Gibson ES-335 Satin Cherry

First off let me say I love my 335, it's my main guitar and its my fav in my collection. However I was very disappointed by a few things.
1: The case is terrible, Absolutely rubbish quality and mine broke within the first few days, I didn't even put any stress on it, it was on my couch and I noticed the bottom had completely caved in... shockingly bad quality.
2: After a few weeks playing with it I noticed something white in one of the soundholes... the builders left a big piece of paper from when they painted it I assume... I mean this thing is almost 2500 euros that's shocking.
3: I also noticed a white mark on my fretboard which I tried to wipe off but it doesn't come off, it's a defect or some glue left over, I don't mind it too much but it's quite big and also very shocking for the price.
4: The tuners... I swapped them... just absolute garbage. One of them wasn't working properly.

Another thing that surprised me is when I received my Epiphone 335 and to my surprise its was insanely good. The tuners are better, the pickups are good, it was set up well and no faults in it. The sound to my ears is as good... and this is a guitar that cost almost a 5th of the price.

Want my opinion, get yourself an Epiphone... like I said I love my Gibson but these days its not worth the price and you'll have to spend more on a new case and tuners.

Finally bought a 335 after many years admiring everything about them and my initial thoughts are that it even exceeds my expectations! Build and finish are first rate, I chose the satin cherry finish which looks fantastic and has a lovely sheen so not dull or bland. The neck is a rounded C and feels perfect for me, it feels identical to my 60’s Les Paul Standard and the quality of the fretwork & neck binding is excellent, as is the action. The sound is as you would expect ie excellent and it plays great and keeps perfect tune, so a fantastic buy in my view!
Update - a year down the line and I still love it, it’s my go to guitar!

I started out on a classical guitar when I was 12 years old. Since then I have owned all sorts of guitars, some electric, some acoustic, some more expensive than others. The Gibson ES-335 is by far the greatest instrument I have ever owned, with my US telecaster as the only possible contender. I had never spent so much money on a guitar as this one, but as soon as I opened it up I was sure that I had bought something special. It’s so versatile and it writes melodies for me.

I got the standard one with the dots instead of the block inlays because I like things simple. I also disagree with people who think cheaper replicas are just as good as Gibsons - there is a lot of difference, and it is worth the money.