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Es135 Vs 137


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I have been using(borrowed) a Gibson ES135 with P100 pickups for about 4 months and I love it, altho that trapeze on the tail gets a zero for snagging my shirt sleeve. Bad boy! They quit making the 135 and only make the 137 with "vintage" p90s and a TOM without the trapeze. Is it even going to be the same guitar? I prefer the Casino over the 335, if that makes sense (trapeze, pickups) but the difference seems to be a lot greater with the new 137. The literature says they put a block in the center of the body to reduce feedback. OK. So how hard is it going to be to get the sound/sustain I get out of the 135? It would be really nice if the dealers had a room where you could wail on a guitar without someone coming back to see if you could turn it down or stop abusing their stuff. Or like loan me one for a couple hours. They about doubled the price too! :D

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Well...from what I can figure from Gibson's website, both the 135 and 137 have a center block. That takes them both much closer to the 335 family than the 330/Casino family. So the sonic differences between the two will come down to the pickups and the tailpiece. A trapeze will theoretically have less sustain because the strings don't press down as hard on the bridge as with a stop TP. As for pickups, the 135 model described here...

http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/Classic/ES-135.html

...has P-90s, not P100s. P100s are P-90 type pups designed to fit humbucker holes. Either way, its a single coil vs. humbucker choice.

Basically, I'd say that the 137 is essentially a downmarket 335 (center block, stop TP, humbuckers). The 135 with single coils would be a hybrid -- semihollow with single coils (a tantalizing prospect!). For hollowbody action (trapeze TP required)you'll have to fork over 5 or 6 grand for a 330 or head over to Epi Land.

Good luck...

PS. I just noticed you said the ES-137 was available with P-90s... If so, cool! but the models currently showing on the Gibson website both have humbuckers.

Chandler

Edited by ccbryan
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D'oh! You'd think I'd read the page before I throw it up there, wouldn't you? Ok, P-100s are humbuckers sized to fit in p-90 slots, not the other way round. Soooooo... the 137 will be a good bit closer in sound to the 135 than I thought, since both sport humbuckers.

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ccbryan, welcome to the confusion! :D I am going to use some of my graduation money to buy one of these but the custom shop wants ANOTHER $230.00 to put P-90s on it and I think you might be right in that they may be very similar with the standard pickups. What do you think the chances are they will send me one to try for a month or two with the P-90s installed before I buy? :D Might be better off just offing the guy I have the 135 borrowed from and leave the country. I'll miss him, though.

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ccbryan, welcome to the confusion! :D  I am going to use some of my graduation money to buy one of these but the custom shop wants ANOTHER $230.00 to put P-90s on it and I think you might be right in that they may be very similar with the standard pickups. What do you think the chances are they will send me one to try for a month or two with the P-90s installed before I buy? :D  Might be better off just offing the guy I have the 135 borrowed from and leave the country. I'll miss him, though.

Well, what I meant to say was that P-100s and regular humbuckers would sound similar; P-90s would give it a quite different and delicious flavor. Maybe worth the bucks...

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I am afraid you are right. That will raise the total price to about $2800.00! For a Gibson I have never played. Very scary stuff and just in time for halloween! :D

Or.... there's always the Bay... there are two 135s sporting P-90s on the slab right now. :D

(Neither of them mine...)

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Oh, no, no, no! No Ebay stuff when money and quality counts. I have been burnt and seen too many other burn jobs. Not to say Gibson Custom Shop can't burn you but at least you got burnt by a serious namebrand outfit. Ebay is OK in its place but the stuff that really counts needs to be done face-to-face.

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