Epiphone ES-339 Semi-hollowbody - Vintage Sunburst Reviews

Glad I got the Pelham Blue version just before they sold out. The sparkling finish is beautiful. Inspired by Gibson is a definite upgrade for Epiphone. Mine had no flaws or issues. I needed to lower the action a little to my liking. No sharp frets or fret buzz, pickups sound very good. I prefer the newer neck profile to the D on older 339s. Plays and sounds as good as it looks!

Purchased the casino coup from Alex at sweetwater
Enjoyed it for a few months and the 3 way selector switch started to have some issues
Called Alex , put me in touch with the service department
The total experience from the original purchase , to having the guitar worked on
At the service department I can only use one word excellent
I realize that this is not the type of review you would expect ,
I felt it was important that if you are thinking about purchasing a guitar from sweetwater
The best review would be how an execellent company like sweetwater would handle a problem
Besides the repair on the casino, the service dept gave my guitar a complete adjustment on the
String action, found another issue I didn't know about
Thank you for taking the time to read my review,
Once again don't hesitate if you are considering a future purchase from sweetwater
They are all about service after the purchase

It's been just over 6 months since I took receipt of my Epi 339 from Sweetwater and I'm happy to say there is no buyers remorse whatsoever. In fact, quite the opposite in that I'm amazed at the quality of the build and components of this guitar which, IMO, could easily be double the price and still be considered a great value. I've been playing more years than I care to admit and have some gear considered vintage classics and I think this Epi 339 can fit right in with my almost 50 year old LP in terms of playability and quality of build. Yeah, I've been playing a long time LOL. I seriously cannot find a flaw anywhere on this guitar. If I had to pick one thing to criticize it would be the toggle switch which just feels a bit wonky, flimsy. It works fine with no issues but it doesn't feel like a high quality switch. Maybe I'll change it, maybe I won't.

Out of the box, zero issues. The setup was perfectly to my liking (didn't pay extra for a special setup) with nice low action, no buzzing strings, and intonation spot on. Finish looks beautiful in natural wood which allows the beauty of the wood grain to shine. I see the natural finish is no longer offered and that's a shame. Pickups sound beautiful playing through my vintage Fender Princeton Reverb and are perfectly at home playing a selection of classic rock from Skynyrd to Zeppelin and getting down with bluesy tones. I see no need to change the pickups. I also love having an ES-335 type body in the size of a Les Paul body...very comfy although it is heavier than it looks.

All in all, zero complaints. Having a blast enjoying this guitar.

Great guitar for that price. Quality product

I received this one yesterday, and I've played it for several hours since then -- it's really hard to put down. The guitar itself is beautiful, the finish is flawless and it's hard to believe it doesn't cost more than it does. I did get the Epi IBG 335 a while back and while that one is terrific as well, I did want to try the 339 model for its more compact size. The tone is very similar to the Epi 335. The stock humbuckers that come with both of those models are great, in my opinion: very clear and sensitive, although I suppose their durability remains to be seen. I hear no reason at all to replace them. This 339 certainly packs a punch and I think in terms of in-your-face screaming and shouting it could give any Les Paul a run for its money. However I think this one would surpass the Les Paul (which I love) in terms of more quiet, tender and expressive tones. It really does sing. Highly recommended, and kudos to sales engineer Brady Langefels for his help and attention with this purchase and also a prior one I made.

Excellent playing and sounding semi hollow

The Inspired by Gibson line for Epiphone has been a major hit!!!

The guitar plays smooth and the attention to detail is there.

Throw in Sweetwaters care in getting the guitar to you and you can't go wrong…..highly recommend getting one…..

I got a 8lb. vintage sunburst IBG ES339 a few weeks back and it really surprised me… in a very good way. I had a cherry red ES339 Pro about 6yrs ago & it was definitely a solid guitar. Played well & sounded good too. I enjoyed it for about 18 months & traded toward a PRRI. I've been pretty much content with solid body guitars since. Anyway, I recently got the 'ES itch' & saw the new IBG 339 and decided it was worth a shot. Wow!… this 339 is much, much better than the Pro I had. I'm absolutely convinced I got one of those 'special' guitars in this one as the Pro I used to own was excellent & somehow wouldn't even compare with my new IBG 339. This guitar is very resonant, holds perfect tune, perfect intonation, full straight neck, no high frets, no rattles in the hardware and the volume & tone controls have a great taper & clean up the guitar nicely. The pickups are a bit hotter than my other PAF style pickups (Antiquities, Dimarzio 36ths, Seth Lovers), but they sound really good. I lowered them a good bit (neck just below the pickup ring, bridge to balance neck volume/tone), and tweaked the pole pieces. I have to say, this is one of the sweetest sounding guitars I've owned. I could gush over this guitar for a long while, but suffice to say, it isn't out of place among any of my Gibson LP's, PRS's & other higher end guitars.
The only issues out of the box, if you could call them 'issues', the bridge pickup volume pot wasn't completely tightened down on the body, and the action was higher than I would've liked. I tightened the Vol. Pot & gave it a good set up, set the intonation, gave it new strings & adjusted the pickups. Once that was done, I find it hard to imagine a better ES339 for me. Yeah… a nitro finish would be great, but even with the thicker poly finish, I absolutely love this guitar!
I had planned to put in a new wiring harness & a set of Seth Lovers I have in the bin, but this guitar is great as is. I don't know if the ACP pickups are that good, if it's the tone woods of the guitar, or a combination of those & other factors. It could be that I just happened to get a magical guitar through sheer luck… you know, that extra special guitar that doesn't come along very often, but one where everything lines up just right to create an amazing sounding & feeling instrument.
Whatever the case, I don't think I could be any more pleased with this purchase.
A shout out to Ryan Haines, my Sales Engineer. He's awesome and has been super helpful. He's always very professional & makes sure I'm happy with my Sweetwater experience.
-T.H.

Beautifully finished instrument. Change string gauge, did a set up, and reintonated, plays wonderfully as other reviews have stated.

This is from 59+ years gigging, teaching,still practicing and having owned every pro level elec, acoustic and classical...
I was always drawn to the 335 as a kid since all my heroes aside from JEFF BECK played hollow bodies...so I owned quite a few Gibsons ..which at 5he time were hit and miss with quality, binding, fit finish...
This Epi hasn't been cashed since I bought it! A phenom of a guitar...close totally BUZZ FREE perfect weight + I swapped out metal Grovers for Kluson deluxe tulips) and work out in ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE on a daily basis and am improving on my jazz vocab BIGTIME ..
I attribute that in large part to having hours of free constructive practice time on a guitar that stays in tune, very comfortable (better than a strat for me) plays and sounds like Robben Ford and WES MONTGOMERY...got the sunburst!
And Louis is the MAN at Sweetwater, knowledgeable, polite, professional great listener... Sweetwater is the ONLY gear co that cares about quirky OCD types ( that includes ALL of us) LOL
Phil Roberts NJ

I've had mine for about 10 years, it was the first version of the ES339. I changed mostly the hardware and electronics, replacing for grover tuners, gotoh bridge and switching pickups for Dimarzio PAFs, as well as cables and pots.

With those slight changes the guitar is AMAZING, great sounds and versatility, ranging from blues, to alt rock, to country with no issues.

Stock pickups werekind of muddy, but I think those have been changed, as well as the push pull knobs, which I think had to do with the muddiness

I've had this guitar for around 6 months. It is a very comfortable guitar to play either sitting or standing. Pretty versatile in the tone department, although I always seem to drift into blues mode on the neck pickup. The bridge pickup can get a pretty good snappy tone, and the 2 combined can get some really good rhythm tones. I have to admit, I have not explored all the possibilities with the individual volume and tone knobs and I'm sure to someone more familiar with the Gibson type array of controls the possibilities are endless. If you're thinking of getting into this style of guitar, this is a great place to start.

I've had this guitar for about three months. There have been no issues at all. I was impressed initially by the fit and finish. It is truly a beautiful guitar. Once you get familiar with the controls there is a wide variety of tones available. I'm liking the middle position a lot...very crisp. The neck pickup sounds great both clean and overdriven...great blues tones. Haven't used the bridge pickup much, to be honest. The neck is a good size. I have medium size hands and it fits well. I would certainly recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a good looking, sounding and playing guitar. It can cover a range of styles.
The overall experience with Sweetwater was unlike any online music store I've experienced. The vintage sunburst finish model was not in stock when I ordered. Gregg Lanning touched base weekly and kept me apprised of any updates. I have since placed more orders with him. I have no reason to deal with anyone else (or any other company). The level of service was outstanding.

I just got this Epiphone ES-339 and here are my first impressions: First, I had the neck satinized at Sweetwater with a high quality aftermarket wiring harness installed by the Sweetwater techs.

The guitar is pretty light and my first impression was that I'm not sacrificing any tone from it's larger cousin the ES-335. Overall, the fit and finish were perfect and after all that travel, the guitar was only slightly out of tune. The pickups sound very good and it has that great middle position sound that you hear on 335s and that was one thing I was looking for. The tonal variety in all three switch positions is very impressive and that might be due to the custom wiring harness, but the stock pickups sound good. It's kind of a bright guitar, but rolling off the tone takes care of that.

It does need a setup and the neck is a little dry, but some lemon oil will fix that. Still, right out of the box, it plays well -- I could gig with it, no problem.

I'm going to replace the stock pickups with some Lindy Fralin Pure PAFs and I think that ought to complete this project. I'll say one thing, though: The stock pickups are really good and if you're a player on a budget, you won't need to replace them.

For the price -- about 1/5th the price of a Gibson 339 -- you just can't go wrong. Epiphone is putting out a quality product and this guitar is a real keeper. Keep it stock or customize it like me, it's your choice, but either way, you'll like this guitar.

Was looking for a 339 size guitar, have a Gibson ES-335 and a Vintage brand VSA-500, both nice guitars. Read every review I could find on the Epiphone 339, most reviewers raved with only a few negative comments about the frets. Was a little concerned about how good it could be given the price point, but I didn't want to pay for a Gibson. Talked to my long time Sales Engineer Yuval Fuchs's, and enquired about satinizing the neck and getting it PLEK'D. Yuval scored the guitar the day it became available and got the additional services done within (2) days. All that being said, the crew at Sweetwater did a great job, special Thanks to Ben A. It feels better than the Gibson ES that wasn't purchased through Sweetwater. So with the additional services, I have a guitar that's every bit as good, if not better than a Gibson at less than half the cost. Everything else about this guitar was flawless, couldn't find any issues. Special Thanks to Yuval for all his help. Purchased my first guitar from him in 2016 and have purchased a total of (8) guitars through him and have always received prompt responses to my e-mails and Great overall service.

This is the first guitar that I've received through the mail that didn't some adjustments. The intonation was perfect the action was good and it sounded great. The reason I wanted this model was because of the c shaped neck. These are the new gibson inspired line . Where there going to the traditional neck profiles. All the epiphone models have d shaped slim taper necks.I know the pro model does,personally I think model of guitar dosnt need a slim taper neck.I play a Gibson Les Paul and the neck is a little father on this guitar also the frets are wider. It's super comfortable to play! I don't want to say it but it's more comfortable to me then my les paul,but not by much. The build of the guitar is quality. It's got a really nice finish. I was worried that the neck was going to be super glossy and I was gonna have to sand it down,nope it's really Smooth! Plus it's got Grover tuners,and it stays in tune really well ! So you split the coils, personally I think that's over rated. If you want a es-339 inspired by Gibson,not epiphones idea of a 339 then go with this guitar it's got great tones and also sounds really good unplugged!

I could tell the nightmare of trying to buy from another source, obviously not very professional. But I really want to tell you about the excellent service and professionalism of Sweetwater! After the other people messed me up and tied up my credit card with _2 transactions that both got canceled. I started looking on Sweetwater's website and found the same basic guitar. I got a personal call from Steven Stewart to let me know that that particular Guitar was no longer available. However, I had found this Cherry Es-339 and had pretty much decided that it was what I wanted and we talked about it and because of his professionalism and help to get just the right one, I made up my mind this is what I wanted. Everything they do is the way things should be. After choosing the exact one that I wanted and making my order, Steven called again to let me know that the order had been received and was being readied for shipment, wow! and the e-mails that followed Great. Shipping was fast, sent on The 11th received on the 21st. Now the guitar opening was definitely a real treat and in more ways than one. Now the Epiphone ES-339, first of all it is absolutely beautiful! when i got it out and looked it over it is stunning and when i plugged it in then came the best thing of all the sound and tone they are such a delight to hear on every setting it sounds even better than I remembered from hearing one played before. I absolutely love it! Epiphone in my opinion builds very Good instruments. Hey, the Beatles played Epiphones a lot, if they're good enough for them they are good enough for me. I own 4 Epiphones 3 guitars and a banjo. I highly recommend them and especially this ES-339!

I'm pretty much a Gibson/Fender guy for the last 50 years but, always liked that 335 tone. I just couldn't get comfortable with the body size. Along comes the 339. I had owned an Epi or two over the years so I took the plunge based on everything I had been reading. I have my guitar tech dress frets and tweak necks on every guitar I own, including Gibson. So I knew I had that investment to make. When I pulled this out of the case I knew it was a keeper. Yes, I swapped out the wiring harness and put in some Pearly Gates but, that's just what I do. This was darn good with the stock electronics in it.