Ventura ES-335 Copy

My Ventura ES 335 model is with 2 humbuckers. It is not with pickups that you can use in single coil mode, but it has an interesting pickup switching. Instead of toggle switch it has the volume pot for each pickup and 4 slide switches, two for switching pickups on and off and two with capacitors for adding the darker tone to each pickup. Very versatile indeed. It also has bolt-on neck and the arch top is without F holes, which looks great. It sustains better than my 74 Gibson ES 335 with set neck (of course). It is not true that set neck sustains better, it is how accurately the body-neck connection is made. The body and neck is made by maple. It is an late 60's or early 70's model. The rest is just like Gibson ES 335.

It is incredible. I try to find any possible excuse not to say it sounds better than my expensive Gibson, but I am close to addmit that. At least it sounds equaly well and for one third of the price. Actualy, this one and my 78 Greco 335 are my two favourite guitars. Gibson is there as well, but more for the price increase for vintage guitars. The Ventura is real piece of art. If you get around it, grab it.

Great setting and plays smoothly with low action.

Excellent!

I really don't see the reason of buying Gibson guitar at 3 times the price, unless you are doing it as an investment.

Price Paid: $530 out the door.

Early 1970s vintage with Guild or Gibson style headstock pre-lawsuit era so it looks exactly like a Gretsch Country Gentleman built on an ES 335 body. Near mint condition with original hardshell case. Just a tiny bit of tarnish on the gold plated hardware otherwise superb condition. All of the same controls as the Gretsch...on/off switch, three way pick up switch, volume knob, tone knob and two switches so you can select single coil or double coil mode from the front or rear humbucker pickups. All of the electronics work as if new. No static or shorts when switching back and forth between pick-ups or modes. Neck appears to be rosewood with really well done trapezoid mother of pearl inlays. Great action and sustain. The neck is very narrow up by the headstock which I like. The quality of the finish appears to be very good. Better than most Japaneese guitars of the era and maybe a notch below the quality of a modern Epiphone Les Paul. The tuning knobs, volume knobs are good but not Grover quality. The tremelo is a Bigsby copy and it's good but not Bigsby quality. This axe is a semi-hollow body with painted on false F holes.

I've owned two Gibson ES 335s which I loved and regret selling. I can't tell the difference between the tonal quality of this axe and a Gibson ES 335. The Ventura sounds just as good and it can create a much broader range of sounds because you can use the guitar in single coil mode -something you cannot do with a 335. So far I've used the Ventura through my Roland 25 Watt practice amp on the clean, distortion and metal setings. I find this guitar to sound best clean because the tone is so fantastic. Clean seems to be the mode in which you can best hear the differences in the many different sounds this guitar makes. I've also used this guitar with my Dean Markley amp which I believe is 150 Watts. It sounds great and I haven't had any trouble with feedback. When the guitar is in double coil mode the sound is very rich and full just like a 335. I really love using the guitar in single coil mode...that's when it really rips. The single coil sound is very bright and twangy...reminds me of the sound of a Les Paul Gold Top with P90 pickups or a Fender Telecaster. The range of sound options is just amazing. You can select front pickup, rear pick-up or both and you can choose single coil, double coil or a combination. Math isn't my strong suit but I think there are about 36 different modes to choose from!

The fit and finish is better than most Japaneese guitars I've seen made during the 70s for the American market. Ventura was a division of Kaman Corporation, makers of the Ovation Guitar. I'm told Kaman contracted the manufacture of this guitar to the same Japanese manufacturer that makes Ibanez and the manufacturer was instructed to build the Country Gentleman as a high quality knock off. I rate it comparable in quality to a made in Japan Fender.

The factory strap buttons are small and do not extend out far enough to secure a strap safely. The front button is easily replaced with a better aftermarket button. The rear button cannot be replaced because it is a permanent part of the tremelo unit. The gent at the shop where I bought the axe has several after market options that can solve this problem inexpensively. Other than that the guitar is a ripper and perfect for playing out. I would never do a paid gig without a back up axe no matter what I was playing. You never know what might happen and the show must go on. That said I would not be concerned about having problems with this guitar.

Not applicable. As far as I know Ventura is out of business.

Right now beside this axe I own an Epiphone Les Paul that I love and a made in the USA Ovation Celebrity. In the past I've owned two Gibson ES 335s. I probably paid a little too much for this Ventura but I love the way it sounds and it's in like new condition with the original hardshell case. At the price I paid I give it an overall rating of 9. If you find one of these guitars in good condition for anywhere between $200 and $400 buy it on sight.

These Country Gentleman-style Venturas are quite a find if you can get ahold of them. I found mine before I knew anything about it or Ventura guitars and played it originally to test out an amp! The sound amazed me right away and I couldn't beleive the quality for the price. This guitar is extremely well put together and has a beatiful dark rosewood finish and fretboard. I features two stereo humbuckers, volume and tone knobs, an "on/of" switch, coil-taps for each pickup and a three way pickup gibson-style selector. It also has a great bigsby style tremelo with a nice rosewood inlay. It has a couple of unusual features such as a slant-mounted neck pickup (and slant-cut neck) and an oddly shaped wavy pickguard (easily removed). This guitar is also completely hollow and gets a more chunky "hollowbody" sound than my Gibson ES-335. I couldn't believe how well maintained it was for being made in the 70's and for $250 w/gig bag it was a steal.

The sound is the reason I bought it. I thought I had all the "hollowbody-electric" sounds I would need out of my Gibson 335 and Rickenbacker 330 but this little japanese number threw me for a loop. (I later sold the Rickenbacker because this thing more than filled it's shoes.) It gets everything from the all out Niel Young snarl and Beatles "I Feel Fine" chunky chime to mellow 335-like singing fat distortion tones. I have also used it exclusively at all my (rare) jazz gigs. Just creatively this guitar is amazing, I find songwriting to really flow easily on it and it is the PERFECT recording guitar. It gets all those unique and in-between rhythm tones that producers and studio guitarists love. Another great trait is its ability to produce incredibly musical feedback. By manipulating the bigsby while a note is feeding back you can just make the thing weep and sigh with that etherial feedback tone. I have been able to do entire solos in feedback with this thing and I have NEVER come across that on any other guitar.

The action is very low and great for chords, though there are some fret buzz problems near the very top of the neck. Other than that (which is most likely due to age and use) I have found the workmanship to be fantastic. Besides some kinda silly design stuff like the slant pickup thing and the plastic humbucker covers this guitar looks like something 5 times its price. I would definitely call this a rhythm guitar though, solos are iffy due to the sketchy fret stuff, but that just a question of some repairs. I would say its range of tones are best suited to backround stuff though, just really unique and sparkley.

This thing holds great tune and has held up wonderfully over the years, some of the best durability I've ever seen with its relative quality of hardware. I've played lots of gigs with it without a backup and it has come through perfectly

I think Ventura is out of business nowdays, I've never heard of a dealer even for their vintage stuff and judging by the internet they are incredibly hard to find.

I've been playing about 6-7 years now and have gone through about twenty guitars. I currently own a 1957 Hofner acoustic/electric (w/afterstock single coil pickup), a 1995 Gibson ES-335, a 1978 Guild acoustic, and a custom Stratocaster I built from a Tanara body and neck fitted w/ Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups. I play all of them through a Fender DeVille 2x12. This guitar fills the sparkley, Beatles Revolver era gap in my collection and is a fantastic guitar for the money. I don't know what I'd do if it got stolen, I don't know if I could find another one but I'd sure try. This guitar is really one of the best kept secrets as far as obscure vintage stuff goes. If people cought on I think these things would be going for upwards of $800 and they would be worth every penny. I'm extremely grateful to have stumbled across it.

Gretch country gentleman copy. The place where I purchased this said it was a 1961 model (I have no idea if that is accurate or not). Translucent red finish. 22 fret bolt on neck w/ bound headstock and fretboard. The end of the fretboard is also cut at an angle. The body is bound and is also hollow and has a very small block under the bridge inside. Gold plated hardware w/ a bigsby style tail piece that is covered in what appears to be rosewood. The bridge is also floating and the neck has a zero fret. There are two humbucking pickups that have gold plated plastic covers. As for controls, there are two coil splitters for the pickups (the one for the neck PU doesn't work well, the switch needs replaced). There is also a 3 way PU selector, a stand by switch, and a volume and tone control. The neck idth at the nut is very narrow. It was not that bad for me to get used to, but definitely narrower than any of my fenders or PRS. In my opinion, there are not many more features that would be possible for thi guitar to have. A set neck would have been nice, but for this price range, I don't believe that could be held against this guitar.

I play all sorts of music like blues, heavier stuff, older zeppelin and sabbath tunes and just about anything else as well. I cannot believe how much I like the way this guitar sounds!! I have a real old harmony tub amp that I plug this into along w/ a cranked boss DS1 pedal and the bridge pikup can spew the heaviest sounding sabbath riffs you coud ever expect to hear. Even though it can do this, i can switch over to th neck PU and back off of the pedal and turn up the amp and play some really fat and warm blues lines. i don't really know much jazz, but i am confident that this guitar is versatile enough o do that as well. I also love the dandy warhols and the velvent underground and this is the perfect guitar for that stuff. Overall, I consider this guitar very very versatile. If you had this one, a telecaster, and a nice acoustic, i think that collection would be capable of just about any sound possible.

The action is VERY low, but there are ZERO fret buzzes and absolutely no rattles. I wasn't very knowledgeable about zero rets when i first bought it, so I thought it needed a new nut, but I just neded to make a slight groove in the zero fret to keep the high E further away from the edge of the fret board. This fixed that problem. There is also very minor fretwear in the lower position. It actually feels better than my guitars w/ perfect frets, though. It is just really smooth to play. One thing that I don't like is how narrow the nut is, though. I have kind of big hans, so the lower position is a little cramped for me. I am getting used to this, though, and it is getting much easier to play. The binding is of surprisingly good quality. There is a small seam visible where the neck and head stock bindings meet, but it doesn't look bad in my opinion. The finish is real nice and shiny still; someone appeared to have taken really nice care of this guitar, which is kind of rare for older, cheaper instruments. The pickguard is also missing, but it till has the felt spacer on the front as well as the other screw still in the hole. The strap buttons were loose due to older, stripped, mismatched screws, so I replaced them w/ new ones (the screws, I mean ). The only other prob is the neck PU coil splitter toggle being kindof funky, but I don't really care about that and have no plans to mess w/ it.

I haven't had it for very long, yet. It is at least 30 years old (mybe 40 if the 1961 date is right), so I would say to survive this long, it must b pretty tough. the nect is perfectly straight, all the frts are tight and not loose, all binding still attached w/ no signs of coming loose, all electronics original and the only piece that doesn't work is the neck PU coil splitter. The finish on some of the gold plated hardware has some ware, but no more than you would expect out of a guitar that has been played for 30-40 years. Overall, I would definitely say that it will last a long time, especially since I take really good care of my stuff.

I really doubt they are still in business.

I love this guiar I mean, I have weighed the good w/ the bad and decided that it is a very worthwhile addition to my collection. I can't afford a real Gretsch Country Gentleman, so this serves as a nice substitute. I have a decent collection right now, and I'll state it just so that it is obvious that this isn't the fist guitar I've ever had. I'm basing my analysis on comparisons of this Ventura to all my oter guitars. here they are :
Fender mexican fat strat,
Fender 50's RI strat,
Fender Toronado,
Fender Jagstang,
PRS Santana SE (w/ tremelo),
Danelectro 56 U2,
Gibson CL20 standard plus aoustic,
3 assorted silvertone/stella acoustics (really old; a '48, '67, '64)
I hope this review helps someone out. Sure took long enough to type it :)

i think it was made in the late 60's/early 70's,in japan. it has 22 frets, and a zero fret, a three way selector, volume and tone control, coil tap switches for each pickup (two humbuckers)and it has beautifully done transparent cherry finish, on maple, with a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. very pretty!
the body type is a grestch country gentelman, but just a bit smaller.it has a bigsby-style bridge, gold hardware, and older gotoh style tuners. the scale is a bit shorter than the country gentelman, but it plays quite nicely.

this guitar fits me to a t! i play emo- britpop style of music and this guitar is perfect for it. it has a nice, clear vintage beatles sound. i play it through a sovtek tube midget 50 watt amp, and it sounds amazing!

i always have my guitar tech friend reset up all my guitars when i get them- i like the action just on the stiff side- i get to wrestle with guitar a little bit- brings more emotion to the music. the electronics are all origional, and a extremely solid and there is no rust on here- just my own sweat and grime.

this guitar is as solid as any of my les pauls

great guitar! if you ever find one- pick it up- it sound s good , feels great and they are cheap! go get one today if you know of one!

I have recently picked up a Ventura Country Gentleman copy, which was
listed on ebay as a 335 copy, which it is not. However, I knew that;
and kept that to myself. I believe it is Nov. 1977 made. This thing is awesome. It is a dead ringer right down to the 'zero fret'. It has
painted on F holes. Actually it is a little smaller that the Gretsch
Country Gent, with a shorter scale. (I own a 1964 Gretsch Country Gent which I am afraid to gig with, due to value), so I searched for the Ventura Country Gent.
I'm pretty sure it has a laminated top, 2 Hums plastic with gold plate, sound great. The bridge Hum is angle mounted, however I straightened it easily. It has a 3 way switch, 1 switch for each p/u.
tone and vol brass like knobs and a stand-by switch almost same config as original.

It is pleasantly surprisingly growly in the lows when you blend pickups, a chunky Chuck Berry sound. The highs are screamers. The full range. Remember this thing was made in 1970s Japan probably by Ibanez. I use a 1999fender Hotrod deluxe. My pedal board has Korg
multi effectpedal, a Ibanez PT3, The stock fender amp pedal, and a tone works f11.

The finish color is very close to the Gretsch country gent, with painted on F holes. The neck is narrow, and action low. I set it up
and like the low action. For a 25 yr. old guitar it looks new !
The electronics are all orig, nothing loose. This thing must have been closeted most of its life.

Everything seems very durable. I haven't gigged it yet but will very soon. I dont think I need a backup axe.

Haven't tried to reach them. I dont think Ventura guitars are still
a company.

I saw the Beatles live 1966. That's how 0ld I am. I own a 1964 Gretsch
Country Gent. in excellent condition. 2 Fender stratocasters, an Ibanez Les Paul copy 1976. A custom made Carvin AE185, 1998. A sigma
Martin DM1 acoustic, and a nylon string classical Aria, 1968.
Fender hotrod deluxe.
I so pleased that I found this Ventura Country Gent. It is in mint
condition. A dead ringer.

made in 1973 in japan. an exact copy of a 335. solid top in cherry red with wonderful wood grain. full b/w binding throughout including on the f-holes. trapeze bridge. vintage plastic pegs with shaller type machines

not quite the sustain of the real thing it does rock quite well thru my crate vintage club (20 watts)all tones and volumes work well as does the 3-way switch. tons o tone from bright country twang to in yer face punk all without the use of effects, just switch/knob variations do the trick

excellent finish considering almost 30 years old. quiet controls and well dressed frets make this a dream to play. tuning pegs have yellowed nicely. a real vintage look. the only drawback on this axe is the gold tone hardware has lost some of its tone

played alot when first bought and never had a problem with anything. great in the studio. has a good solid feel. im sure after 30 years something would have happened by now......heres to another 30!

are they even around anymore? the only ventura i ever hear about is my good ol guv

this is guitar number 8 and counting. the best 75 clams ive spent in a long time.....could easily double my money but why bother...let the ventura ROCK ON!

I believe that this guitar is +20 years old, made in Japan. It has a laminated top, the veneer being rosewood. This goes for the whole body. There are two humbucking pickups, four switche (on,off on,off tone neck tone bridge). The tone control is hard wired, and cannot be changed. There is a pot for each pickups volume. The neck is three of three pieces of maple, with a thick gloss finish. Fingerboard is rosewood, and has plastic inlays. Frets appear to be low profile and wide. The binding is four layers (bwbw) on body, and one white layer up the neck.

The guitar is great for blues and honky-tonk. I originally got to have the feel of a Chet Atkins. I don't use effects, except for the distortion on my little Crate amp. Depending on the pickups selected, the sould can go from mellow bright, to mellow mellow. With both pickups on, it has a sound kind of like a "Reelin in the Years" that just won't sustain.

Oringinally the set up was horrible. I bought it used, cheap because one of the pickups had something wrong with it. So I took it out, and started unwinding it, and about 25 winds down, it was broken, so I just removed that part and hooked back up. The action was horribly high on the high end. I ended up pulling the neck off and proping in up with little slivers of wood, temporarily, although it was lasted be two years now. I have the action about as low as it can go without buzzing, making it very easy to play. I also filed the bridge back to its original shrap shape. The binding has broken lose around the neck joint on the body, but it is still in place and is hardly noticable unless your playing it very close.

I have played it for hours just about every day for the past 4 years. (It doesn't that long.) I have only had to clean the output jack once. The hardware is brass, I mean "gold" but it has oxidized. I just let it be. I would trust this guitar at a gig more than I would trust my amp.

I think these guys left town after they made this guitar.

Japanese made copy that looks very true to the original. Mine is red flame with white binding and gold hardware. The finish is in excellent condition. The pickups and tuners were replaced before I purchased the guitar with Shaller tuners and standard Gibson humbuckers. Mine has gold colored hardware but the gold finish is in poor shape. Has a full trapeze style bridge. Black knobs. Fake mother of preal block inlays in fingerboard. Laminate top and back. Fair to poor quality hard case.

With the Gibson humbuckers the sound is good. But sustain is definitely less than with a real ES-335. The pickup switch is very crackly and several cleanings haven't completely fixed it. The switch should be replaced with one that's better sealed.

The action is a big plus on this guitar. The action is fast! It has the original frets and the neck is thin. The frets aren't as high as on a ES-335 though they're not so low as to cause a problem. I have the action set quite low without any buzzes or dead spots.

The weak spot is the bridge - it's a cheap knock off of a Tune-O-Matic - it buzzes and it doesn't have enough adjustment to allow a short enough string length for a .009 high E string. It probably has enough adjustment for .010 though I've never tried one. I'd replace it with a better one but the size and threading of the adjustment holes doesn't match a standard Tube-O-Matic. I don't want risk damaging the finish to replace the bridge mounts.

Fit and finish is good. The bookmarked top looks great. The binding is still secure and there are no separating joints. It's held up well for a copy considering the climate changes it's seen in its life.

Mine has seen very little road use so I can't speak to durability. It used to go to all my garage band gigs for blues (e.g., Allman Brothers) and as a backup but that role is now filled by a Les Paul. I still take it sometimes just to show it off on a stand.

The finish has held up fine (one very small nick). I wouldn't trust any of the original electronics if it were my main axe.

N/A

It couldn't be easily replaced if it were stolen - I probably wouldn't try very hard but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be sad. I don't own a real ES-335 so it's all I have when I want to do my B.B. King impression (not very often). It serves that purpose well and looks great hanging on the wall the rest of the time. As an everyday axe it probably wouldn't cut it. As a third or fourth electric guitar in a collection lacking similar guitars it's great. But be prepared to replace some or all of the original hardware if you really ant to play it.

Made in 70's? I received it in the late 70's for a trade. Made in Japan. 22 frets. Very Pretty red burst that gets people's attention. Copy of ES-335 right down to the headstock. Maxim pickups that still sound good now. I replaced the tuners a while back since they didn't keep in tune. Pretty much standard. The tailpiece and other chrome pieces losing their finish after all these years but still feel solid. I originally got this to do a gig for an oldie's band, I didn't have much money, and this had that "Chuck Berry look". I made more money from the gig then the guitar was worth.

Initially used with LabSeries L5. Now with Fender Hot Rod. Sounds good clean. Not quite an ES335 but I think a notch above Epiphone's model.

Low action, Someone filed the frets down before I got it. Needs a fret job now but I've been putting it off. No flaws. Initially the pickup controls were setup differently then others I've seen. I could take the palm of my hand and adjust the volume of both pickups with one hand. The pots got nasty, had them replaced and the Tech positioned pots per standard ES-335 which took me a while to adjust to.

I've played it live and it holds up fine. Even though the parts are losing their shine, the body finish still looks good after over 20 years. I now use this as a backup.

n/a

My Rating: 7.6. Looks good, plays OK. It's showing it's age. Too bad, these never really had much value. I've been playing over 20 years. I've got an Ovation, Epi LP, Stat., no name nylon, various others in my hands at sometime. I couldn't get much in value on this, so it still is with me today in good condition. I wouldn't buy another if I lost it, since I couldn't find another like it anyway. If I was looking for a cheap good guitar, this would qualify as a good deal.