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2012 Gibson Midtown Standard P90, ES-335 / Les Paul Hybrid - Fireburst
Semi-Hollow (Chambered) Body
Weighs only 7.0 lbs
Includes our Professional Set Up - $100 Value
See below for details.
Case: Includes Gibson original hard shell case (OHSC) shown.
ES-335 or Les Paul? Decisions, decisions. Are you in the market for an ES-335, but don't want to shell out $3000 or more? Or maybe you're torn between a Les Paul and and ES-335. Well this guitar might be a good choice for you.
Description: Gibson introduced the Midtown in 2011. They used a unique construction method with a chambered mahogany body and a flat maple top. They created a guitar with a Les Paul's solid-body feel combined with the ES-335's semi-hollow resonance. It's different from traditional ES guitars which are built like arch-top acoustics with laminated maple panels. Instead this guitar is carved from a solid piece of mahogany and chambered on the inside to make it semi-hollow, then a solid maple cap is glued on. Because of this, it's got the best attributes of a solid guitar like a Les Paul, and a semi-hollow guitar like the ES-335.
Weight: Most Midtowns and ES-335 weigh in around 7.8 to 8.5 lbs. This one is very light at only 7.0 lbs. If you prefer a lighter guitar, this would be a great choice.
Age and Condition: This guitar is 14 years old, and has been played and loved. It has the honest play wear to prove it. But overall it is still in very good condition. There's some light buckle rash on the back and a some indentations on the back of the neck. Top looks very good to excellent. Frets are in very good 8.5/10 condition and we will dress them as part of our setup. Please see photos.
P90's: Most Midtowns came with humbuckers, but a few were fitted with P90's. The P90 is one of our favorite pickups. Gibson introduced the P90 in 1946 and it was their premium pickup until 1957 when they introduced the humbucker. The P90 is a a single coil, but has the output of a humbucker. As a single coil, it has more clarity and high-end sparkle. That's why it's our favorite. It's the best both worlds - has the clarity and sparkle of a single coil with the grunt and power of a PAF. In fact when Seth Lover developed the PAF for Gibson in the mid-fifties, he was trying to develop a pickup that sounded like a P90, but without the 60-cycle hum. So if you love the sound of a good PAF, but wish it had a little more clarity and sparkle, then you'll love a P90. We think the P90's are an excellent choice on the Midtown.
Upgraded pickups: Has a Seymour Duncan SP90-1N in the neck and an SP90-3B in the bridge. The SP90-1N is built and designed to sound like a vintage P90 from the early 1950's. It's clear and articulate and produces fat, smooth chords with a warm and classic character. It provides "midrange grittiness" and growl while maintaining sparkly highs. To remain faithful to the original 1950s design, these use Alnico V magnets and are wound with plain enamel wire on Duncan's Leesona machine from the old Gibson factory in Kalamazoo. The SP90-3B is a hotter version and uses high output ceramic magnets and extra winds of copper wire. It has more compressed dynamics and a sharp attack, keeping high-gain sounds defined and detailed, and provides a balanced frequency response with extra punch, fat growling chords, and sparkling harmonics.
Luthier's Measurements and Assessment:
Features and Specs:
About Del Mar Lutherie: We’re a small shop in San Diego County, California. We build electric guitars, hand-wired tube amps, and do mods and setups. We also buy and sell vintage and used gear. Our owner is a guitar enthusiast, wood worker and professional engineer by training. We’re part of the local guitar community (Fender, Taylor, Carvin/Kiesel). We welcome clients by appointment.
Why buy from us? Our customers have peace of mind knowing they are buying from a highly rated professional shop. We've been doing this type of work since 1999 and have thousands of happy customers. We pride ourselves in providing best-in-class personalized service for each of our clients. We are a Reverb Preferred Seller, and our approval rating is close to 100%.
Dr. T’s Professional Inspection and Setup: You may find a similar guitar at a lower price, but ours may still be the better value as we include our professional inspection and setup. This service costs from $80 to $150 at most shops. With over 25 years in the industry, we’re convinced that a good setup is the single most important investment to improve the playability and sound of your guitar. Here’s what in entails. We inspect the guitar and address issues. Next, we remove the strings and tighten and set the drag on the tuners. We inspect the frets, find any high spots, then level, crown and polish. We clean and oil the fingerboard, restring, tune to pitch and set the neck relief, action and intonation. We then play each fret and check for fret buzz and fret-outs during bends, and we fine-tune as required. Next, we test the electronics, clean and tighten pots and jacks and balance the pickups. Occasionally, we find a fault with the electronics, so we dig in and diagnose and repair that. Once the electronics are tip top, we play the guitar to make sure everything is just right. Finally, we clean and polish the guitar, then slacken the stings to get it ready for shipping.
String Gauges and Settings: We do our setups using common string gauges and settings, which we've found work well for most players. For electrics, we use 9-42 gauge strings for Fender (25.5") scale guitars and 10-46 for Gibson (24.75") scale guitars. We set action to 0.050 on the high e side and 0.060 on the low E side. This action is fairly low and allows for easy fretting without buzzing or sacrificing tone. If you have special preferences, please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Fine Tuning Adjustments: Your guitar will be playing and sounding wonderful when we finish our setup. However, occasionally minor adjustments will be needed after shipping due to changes in temperature and/or humidity, rough handling or other unfavorable conditions. Since we have no control over this, we cannot cover the cost of these adjustments. However, if your guitar was mishandled during shipping, please let us know, so we can see if a shipping claim is in order. Sometimes it’s possible to get you a partial refund to help cover issues if we can show that they were caused by shipping.
Condition Ratings: We do our best to be consistent with Reverb’s condition rating system. Please keep in mind that Reverb’s descriptions are very general and can be open to interpretation. The guitar you get will be the one shown in the photos, and if it has any major flaws or defects, we will point them out in the listing. Our guitars rated below “Mint” will have signs of use and cosmetic imperfections, including minor dings, dents and swirl marks, which might only be visible upon close inspection. If you are sensitive to minor cosmetic defects, please let us know, and we can provide you with close-up photos. We do not accept returns nor give partial refunds if you receive your guitar and believe that it should have been rated lower. We’ve sold thousands of guitars, and almost without exception, our clients have not had issues with our ratings. This tells us that we are doing a great job with our condition ratings.
Standard of Care: We strive to meet our clients’ expectations, and we want you to be happy with your purchase. Guitars develop wear with use and it’s widely accepted that honest wear adds character and shows that the guitar has been played and loved. Our used and vintage guitars will have signs of use. Our Del Mar Lutherie brand guitars are hand-built and will have artifacts that some people might view as "imperfections". If you want a guitar in “perfect” or “flawless” condition, we advise you to buy new from an authorized dealer or buy locally so you can inspect it in person. We do not guarantee that our guitars will be cosmetically flawless, and we don’t accept returns or give partial refunds due to cosmetic imperfections.
Specs: We list specs as a courtesy. Some specs are measured by our techs. Others are taken from the manufacturer's data. Manufacturers change specs all the time, and their listed specs may not be 100% accurate. Also, some used guitars have mods that may not be apparent upon visual inspection. The guitar you will get is the one shown in the photos. If there are any "deal breaker" specs that you must have, please let us know so we can double check for you before your purchase.
Videos: We often provide YouTube links to provide our clients with more information. These videos will be of a similar make and model which is representative of the guitar in our listing.
Shipping: We ship guitars via UPS ground. The fee shown includes shipping within the contiguous USA with insurance. It also includes packaging materials and our time to pack up and drop off at UPS. For guitars, shipping costs are controlled by box size and insurance is based on value.
Delivery Time: We do our best to get your guitar setup, boxed and shipped as soon as possible. However, sometimes this can take a few days depending on our workload and other factors. Once UPS receives your guitar, they will estimate a delivery date, which you can access via Reverb. UPS will typically deliver your guitar within 2 to 7 business days after they receive it, depending on your distance from Southern California. If you're in a hurry, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you, or at least we can advise you of the estimated wait, so you can decide if you need to make other arrangements.
Damage Claims: Although rare, guitars sometimes are damaged during shipping. If you receive a guitar that is damaged, please let us know immediately so we can open a claim.
Returns and Canceled Orders: We are a small business and can’t afford to offer free returns like the big guys. There is a lot of time, effort and cost involved with processing your order, pulling your guitar from inventory, setting it up, packing and shipping it. Please make sure you want the guitar before you commit to buy. If we agree to a return or to cancel your order, you will be responsible for shipping costs (both ways) and a restocking fee to cover our time.
Trades: We are a professional guitar business. Anything we take on trade, we resell. Due to shipping costs and transaction fees, we only do trades in person. To make sense for us, we can only offer wholesale value, which is typically 40% to 60% of what it would sell for on Reverb. This is usually as good or better than Guitar Center. If you’re OK with this, please send current photos of the actual gear you have for trade. We need brand, model, year, and condition. Note any mods, repairs or other issues. If your guitar includes a hard case or gig bag, send photos of that as well.
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