Anyone ever use a CC pickup with an ES-350?

[sgcim]

Has anyone here ever tried putting in a Charlie Christian pickup on a ES-350, or know of some well-known guitarist who did this?
How did it sound?

[Cunamara]

Ummmm? Check the Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow. And pretty much everything by Barney Kessel. But seriously, you would have known this already so why do you ask?

[EastwoodMike]

Barney K as mentioned above. Bruce Forman just released a new album playing this guitar. So if you dig deep enough you can hear two great musicians playing the same style of music on the same guitar- through the same amp! This should give you a pretty good idea how the guitar/amp combo could sound different just by changing the musician.
cheers
m

[John A.]

Jimmy Raney played an ES150 with a CC pickup until somewhere in the 1960s, which is very similar. ES300 and ES150 are pretty much the same guitar with different trim levels (300 is fancier); ES 350 is the same as an ES300, but with a cutaway.

[Fred Archtop]

Jimmy Raney played an ES150 with a CC pickup until somewhere in the 1960s, which is very similar. ES300 and ES150 are pretty much the same guitar with different trim levels (300 is fancier); ES 350 is the same as an ES300, but with a cutaway.

Hmmm...I cannot agree. ES300 and prewar ES150 are completly different animals. 17"vs16", laminated vs. carved, these make a big difference in tone and feeling. I personaly own a '38 ES-150 and a '46 ES300 and they are much different. The iconic 350 equipped with CC was the one owned by Barkey Kessel.

Here is one played by Carmello Tartamella, a nice italian guitarist I met last summer. Great guy and great guitarist.

Best and take care.

[sgcim]

There were two types of CC pickups. Tal used the notched CC pickup rather than the straight bar back in the 50s.
I don't know which Barney and Bruce use.
On gigs, Tal used a GA-30, I don't know the amps Barney and Bruce were/ are using.

[omphalopsychos]

Jimmy Raney played an ES150 with a CC pickup until somewhere in the 1960s, which is very similar. ES300 and ES150 are pretty much the same guitar with different trim levels (300 is fancier); ES 350 is the same as an ES300, but with a cutaway.

Hmmm...I cannot agree. ES300 and prewar ES150 are completly different animals. 17"vs16", laminated vs. carved, these make a big different in tone and feeling. I personaly own a '38 ES-150 and a '46 ES300 and they are much different.

You're both right, in a sense. To John's credit, the ES-150 that Gibson made between 1946 and 1956 is identical to the 300 except for trim details, but that's a totally different guitar from the 1st version (1936-1940) that Jimmy Raney played.

Some additional trivia: Just as there was a solid and a plywood 150, there was also a solid spruce top ES-300 produced in the early 1940s. Barney Kessel played one on this Lester Young clip. Unfortunately Gibson never made one with a CC pickup, but that would have been a classic guitar. I played one of these at Retrofret once. I think it was a good guitar, but I couldn't tell because some deviant set it up with flatwounds which made it sound like plywood anyway.

[John A.]

You're both right, in a sense. To John's credit, the ES-150 that Gibson made between 1946 and 1956 is identical to the 300 except for trim details, but that's a totally different guitar from the 1st version (1936-1940) that Jimmy Raney played.

Some additional trivia: Just as there was a solid and a plywood 150, there was also a solid spruce top ES-300 produced in the early 1940s. Barney Kessel played one on this Lester Young clip. Unfortunately Gibson never made one with a CC pickup, but that would have been a classic guitar. I played one of these at Retrofret once. I think it was a good guitar, but I couldn't tell because some deviant set it up with flatwounds which made it sound like plywood anyway.

I thought Raney played the later laminated version. My bad. But at least I know Wes played a PRS ...

[omphalopsychos]

I thought Raney played the later laminated version. My bad. But at least I know Wes played a PRS ...

There is no more memorable tone than Wes' PRS into a Polytone!

[wintermoon]

There were two types of CC pickups. Tal used the notched CC pickup rather than the straight bar back in the 50s.
I don't know which Barney and Bruce use.
On gigs, Tal used a GA-30, I don't know the amps Barney and Bruce were/ are using.

Barney used a GA-50 for a long time but I think he just used the house amp after that, usually a Twin

[sgcim]

What's the difference in sound between the notched CC pickup and the straight bar CC Pickup?

[Cunamara]

An attempt to balance the B string, otherwise the same as far as I can tell.

[Greentone]

I have played them both on vintage ES 150 guitars. They sounded the same to me. Superb.