Gibson ES-339

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Gibson ES-339
Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	2007 — present
Construction
Body type	Semi-hollow
Neck joint	Set
Woods
Body	Maple (laminated); Maple center block; Spruce contour braces
Neck	Mahogany
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	ABR-1
Pickup(s)	2 '57 Classic Humbuckers
Colors available
Burst, Antique Vintage Sunburst, Antique Red

The Gibson ES-339 is a semi-hollow body guitar which is manufactured in Gibson's Custom Shop. The guitar is the size of a regular solid body guitar, but has the sound of a semi-hollow body guitar.

[edit] Options

The standard 339 is available with what is refered to as the "30 over 60" or 30/60 neck and the beefier '59 neck profile. The 30/60 neck is based on the vintage slim neck design seen on most 335 models, with an additional .030 of an inch depth from front to back.

The ES-339 Figured features all the same design specs with exception to the wood construction, which is curly maple (also known as flamed maple). This model is more expensive than the standard ES-339.

[edit] History

The Gibson ES-339 is the descendant of a custom shop model CS 336, which boasted single carved block construction for the back and sides. This was changed to laminate construction for the 339 model, making this guitar more affordable.

Electronically the ES 339 differs from the CS 336 with the use of what Gibson calls the Memphis Tone Curcuit. The result of this change is a logarithmic based system of volume control which creates 2 advantages: clarity and sweet high-end sounds do NOT roll off when volume is decreased (maintaining sharpness in tone at any volume) and the rate of volume increases/decreases are more natural, as the human ear would expect for each particular level (1 - 10) to sound.