Donner Vs Gibson ES-335 | Is the Difference Worth over $5,000?!

This Donner DJP-1000 Jazz Guitar goes up against the Gibson Custom 1964 ES-335 Reissue. How do they sound compared to each other? How do they feel? Only one way to find out...

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~~ Time Codes ~~
0:00 - Blind Test/Intro
1:07 - For all you Spec Nerds...
2:25 - Sound Comparisons (Clean, Overdrive, Rhythm & Leads)
5:32 - Lets talk FEEL, PLAYABILITY, and SOUND
6:45 - Sound Comparison (IN A MIX)
8:23 - One BIG issue, MY thoughts, and Blind Test results

[kevbob]

Pretty impressive sound out of that Donner, no question.

[taketwo-eu]

Most people don't need a custom shop Gibson, for gigging take the Donner anyday.

[peteJoseph-xh]

Is the Donner better than an Epiphone 335? That would be a better comparison .

[ollitrop]

Did you know that the name "335" Gibson put on the model at it's first run, was because it was priced at $335.00?

[BrunoAuclair]

The différence of sound was not very clear for me, with the equipment i have (iPhone 14 pro + airpods pro). But for 5000$ VS 400$, the choice is more than clear ! Thanks for this review 😊

[RobVespa]

Ha. I didn't expect this, but I preferred option B at the opening. Wow.

[guylainecollett]

Honestly, I can't tell any difference in the sound on my end, the Donner sounds just as good as the Gibson, with that said however, if the Donner pups were replaced with the Seymour Duncan 4 wire pups, it would sound fantastic. The Gibson guitars are way over priced, and way over rated, and all of the BIG name buyers and players of music is why a poor person cannot afford them.

[KennyAvendano-kb]

I can hear the difference me personally I don’t think it’s a 6000 dollar difference I would go for the donner

[EddieG]

The Gibson seems to have it a bit more in the lows and low-mids, but I think if you stuck a set of decently voiced pickups in that Donner and had it set up and maybe even Plek'd, it could easily hold its own against the Gibson.

[daniegrove]

Gibson prices are off the charts 🙈🙈🙈the Donner sounds great 👍🎸

[frankus]

Great demo. What would be great id comparing the Donner against an Epiphone or Harley Benson or the like. The new Gibsons seem pretty good but there are a lot of pretty average examples around from various production periods where they weren't very good. Thanks

[williamroberts]

The Donner is said to have neck through construction instead of s set neck. Is that true?

[Guitarman]

The Gibson ES-335 sounds much better. But who is surprised...

[tonyhoodlass]

My Alden sound's Great for the money and look's stunning, Good review

[soar]

impressive common sense approach and perspective on the a/b comparison, Listening in person I'm sure would be totally different, but yes, I got it wrong...lol
I actually have the Donner, and it's quite nice.

[handybunny]

Thanks for the comparison! Donner sounds pretty darned good.

[Marco-HidalgoMusicRecords]

8:45 If I have the budget for a 5k guitar I wouln´t be watching this video buddy!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[TheBdriver]

Really not a lot of tonal difference in the sound comparison segment. But I did notice your vibrato on the Gibson is giving slightly more English than on the Donner. Are the strings tighter on it ? Did you find it less easy to bend strings on ? You spoke of not wanting to struggle playing a guitar near the end. I'm curious about the bending though. Wondering if you even noticed you were less aggressive about it with the Donner

[RhodieRowley]

I own that exact model Donner. Great, great guitar, and in my opinion just as good as any Gibson (or Epiphone, for that matter) that I have owned.

[gabrielcarpenter]

Not withstanding one cannot tell the difference in feel which is very important. I did notice you did not use the neck pickup on the Donner for the heavy lead portion of the comparison which I wish you did do otherwise great job !