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