New Guitar Day! Gibson ES-355

I've been eyeing semi-hollow or hollow electric guitars for years now. I initially had my heart set on a Gretsch Electromatic in that awesome Fairlane Blue... 

... but my brother has great taste, and beat me to it.

I tried other Gretschs, Epiphone, Godin, and Gibson hollow and semi hollow guitars, but none felt right.

Specifically, I've tested a bunch of ES-335s over the last 10 years, both Epiphone and Gibson, and each time, I  was left unimpressed. The quality control seemed was never where I thought it needed to be, and I began questioning if this kind of thing was my jam. Something was missing, you know?

Didn't feel right.

But then, a glimmer of hope at Long and McQuade in Guelph. I stumbled upon a Satin-finished ES-335, gave it a whirl, and surprise, surprise— it didn't feel wrong. The two volume and tone controls were doing something cool, and while it didn't quite feel right, it was much better than others I had tried..

Eager to explore more, I went back to the store to try a gloss-finished 335 in cherry. Plugged into a Fender ToneMaster Princeton, the guitar got me a bunch of compliments. The amp was okay, but the guitar? That was a winner. I wasn't ready to pull the trigger just yet, and when I spotted tooling marks on the fretboard,  I felt super comfortable with walking away. 

Classic Gibson quality control strikes again.

I decided to needed find the right ES-335. Cambridge Long and McQuade had one listed as "exceptional", but when I stopped in on Christmas Eve, I found out it was already sold. Bummer.

After Boxing Day, my wife and I drove out to the south London Long and McQuade, where they had one in stock. Still sealed from the factory, they cracked it open, and I became the first person since the factory to lay hands on it.

After a 10-minute play test, I was sold. I asked them to set it up with 11s, went for lunch, and then drove back to pick it up. 

It's fantastic.

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