PAF or???

[David Schwab]

You know in the mid to late 70s it was common to replace the stock pickups on Gibsons. For years I had two early patent label pickups in my parts box. No one thought much about them. They were just old pickups, and in this particular case the Les Paul they came out of (very early gold top with trapese converted to humbuckers) was fitting with brand new Dimarzio PAFs! I hate to say it, but they sounded better.

So probably any changes made to that guitar was just what a player would do to get the guitar to their liking. The pickguard was probably changed to make it look like a 335, etc.

I used to own an old ES-330TD with chrome covered P-90s. I generally don't care for those semi hollow bodies, but that was a nice guitar. Played like butter.

[JGundry]

I bought my first player grade ES-335 a year ago. It was another 67' that was totally stripped of parts except for the pickguard. After I got it all fixed up and gigged with it I realized that for blues it is really hard to beat. I usually play a Les Paul but since I got an ES-335 is has been all I gig with. I'm sure I will mix it up but ES-335's and 345's have a tone a playability combination that is pretty unique.

[JoeM]

And you have a guitar you're not afraid to actually play, not just admire all it's 'vintageness'.

I forgot to mention, but the varitone's inductor was removed too, and the guitar is wired like a 335, (no more 'stereo'!) the selector switch is now just a dummy pot. I was told by the tech that refretted it, that thats probably an improvement, guess he didnt like the the way 345s were wired.

I like semi-hollow bodies. I'm a fairly tall guy (about 6'4") and they feel more comfortable to me than Les Pauls.

[soundmasterg]

And you have a guitar you're not afraid to actually play, not just admire all it's 'vintageness'.

I forgot to mention, but the varitone's inductor was removed too, and the guitar is wired like a 335, (no more 'stereo'!) the selector switch is now just a dummy pot. I was told by the tech that refretted it, that thats probably an improvement, guess he didnt like the the way 345s were wired.

I like semi-hollow bodies. I'm a fairly tall guy (about 6'4") and they feel more comfortable to me than Les Pauls.

I like both.....Les Pauls to me seem to have more bass than the 335's and I like that sometimes.

Greg

[David Schwab]

I forgot to mention, but the varitone's inductor was removed too, and the guitar is wired like a 335, (no more 'stereo'!) the selector switch is now just a dummy pot. I was told by the tech that refretted it, that thats probably an improvement, guess he didnt like the the way 345s were wired.

See, that's why the pickguard and all was changed. Someone wanted to make it into a 335 instead of enjoying it for what it was.

[JoeM]

Well, I'm glad they did, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to afford it! It's an absolutely incredible playing guitar in any event.