Why (in your opinion) does Gibson no longer put '57 classics on Les Pauls

[Gitfiddler]

Patent number T-tops are likely my favorite pickup for a set pickup archtop. That’s what in both my ex-Herb Ellis ES-175 and my ‘69 Super 400. They aren’t great for metal though.

Another fan of T-Tops here. I have a set I bought new back in '70 or '71 from Guitar Villa in Hollywood, CA. They're currently in my first beginner guitar, an el cheapo Harmony Stratotone that Villa modded into a pseudo hollowbody Les Paul...sort of.

The absolute best thing about that instrument is the sound of those T-Tops! I use it for bluesy slide songs, with or without a bit of overdrive. Very cool. Some day I'll put them into another more deserving instrument. But for now they sound killer in this little old box.

[citizenk74]

Interesting. I have a T-top from my first LP, a '68 Custom, my first good electric. Of course I switched the pickups out for after market, but I still have one of the T-tops, an early patent number. I'm thinking about putting it in an archtop to replace a custom ceramic Armstrong (Borys guitar, it's kind of a bright pickup). Or Kent said he could wind me a more traditional, warmer PAF style, but he thought the old T-top might be worth trying.

In my LP, a '94 R8, I have the extreme good fortune to have a pair of original PAF's that I bought decades ago. Probably short magnets, they sound glorious. I wonder what the original pickups were? I still have them, but they were only in the guitar for about an hour!

My first Les Paul, a '69 must have had T-Tops. They sounded great through everything I had for many, many years. Eventually a friend/rival* convinced me that the pups had become demagnetized and I had him install some Seymour Duncans utilizing a mod that Paul Reed Smith advised. I never looked back, and the guitar is in use by my grandson and is still going strong. Great pups! I should dig them out of the basement and have them serviced.

* Sometimes these things are clear only in retrospect.

[DRS]

They will be back, but only in a special of some kind. Gibson is manipulating the market, creating artificial scarcity. Gibson has not made a truly new guitar for twenty years or more. Gibson uses its stock of 'iconic' 1950s designs and offers them in various configurations. Only by restricting some features and offering others can Gibson excite interest in its products. Otherwise, they would be same old guitars they were making in 1959.

Gibson gave and Gibson hath taken away. Blessed be the name of Gibson.

Gibson Johnny A is an exception.
With regards to the 57s, my 2010 Les Paul Traditional came with the 57/57+ set. I thought they weren't a good fit. Muddy neck and a bit harsh in the bridge. I went with a Seth Lover in the neck and a Biltoft VV in the bridge. But then I also changed the cap and pot values and many have told me the stock pots value didn't work well so perhaps that was it?
I stuck the 57s in a Godin Montreal Premiere and they sound great but that was also with proper pots. I have 57s in my Epi Johnny A and they also sound great.

[Gitfiddler]

Gibson Johnny A is an exception.
With regards to the 57s, my 2010 Les Paul Traditional came with the 57/57+ set. I thought they weren't a good fit. Muddy neck and a bit harsh in the bridge. I went with a Seth Lover in the neck and a Biltoft VV in the bridge. But then I also changed the cap and pot values and many have told me the stock pots value didn't work well so perhaps that was it?
I stuck the 57s in a Godin Montreal Premiere and they sound great but that was also with proper pots. I have 57s in my Epi Johnny A and they also sound great.

+1 for the Johnny A. Signature. Both the original Gibson Custom Shop and the recent Epiphone version are amazing instruments.

Who would have thought Gibson would ever build a small-bodied, mahogany core body, carved maple top, slim line, 25.5 scale, double-cutaway instrument with top drawer appointments...and 57 Classic pickups? Whew!

http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/El...Signature.aspx

[Herbie]

Is it the word ’Gibson’ that makes threads like this? OP asks a factual question about the use of certain pup in diffrernt years. And people ”answer” telling that ’Gibson can’t make guitars’, ’Gibson is only marketing’ and ’I don’t like Gibsons’.

Luckily there is some good advice on the subject too.

The 57 Classic pickup was introduced in 1990. They were designed by (or with) Tom Holmes.

Gibson used them in higher profile instruments while standard line had 490R/T series pups (slightly hotter hb’s).

A legend tells that somewhere near year 2000 the materials (wire?) of the Classic 57s changed to cheaper ones so the later ones would not sound ”as good” as the original ones. I do not know about this anything (…but I just got a Classic 57 from 1997 so I could test the legend…).

Burstbuckers came in 2000. Their coils are wound uneven and they come in four categories: BB1 is lowest wound, then comes BB2 (about equal with Classic 57s?) and the BB 3 is hottest wound. All have Alnico 2 magnets. The fourth is BB Pro, which has Alnico 5 magnet.

Then came Custombuckers with Alnico 3 magnets to some high end LPs and since 2014 there has been MHS pickups, which many like.

I like BB 1&2 in rocking Les Pauls. Classic 57 is the sound of jazz.