Sourcing an ES-330 body/kit? (long neck)

[Zesty feline]

Anyone know where I could source an accurate ES-330 body/kit? Seeking the late sixties long neck model.


Thank you.

[citizenk74]

Paging Little Jay....

[Little Jay]

At your service K!

I ordered my ES-330 kit from Bian Xuebin, a CNC kit builder from China. I’m sure he can do a 19-fret neck joint ES-330 kit as well.

It’s pretty accurate but there are some differences:

- there is no kerfed spruce spacer that supports the top, but a small block under the bridge with a foot/sound post connecting it to the back (much like old Harmony guitars and 70ies Japanese Gibson copies);
- back and top are glued directly to the sides without the use of kerfed rims;
- truss rod is the (Fender) Allen Key type, not the Gibson hex nut (but a Gibson style truss ros can be ordered);
- lay out of the controls is slightly different but you can order it undrilled and drill yourself;
- headstock is one piece, without the ‘wings’ that Gibson does. But wings can be ordered;
- f-holes are bound and slightly larger (think 70ies Gibson).

Otherwise it is pretty accurate:



But be aware that Bian Xuebin seems to be a one man conpany and waiting times are long and he does not always responds quickly to communication. Oh and he can only be reached thru Facebook messenger. But for me it all worked out great. I paid $240 for my kit. And for the record: it is now the guitar I use live on stage the most!

[Eck]

Little Jay. Do you know the thickness of the sides and top and whether top and bottom are braced? Asking for a friend haha. Seriously I’ve got 6mm top in jarrah (elastic index 50% more than mahogany) and thinking I will do substantial bridge support but no kerfling or bracing.


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[Eck]

At your service K!

I ordered my ES-330 kit from Bian Xuebin, a CNC kit builder from China. I’m sure he can do a 19-fret neck joint ES-330 kit as well.

It’s pretty accurate but there are some differences:

- there is no kerfed spruce spacer that supports the top, but a small block under the bridge with a foot/sound post connecting it to the back (much like old Harmony guitars and 70ies Japanese Gibson copies);
- back and top are glued directly to the sides without the use of kerfed rims;
- truss rod is the (Fender) Allen Key type, not the Gibson hex nut (but a Gibson style truss ros can be ordered);
- lay out of the controls is slightly different but you can order it undrilled and drill yourself;
- headstock is one piece, without the ‘wings’ that Gibson does. But wings can be ordered;
- f-holes are bound and slightly larger (think 70ies Gibson).

Otherwise it is pretty accurate:



But be aware that Bian Xuebin seems to be a one man conpany and waiting times are long and he does not always responds quickly to communication. Oh and he can only be reached thru Facebook messenger. But for me it all worked out great. I paid $240 for my kit. And for the record: it is now the guitar I use live on stage the most!

I forgot to say you’re a legend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zesty feline]

I ordered my ES-330 kit from Bian Xuebin, a CNC kit builder from China. I’m sure he can do a 19-fret neck joint ES-330 kit as well.

It’s pretty accurate but there are some differences:

- there is no kerfed spruce spacer that supports the top, but a small block under the bridge with a foot/sound post connecting it to the back (much like old Harmony guitars and 70ies Japanese Gibson copies);
- back and top are glued directly to the sides without the use of kerfed rims;
- truss rod is the (Fender) Allen Key type, not the Gibson hex nut (but a Gibson style truss ros can be ordered);
- lay out of the controls is slightly different but you can order it undrilled and drill yourself;
- headstock is one piece, without the ‘wings’ that Gibson does. But wings can be ordered;
- f-holes are bound and slightly larger (think 70ies Gibson).

Otherwise it is pretty accurate:

Hi Jay. Great work on your build - Amy Winehouse approved by the looks of it!

Hmm. So going by your info it would seem that the top routing and internal kerfing/bracing are the main bottlenecks to a closer level of accuracy.

It's a bit of a dilemma for a guys like us isn't it? (Or perhaps just myself), You've got the amazingly priced real deal 330's going from roughly 8k and then your limited run custom shop reissues going for near the same. I personally wouldn't want either of them really because I do have some custom appointments I'd like to make and would opt to not 'defile' even a reissue.

I might enquire to a range of luthiers and see what's possible, the other thought I had is would it work to get my hands on a decent 335 kit and remove the centre block? Hmm.

More research is required for now, watch this space.

[JohanAbrandt]

Could you do something with a casino worn? Not long neck but…

[Eck]

Hi Jay. Great work on your build - Amy Winehouse approved by the looks of it!

Hmm. So going by your info it would seem that the top routing and internal kerfing/bracing are the main bottlenecks to a closer level of accuracy.

It's a bit of a dilemma for a guys like us isn't it? (Or perhaps just myself), You've got the amazingly priced real deal 330's going from roughly 8k and then your limited run custom shop reissues going for near the same. I personally wouldn't want either of them really because I do have some custom appointments I'd like to make and would opt to not 'defile' even a reissue.

I might enquire to a range of luthiers and see what's possible, the other thought I had is would it work to get my hands on a decent 335 kit and remove the centre block? Hmm.

More research is required for now, watch this space.

Just one more thing: the wood. I played an es235 recently and it sounded good and loud acoustically, and a casino coupe which sounded horrible acoustically. 235 is I think 3 ply maple mahogany and the other don’t know but wouldn’t be surprised if it was the cheapest from the hardware store…


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[Little Jay]

Little Jay. Do you know the thickness of the sides and top and whether top and bottom are braced? Asking for a friend haha. Seriously I’ve got 6mm top in jarrah (elastic index 50% more than mahogany) and thinking I will do substantial bridge support but no kerfling or bracing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don’t know the thickness of the sides, there is no way to determine that. Top and bottom are not braced. Bridge is supported like this:


You can also see the wood: 5-ply and about the same thickness as my ES-333.

I actually glued in a brace on the bass side, running from bridge block to the neck, to add some stiffness to the top as it was a bit too resonant compared to a real ES-330. I kerfed the brace and clamped through the f-holes and pickup cavities:



This made the guitar quite a bit better to my ears!

[Little Jay]

Hi Jay. Great work on your build - Amy Winehouse approved by the looks of it!

Hmm. So going by your info it would seem that the top routing and internal kerfing/bracing are the main bottlenecks to a closer level of accuracy.

It's a bit of a dilemma for a guys like us isn't it? (Or perhaps just myself), You've got the amazingly priced real deal 330's going from roughly 8k and then your limited run custom shop reissues going for near the same. I personally wouldn't want either of them really because I do have some custom appointments I'd like to make and would opt to not 'defile' even a reissue.

I might enquire to a range of luthiers and see what's possible, the other thought I had is would it work to get my hands on a decent 335 kit and remove the centre block? Hmm.

More research is required for now, watch this space.

Actually, if you have the skills and the nerves: getting an ES-335 kit, remove the back and cut out the centre block (leaving some parallel braces under the top) and re-glueing the back would result in a quite accurate long neck 330-clone!

I glued in a brace, see my answer to Eck!

[Eck]

I don’t know the thickness of the sides, there is no way to determine that. Top and bottom are not braced. Bridge is supported like this:


You can also see the wood: 5-ply and about the same thickness as my ES-333.

I actually glued in a brace on the bass side, running from bridge block to the neck, to add some stiffness to the top as it was a bit too resonant compared to a real ES-330. I kerfed the brace and clamped through the f-holes and pickup cavities:



This made the guitar quite a bit better to my ears!

Brilliant! Bass-brace. I’ll definitely think of that


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[EllenGtrGrl]

Good luck in your search. I have a Heritage H-530 (which is their version of the long necked ES-330), and it's a great guitar, soooo versatile (it handles everything from jazz to heavy rock well), and sooo playable IMO.