Austin AU796TS ES-335 Copy

Surpisingly miced out copy. Cheap hardware, adequate pickups. Seems very well constructed. Nice red finish, decent high frets, nicely bound neck. Even f holes.

Sound with oem pick-ups was adequate. Used with a variety of amps and settings, wanted to be so much more, but cost cutting profit margin from the manufacturer prevents this, as far as the hardware and electronics are concerned.

Set-up was ok, as per usual, including present day american guitars the frets were not as good as they could be, I must mention I bought this to be a player, and off the rack it wasn't. But still better than what it was taken from. Shame on you Gibson.
Hardware was token.
finish is great with a feelable flaw on the back of the neck, but I can live with it.

I've had this guitar for 5 years, with the exception of completley re-doing the electronics and a crown and level, I've only had to tweak the neck once. Awesome. And again shame on you Gibson. Way more dependable than the real 335's I've owned since the 60's, and they were early 60's

Don't use, am a luthier by nesessity.

Playing pro 40 years. Owned the real ones, from the 'real' years. This actually compares quite favorably. I'd get another, but who knows where to find them, and what're they like now. Got mine from a friend who owns a store and this was from the frst serious batch. Also put a 'real truss cover on by all intents and purposes it a custom axe. Even if it was made in Korea, which is not so bad anymore. Consider how all the other whiners make them, and laugh in your face as they overcharge you for shoddy workmanship and poor quality control.

I loved everything but the hardware and pickups, wiring etc. So I put in real (Had some vintage Les Paul parts laying around)gibson pups,tuners, bridge and pots. Wired with george L tiny wire. Sounds better than the so called real thing. For the price, and what I use it for is a steal. I can play it and not worry about it being stolen at a gig. Lose a gibson, it's like having your car stolen, or vandalised as far as the pocketbook is concerned.

22 frets
Slim-line semi-hollow body archtop
4 knobs: volume,tones.
Pickup selector switch.
Hummbuckers - pretty hot -
Passive electronics.
Maple top, back, and sides.
Single Binding-front/back.
Maple set neck.
Bound rosewood finger board
Traditional dot inlays.
Stop tailpiece.
Tune-O-Matic adjustable bridge .
Closed tuning gears.
Slim neck

Beautiful tobacco sunburst finish
Fit is better than Gibson - beautiful guitar.

I play indie alot.. as well as grunge, rock, old style country. Johnny cash, foo fighters, nirvana, classic rock stuff etc. Dual humbuckers.. very nice tone, clean sounding is crisp and warm on neck. bridge, lots of bite. Not surprisingly it's a metal machine as well with tons of sustain that goes on for days... I play it thru crate 120 head, randall g3, marshall 50 watt head to 2 x 12 celestions cab, crate acoustic amp. Sometimes run it thru gnx3 workstation.. I'm pretty much just need a few effects, like chorus, reverb, delay and good distorted sound when needed.

This category is pretty useless to me. Every muscian needs to do thier own setup to their preferences..

Definitely a live playinig guitar. You take care of it and it will last a lifetime. It has a center block so it's pretty solid for a semi-hollow guitar.The only complaint would be to change out the tuners. You can easily fix them by adjusting tension reatio with screw ontop as they are sealed tuners.

never dealt with them

I've been playing for a while. I have at one point gone thru 40 guitars. Now to the point that I make my own. It's a bit bulky as all most oversized semi-hollow guitars. Not a nimble as others because of sheer diameter of guitar when standing. Here is another thing, You should place the strap lock on the horn as opposed to where they point it next to the neck joint. By doing so, it will sit just right when upright on stage standing.

It's built like a tank and sounds great. Just needs a few tweaks such are repostioning the strap locks and tightening sealed tuners. The neck is slim neck so it's pretty darn fast action.

made 2005,laminate top,2tone 2 volume,3way selecter,h/h pickups.austin 796 sessionmaster passive humbuckers.maple neck and body gloss finish,es335 style body with tune-o-matic bridge sealed tunners.no other accesories

play bluesy jazz,or jazzy blues and old rock so it's right on for sound.played through vox valvetronix with no effects. no noise played with atouch of dirt but not to the point of buzztone.great sounding ,sweeton all pick up positions,twangy on the brige mellow without being tubby on the neck. sweet axe

needed bridge lowered but thats all.entire finish was excellant,couldn't find any problems

can't tell just new . would go without backup

3year warranty, new so no warranty issues yet.

playing 38 years,cover bands.ibanez artcore ag75,artcore af85,epiphone sheraton, epi les paul jr. art and lutherie cedar folk .if i lost this guitar i would seek out another, really sweet.great sound (sheraton stays in case)

It's the natural finish with 2 humbuckers a stop bar tailpiece. Two volume and two tone controls. I've replaced the stock tuners with Top of the line Schallers. The stock tuners kept slipping.

I play a lot of Blues, Rock-A-Billy and "old" R&B, and it's vintage sound is great for Blues and Rock-A-Billy... for blues I use either my Epiphone Les Paul 100, or my Ibanez Jet King (1). I play this through a Fender Blues Jr.

I did run into one very unusual problem with this guitar. I has a tendency to overload narrow range preamps. Like in my solid state channel switch amp. This causes a distortion, that unlike the amps built in effects, is not pleasent to hear. Does the same on my friend's Fender Pro Jr. too, but not on my Fender Blues Jr.

When I got this guitar it had been set up with a high action for slide... I set it at the lowest possible action and with the help of a friend's equiptment have it intonated perfectly.

I love this guitar's neck. Of all the ES set neck models I've owned or tried (have owned both early 60's Gibson ES 330 Single Pick Up and Gibson ES 335 Dot and prefer the neck on this Austin to either of them.

This is a laminated semi hollowbody archtop, which are more fragile than a solid body guitar. I feel that it will survive many years of playing and with the exception of breaking a string, would readily rely upon it for a live performance.

I have not had any need for contacting the company. I bought this used at Daddy's Junky Music and they stand behind what they sell.

I have been playing since 1966. In addition to this Austin ES 335 I have an Epiphone Les Paul 100, an Ibanez Jet King (1) and a Yari DY 47 acoustic guitar that I use with a Dean Markley Pickup. A Danville 80 Watt solid state channel switch amp and a Fender Blues Jr.

Bought this guitar in 2000.
I saw it in the store and fell in love with it after playing it for about 30 minutes.It's the natural finish with 2 humbuckers a stop bar tailpiece.I've replaced the stock tuners with Grovers.The stock tuners kept slipping.

I play southern rock,country and oldies.When i got the guitar i was using it through a 72 Twin Reverb and i'm currently using a Vox ADVT120. The stock pickups sound really full yet i can get a nice bright sound from them.

I had the store put Ernie ball 10's on it when i got it but have switched back to the original 9"s. I never have to work to play this guitar. It feels so good that I can take it out on a gig and never worry about killin myself to play anything.
The switch did crap out on me so i replaced it with a switchcraft.
The stud for the stop bar tailpiece was loose and had to be repaired .

It is very dependable at gigs. I take a Strat or Tele with me for other sounds but it holds it's own very well.

Never had to deal with them.

Features described in other reviews. This one is stock with 2 main differences that I am sure about: new pickups and a selectable coil tap. See the 'sound' category. As it is outfitted, it has more features than stock and better pickups. So I rate it as is: '10' because yours could be there as well with a simple mod if the pups are 4 wire.

'8' with these additions: Duncan '59 at the neck and JB at the bridge. Both are adjusted to 3/32 under the strings and the polepieces adjusted with a radius guage to match the fretboard radius. I believe this step alone improves the sound by 15-20% easily.
This guitar's previous owner did a selectable 3 way mini toggle for coil tap: forward=north coils only, middle = full humbucker, back=south coils only. The south coils only choice gets a crispy, tangy and 'countrified' sound. It's effective in all 3 pickup selector switch positions and especially good for middle and bridge positions.

The '59 at the neck is pretty good; the JB is not that great. I will be switching to TrueToneTechnologies '57 Classic and Hybrid pickups soon.

This is a well made guitar with good frets and they are smoothed correctly. The binding everywhere is very well done and creamy, not cheezy white. It's a very attrative guitar and the chrome is shiny and well done. The tuners are pretty good, but not top notch.
This guitar as I got it second hand plays excellent. Every experienced player who handled it agrees: it is really a great player and versatile.
I see no cosmetic flaws and I'm picky. Typical of good Korean build quality. I'm rating a '10' because it is a $350 used guitar with hard case to me. Value wise, it is unbeatable. I bought a used Austin SG copy on the strength of this one for $175 w. hard case. Go look at the reviews of the Austin SG copy before you laugh. I laugh at $1800 for an ES335 the way Gibson makes them.

This style guitar is delicate on top and back, by its nature. Just use reasonable care and it will last. They are well made guitars, nicely detailed, good necks, finished and assembled very well. As it stands, it's nearly professional caliber, except the pickups are not superior, but that can be fixed for about $120 with TrueToneTechnologies pickps. They are in the same league with Fralins for about half the cost and a 3-4 week backlog. Rate it a '9'; looks and feels very well made to me.

Cannot say, but others remarks indicate they do a good job. These are made along with or by Aria, so that is a good indicator. These are NOT crappy cheap guitars: they are very well priced good quality guitars.

I own most every worthwhile basic guitar (vintage 80's Greco SG, custom Teles from Fralin's luthier, Tokai Silver Star Strat, Larrivee L05, Taylor 314CE, Rainsong GP1000...all good guitars and no junk).

The Austins represent the best value I ever saw under $500 unless you luck out on a good Ibanez AM (unlikely) or some of the AS series. For a 335 style guitar and about $150-170 to install a set of TrueToneTechnologies or even Kent Armstrongs, you can have a good guitar for cheap $$. For value...an easy '10'

The features have been stated already. Nothing to add.

I play in a dance band, rock, jazz, country, disco... I also play the blues. I've had the Gibsons and Epiphones and Ibanez, but never felt comfortable with them. This guitar produces the sound I am looking for! Lots of sustain. I'm playing it thru a Fender Princeton Chorus, but I've played it thru tube amps. It sounds great!

Well, I think it was made in Korea so the tuners aren't Grovers and the other parts are pretty inexpensive, but it looks wonderful and it plays really well.

I always have a backup guitar. I'm not gonna make people wait while I change a string or whatever. I think this guitar will hold up fine, but only time will tell.

I've been playing over 30 years. My main axe is a Godin Artisan. It's an absolutely wonderful guitar! I also have a Norman cutaway electric/acoustic. Rat II and Tube Screamer and Cry Baby. Yes, I would buy this guitar again. I love it cause it's affordable and plays and sounds great.
My advice - try one. Just remember that every guitar has it's own personality just like every player. Find something that YOU feel comfortable with and then play the hell out of it!

2002 Korea
22 frets
Slim-line semi-hollow body archtop
4 knobs: volume,tones.
Pickup selector switch.
Hummbuckers - pretty hot - much hotter than my '75 Tele
Passive electronics.
Maple top, back, and sides.
Single Binding-front/back.
Maple set neck.
Bound rosewood finger board (better than Gibson).
Traditional dot inlays.
Stop tailpiece.
Tune-O-Matic adjustable bridge (nice).
Closed tuning gears.
Slim neck (not as slim as the Fender).

Beautiful tobacco sunburst finish
Fit is better than Gibson - beautiful guitar.

1st - When it came in to Shivelbine's Music in Cape Girardeau MO, I went to pick it up. It would not tune. It sounded very cheap. HOWEVER, I left it for Kenny Martin to work over - new .10 DR strings, fresh set up - WOW. When I went back the next afternoon it played and sounded AS GOOD AS the 1960's Gibson ES 335 I had played the week before (it fretted better). Hope that doesn't offend, but I am serious! The pickups are the main difference, but I have no complaints at this point.

Hobby - Play a variety of styles. Play a lot of southern gospel, old country, some rock, jazz, blues, and my own material. Have been recording my own stuff on a Yamaha 4 track since 1986. This guitar will fit right in.

1981-82 Peavey Heritage amp - I did not know the Peavey could sound like that (120+ amps per channel).

Quiet as a mouse! No buzz - not a whisper.

No flaws on this one.

It was not set up well from the factory. If you are going to get one, buy it through someone who can set it up for you.

Now it is fabulous. Especially for the $429 I paid.

Everything is solid. I would take my Fender along for a different sound if needed. It will complement the Fender very well.

Starp buttons are solid.

Hardware is solid. Should hold up as well as any semi-hollow body.

I called the St. Louis based company prior to buying the Austin. They were very upfront with me about the guitar. I asked them questions about the pickups... How the guitar stacked up against Gibson reissues...they told me that the pickups were the main difference. These are made in Korea and may or may not be as good as the Gibsons. I was told to expect the Gibsons to be "hotter" and better. Like I said, they were honest, and I was able to speak to a real person who actually knew something about the guitar (1st tier no less).

I am 37, been playing since I discovered my dad's 1956 Melody Maker (which he still plays). I have played a '75 Fender Telecaster since 1980, and a nice Yamaha accoustic since around 1982. We do not trade guitars much in my family. My uncle still plays his 1940's Harmony (upside-down and backwards [lefty playing a righty].

I bought this guitar realizing that it may be another 20+ years before I get another - also, I figure my kids will take over the Fender at some point. The Austin provides excellent rhythm and lead tones. Also, it is an excellent counterpart to the Fender.

I have already been asking about '57 Hummbuckers. I think they would slide right into place for a couple hundred bucks. However, I am well pleased with it and do not have immediate plans for changing anything.

I asked a lot of questions before I bought it. I found out many things from Shivelbines, as well as other guitar dealers and the St. Louis Music Co. It seems that the pickups are the main issue - but everyone says Gibson quality has taken a nose-dive considering the price (I could buy at least 6 Austins for one Gibson ES 335 Reissue). I have to say, the Austin pickups are much hotter than the Fender pickups, and sound very much like the 60's ES 335 I played when doing my research.

The guitar is solid and it is sharp looking. My dad and I sat down at Shivelbines and played a 1963 ES330 ($1,800), the 1960's ES 335 (not for sale), and the Austin 796 ($429 - it was the natural finish Austin). Dad started playing guitar in a band with his brothers in 1948 (Rocky Mountain Boys), and I trust his instincts completely. He knows what a guitar from that era should sound like. After passing the guitars back and forth for an hour or so, he looked at the Austin and said, "this guitar (Austin) plays the best, the ES 335 is the classiest, the ES 330 is not the guitar that Austin is." He suggested I order the Austin in the Tobacco Sunburst. I did. I had never seen a TS color in person. It beats the natural hands down. In short - the TS Austin Session Master has the classy look of the 335, and it plays and sounds well enough to impress my dad.

I don't know when this particular guitar was made. It was
made in Korea.

22 frets
Semi-hollow body just like a ES-335 Gibson.
4 knobs: volume,tones.
Pickup selector switch.
Hummbuckers, which ones, who knows?
Passive electronics.
Maple top, back, and sides.
Single Binding-front/back.
Maple set neck.
Bound rosewood finger board.
Traditional dot inlays.
Stop tailpiece.
Tune-O-Matic adjustable bridge.
Closed tuning gears.
Slim neck.


The rating of "5" is for the basic standard traditional features
found on any ES-335 copy.

I wanted to try playing country and chicano music with something other
than a Telecaster. I tried this Austin and found the tone to be
a pleasant switch in tonality. I've gigged with it in a small
night club venue playing through a Fender Vibrolux with two ten inch
speakers and found the "traditional" semi-hollow tone for an old
style country/chicano mood.

The guitar is very noiseless as I set the guitar wide open and
make conservative adjustments on the amp. The lead pickups
have that typical Chet Atkins tone while the rythm pickups
are dark yet distinctive. The tone is not as loud as most
guitars of this type. Or, at least, my Austin is not as
loud as my Ibanez of the same semi-hollow body design.
But, this is o.k. with me. And, of course, the dual
hummbuckers do produce a very good saturation for
creamy sustained lead work.

I give it a "9" in the sound category only because it has
a lovable tone, but not a tone that would make you own only
this guitar.

Muir guitars in McAllen, Texas did the set-up. They seem to
do excellent work. I went ahead and kept the string gauge at
.09 and left the action low. I usually play .10s with a medium
high action on a Telecaster. This Austin guitar is as sweet as
a woman. It is light weight when compared to my Ibanez and faster
in handling. I played a four hour gig with great comfort and ease.
The guitar responded to my every mood; I haven't had a guitar
play like this one in a long, long time.

The Austin semi-hollow body seems to have good construction of everything. Of course, I've only had it for awhile and things
haven't started falling off or going hay wire--fingers crossed.
But, I do believe that this guitar will stand up to my demands.
I do take care of my instruments. I really do not have any complaints
except for one. I did have to adjust the first string height because
of some excessive buzzing. I hope this is only a "breaking in" period.
So far, I haven't had to make any further adjustments.

The "9" rating is not a ten because I presume that a Gibson
would be a "10". It would sound bad giving this guitar a "10"
and it being many hundreds of dollars less than a Gibson.

If one takes care of an instrument it will last a lifetime.
This Austin should last a lifetime. I am betting that the hardware
should last as long as most typical instruments in this price
range.

I love the looks and feel of the finish.

I never gig with only one guitar for the simple reason that
freaky things can and do happen at the most in-opportune(sp?)
times.

It isn't a Gibson so I'll give it a "9" rating. It also doesn't
have the same price tag. And, in order to allow Muir's Guitars
to make some profits, I'll just say that I save a bundle on this
Austin AU796TS.

2 years limited warranty.

I've played professionally since 1976 and guitar since 1984 in
an educational career setting.

I've always like the semi-hollow bodied guitars, and especially
the sunburst versions. I love the tone and ease of play. I didn't
compare it to any other guitar. I chose it based on what I heard
and how it felt. I judge every guitar by its individual complements
and flaws.

I guess that Gibson would be a "10". The "9" is for that lack of
decorations, whistles, and bells. But, it is a very nice instrument.