Is This Really A Gibson ES-Style For Cheap? || Stanford Crossroads Thinline 35 Review 

Thanks! Because of those I expected more of this guitar. By no means a bad guitar, but at this price point and well below it, there are better alternatives I think.

Maybe it's like with the actual Gibsons: you have to find one that is awesome, because some aren't. The one you have also seems really awesome to me and I thought the one from this video also seemed great on paper.

While I don't agree with Gibson killing itself (they've been doing great since the new management in 2019, in my humble opinion), I absolutely agree that you don't need to invest Gibson-money to have a great guitar. I also don't agree with the notion, held by some guitarists, that Chinese or other Asian guitars are by definition bad. Awesome to hear you found one you like and that works for you, that's what it's all about in the end! 🙂

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar That's what makes the world go 'round! I'd like to see Gibson do something similar to what Fender is doing with the Squier brand - offer a line of reasonably priced guitars (that are not junk), and are not just the same guitars one can buy direct online, but with higher prices. While Epiphones are not as expensive as Gibsons, they have slowly crept into the mid-range price category - they really are not "budget" priced guitars anymore - with one or two exceptions. If you're interested, you can see and hear my Glarry "ES" on my YT channel in the video of the song "Just Got Back From Baby's." BTW, I enjoy your videos!

@@anthonypanneton923 thanks man! I will check it out 🙂 I think Epiphones have become much better and are great guitars for the price. An Epiphone is still a bit more expensive than a Squier telecaster, but there is more work involved and you have the same price gap between their Fender and Gibson counterparts. In that regard, I think they do similar things. What Gibson lacks compared to Fender in my opinion, is what the latter does with for example the Vintera series. With a Vintera telecaster I feel like I get more than with a Squier, but it still looks the same as an American model. Gibson has the Tribute and Studio models, but to me they look like an incomplete version of those models.

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar Yeah - in my earlier comment about Gibson, I didn't mean to imply that they don't still make great guitars. and I agree, most Epiphones are high quality instruments. I just think in general, Gibson has been relying too much on their high-end stuff. And that's great - I'd love to be able to afford to drop $50K on a Pearly Gates LP. But I think they have been ignoring the bottom layer of the pyramid of guitar buyers for a long time, and have been slow to innovate. Fender at least makes an effort there. My most recent purchase was a "Chibson" (headstock says Gibson, but its not) - copy of a gold top Les Paul Standard with P90 pickups for $250. (no case or bag). And its a GREAT guitar. I've always wanted one, but couldn't afford a real one. and this thing (with a little setup work) is as good as I could hope for. better. This same guitar with an Epiphone headstock would be at least 2x the price. and if it was a real Gibson it would be 10x the price.

@@anthonypanneton923 I agree with that. But I guess it's a tough one: they've been doing a lot with metal and hard rock acts from the 80s and 90s recently, while I prefer the music from the late 60s and the 70s. Instead of an Adam Jones Les Paul from the USA series, I'd prefer a USA Kossoff or Jimmy Page Les Paul. But when they do that, it's just a different top and not a lot else special added except a higher price, like they now did with the USA Greeny. Meanwhile you can get a MIM Jimmy Page dragon telecaster from Fender for half the price of a normal Gibson Les Paul Standard. Fender does a lot more, like their special runs and various artist models (Jason Isbell's tele is another great example) which are at more accessible price points. Gibson has even stopped production on a lot of lower prices guitars (Juniors and Specials) that were great.

Thanks man! I saw Blackberry Smoke twice that week in March back when I shot this video, so I guess that was inevitable 😉 Certainly not a bad guitar, but for the way they hype these up as well as the price, I was a bit underwhelmed. In next week's video I'll discuss what I think is the better option 😎

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar oh nice. They are a great band. Frontman has a lovely guitar collection. Looking forward to hearing your Gibson Killer ;)

@@Gaslight.Guitar well, I wouldn't kill it a Gibson killer either, but a good alternative. And Blackberry Smoke is great! I was a little late to the game, but during last year's spring, Charlie Starr kept appearing on my feeds. Than he did a few gigs with The Black Crowes, and when I eventually and finally checked them out, I loved all of it. They have become one of my favorite bands during the past year.

Thanks! That's my favorite guitar, a Standard 60s I bought in 2020 and put some Seymour Duncan Seth Lover's in. Has been my number one ever since. I've got a video comparing it to a Custom Shop from last year on my channel as well, and it was so similar in my experience that I passed on the CS.

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar I will check it out,..Thanks !

Yeah the original ES guitars were/are called burst killers. I was more referring to the fact that some people have claimed these Stanfords are at least as good as its Gibson counterparts for less than halve the price. And regarding that magic: it hasn't found me yet 😜

It for sure wasn't bad, but it didn't feel nor respond nearly as great the SG and Les Paul by Gibson in this video. And I found an alternative for an ES that I think is better, but more on that next week 😉

No offense taken, I play the way I play and I'm sure there are more diverse reviewers out their that can display this guitar more delicately. What I do with the demos is what I do envision to use a piece of gear for, but mostly what a piece of gear inspires me to do. I was not very inspired by this guitar.

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar fair enough. That I get, but from that (again no offense) rather narrow and personal perspective isn`t it hard to draw conclusions if the guitar has the potential to be a "Gibson killer" , since the market for Gibson players is rather big and encompasses a big variety of styles. I would even dare to say that most players in the market for a semi-holloy 335 style guitar tend to sport a different approach and look for different tones and aspects of playing and for some it might very well be a favorable alternative. I don`t mean to be rude, it`s just my thoughts watching the video.

@@modestoney1577 ofcourse I played more with this guitar than I recorded. What I record for these videos is what I think displays the guitar in the best way within my reach. Besides that, I've made a concious decision to show most gear within a certain style of music, because that's what I often miss when checking reviews for gear. No problem if my review isn't for you and if it doesn't answer your questions, I know that feeling. Luckily there are other reviewers out there who play gear within their styles. No one wants to hear me play jazz or ambient pop on this guitar, I can assure you 😉

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar Well, I would have wanted you to play some Jazz or Blues and ambient stuff on this guitar - so I could have an idea through what paces you put it to come to your conclusion 😉 I already watched other reviews where people play different stuff, more subtle styles, clean, bluesy etc. and those reviewers really seemed to like it a lot. That`s my point, I guess.

Well, if those other reviews did it, why should I do the same thing? I saw those reviews, which didn't answer what I had like to know about this guitar. Unlike most of those other reviewers, my channel was not monetized by the time I shot this video nor was this guitar delivered to my by Stanford to review. I bought it myself within a return policy and shot a couple of clips to show where this guitar sits within some rock and roll music, which I had intended to use this for. Since other reviewers do the jazz stuff better than me, I figured people rather watch them and I shoot my video for the people like myself, who simply want to know if this guitar can rock and roll. For me it couldn't and I explained why. If it didn't help you on your journey, then I'm sorry, there is no way to do it right for everyone.

Wanneer je ze voor €750 kunt aanschaffen is het ook een ander verhaal. Tegenwoordig kost het door mij geteste model ongeveer het dubbele en in vergelijking met de huidige Epiphone ES-335 vind ik dat persoonlijk qua prijs-kwaliteitsvergelijk niet helemaal in verhouding staan. Wat dat betreft is mijn referentiekader natuurlijk ook gelijkmatig, want ik test hier alles door dezelfde amps en pedalen. Maar smaken verschillen! Het zijn zeker geen slechte gitaren, maar voor de huidige prijs zou ik me persoonlijk iets anders halen. Voor de prijs waarvoor jij hem kocht had ik allicht ook anders beslist.

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar ja , dat is denk ik wel een beetje het verhaal de epi en sire ES 335 's zitten zo rond de 600 - 700 euro en de goedkopere eastmans en de stanford rond de 1100 - 1200 euro , en gibsons , nou ja , dat weten we wel die zijn echt belachelijk duur , maar zo ie zo is nieuw kopen nooit slim naar mijn mening , ik heb bijna nooit iets verloren op mijn 2e hands aankopen soms zelf een beetje winst gemaakt . Het "voordeel " van de eastmans en gibsons is de naam en "zogenaamde" betere / duurdere pu's ect. wat ook weer een subjectief iets is , de artec pu's die in stanford zitten zijn echt niet slechter dan een set van een of andere zogenaamde " boetiek " bouwer , maar ja , mensen laten zich graag foppen door de marketing /branding BS en ook om te kunnen stoeven over hun dure aankoop , maar ach , ieder zijn ding .

@@antoonhermans8953 deze Eastman was toen ik deze video maakte €1500, dus daar baseerde ik mijn uitspraak op. Inmiddels zijn deze weer wat goedkoper, terwijl Gibson aanzienlijk in prijs gestegen is. Mijn Gibsons kocht ik (op eentje na) allemaal nieuw en zijn daarmee wel ook gestegen in waarde. Maar dat maakt mij niet zoveel uit, want daar koop ik ze niet voor. Persoonlijk vond ik de 'feel' van mijn Gibsons prettiger dan deze Stanford. Dan heb ik het over lakafwerking, nekvorm, fretboard en resonantie. Maar dat vind ik ook t.o.v. Epiphones, die verhoudingsgewijs wat meer plastic aanvoelen. Heet niet dat Gibsons daardoor per definitie beter zijn, maar het geniet wel mijn persoonlijke voorkeur. Wat betreft pickups: voor mij is dit altijd een van de minst belangrijke onderdelen als ik een gitaar koop, omdat ik deze kan vervangen. De gitaar moet simpelweg goed voelen en spelen. Neemt niet weg dat deze voor mij wel zeker een verschil maken. Die in de Stanford waren niet mijn smaak in elk geval, maar als de gitaar mij verder in de smaak was gevallen, had ik ze vervangen. Ik heb ook twee Gibson Les Pauls waar ik andere pickups in heb gezet. In eentje zitten Seymour Duncans, in de andere een duurder boutique setje, en de Duncans bevallen mij beter. Maar ook dat is subjectief 😉 Belangrijkste is dat jij een tweetal toffe Stanfords hebt kunnen scoren en daar blij mee bent! Mijn mening of voorkeuren boeien dan niet. Zoals je allicht in mijn vervolgvideo hebt kunnen zien, ging ik voor de Epiphone-versie, waarin ik de pickups overigens niet vervangen heb 😜

I also have both Stanford models and I really like them. The red 35 is stunning, though I tend to favour the more modest 30, which is, btw, a feedback nightmare a lot of times. However, when controlled, its overdriven p90s sound is a delight. As you said in the video, the humbuckers in the 35 could be a bit more articulate, but that’s generally up to personal taste. I’ve had several semihollow epiphones and, for me, none of them equalled these ones. The only quality issue in the Standfords, in my opinion, is the selector switch in both guitars. It’s poor quality and the first thing I would recommend upgrading. Great review, as the rest of the content in your channel! Thank you!

Maybe upload some of your own videos before giving pro tips to others 😉

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar Oh, do you need to be a youtuber to know having a friendly approach, smiling and avoiding smirking is a positive thing? I thought it was just basic essential human behavior. 😉

@@ltvddvtl I thought you'd be a pro, since you were giving out pro tips, that's all. But it's of course easier to post snarky comments without having anything on your own channel. I'm all for positive feedback and nice discussions, but you know that wasn't what you're going for. At least I know that one commenter in about 108 video's thinks I'm lacking essential human skills! 🙂

@@StevenAnthonyGuitar I didn't know you had to be a youtuber to be a pro. But another pro-tip: Next time just don't dress up a putdown video as a review. Your bias was clear from the get go. As a review, it was wasteful. Looking around your channel it's clear you are a Gibson and Epiphone fan. Why even bother reviewing something if you are not going to give it a fair chance? Anyhow. Enjoy your Gibs and Epis.

@@ltvddvtl I don't do putdown videos, I just give my honest opinions. If that opinion does not suit you of is different from, that's fine. The fact that I prefer or don't prefer something doesn't have to make a difference to you and you don't have to be insulting me about my non-verbal communication because you don't like my review.

For what it's worth, the Gibson SG is hardly more expensive than this Stanford 😉