In 2012, I’d been looking at vintage ES-330s, since a production version based on the original design had not been made since the ‘60s. Gibson had released a long neck version (like a 335) in 2008, which I owned & liked a lot, but my curiosity was strong regarding the traditional specs & I wanted to play as many as possible. Some I liked & some I didn’t - but regardless, they were all very expensive.
That same year, a new ES-330 VOS (vintage original specs) was released based on the 1959 model, which had a fairly clubby neck. The idea behind the mildly altered VOS finish (& lightly aged hardware) was supposed to be that it essentially would look like a ‘50s model that had been barely played, and then put away under the bed until rediscovered. So again being curious, I was able to locate four of them locally to play. The first three I played were in sunburst & red - all with necks that didn’t work for me, and to boot, the finish just looked sort of lifeless on these darker colors. There was one left to try, with a significant up-charge for the natural finish. Upon seeing it in person, the guitar felt, sounded, and looked perfect in every way. The neck on this one was not clubby, and in a natural finish, the VOS treatment worked to a tee. It was as close to having a super clean vintage 330 in your hands as I could imagine. Although I found the finish quite appealing, it was just the cherry on top - playability & tone kept the guitar in my hands, and I would not be leaving the store without it.
In this case, it was a complementingly mild aging treatment on a guitar that has turned out to be my desert-island electric (with enough fully-hollow acoustic tone, just in case there’s no place to plug in!).