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Heritage Owners Club

What is the Heritage version of a Gib ES 339


koula901

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Posted

Saw a guy playing one last weekend and it was really sweet. It has a center block, so it seems like a small H 535 to me.

Posted

Probably Ed Roman's blues deluxe. Still, I have a prospect that is very close. I used to want a 339, but I don't anymore!

Posted

There isn't a direct match to the 339.

 

The Mille DC should be similar in size but its a solid maple top and back.

 

The Prospect would the the next closest, and is a laminate body but with a floating center block.

Posted

I think the 339 is actually Gibson's version of the Heritage Prospect

 

:D

 

seriously...I'm pretty sure the Prospect existed for a few years before Gibson came up with the idea of a smaller 335

 

I would go with the Prospect as well

Posted

A small-bodied semi is an attractive proposition - a 335/535 in a Les Paul/150 sized package. I was fortunate to find one on eBay in the shape of a 1983 Ibanez AM50, and win it for a very reasonable £485 (around $700). It's in very good condition for a 30-year old guitar, plays beautifully and has the semi-legendary Super 58 pickups. Worth investigating.

Posted

Man, THAT'S gorgeous, Paul!

Posted

I played Kenny's Prospect at a PSP a few years ago - very cool guitar. I like this guy's playing - Scott Sharrard - and like the volume control he's added in the lower f-hole on his 339 (see ~1:50 mark). Thinking I'll do this at some point to a semi.

 

 

 

Posted

yeah - that's a nice idea, putting the volume in the f hole.

 

didn't know that Greg Allman played guitar.

Posted

 

That one isn't mine.

 

It might be koulas' shortly though ...... :icon_pirat:

Same pic,someone stole the pic it seems?

Posted

Same pic,someone stole the pic it seems?

 

Nope. Confusion abounds.

 

The natural finish lefty Prospect is for sale on Ebay at the moment, there is a thread in the Bay watch area which I linked to above.

 

This is my own 2001 Prospect.

 

gallery_328_8_92888.jpg

 

 

 

It isn't going anywhere :icon_sunny:

Posted

 

 

I think the 339 is actually Gibson's version of the Heritage Prospect

 

:D

 

seriously...I'm pretty sure the Prospect existed for a few years before Gibson came up with the idea of a smaller 335

 

I would go with the Prospect as well

 

One of the guys at the Music Gallery in Highland Park, IL basically told me the same thing.

Guest HRB853370
Posted

Why are the knobs so close to the rim? Is that a misalignment?

Posted

Why are the knobs so close to the rim? Is that a misalignment?

 

Nope. The smaller body means the knobs are closer to the rim. That's all.

 

gallery_328_8_66869.jpg

 

 

Side by side with a 535, the knobs are in the same alignment on both

Posted

Did you say that if a prospect had a non-floating centerblock it would sound less airy?

Posted

The Prospect wouldn't seem to be an exact equivalent of the 339 - looking at SouthpawGuy's photo, the Prospect's body appears to be only very slightly shorter than the 535's, while being significantly narrower. The 339 looks like a 335 which has been reduced all round. I reckon the true precursor to the 339 is the Ibanez AM50, a 30-year old example of which I recently snagged off eBay... :D

 

417796_482374405169687_1277588990_n.jpg

 

431849_482374381836356_1668961839_n.jpg

Posted

The Prospect wouldn't seem to be an exact equivalent of the 339 - looking at SouthpawGuy's photo, the Prospect's body appears to be only very slightly shorter than the 535's, while being significantly narrower. The 339 looks like a 335 which has been reduced all round. I reckon the true precursor to the 339 is the Ibanez AM50, a 30-year old example of which I recently snagged off eBay... :D

 

417796_482374405169687_1277588990_n.jpg

 

431849_482374381836356_1668961839_n.jpg

 

 

That proves that the AM50 (And the entire 'AM series) pre-dated the Gibby ES339 by over 30 years!!!!

 

http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/as.html

Posted

Did you say that if a prospect had a non-floating centerblock it would sound less airy?

 

Well the Millie is semi solid and mine sounds more like the150 or 157 than the 535 or Prospect.

 

A Prospect with a solid centre block wouldn't have as much air moving, to my mind it would probably start to sound more like the Millie. A solid centre block joins the back of the guitar to the block, making the guitar more rigid and less prone to feedback, but also reducing the amount of vibration in the body of the guitar.

 

The body sizes of the Millie and Prospect are not too different

 

DSCF0591.jpg

 

The 535 will blow air out of the f holes producing a controlled feedback, the Millie with floating block will feedback sooner but doesn't do the same thing. I haven't managed to get the Millie to blow air out of the f holes, it's a totally different animal the body is much more rigid and feels more like a solid body guitar.

.

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