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ES-175 PUP REPLACEMENT


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I very much want a 175. I'm not a collector, nor do I have very deep pockets, so I'm not at the point where I'm ready to plunk down $5k for a 1950s ES-175, a newer used one would do nicely.

 

Problem is (and I know I'll be called a heretic) I don't care for humbucker pick-ups: There's so much output that they seem to overpower the natural tone of the wood in either a solid body or archtop. Even my Les Pauls have either mini humbuckers or P90s.

 

My question is, if I were to buy a newer production 175 with a humbucker, would changing out the pick-up for a P-90 or, even better, a Charlie Christian-style pick up leave huge gaps between the new pick-up and the old routing for the humbucker?

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You can get a P-90 in a humbucking housing - Gibson call it the P94 and there are several other makes now.

I have a 2013 ES175 with P94s, great sounds!

A Charlie Christian pickup is a very different shape though.

There were some ES175CC's made in the late 70s, you might find one but I think anyone who owns one is hanging on to it!

 

Note also the late 80s ES 165 (AKA Herb Ellis model) which was a 175 with a single neck pickup, you can easily find these on ebay for instance.

 

 

 

1978 ES175CC (not mine!! :( ) Nice, eh?

 

1978_Gibson_ES175_CC.jpg

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