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What 335 is the 535 based on?


rwinking

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Posted

I recently watched a YouTube deal by 5watt which was a history of the 335. He spoke of all the different ones from 1958 on, mostly until th early 60s.What is the H-535 based on?

Posted

I'm not sure the 535 is based on any particular 335, apart from the general principles involved in a semi-hollow guitar. The main difference I noticed is that the neck of the 535 is set back a little further into the body. The depth of the cutaway reached the 21st fret on the 535 and the 22nd fret on the 335. The controls are also positioned slightly differently - the pickup selector switch is a bit further forward, below the bridge, as opposed to below the tailpiece on the 335. The body is also a little bit thinner. Here's a photo to illustrate the subtle differences, my 2007 H535 and 1989 ES335 Dot ...

 

SAM_1290 (882x1024).jpg

Posted

Is that a 1989 Dot neck reissue?

Posted

Also, the 535 has 'solid' rims.  No 335 has ever had that feature.

And one of my favorite differences between the two is that the 535 has the input jack mounted on the rim.  I'm not aware of any 335 with a rim mounted jack.

My take on it is that the Heritage founders were making subtle changes (improvements?) to what they'd been building for Gibson.

Posted
1 hour ago, rwinking said:

Is that a 1989 Dot neck reissue?

Yes indeed. A few years ago I swapped out the Bill Lawrence "Originals" for a pair of Seth Lovers. A distinct improvement, but it's not something I would do again in a hurry - one of the most frustrating jobs I've ever attempted!

Posted

I bought one of those in Austin when they came out. I stupidly sold it during a divorce when I needed money. Needless to say I was much more upset about losing the guitar than the wife.

Mine was red like yours and just a great guitar. Not sure what it had for stock pickups. Was it supposed to be a 1958 dot reissue?

Posted

Yeah, the input jakc on the rim is a great improvement!

Posted

The 535 has less real estate from the tailpiece to the rim.

 

Heritage F holes are wider.

 Due to the neck having more purchase into the body, the bridge is centered to the middle of the F-holes like on most archtops thus the delusion of the control nobs being positioned a little different.

Posted
7 hours ago, Spectrum13 said:

The 535 has less real estate from the tailpiece to the rim.

 

Heritage F holes are wider.

 Due to the neck having more purchase into the body, the bridge is centered to the middle of the F-holes like on most archtops thus the delusion of the control nobs being positioned a little different.

that is interesting, never noticed that!!

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 11/11/2019 at 8:08 AM, bobmeyrick said:

I'm not sure the 535 is based on any particular 335, apart from the general principles involved in a semi-hollow guitar.

I have an old Epi Dot 335, a newer Gibson ES-335 Studio and a H-535.  They are all slightly different, but the same.  The biggest difference to me is how the guitars vibrate and breath when jamming with the guys. My two cents

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