Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, video





Epiphone ES-339 Ultra:

Epiphone shows the official demo and the  "getting started with Guitarrig"  video's.



epiphone es-339 ultra

 
In addition to my posts regarding the Epiphone Es-339 Ultra, here and here, these video's, originally from Epiphone, give a good impression about the sounds and (acoustic) electronics of the Es-339 Ultra. I'm aware that the video's are a bit promotional, but I didn't find other video's about the Ultra as informative as the ones below. Still, If you're interested in the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, they're worth watching

Nick Colionne presenting and playing the ES-339 Ultra

In the first video, jazz guitarist Nick Colionne, who, in his play, combines jazz, R&B, blues and funk, presents the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, and plays it. He obviously loves the big, warm sounds in this guitar, and the acoustic Shadow Nanomag pickup. For him, the sound of a guitar is more important than the build-in electronics.

 

Register the ES-339 Ultra (and Les Paul Ultra), and downloading, installing and using Guitarrig-4

The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra comes with a free copy of Guitarrig-4 LE. When you follow the instructions in the manual it's not clear where to register the ES-339 Ultra ( and the Les Paul Ultra) and how to download and install the Guitarrig software. In this video Epiphone gives the answers. It took me a while to figure it out myself, and probably lot's of Ultra-owners had the same problems. Good thing Epiphone provided this how-to video.

The controls and electronics on the Les Paul Ultra (and ES-339 Ultra)

This last video is about the electronics and the controls on the Les Paul Ultra. It shows how to blend  the humbuckers and the Shadow Nanomag, how to use the Nanomag controls, how to use the onboard tuner and how to use the dual outputs and USB output. The ES-339 Ultra uses the same technology and controls as the Les Paul Ultra, so you get the picture!

Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster (vs Epi ES-339 Ultra)

Fender Acoustasonic Tele (vs Epi-ES-339 Ultra)

As I am the proud owner of a Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, I'm also very interested in other electric guitars with an acoustic pick-up system. One of these rare guitars is the Fender Acoustasonic telecaster.

fender acoustasonic fishman aura

Like the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster is some kind of a hybrid. Apart from the "normal" electronics, both guitars have a little extra, something that perhaps doesn't attract the players who are into the the authentic sound of a Telecaster or a ES-339, but for those looking for an extra (acoustic) sound  in a typical Fender Telecaster or ES-339 body, they deserve a closer look. What makes these guitars different from the rest is the built-in acoustic pick-up system. I reviewed my Epiphone ES-339 Ultra with the Shadow Nanomag acoustic pick-up here (the good) and here (the bad). The Acoustasonic on the other hand uses the Fishman Auro system for acoustic sounds.

Fender Acoustasonic with Fishman Aura-technology

Fender came out with the Acoustasonic Telecaster in 2010, and later that year it won the "best of the show" award at the NAMM. Understandable as the guitar stands out in the crowd due to the innovations packed in it.
The Acoustasonic Telecaster is available in white and sunburst and at first look it seems to be a regular Telecaster as we all know them.
At closer look you can see that the iconic Telecaster bridgeplate is replaced by a rosewood bridge in the same style. Under the rosewood bridge Fender mounted the Fishman acoustic pick-up, and this one is the big surprise! Here the Telecaster get's the unexpected acoustic sound. At the top - side of the Acoustasonic the Fishman pre-amp is located. It has all the functionality and controls for the acoustic part of the guitar. Further more the neck pick-up is a Fender single-coil Telecaster, and the normal Telecaster controls for tone, and volume are set on the Acoustasonic Telecaster body. Nothing weird going on there.

Two outputs are available for the, seperate or mixed, acoustic and electric, pick-up systems. Both systems can be played and combined by using 1 amp or an electric and an acoustic amp, making it possible to play all styles of music you can imagine, and more. The body is hollowed which should help to generate a deep warm acoustic sound, and lower the weight a little bit as all the electronics bring in a little extra. Old Telecaster looks, new sounds!

fender acoustasonic telecaster fishman controls

Fender Acoustasonic vs ES-339 Ultra

The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra and the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster have lots in common. They each have, in their own way, a classic well loved body type. Both instruments use innovative electronics to bring, next to the 339 and Telecaster sound, a (modulated) acoustic sound to live. Hollowed bodies, seperate controls for magnetic and acoustic pick-ups, double output to split and mix the sounds. The Acoustasonic with Fishman and the ES-339 Ultra with Shadow's Nanomag; both systems are discretely mounted in the bodies.

The controls for the acoustic pick-ups are located at the back of the guitar(Epiphone ES-339 Ultra), and at the side-top of the guitar (Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster). I would prefer the controls located at the side-top. My ES-339 Ultra has them on the back, and you have to move the guitar away to use them. I think Fender did a better job with the Acoustasonic telecaster, speaking in terms of ergonomy. When it comes to making a choice between the Fender and the Epiphone I think it all depends on the looks and charactaristics of each guitar. You either love the Fender or the ES-339. The body types and electric sounds of the Acoustasonic and the 339 Ultra have their own color, and as both acoustic systems are well developed, and offer balanced acoustic tones, there's the choice.

fender acoustasonic telecaster sunburst

Epiphone ES-339 Ultra review (the bad)

 Review of the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra

Epiphone ES-339 Ultra built in chromatic tuner

As promised in my previous post, "the good", here is the second part of my review of the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra. It's time for the "bad"!

About 35 years ago I took guitar lessons for some years. At that time I played a classical Yamaha guitar,  nylon strings, and the pieces I played where also classic. Nylon strings and fingerpicking. It's a big step from a classical guitar to an electric guitar, but the semi-hollow body of the ES-339 Ultra still gives me the feeling and the natural sound of an accoustic guitar. Begin january 2012 I bought the guitar at my local guitar dealer.

The bad:

The Cherry-red color on the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra looks great, and overall the laquer finish is excellent. I'm sorry to say that not all of the guitar has the same building quality. The edges on the inside of the f-hole are rough; no sanding here. Further more the first 2 frets on the fingerboard are not polished well. When bending the high "e" and "b"strings they rasp and it all feels a bit sticky, I hope you get my point. Also the battery-lid in the Shadow Nanomag control compartment at the back of the guitar raises about a milimeter above the rest of the panel.

Last but not least, 2 out of 4 volume knobs move very loose when turning, and when all knobs are turned in "0" position they are not outlined.

Didn't I notice these issues when I played and bought the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra? My fault, I was blinded by the looks......

I mostly play the Nanomag in combination with the neck pick-up. After some experimenting with all possible combinations between the Nanomag and both the humbuckers I noiticed that with both pick-ups selected, with the toggle switch in the middle position, the output was weak, and from my hearing, only the neck pick-up takes part in the play. When searching the internet (Google: problems with Epiphone Ultra) I learned that also other (ES-339 and Les Paul) Ultra owners experienced the same problem with the electronics.

Gibson also noticed the problem, and they posted important information for Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III and Ultra 339 owners!
Finally I have problems with installing the Guitarrig software which can be downloaded for free when the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra is purchased, but that's a nice topic for a future review.

Epiphone ES-339 Ultra body

Service:

As a service my guitar dealer offers every buyer a guitar set-up with neck adjustment and new stringing within 6 months after purchasing a (steel string) guitar. About 1 week ago I took the ES-339 Ultra and the printed information from Gibson to the shop. As their repair-staff is not familiar with the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra electronics they offered to send the guitar to the Gibson / Epiphine service center (in Europe), free of charge, and that's todays status. My guitar has left the building.....  I'll keep you posted!

Epiphone ES-339 outputs

Service update 1:

I received an email from the guitar dealer, informing me that my Epiphone ES-339 Ultra came back from the Gibson / Epiphone service center. The guitar has been at the service center for about 1 week. Also they asked me to inform them what kind of strings I wanted my ES-339 Ultra. Normally I would have chosen for D'Addario as I had them in my early years on my acoustic Yamaha (nylon strings, not steel strings), and I have always been content with D'Addario, but I read a lot of good things about the strings from Elixer (more about strings in later posts) so I choose for Elixer '10 strings. The dealer will restring and set-up my ES-339 Ultra.

Epiphone ES-339 Grover tuners

Service update final:

Today I picked up my ES-339 Ultra from the guitar dealer! The guitar has been away for about 2 weeks.

Restringing is done by the dealer, it now is stringed with Elixer. I don't know what strings have originally been on the guitar. The Gibson / Epiphone service center has replaced the neck pick-up, an Epiphone Probucker by Alnico. I had little time to check all functions and electronics, but it appears to me that everything works fine now. Both probuckers can be selected and they now give a firm output. So far so good!

Epiphone ES-339 Ultra review (the good)

epiphone es-339 ultra outputs

Review of the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra

The first guitar I bought, in january 2012, is the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, in Cherry Red. Lots of research was done, like reading reviews, in order to buy me the most suitable guitar.....:).

As I didn't know what kind of music or styles I was going to play (still don't know), I was looking for a guitar with lots of possibilities. The specifications of the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, and the fact that the price was within the budget made the choice for me. And.... I fell for the looks and the colour! I got the guitar for 599 Euro at Tonika, Groningen (my hometown), the Netherlands. It's time for a review.                             

The good:

First of all the ES-339 is smaller than the big Epiphone ES-355. Due to all the electronics stuffed in, the guitar only has 1 f-hole. and the electronics can be accessed from the back of the body. The ES-339 is easy to handle and play.

The Epiphone Ultra is equiped with 2 Epiphone (Alnico) probuckers in the neck and bridge, and, surprise, a "Shadow NanoMag" at the end of the fingerboard next to the neck pickup. The body is semi-hollow, and together with the Nanomag the guitar can give a deep warm natural acoustic tone. The 2 probuckers make it possible to play all kinds of music, from metal to rock, blues and jazz. All in all a nice blend between an (semi) acoustic and an electric guitar. Also the Epiphone Ultra has a USB, to connect the guitar to a computer, and use software like Guitarrig. The plate behind the outputs is made of metal, not a cheap kind of plastic plastic.

From Native Instruments the GuitarRig software can be downloaded for free when the ES-339 Ultra is registered at Epiphone, using the registration and download link from the Les Paul Ultra 3, which uses the same electronics and technology. It took me a little time to figure out where to find the serial number you need to register your Epiphone Ultra, it's placed on the inside of the battery lid, next to the panel with the Nanomag controls, at the back of the guitar.

Tuning the ES-339 Ultra is a simple job. A full function chromatic tuner is built into the mounting ring of the bridge probucker. Little colored leds indicates whether the string is "on tune" or not. It works perfect for me.

Extra is the double output, one mono and one stereo, so the humbuckers can be send to the amp and at the same time the nanomag can be send to an acoustic amp or a PA. I use my Fender Mustang I.

An acoustic amp is on my "wishlist", I would love to hear the guitar on 2 amps!
A lot is packed in this guitar, there's lots to play with!

The bad:

It's not only stars and stripes for the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra!

The second part of my review will be about "the bad", the problems and issues I have with the guitar.

epiphone es-339 ultra neck pickup and nanomag

epiphone es-339 ultra bridge

epiphone es-339 ultra head

The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra comes in amazing colors!

Last but not least, to complete the feast, Epiphone decided to offer the ES-339 Ultra not only in the colors red, sunburst and natural, but also in pelham blue. For me, this guitar only looks good in red, and the pelham blue.... far too much for me! Am I getting old?

epiphone es-339 ultra pelham blue

Guitars and guitar gear that's Guitarleaks

Guitarleaks

Tanglewood TR headstock

Guitars and guitar gear, reviews and experiences, news and history, that's what it's all about at Guitarleaks. 

My name is Maarten, I'm a 49 year old male from the Netherlands, putting new life in my passion for guitars. In my younger years I started out with lessons on the classical guitar, and recently my interest is going more and more towards electric and steelstring guitars, and other styles of music.

Early this year I bought an Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, and recently I obtained a Tanglewood TRF acoustic steel-string. The Tanglewood I bought due to the fact that the Epiphone has some electronic-issues and is sent to the Gibson / Epiphone service center in Europe by the dealer and I would probable have been without a guitar for about 4 weeks.....Here I hope to leak my experiences and interests regarding the guitar: wonderful guitars, gear, stories, history, news and everything related, which has my (and hopefully your) interest.

Fender Mustang I

The picture above shows the headstock of my Tanglewood TRF from the Rosewood Reserve series. As mentioned my Epiphone ES-339 Ultra is still at the Gibson / Epiphone service center to get the electronic problems fixed. Update: the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra is back home! In my next posts more about  the specifications and the issues of the Tanglewood TRF and the ES-339 Ultra.
Hope to see you again!