Guitar Gear Forum

I'm currently looking for a 335 or similar guitar. Friend of mine has a 2018 Gibson 335 Dot w/ red with white binding.


I'm not too concerned with the value, but I'm seeing $1500-$2000.


My question is how consistent was Gibson at that time? Good feels? Problems? Etc?


I plan to play it before committing to a trade, but since I'm not up on Gibson and I've heard alot of criticism over the years... just wanted to get some thoughts on what to consider with a Gibby from this time period.

Thanks in advance!

My 2018 LP standard is one of the best guitars I’ve ever played

It's not an issue at all. Gibson has been really solid after the change of ownership.

It sure looks nice.

2018 should be solid. It looks great from the pic. Only concern to me would be the nut. Sometimes they’re cut well, sometimes they need replacing. My 2016 SG was stellar except for the nut. A week at my luthier’s and it was stellar all around. So I’d grab that without hesitation. Play it first if you can but it should be good.

I've owned Gibson from every decade from the 60's to now. They were all fine. The "Gibson QC" is a bit of an internet thing. The vast majority of their guitars are good to great. More music has been made with these guitars (and Fenders) than anything else in the market.


The thing about Gibson is their finish. They never really even aimed to have every guitar identical and perfectly finished. There is a little bit of tolerance in that department, in the sense that if the guitar plays well and sounds good they let it out the door, even if there are minor finish issues. When I was at Line 6 I had the chance to play a '59 Burst that was on loan to be a reference guitar for the Variax project. That guitar is worth more than most of our houses and there were finish issues, glue residual around the binding etc... it's never been a priority for Gibson.

If you need something that is 100% flawlessly finished (nothing wrong with that btw), I don't think Gibson is the brand for you. PRS does that to perfection where every guitar is flawless and sound/feel more or less the same . With Gibson there are a lot more tolerance and that's how you get some units that are really special. And they tend to sound better than most over set-neck dual HB guitars.

GuitarBilly wrote:I've owned Gibson from every decade from the 60's to now. They were all fine. The "Gibson QC" is a bit of an internet thing. The vast majority of their guitars are good to great. More music has been made with these guitars (and Fenders) than anything else in the market.


The thing about Gibson is their finish. They never really even aimed to have every guitar identical and perfectly finished. There is a little bit of tolerance in that department, in the sense that if the guitar plays well and sounds good they let it out the door, even if there are minor finish issues. When I was at Line 6 I had the chance to play a '59 Burst that was on loan to be a reference guitar for the Variax project. That guitar is worth more than most of our houses and there were finish issues, glue residual around the binding etc... it's never been a priority for Gibson.

If you need something that is 100% flawlessly finished (nothing wrong with that btw), I don't think Gibson is the brand for you. PRS does that to perfection where every guitar is flawless and sound/feel more or less the same . With Gibson there are a lot more tolerance and that's how you get some units that are really special. And they tend to sound better than most over set-neck dual HB guitars.

This is great info. I’ll add that my Gibsons have run the gamut through the years from 80s til now and I’ve never had any major issues. My 85 by internet lore should be a dog. 3 piece top to boot. It’s fucking amazing. It’s one of the best sounding guitars I own. It is due for a refret because it does have the original railroad tie frets it could use some good medium jumbos. The original Shaws are there and they sound amazing too. Those have been under hyped and over hyped on the net depending on who you talk to, but I love them.

My other Gibsons have been from the 90s onward. Nashville and one Custom/Historic shop guitar too. They’re all great. The R7 has a little something extra special going on for sure but they’re all great. I’m sure an ES would also be great. Gibsons have never been the most perfect guitar out there. They’re not doing what PRS does and that’s fine. There’s room for both.

I've had '09, '13, '18, and '20 all flawless

in the real world no one is talking about Gibson's alleged "terrible QC". Its mostly just a small group of dudes on TGP that just parrot it every time there's a chance


In the real world we just talk about how awesome our gibsons are and have a circle jerk then go play the rock show. with our awesome gibsons

Typically all of the standard level Gibsons (aka not studios/tributes/etc) will be of high quality. If it feels good then things like the nut are easy to have swapped out.

I've owned Gibsons from every decade starting in the 60s. The only one I didn't necessarily love was the 79 Silverburst LPC because it was heavy and I didn't like the lack of contour on the 70s Les Paul tops. It's more of a straight angle from the edge to the pickups. Still a very playable and good sounding guitar.

I’ve owned 3 Gibson’s and loved 1, liked 1, and hated the other lol. 2 were gothic Vs, one early…2001?, one later…2002?. The earlier one had a neck I couldn’t stand but I absolutely loved the later one. Then the 2013 Koa LP standard I had was awesome in some ways and not so great for me personally in others…just from being an LP. LPs are not for me lol.

NinjaRaf wrote:I’ve owned 3 Gibson’s and loved 1, liked 1, and hated the other lol. 2 were gothic Vs, one early…2001?, one later…2002?. The earlier one had a neck I couldn’t stand but I absolutely loved the later one. Then the 2013 Koa LP standard I had was awesome in some ways and not so great for me personally in others…just from being an LP. LPs are not for me lol.

Yep. That's normal with Gibson. I've had many that didn't do anything for me. Nothing wrong with the guitar, but I just couldn't get along with them. And I have a couple that are very special and probably hard to replace.

You see that with artist too, guys who endorse ESP, PRS, Suhr etc always have the newest model/color etc because they're basically made the same. With Gibson, players normally have a #1 and a couple of others that they never change or let go, because it's unique in one way or another.

i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that from my experience, the ES line never went through the quality concerns that the solid body line did through the early aughts. i tried a bunch out when i was hunting and didn't pick up a dud. i ended up with a red 2012 dot with a 60s neck and i love it.

Price is likely gonna be 2000-2800. i got mine for 2200 and am more than happy with what i got.

One thing to consider is pickups. the newer ones have T-type pickups which you'll find some wavering opinions on. Mine had 57 classics, which sounds great, but taught me how much i prefer a lower wind neck pickup. i swapped in some lollars and it's damn near perfect. you should also consider what an unholy pain in the dick it is to change pickups on a 335.

macgaj3 wrote:i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that from my experience, the ES line never went through the quality concerns that the solid body line did through the early aughts. i tried a bunch out when i was hunting and didn't pick up a dud. i ended up with a red 2012 dot with a 60s neck and i love it.

Price is likely gonna be 2000-2800. i got mine for 2200 and am more than happy with what i got.

One thing to consider is pickups. the newer ones have T-type pickups which you'll find some wavering opinions on. Mine had 57 classics, which sounds great, but taught me how much i prefer a lower wind neck pickup. i swapped in some lollars and it's damn near perfect. you should also consider what an unholy pain in the dick it is to change pickups on a 335.

Yeah it’s a pain in the ass. I just did a cut and splice job on my Sheraton because my 57s already had super short leads that had been spliced.

greatmutah wrote:
Yeah it’s a pain in the ass. I just did a cut and splice job on my Sheraton because my 57s already had super short leads that had been spliced.

Honestly that's the way to go IMHO. Makes it easier for future changes too. If you ever want to restore to stock to sell it then take it to a tech and have him do it once.

but from a player's perspective it's much easier to just cut and splice pickups on a semi-hollow.

GuitarBilly wrote:

greatmutah wrote:
Yeah it’s a pain in the ass. I just did a cut and splice job on my Sheraton because my 57s already had super short leads that had been spliced.

Honestly that's the way to go IMHO. Makes it easier for future changes too. If you ever want to restore to stock to sell it then take it to a tech and have him do it once.

but from a player's perspective it's much easier to just cut and splice pickups on a semi-hollow.

Super easy on the Epi Sheraton. Since they had the quick connect pickups I pulled the Epi pups, pulled the leads out, cut the quick connect off and separated the hot and grounds and spliced appropriately. Wire is wire. And Alpha pots are solid enough. I’ve had zero switch/pot/jack issues on that guitar so far. If one of those things starts to go, then I’ll take it to my luthier to have the whole harness redone by someone who has the patience for it.

Gibsun has trash QC, they're always broked.




In all seriousness, stay away from the painted / silkscreen logo versions (aka Gibson entry level) and you'll be gold, Ponyboy.

Some fine Gibbies right there!!!

mortatone wrote:

Looks like a satin finish versus gloss if that sort of thing bugs you. $1,500 is a steal for a 335 these days.

itchyfingers wrote:Gibsun has trash QC, they're always broked.




In all seriousness, stay away from the painted / silkscreen logo versions (aka Gibson entry level) and you'll be gold, Ponyboy.

Depends on the year and model of the silkscreen/painted logo guitar. I’ll fuck with a mid 90s Studio or SG Special all day long.

I like cheap Gibsons too

Yeah holy shit I'd jump on this for $1500

$1500-$2000 was a range I saw in completed listings on reverb, not a sell price for this guitar.


To get it I’d have to trade my favorite amp, a Swart AST MkII Master. It would be a good trade for either of us but not sure if I can let go of the Swart. I’m emotionally attached <3

Then don’t do it. If the Swart is that good, keep the Swart.

I’ve played some nice cheaper ones and some dog spendy ones. I think like Ric or F or pretty much any brand play it before buying if possible. Sometimes it just needs a fret dressing or pickup swap.
You know what are stupid cool is the old Studio Dark. Looks like this
https://reverb.com/ca/item/55856880-gib ... ony-studio