like any 60's RI , my 2015 ES 345 has a small neck every one I've played in the 60's RI . You need a 59 RI .
 

Uncle Gary

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Oct 15, 2006
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I have a '16 "63" ES-335 reissue. The neck has a very distinctive taper to it, unlike most Gibson electrics I've played. The neck is quite shallow at the first fret but by the 12th it's a handful, similar to my '59 ES-335 reissue. It's actually one of my favorite Gibson neck shapes, although, to be sure, I'm not nearly as fussy about neck shape/size as a lot of you people here seem to be.

Check the setup closely. I've seen a number of these that have the strings poorly centered over the fret board, with the high E much closer to the edge of the board than the low E. Mine tends to be that way, and someday I will probably replace the nut to correct it.

I love the MHS humbuckers in my guitar. It's one of the rare Gibson guitars I haven't been temped to change anything, not pickups, pots, caps or anything. Okay, I'll confess, I changed the knobs for some more "vintage accurate" reflector cap knobs, and put on a shorter pickguard bracket, which fit the guitar better, but that's just me.
 

Progrocker111

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Dec 10, 2003
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Check the setup closely. I've seen a number of these that have the strings poorly centered over the fret board, with the high E much closer to the edge of the board than the low E. Mine tends to be that way, and someday I will probably replace the nut to correct it.

This, i have had a terrible experience with Wildwood specs one (yes, i was shocked).

Poor craftmanship (glue leaks in f - holes), poor and sloppy binding work, too high neck angle (how is yours?) and poorly centered strings with wrongly cut nut. The guitar was hardly playable and this was my last Memphis one forever, i was really extremely dissapointed. Otherwise the tone was nice... :)
 

deytookerjaabs

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Nov 6, 2016
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This, i have had a terrible experience with Wildwood specs one (yes, i was shocked).

Poor craftmanship (glue leaks in f - holes), poor and sloppy binding work, too high neck angle (how is yours?) and poorly centered strings with wrongly cut nut. The guitar was hardly playable and this was my last Memphis one forever, i was really extremely dissapointed. Otherwise the tone was nice... :)


The other stuff ain't cool but glue in the cavity is as Gibson as the name on the headstock. :hee
 

The Shifter

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Aug 31, 2004
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I own 3 of the Memphis '63 335s. I love the necks on all of them, and I do not like small necks.

Never seen the excess glue either.

These are two of the best sounding/playing guitars that I own.
63_335x2.jpg
 

AA00475Bassman

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^ Ditto ! Im not a slim neck guy but my 64 ES is a joy to play and the sound is killer !
 

zoommutt

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That's a lot of glue! My '16 58 or Freddie King have no glue in that area. That's a lot of glue!
 

wmachine

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Mar 17, 2016
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The sloppy glue does not surprise me , why would someone buy a guitar with these issues this is what I find puzzling ?
Glue visible though a F hole an issue? Seriously? Makes it sound terrible? Falls apart? Fine if there is too little and you don't see it?
Sorry, I can't go along with that.
 

Progrocker111

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Dec 10, 2003
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Glue visible though a F hole an issue? Seriously? Makes it sound terrible? Falls apart? Fine if there is too little and you don't see it?
Sorry, I can't go along with that.

In fact, the glue was the smallest problem on this guitar. The guitar had many serious construction flaws, for example check the botched string spacing. The guitar was very hard to play and the sloppy construction was worse than on cheap Asian fakes in fact... :hmm

mO3YH6Y.jpg
 

1jamman

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Feb 28, 2013
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610
I bought 3 Memphis 3X5's and all are very nice guitars . 1 (the '59 RI)has ~ glue showing ,plus take into account how "zoomed in" that picture is . But ,I always thought to myself...at least You could see they did use Hide Glue . LOL!!!! Just joking ,each of us has our own prospective on such things . The Nut and saddles are a complete other story .Those should be have been replaced by Gibson with properly cut 1's .

OP, Like any Gibson (or any guitar ,imo) , inspecting it and trying it out is the only way to know .
ask the seller for measurements of the neck . Some can do this for you ,some can't . Asking costs $0.00

Different 60's RI models have somewhat different neck shapes . A '64 RI Model should have a fatter neck then a '61 RI in general . closer to a '59 ,which is why many like those over the early 60's guitars.

IIRC correctly the '61-'62 originals had the thinnest necks. Which got pencil thin and flat during the course of the year . So it can differ widely .. IIRC '63;s started getting fatter because of demands from customers? . And shapes can differ also .

Looking for a Fat neck " The '58's and '59's are where I be looking . Also some runs of Block necks ,60's ("Ri type") have fatter necks . I have seen them at WW , but they are not listed as RI's .So some specs are a bit different .
 

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
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I do remember this guitar it was a Memphis mess , this guitar should have never been shipped .
 
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