Gibson introduces the ES-339 Studio semi-hollow guitar, a stripped down and slimmer take on the popular ES-335.
This guitar is meant to rock with a hot-rodded humbucker, straightforward controls and more compact body proportions.
Following how the “Studio” label is used on Les Pauls, the ES-339 Studio has minimal embellishments but maintains quality tonewoods and electronics. It does not have bindings nor does it have a pickguard, but it has a distinctive tortoiseshell trussrod and neck joint cover that will make it easy to distinguish the guitar from other 335 shaped instruments.
The body of the guitar follows the familiar “Mickey Mouse” double cutaway shape, but in a smaller and more compact configuration. It has a semi-hollow body made from laminated maple and features a solid maple center block. It has a 3-ply maple/basswood/maple top, and features a double chamber design. To give it its edgy vibe, and improve its resistance to feedback, Gibson decided to not put f-holes. The neck is carved from solid maple, and features a baked maple fretboard, inlaid with simple pearloid dot position markers.
Since this semi-hollow guitar is designed for rock music, Gibson equipped it with one of their hottest pickups – the Dirty Fingers Plus humbucker. It is known for its sustain and high output, ideal for overdrive/distortion applications. This single pickup is placed on the bridge position with controls as straightforward as the guitar configuration – volume and tone knob that are positioned ergonomically for easy access when playing.
All the hardware installed on this guitar follow a black chrome theme, including the Tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and the Grover Rotomatic Tuners. Even the knobs are fitted with black top-hats to match the overall look of the instrument.
The ES-339 Studio is currently retailing online for $1,199, and is available in either Ebony or Midnight Blue . For the complete specifications, you can head over to Gibson.
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Very true, Bubba. They are just going to keep putting out low end stuff until they can’t make any money on it. It’s really a shame. It seems like the only thing worth buying from Gibson these days is over $3k.
What a piece of CRAP!!! How long will Gibson get away with peddling this garbage??? “Studio”, indeed! LOTS of studio players have been beating the bushes for decades to find a bridge pickup only guitar that excels at distorted tones…
They should have named it the “ES-Hollow Metal Moron Special”!!!!