ASSEMBLE A CLARINET

'nay bad' is one way to describe this beauty, my pal's brand new custom shop semi-solid latest offering from gibson. the finish is vintage sunburst (we used to call this tobaccoburst), the neck is slim with medium jumbo frets, the fit and finish are brilliant, one of those sweet but increasingly rare cases of the qc people at gibson getting it just right. sporting '57 classic pickups this little tone machine produces every tonal nuance you'd expect from an axe that you just dropped a fortnight's pay on ... warm fat jazz tones, brown bite on top, that lovely bell-like chime with both p'ups on, and loads of woody honk and slurp in the midrange. in these cleaner realms this axe slays the les paul. and the 339 is right at home in the dirt, aurally speaking, yep - surfing distorto waves is pure bliss; spongy warmth in the neck and all the bite you'd ever need at the bridge, and all of it super responsive to touch. the only difference tonally between this and a les paul is the warmer/softer/woodier tone when playing clean.
despite it's smaller body size compared to the 335 - roughly similar to a les paul with double cutaways - the 339 has balls of solid rock. while i prefer the wider girth of my beloved 335, i have a very strong feeling in my gut that there is a 339 is in my future ... or maybe that's just g.a.s.

The Hollow Trees at McCabe's Guitar Shop - April 11, 2010 - our 120th show!