335 1971 Epiphone

[Melvin]

I am looking to purchase a 1971 335 Epiphone – Cherry Red. It seems to be in great condition. I understand that 1971 was the first year that the 335 was made in Japan. Can anyone tell me about this guitar and if it is a good instrument. I want a 335, but I can’t afford a Gibson now. Anything you can tell me about the Epiphone 335 would be appreciated. If it is good shape, what would it be worth? I can purchase it for $300, is it a good buy? I currently have an American Strat and love it. Will the action be comparable?

 

[hubberjub]

Do you have any more info on the guitar in question? I don't think Epiphone made an actual 335 model in 1971. It might have been called something else. Most of the guitars they were making in that era were bolt on necks. Do you have any pictures or a serial number?

 

[markb]

I'd say you'd be much better off with a more recent Epi Dot. 70's bolt on Japanese semis really aren't up to much.

 

[Gregzy]

I'd say you'd be much better off with a more recent Epi Dot. 70's bolt on Japanese semis really aren't up to much.

+1...The so-called Epiphone 335 actually began life as an Aria 5102

which was re-branded as an Epiphone 5102T (and TE) in 1971 when Norlin decided to compete with Japanese import competition and contracted with Matsumoku (Aria) for production of a line of LOW end guitars. This is the guitar as it appeared in the first Japanese import Epiphone catalog in 1971 :

.

A year later Epiphone changed the model number to EA-250 (5102 was actually Aria nomenclature). The guitar has a bolt-on neck and extremely cheap Japanese electronics and hardware and as far as I can discern its value is in that it's a 70s Japanese import and it seems those have attained the mythology of having some higher quality and mojo when in fact, they were quite cheaply built. There were a VERY FEW guitars made in Japan in the 70s that were more than near-future land fill...and this isn't one of them.

There was a line of Matsumoku/Aria-made Epiphones from about 1974 to 1986 that were of a higher quality but marketed only in Japan and there was also a model labeled as a "Riviera" (not to be confused with the Kalamazoo-made Riviera) that was quite similar to an ES-335:

and the Aria 5102 was also sold under the "Lyle" brand:

but as with the Epiphone version, these could all be indicative of the term "cheap Japanese guitars".

The EA-250 model evolved to having "Riviera" added to the EA-250 model number and a "deluxe" version with gold hardware was marketed in the mid 70s as the EA-255 "Casino".

These guitars were pretty low end and the current ES offerings from Epiphone are miles above them. As I said, there's been a mythology about Japanese guitars that has been exploited to give these things a premium but in actuality there were maybe a dozen different Japanese models from different manufacturers that were more than garbage. Buy a current Epiphone Dot, get some value for your money and forget this "vintage Japanese guitar" nonsense.

Greg