comparing the Gibson es390 - es339 and Epi Broadway elitist

**roegtr** · 08-02-2015, 09:27 AM

Amp is a Roland cube 60

**roegtr** · 08-02-2015, 10:34 AM

If anyone cares to listen, which one has the fattest sound? Personally I´m pretty impressed by the es339, considering the lighter gauge strings and smaller body.

**AlainJazz** · 08-02-2015, 11:45 AM

The 339 was my favorite. Very nice playing and a nice comparison.

**M-ster** · 08-02-2015, 01:22 PM

I was surprised how much I liked the 390. (Very nice playing, too!)

**mr. beaumont** · 08-02-2015, 01:39 PM

Fattest sound, the Epiphone easily. But i liked all 3 tones.

**roegtr** · 08-02-2015, 01:46 PM

Thanks for the replies

I have a hard time choosing which one I prefer.. The two Gibson guitars are definitely the most comfortable. The es390 is super light, yet well balanced.
The tone controls were set open all the way on all 3 guitars. I like the tone control on the es390 only as it won´t muffle the sound. It just makes it darker.

**Jimmy Mack** · 08-02-2015, 10:54 PM

Appears that you had the most fun playing the 390! I like that tone the best as well. Becoming a fan of P90's, I think that guitar with those p/ups had the most color. The others with h/ber's sounded smoother. But that's what I notice lately, h/ber's are smoother sounding while P90's have more bite and more character overall.

**roegtr** · 08-03-2015, 02:10 AM

Hey Jimmy
Thanks for replying! :-)
The es390 is my latest purchase and I´m still breaking it in. It does sound really nice with a very clear tone. Turning the tone knob makes for some nice coloration as well. I might record some more stuff with only that guitar soon.

**feet** · 08-03-2015, 03:47 AM

i was surprised by how similar the guitars sounded, especially during the single notes. though it wasn't hard to pick out the differences in the order you put them. you can hear the little extra air and spank in the 390 that the 339 was lacking, but it had a that "solid-ness" the 390 didn't. the broadway had more thump and depth to it, and a little bit of that 3d quality the others did not, but again, not as dramatically different as i would have guessed. a little sweeter in the single notes, too.

all in all, its some good work, and some great playing. i thought the tones would be a little norwegian for my taste, but they were impressive tones, even from a cube

. it seems like you've got this "jazz" thing figured out.

i should also note i really like the color of your wall. i have a ceiling in a similar shade. well done.

**Jabberwocky** · 08-03-2015, 07:44 AM

Very informative comparison. Gives a good reckoning of their different voices.

Hope to see more videos from you.

**roegtr** · 08-03-2015, 07:45 AM

Hey feet,
Thanks for your reply!

I also think the guitars sound very similar. This is partly due to the round wound strings on all 3 guitars and probably also the cube (which has 1 good sound). I may put some flats on the Epi soon and possibly shoot another video. Got to wait until the wife is out

Oh, and I didn´t get to choose the colors...

**Little Jay** · 08-03-2015, 08:56 AM

Personally I liked the red one with the humbuckers best, is that the 339? Well, I play a 333 with humbuckers so it's no surprise I dig that sound. Thanks for the comparison, nice!

**Klatu** · 08-03-2015, 09:31 AM

Good to have you back on the site, Asle. By the way, congratulations on the new album, it really shows off your guitar as well as your songwriting chops.

**LtKojak** · 08-03-2015, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by roegtr

I may put some flats on the Epi soon and possibly shoot another video

What p'ups on the Epi, Arle?

**mr quick** · 08-03-2015, 03:39 PM

Great video. Surprised by how well the ES-390 sounds.
On a side note, it's nice seeing a fellow Norwegian on the forums. I could go on and on about how the jazz scene in Norway is miniscule and completely dwarfed and overshadowed by the hard rock scene, making it nearly impossible to find a person with whom to play.

I digress...

**John A.** · 08-03-2015, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by roegtr

If anyone cares to listen, which one has the fattest sound? Personally I´m pretty impressed by the es339, considering the lighter gauge strings and smaller body.

If you define fattest as "the most mid-range", I think the 339 wins. But I think the tones of all three are pretty close too each other. I think I liked the sound of the 390 the best of those 3, but in a blind test I'm not sure I could really say which was which. [In fact I closed my for part of the video, and I didn't even notice that you switched from the 339 to the Epiphone.]

John

**roegtr** · 08-04-2015, 06:45 AM

I really appreciate all the comments and they are all pretty much right in line with my own thoughts.
Thanks Klatu for mentioning my album

LtKojak; I now have the original Gibson made elitist pickups in the Epiphone. I have previously used a Lollar Imperial low wind neck and also a set of the Lollar single coils for hb.
As a side note to the video I should mention that it was recorded straight into an iPhone 6.
Here are 2 videos that I recorded with a Canon HF10 and an external Sony mini condenser mic:

I should mention that the mic was set more directional on the first video resulting in a harder and more midrangy sound. (I just found that out...)

**LtKojak** · 08-04-2015, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by roegtr

I now have the original Gibson made elitist pickups in the Epiphone. I have previously used a Lollar Imperial low wind neck and also a set of the Lollar single coils for hb.

Ok. I'm asking because I simply LOVE Elitist Broadways and think I'm quite familiar with their basic tone-footprint.

The tone is alright, mind you; although I think you could do "better" with other p'ups.

What I'm hearing is kinda looking at a caged animal. There's massive raw power and a lot of potential, but it's restrained against its will, so to speak.

I hope what I'm saying somehow makes sense to you...

**Klatu** · 08-04-2015, 08:47 AM

Outstanding playing in those videos. May I ask why you decided to go back to the original pickups in your Epiphone?

**Archie** · 08-04-2015, 09:00 AM

Your cherry ES sounds very, very brittle on the trebles, a very typical Gibson Semi feature. The first one sounded better imo but still to bright and hard sounding for my tastes.

As for the Epi, I've never been a fan as they have a very bright crisp sound, much like your smaller semis. Don't see the point in having something in hollow body form, that a semi can do but I'm sure something is lost in the recoding.

I guess you like a thinner, biting, hard sound?

Great playing btw. Some amazing musicians in Scandinavia, I will have to put you on the list ;-)

**jzucker** · 08-04-2015, 10:07 AM

The epiphone has the fattest sound followed by the 339 and then the 390.

I played a 390 at Sam Ash and loved it but it was neck heavy and I felt like i'd be fighting that when standing.

Nice playing.

**roegtr** · 08-04-2015, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by jzucker

The epiphone has the fattest sound followed by the 339 and then the 390.

I played a 390 at Sam Ash and loved it but it was neck heavy and I felt like i'd be fighting that when standing.

Nice playing.

Thanks Jack!

Yea the 390 is very light but mine is fortunately not real neck heavy. It does have just a slight pull.

**roegtr** · 08-04-2015, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven

Your cherry ES sounds very, very brittle on the trebles, a very typical Gibson Semi feature. The first one sounded better imo but still to bright and hard sounding for my tastes.

As for the Epi, I've never been a fan as they have a very bright crisp sound, much like your smaller semis. Don't see the point in having something in hollow body form, that a semi can do but I'm sure something is lost in the recoding.

I guess you like a thinner, biting, hard sound?

Great playing btw. Some amazing musicians in Scandinavia, I will have to put you on the list ;-)

It was recorded with my iPhone 6 and the amp is a Roland cube. If you haven´t already, try to listen through headphones. I do like a bright sound but not brittle.

**feet** · 08-04-2015, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by LtKojak

What I'm hearing is kinda looking at a caged animal. There's massive raw power and a lot of potential, but it's restrained against its will, so to speak

while i didn't hate the stock "epi usa"/gibson pups in my byrdland, did want something different. went with a low wind, unpotted a3 59 clone from mojotone (and a high wind a4 in the bridge). honestly, it wasn't the night a day difference i had hoped, but what it did was change the guitar's eq curve somewhat. i didn't have to go searching or fight to get to that tonal sweet spot like before. it was just there. i could make it brighter or darker if i wanted to, but it was always where i wanted to be. that wasn't the case before; it took some fiddling to find my happy place.

Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven

Your cherry ES sounds very, very brittle on the trebles, a very typical Gibson Semi feature. The first one sounded better imo but still to bright and hard sounding for my tastes.

As for the Epi, I've never been a fan as they have a very bright crisp sound, much like your smaller semis. Don't see the point in having something in hollow body form, that a semi can do but I'm sure something is lost in the recoding.

I guess you like a thinner, biting, hard sound?

we get it. you don't like gibsons. i listened through monitors and stand by my original assessment (that includes his wife's taste in paint). these things are supposed to be bright. they have spruce and maple (and ebony!) everywhere. that's why they put knobs on these things, and why i found amp, pup and string selection to be critical to my enjoyment of said instruments. i prefer a gently dark(?) tone myself. its still clear, but i can go from sort of bright to useably dark with relative ease.

i just realized that the 390 sounds like a smaller casino, because that's sort of what it is.

**Archie** · 08-04-2015, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by feet

while i didn't hate the stock "epi usa"/gibson pups in my byrdland, did want something different. went with a low wind, unpotted a3 59 clone from mojotone (and a high wind a4 in the bridge). honestly, it wasn't the night a day difference i had hoped, but what it did was change the guitar's eq curve somewhat. i didn't have to go searching or fight to get to that tonal sweet spot like before. it was just there. i could make it brighter or darker if i wanted to, but it was always where i wanted to be. that wasn't the case before; it took some fiddling to find my happy place.

we get it. you don't like gibsons. i listened through monitors and stand by my original assessment (that includes his wife's taste in paint). these things are supposed to be bright. they have spruce and maple (and ebony!) everywhere. that's why they put knobs on these things, and why i found amp, pup and string selection to be critical to my enjoyment of said instruments. i prefer a gently dark(?) tone myself. its still clear, but i can go from sort of bright to useably dark with relative ease.

i just realized that the 390 sounds like a smaller casino, because that's sort of what it is.

I get that you get that I dont like Gibson, although thats not true, as I have owned some very good ones that I was perfectly happy with, including a very good Es-175 now in Sweden and a Tal from the 90's that was sublime.

My thought was more that the bass and mids, didn't sit properly with how suddenly brittle and bright the high 'E' got. I should have been more clear. Its one of the main reasons I will probably never by a semi from Gibson and is something typical of their semis.

The OP has suggested I listen through headphones which I'm about to do, so it may have just been the recording set-up. Guitars should be about balance, my initial impression of the second Gibson, is that it lacks that.

Having listened through good quality studio headphones, I can say that the sound is even more harsh and flat. Contributing to this would be the amount of wood in the room (considering we are in Norway, I would imagine a lot. This can make the sound very brittle especially the reverb).

Regardless the playing is very good and I would like to commend the OP on his arrangements and ideas. All three guitars to me would be a pass in the tone department in the current recording set-up.

Sorry to have an opposing opinion, I mean no offence by it :-)