The allure of a semi-hollow guitar is undeniable. They offer a blend of warmth, resonance, and feedback resistance that solid-body guitars sometimes lack, making them incredibly versatile for genres from blues and jazz to rock and even pop. For years, the Gibson ES-335 has been the gold standard, but its larger body size can be cumbersome for some players. Enter the Gibson ES-339, a scaled-down version offering similar tones in a more comfortable package. But with a Gibson price tag, is it the only option? Recently, I had the chance to try out both a Gibson ES-339 and its more affordable sibling, the Epiphone ES-339 guitar, and the experience was quite revealing.
My local guitar store had just received a Gibson ES-339 in a striking Blueberry Burst finish. The price was eye-watering, but my curiosity was piqued. I’d heard whispers about the ES-339’s enhanced comfort due to its smaller body and a perceived “snappier” tone compared to its larger 335 brother. As someone with a collection of semi-hollows, including a Gibson ES-335, several Gibson ES-355s, PRS Thin Hollowbodies, a Gretsch, and my trusty Epiphone Sheraton Pro, I was eager to see how the 339 stacked up.
The store staff were kind enough to let me plug the Gibson ES-339 directly into a Fender Blues Junior. The sound was undeniably pleasing, rich with that semi-hollow character enhanced by the Blues Junior’s reverb. While they offered a studio test, the Gibson’s hefty price tag of $4700 CAD (approximately $3400 USD) made it a non-starter for me. As an alternative, they suggested trying a cherry red ES-339 that had been in stock for a while.
Now, experienced players know that color and inlays are purely aesthetic. The cherry Gibson ES-339 felt a touch lighter than the blueberry one, but the difference was negligible. These are fundamentally straightforward guitars: two pickups, no coil splits or taps, just pure, classic semi-hollow tone. The cherry version was priced at $4000 CAD, the standard MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) across Canada at the time.
I put the cherry Gibson ES-339 through its paces with various amps. It sounded fantastic through a blackface Fender Twin Reverb, but less so with a Tone King Gremlin, which, while a great amp, can be finicky with certain guitars. Ultimately, I settled on my Fender Tone Master Blonde Deluxe Reverb for recording tests. I even ran it through most of the amps I have on hand to get a comprehensive impression.
The Gibson ES-339 is undoubtedly a very nice guitar, but the $4000 price point remained a significant hurdle. Further inspection revealed some minor issues. The control knobs and fret markers weren’t perfectly aligned. Attempting to adjust the neck volume knob resulted in the knob’s rim snapping off in my fingers. While I take responsibility for the breakage and planned to replace it, it was an unusual occurrence. My guitar tech, Kevin, reassured me that I was actually fortunate, as he’d seen instances where overly tight knobs on new Gibsons had pulled the potentiometer right through the guitar’s thin top!
To Gibson’s credit, the rest of the guitar was well-executed. The maple laminate top, while flawlessly finished, wasn’t particularly visually striking. The paint job was excellent, free of blemishes. The binding was clean, without the dye bleed often seen on Gibson instruments. Impressively, the typically sharp binding edges were rounded over, a welcome detail rarely seen on new Gibsons recently. The frets were smooth, with no sprout or binding issues. The Grover Rotomatic tuners operated smoothly, and the tone control remained usable across its entire range. While Gibson doesn’t specify the potentiometer brand, an endoscope inspection suggested they were likely smaller Alpha pots. Gibson proudly advertises the use of Orange Drop capacitors and hand-wired electronics, which likely translates to a non-circuit board construction. In my experience, a quality capacitor, regardless of type, should perform similarly as long as it meets specifications. There were no unwanted noises from the pots or switch. The neck profile was comfortable, and the factory setup was quite playable, although, as with any new guitar, I always recommend replacing the factory strings, especially on Gibsons and Fenders.
I particularly appreciated the ES-339’s body size. The pickups, a 57 Classic in the neck and a slightly hotter 57 Classic+ in the bridge (rated at 8k and 9k respectively, with Alnico II magnets), were not overly aggressive, which suits my preferences. Overall, the Gibson ES-339 is a refined instrument, presented in a high-quality hardshell case with case candy.
However, the price remained a sticking point. Considering that the US MAP for the ES-339 in both cherry and blueberry burst is $3499 USD, the Canadian price felt inflated. Lower prices I’d seen on cherry and black versions in other shops likely indicated older stock being cleared out.
This experience led me to explore a familiar path, especially given occasional quality control inconsistencies I’ve encountered with new Gibsons lately: checking if Epiphone offered an ES-339 equivalent. And indeed, they do, as part of their “Inspired by Gibson” lineup. The Epiphone ES-339 guitar is available in sunburst, natural, cherry, and Pelham blue metallic finishes. Epiphones utilize a gloss poly finish compared to Gibson’s gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. While I personally prefer lacquer, the real revelation was the price: the Epiphone ES-339, manufactured in Epiphone’s Chinese factory, has a Canadian MAP of just $799 CAD (around $600 USD)! Naturally, I had to try one.
The Epiphone ES-339 guitar boasts 500K CTS potentiometers, confirmed via endoscope. The jack also felt superior, providing a more secure cable connection than the Gibson. Like the Gibson, the Epiphone comes equipped with Grover Rotomatic tuners. Based on my observation of the Gibson’s wiring, I’d confidently describe the Epiphone’s wiring as “hand-wired” as well, given the similar appearance.
Both guitars feature a comfortable C-shaped neck profile with a 12” radius. Current Epiphone models sport laurel fretboards, while Gibsons specify rosewood. Close inspection suggests both fretboards are dyed. However, the Epiphone I tested, which had been on display for some time, had a rosewood fingerboard that was actually darker than the rosewood on the Gibson. Both guitars use GraphTech nuts. The Gibson uses an aluminum stop tailpiece and ABR-1 bridge, while the Epiphone employs their LockTone versions of the same components. Saddle notches were clean on both, though both benefited from lubrication. Nut slots were expertly cut on both instruments. In terms of feel and playability, I honestly couldn’t discern any significant difference between the Gibson and the Epiphone ES-339 guitar.
The Epiphone pickups are their own Alnico Classic Pro humbuckers, utilizing Alnico V magnets, making them slightly hotter than the Gibson’s. However, through the Twin Reverb, I struggled to hear a substantial tonal difference. Both guitars’ selector switches appeared identical internally. One minor anomaly I noted on the blueberry Gibson ES-339 was that the maple center block didn’t fully contact the back of the guitar body. This wasn’t present on the Epiphone or the cherry Gibson, so I’d consider it an isolated issue.
The Gibson was strung with factory strings, which I left unchanged as it wasn’t mine and played adequately. The Epiphone also played well, but the strings felt a bit rough, and the frets had minor roughness. Given its time on display, I removed the factory strings, polished the frets, and treated the fretboard with Music Nomad F-ONE Fretboard Oil and Monty’s Guitars Montepresso wax. I would perform the same maintenance on the Gibson if I were purchasing it. It’s worth noting that in 2023, the continued use of nickel-silver fretwire by both Gibson and Epiphone is puzzling, given that stainless steel fretwire is now comparably priced and offers vastly superior durability. Many high-end shops have transitioned to stainless steel years ago, appreciating its smoother feel for bending and resistance to corrosion.
After restringing and stretching the Epiphone ES-339 guitar with a set of Curt Mangan 9.5-44 coated strings, I plugged it into the same Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb used for the initial Gibson recording test. Despite the significant price difference, and considering the virtually indistinguishable playability and build quality, I anticipated hearing a more pronounced difference from the Gibson. However, the only tangible difference in hand was the fresh set of strings on the Epiphone compared to the factory strings on the Gibson, which, as regular readers know, I’m not particularly fond of. From a recorded perspective, any tonal difference was negligible.
Audio Samples
For the audio samples, both guitars were recorded directly into the Deluxe Reverb (DI out via XLR to a Clarett+ 8 Pre interface and into Logic Pro). Judge for yourself if you can discern a difference and which guitar you prefer. In a month, I’ll update this article revealing which recording is which. The same cable was used into Input 1 of the “vibrato” channel (tremolo off, reverb on). Volume, treble (6 ½), bass and middle (5) settings were identical. The Tone Master’s SM57-mic’d Celestion Neo Creamback IR was used for both recordings. No post-processing or plugins were applied.
