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I've not heard the 57s in a 335. Actually, have not spent any real time with newer 335s. My 335 is a 66, has the stock Gibson patent number p/us ... which are the best sounding humbuckers I've ever heard.
I upgraded p/us in two solid bodies to humbuckers from Ian Anderson, a guitar builder who also winds his own pickups. I've not heard them in a semi, but they sound so close to the p/us in my old 335, just a bit louder. So if I had an opportunity to try new p/us in a semi, those are the ones I'd start with.
MD
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02-14-2016 07:16 PM
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Thanks for that, hearing someone else with the same impression of burstbuckers is a relief :-) I really like my Midtown custom but wouldn't want that sound in more than that one git.
Originally Posted by MaxTwang
You should have gotten the Midtown, it's even less prone to feedback than the 335.
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The Burstbuckers vary. There is Bb 1, 2 & 3 (not hot, hotter, hot). These come with Alnico 2 mags. Especially the 'not hots' are as warm as Classic 57's but more open. Bb1 should be weaker than Classic 57 or 490. Originally Posted by GNAPPI
Then there is Bb Pro 1 & 2. These come with Alnico 5 mags. Many say these are rude, shrill and loud.
Most people have a mixup with Bbs and Pros. They don't see the letters 'AV' in the sticker which are the only sign of the Pros.
You can't trust Gibson's site about what pu's are in Your guitar. Open the screws and look.
And then the Bbs come as potted and non potted. This makes huge difference.
And then they just...vary! I have two Bb1s. One (bought without a cover, made in 2011) is perfect (warm, but open, not boomy, great mids) for my ES175, another (from LP R8) is cold and dull.
So You have to be more specific before You make generalisations!
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For sure mine are BB1 and BB2 (say so on the bottom) My thinking is if I can't trust Gibson why would I trust which label they put on them? :-)
I wouldn't call them shrill, but rude/ loud? fore sure.
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Heh, that is a good question! Maybe it is a more like thinking 'headquarters don't always know what happens in the assembly line' than mistrust in general. At least I hope! Originally Posted by GNAPPI
If they sound rude and loud they are rude and loud. At least in that guitar!
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Gibson p'ups changed specs so many times since they were introduced, it's not even funny... and keep changing as we speak.
If you find a good-sounding one, it's just the luck of the draw.
HTH,
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A lot of Jazzers like the 57 classics, but they do not sound as open or jangly as real PAFs that's a sound that the BB 1 and 2 come closer too. Also the SD Seth Lovers. The excessive potting, the even winds and other aspects of the 57 classic darken the tone by removing the overtones brought by the un-potted covers. For a more modern Jazz tone or a darker a la Pat Martino etc. Also, they measure more than most typical PAFs patent number and T-Top pickups. 57 classic are a great pickup but not my choice for a 335. They can be dead sounding and "midrangy" or nasal at times. IMO the 57 classic only adds to this aspect, where a BB 1 & 2 or Lollar Imperial will make the guitar more open and clearer, almost with a single coil flavor. They can even be twangy when needed.
Of course it's just and opinion and I'm generalizing as magnet type can affect and PAFs came in at least 3 or 4 magnet varieties and measuring different ranges.
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"A lot of Jazzers like the 57 classics,"
A "lot" is an understatement. Some may have found the 57 classic lacking but...
The L5 Wes, Johnny A, L4 CES, L5 CES, L9, 335's, Super 400's, all of the 175's I know of, except maybe special editions, The Pat Martino Custom, The Byrdland, I "Think" the Tal Farlow, and way too many other semi hollows come stock with them and if peeps were pulling them out for BB's I would think Gibson would stop making the 57's for BB's no?
Just a few thoughts :-0
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'57's is part of what makes the Epiphone ES-175 Premium premium.
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There are some great choices for sure! For me personally Manilus p/ups (PAF Landmark neck) and a (Hotrod PAF) seem to be the ticket. Great open sweet sounding and fairly priced! Sheptone is another great choice.
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i ended up changing out 57 classics in a '87 335 for dimarzio 36th anniversary.. hate to say it , but for my ears they sound amazing..
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that makes perfect sense...
the dimarzios are wound slightly lower than classic 57's, but the big difference is they use the more powerful alnico v magnets..the classic 57's use alnico II...so with dimarzio you are gettin a lower wind but more inductance..ie big difference in tone...the dimarzios will also react more drastically to pickup height tweaking
the dimarzio 36's are well regarded here..i think jim soloway heralds them...
cheers
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Feedback in an ES-335? Really? It only happened to me once, playing in a very loud band with lots over overdrive and standing very close against my Twin Reverb, but otherwise it has never ever feedbacked on me... Originally Posted by GNAPPI
Mine has the 57s. No complaints about them. Maybe other picks would make it sound even better, but I like it as is and I don't want to start that never ending Quest For The Right Pickup in this guitar (have done that already with too many other guitars
)
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Never liked the 57's in anything, even with pot changes, cap tweaks, etc. Lollar high winds warmed up my L5, amazingly so. BB 1 and 2, as well as WCRs sound pretty good in my 335, though I'm still looking for something I like better in the neck. Might try a Lollar there, as well.
57's sounded muddy in my 335, but too thin and trebly in my L5. Go figure. A lot depends on the guitar, and I'm sure they sound great in the right one, or there wouldn't be so many fans. But 335s vary a LOT.
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I wish they would make the 57 Classic and 57 Classic plus in 4 wire conductor style. This would make a switch of my Series 7 pickups (Dirty Fingers with gold covers) very useful on my ES-347 with coil-split switch. I think Gibson did in the early 2010's. I almost got them on ebay, but someone snarfed them up without bidding.
But those Dirty fingers pups sound awesome on humbucking or coil-split settings. This guitar is a bluesman's holy grail. It has hardware like the BBKing, without the Varitone. It looks like a 355, with F-holes. When dialed down to jazz sound output, it excels.
Gibson makes so many humbucking pickups that I'm sure you can narrow it down to one. I would avoid Burstbuckers as they have a lower output and aren't wax potted. I have a Les Paul with P90's, that I really like, so I would look for a pickup with a similar output. The thing about the Gibson humbucker are the similarity in that they are all P90's with the added coil for bucking the hum. All you have to do is choose your output. They are all midrangey, so I usually turn off the midrange on my amps and concentrate on setting the treble controls.
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I have got the same guitar as yours, '88 Gibson Es-347. Originally Posted by qblue
What a guitar! Now it is dormient in its case because I bought a few more.
At times I thought about replacing the pickups, but in the end I decided to keep the guitar as it was conceived.
It seems Gibson still produces the 4-conductor wiring version of the 57 Classic, according to the website.
However, even if it is difficult to find, you should not have problems at finding something similar to the 57 classic with all the Boutique pickup makers around, who can build exactly what you need, or have similar products.
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Thanks for the advice. The only problem is the ones Gibson are selling have nickel covers. The ES-347 has very nice gold covers, as you know. To obtain the Classics with 4 wire conductorsand separate gold covers, the cost would exceed $500 USD. That doesn't include the labor costs, because I wouldn't trust my soldering abilities, and the semi-hollow construction constraints. Originally Posted by Jazz_175
What few more guitars did you buy to replace the ES-347? A 335 I hope! I still play the 347 because it plays well and doesn't sound bad despite the pickups!
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I want to replace the neck pickup for a 335 style guitar. I require a passive humbucker--that fits into the body-- which will give the guitar a warm / jazz sound (especially for chordal work). What make / model of pickup have you tried to get that sound--even on a full bodied archtop?
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A personal thing, but I've experimented with various pickup types, and found that I tend to get results I like with "low wind" alnico 2 or alnico 3 magnet humbuckers. So something wound to around 7Kohm or even a bit less. Within this type of pickup, an alnico 2 magnet is great for warm mids and with a smooth but articulate kind of tone, an alnico 3 magnet is a bit less strong on the mids and with a little more in the way of shimmery highs - a little more of an airy, open kind of sound if you like.
In general, I think low-wind pickups do seem to give a bit more of a detailed sound, and given my Polytone Minibrute 2 amp has a naturally warm, jazzy kind of tone anyhow, for me I don't need a pickup that has to try too hard in that respect - it's better to go for something that brings in the detail and clarity. I will however say that I've not tried any ceramic magnet pickups that didn't have a bit of a cold/brittle quality, so I now avoid those. Overall I think I'm coming to the conclusion that for a neck humbucker, a low-wind alnico 3 type suits my needs best.
I've had humbuckers for several guitars made by Chris Hernandez/Wound4Sound in the US, and more recently I had an alnico 2 neck/alnico 4 bridge set made by Ben Fletcher of Fletcher pickups in the UK. I'm also in the process of fitting my newly acquired Ibanez AS103 semi-acoustic with an alnico 3 neck/unoriented alnico 5 bridge set I've just received from Ben Fletcher.
I guess these people aren't the best known pickup makers, but their prices are wallet-friendly, and I honestly think their pickups compare well with anything on the market. And in both cases, they were very helpful and willing to spend time discussing my requirements. So I'd have to say it's worth looking around on the internet, and not just considering the well-known brands like Seymour Duncan etc. - excellent though these no-doubt are.
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good info meggy...i like low wind too...however prefer the added power of the alnico v mags...you can always compensate for too much magnetism in the pickup by backing the pup into the body..but you cant add to an alnco II!
many of the big name pickup companies have a low wind humbucker tucked away in their catalog...lollar, gibson, duncan etc...
cheers
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The Bartolini PBF might be a good choice for you. That and the Duncan Seth Lovers are my go-to humbuckers.
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Get Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe pickups (Vintage Vibe Guitar Pickups: Assorted Pickups) to wind you a humbucker with an Alnico 2 magnet (and with his pickups, you can easily switch the magnets if you so desire) and voiced for jazz. He made one for me that I put in the neck position of my Ibanez Artcore AS-83, and it sounds great.
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The Stewart Mac Parsons Street Alnico 2's are a good choice at a great price.
I remember Patrick not being impressed by the distinction between different Alnico magnets. He thought it was all marketing hype. I wish he were around so we could argue about, I mean discuss, it in more detail.
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There are too many choices for pickups -- just like amps, guitars, strings, picks, etc.! When questions about "What should I get?" are open-ended like this, I always first ask: What's your budget???
A single pickup can be $50 or less, and up to $300 or more, so what are you willing to spend for the sound you're looking for?
So, budget question aside, some usual suspects:
- JM Rolph
- Lollar
- Porter
- Curtis Novak
- Amalfitano
- etc.
Enjoy the hunt!
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I've been impressed with the Lollar Low Wind Imperials and more recently and probably more so by Lindy Fralin's Pure PAF.
The one that really shocked me earlier this week was the Gibson MHS in an ES-175 Historic 1959 Reissue. Although it may be the combination of this particular guitar and the pickup that was especially fantastic. Unfortunately, the MHS is not currently available by itself.
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