Epiphone: ES-339 Pro

I'm not a fan of Epiphone solid bodies. There were only 2 Les Pual models I liked- the LP Ultra (various incarnations) & Boneyard. The thing with Epiphone solid bodies is that they are dancing in Gibson's shadows. If you don't check the details out, you'd be sold into buying a compromised guitar but some of us are alright living with association. Well then, each of us has our own prerogatives. But it's a different vibe when it comes to Epiphone's semi-hollow models. I tend to appreciate them more than the Les Pauls. The case in question here is the ES-339 Pro.

This guitar is of course the more down-to-earth version of its Gibson sibling. Not to be confused with the ES-335, the 339 features a shrunk body dimension, it's more manageable for solid body fans in terms of handling. If you have had any plug-in moments with any semi-hollow guitars, you'd notice the rather nasal tone coming from the default bridge humbucker, making it sound like an acoustic wannabe but failing to be stellar at that. The 339 escapes from this not so likable tone due to its smaller body make. Cleans are ringing out some firm midrange which are more respectable in both clean & driven settings & I'd say that this is true for both humbuckers in there. Nevertheless, the in-house Classic Pro Epiphone humbuckers might note hit the right notes for some of us, it's all down to taste & preferences so all you high gain shredders, please do not come to this guitar with your interpretation of what makes a good single note definition. All in all, the instrument is well made but the nut slots of the one I played could use some lubrication as it snags the tuning especially for those plain strings. Highly recommended for those of us who would want a slightly different interpretation to the ES-335 tones & are more at home with this scaled down body outline.

Thank you Swee Lee for the test time :-)

Epiphone: ES-339 Pro
Price: SGD559
Availability: Swee Lee Co.