First of all, the ES-335 is the king of electric guitars. Its sound is full and sparkling, the body and neck are extremely resonant, even the acoustic sound of the instrument is beautiful. The new improved pickups are wonderful with my Fender '65 DRRI. However, the attention to detail and the quality control on this product is as poor as the in case of the lower end models of Gibson before 2019, so I ended up returning my ES-335.
We all have heard the news that the quality of Gibson guitars increased significantly in 2019. Well, my guitar arrived with many flaws which I cannot even accept on a 500 EUR Epiphone, not to mention a 3000 EUR Gibson. Inside the case I found many small wooden flakes and a washer besides the guitar. I could not find the original place of the washer, but it could easily scratch the guitar. The instrument had one ding at the headstock, and it had lacquer chipping at various places along the neck binding and residue of polish material here and there. I found tooling marks on the fretboard but what frightened me the most was the unsanded/unchiseled maple centerblock inside the body. If I was a luthier, I surely have sanded down the centerblock before using it (it takes at most 10 minutes).
For 3000 EUR I expect much more attention to detail. One can buy an immaculate Martin D28 (flagship model) for that price or a nice PRS (Silver Sky) or almost 2 flawless guitars from Fender's American Original line. It seems that "only a Gibson is not good enough..."
