Which Pickup? ES335 Studio (1991)

[mistermarty]

I'd like to know which pickups are on my ES 335 Studio from 1991.

The pickups do not have a cover and have 6 screws.

Your feedback is much appreciated! Thanks.

[Mojorule]

I'd like to know which pickups are on my ES 335 Studio from 1991.

The pickups do not have a cover and have 6 screws.

Your feedback is much appreciated! Thanks.

 

Hi. Impossible to tell from the photos. General consensus in Harmony Central descriptions and online ads that I've read for ES 335 Studios over the past 5 years or so is that they had Dirty Fingers pickups (ceramic magnets, very hot humbuckers, fairly popular with heavy metallers at one stage). But I have read in one description or ad that they actually had an early version of what became the '57 classic pickups, which are Alnico II and considerably less hot. Gibson's renowned capacity for mixing and matching features over relatively short periods of time makes it difficult to be sure.

 

I did play one of these in a shop when I was a kid, and unable to afford it or the Les Paul Studio that I really had my eye on. The salesman really (and rightly, with hindsight) thought I should own a semi, and seemed to think that the Studio would work well for all applications (not just for a teenager's budget). I certainly didn't feel that the pickups were especially given to overdriving amps compared with other humbuckers, or that the sound was in any way more aggressive than that of the other Gibsons I tried alongside it. I would expect Dirty Fingers pickups to be a touch more abrasive than other Gibson humbuckers. That would have been a 1990 or 1991 model, I suspect. Does yours push amps harder than other, comparable guitars?

 

Nice looking guitar by the way, and a nice vintage. I've ended up with a 1991 Howard Roberts, and it is doing very well after 22 years.

[cjsinla]

Hi. Impossible to tell from the photos. General consensus in Harmony Central descriptions and online ads that I've read for ES 335 Studios over the past 5 years or so is that they had Dirty Fingers pickups (ceramic magnets, very hot humbuckers, fairly popular with heavy metallers at one stage). But I have read in one description or ad that they actually had an early version of what became the '57 classic pickups, which are Alnico II and considerably less hot. Gibson's renowned capacity for mixing and matching features over relatively short periods of time makes it difficult to be sure.

 

 

I do not believe they are Dirty Fingers as DF's always seem to have two rows of screws on them if i'm correct. You should try to get a reading on what the output is, older-style pups read about 7.8k and ceramic pups read over 12k I believe.