Epiphone ES-335 Elitist – Japan Crafted – Beautiful Finish and Huge Electronics Upgrades!
Selling one of my favorite guitars: A 2006 Epiphone Elitist '63 ES-335 Dot in a stunning Natural finish. This guitar includes the original hard-shell case and boasts the exceptional craftsmanship associated with Epiphone Elitist guitars crafted in Japan at the Fujigen (for the body) and Terada (for the archtop) factories to amazing standards. This guitar has had very little use, has never been gigged on stage, and has remained in a humidity and temperature controlled environment. The beautiful blond/natural finish (which is now somewhat uncommon) is almost perfect, as you can see from the photos, and the joints are every bit as clean as a U.S. made Gibson ES-335. The neck is nice ‘n straight and the original frets are in near-perfect condition.
Let’s talk some details. This guitar is marked a “2nd” because the neck has an ever-so slight ding about six inches up from the body joint. I’ve tried to capture that in one of the photos. It makes zero difference in either appearance or in – more importantly, how the neck feels. It’s smooth and fast. But the ding exists and the headstock is marked accordingly, so it’s important to point that out. Here’s some other general information:
Now, here are some other really interesting details.
I had my luthier professionally install all new electronics in this guitar. The original guts were just fine; Epiphone USA-made 50ST (B) and 50SR (N) pickups and wiring. But I’m a perfectionist and have a pretty good ear. So I replaced everything with top-of-the-line RS Guitarworks electronics produced in Winchester, KY. The PUPs are ES-335 Classic-Vintage Tones with polished solid nickel covers (not the cheaply plated imitation). The neck pickup uses one 100v .01µF capacitor and the bridge pickup uses one 100v .022µF capacitor, both of paper-in-oil design, and have tinned 20AWG leads that made my luthier’s job a little easier. The coils are hand-wound on 50’s era machines, just like the very best guitars ever made. All the vintage braided wiring, tapered pots, toggle switch, output jack, and gold 50’s-style top hat knobs are superior RS Guitarworks products as well (Note: The toggle switch and jack are actually made by Switchcraft®). Easy rolling and clean switching. All this translates into cleaner tone with lots of warmth and wood. I personally think this guitar sounds better than any Gibson off-the-rack 335 you can buy today. That’s a lot of detail, I know, but I want to stress the extreme quality of this instrument. I’m a proud “guitar dad,” I know. :-)
If you’ve purchased a guitar from me in the past, you know I’ll pack carefully and ship quickly, as I truly value my customers. If you’re looking for a truly top quality player’s ES-335 for less than the price of a stock Gibson, this is it! Thanks for looking!