I used to have a late '60s 335 in Vintage Sunburst. Now I have a 2001 ES-335 Dot Reissue in Bullion Gold, which I picked up new.
Gibson didn't make the ES-335 in Bullion Gold until 2002 (and only for 1 year). According to Gibson, I got a prototype "promo" guitar that Gibson gave to Ike Turner (yes, the wifebeater). Ike autographed the face of it and wrote the words to his 1951 hit, "Rocket 88" all over it with a Sharpie. Then Ike gave it to our local radio station to put up for a charity auction. For some reason, there were only 2 bidders on the guitar...me and another guy (I assume no one else wanted to have anything to do with Ike Turner). Anyway, I won it with a high bid of $1,350. Mind you, this is a brand new guitar. At the time, I think MF was selling the Dot Reissue for $2,399 from a $3,614 MSLP.
Personally, I love the guitar...it really kicks! And I like the Bullion Gold color with the cream pickguard because it is so rare...I just wish Ike hadn't written all over it. I'm not sure whether it's worth any more (or less) than a clean ES-335.
I'm planning to hold onto it until Ike's demise (he's 70+ now)...maybe it will double in value!
I'll post a picture of it here when I get to my home computer.
"If things were different...things would be different."
yup, nice guitar. A less expensive alternative is an Epiphone Sheraton II. My "other" guitar is one of these and I stuck in a piexo bridge and a stereo jack so I can split the output to the Vox AC15 and a small Marshall acoustiic amp. Sounds great.
“The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it.” ....H. L. Mencken
There are some great gtrs on this thread. Glad you got one Howard, sounds like you've been waiting long enough.
Love your 135 Lindsay, I've always fancied one of those. When I have money for a gtr though, the Ric mist seems to descend & I just don't consider any other make, as I know I wouldn't play it. Nice to look at though....
'Rickenbacker'...what a name! After all these years, it still thrills me.