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Burstbucker Pros Vs. Burstbucker 61R & 61T


Twang Gang

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On 7/14/2019 at 9:36 PM, Twang Gang said:

I know nothing about how windings effect tones, and tones are subjective to each of us anyway - but to my ear the 61R and 61T are louder (A/B test done with amp and guitars both set exactly the same), and are just a little grittier or have a little more bark.  The BB Pros seem to me a little cleaner and glassier sounding.

Perfect description.

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  • 8 months later...

just doing some reading on other peoples thought and preferences regarding burstbucker 61 set, and well as i was reading all your posts someone had mentioned gibsons pickup tech  seth lover was quoted to say sloted pole screws and how it was a purely cosmetic design thing. How it has no effect on the sound or function of the guitar or pickups. I just would like to say i have been studying guitar for many many years and pickup height as we all know makes a huge difference. Now in my 30 year of experience and experimentation with height of pickup verses pole piece height and gauge of strings and the combination of them all makes a world of difference. As did Leo fender WAY back when designing his single coil strat pickups with staggered pole piece height. Every guitar i have owned which has the ability to adjust individual pole height with set screws or allen wrenchs OR even by pushing your magnets up or down manually in your single coils lol i have done so and it has alway made a subtantial difference. From the clarity, the brightness, the output, when break up occurs, the sustain, attack and all of the combined effects tweaked to your own ears personal preference. This can make a huge impact on the sound tone and performance of your instrument.

Let's not forget about different wood and how they sound which could be a whole different thread lol

I am sure you all can relate with this same next thought. I have been in this situation  may may times, where I think to myself

"gee my guitar sound just isnt doing it for me anymore maybe time for new pickups?"

Could it be a little bit of hearing loss lol perhaps weak magnets lol or corrosion lol but whatever the case may be before I decide to run out and "upgrade " I usually get the guitar half apart and cleaned then start tweaking things and in many cases made my old humbuckers be it dimarzio or gibson or ibanez or any guitar I have owned with the ability to adjust the pole pieces verses height of pickups dramatically changed the sound in multiple ways even effecting pick attack and how your amp will respond to the pickup settings or tweaking the poles beneath the thin strings G B E bringing them back into the mix volume wise. Everything is changed and for me in many cases saved me money on new pickups. 

Bottom line is if you can and the pickups have that functionality try it before you pitch your old "run of the mill stock pups" for something different and more costly. It can and will make a difference. 

Usually, well in my personal experience the sounds you are looking for and your ears want to find is hidden there somewhere, at very least you will gain knowledge of what your guitar is capable of and a better understanding of how pickups work in general, the effects and impact their settings can have on any guitar, amp and your ears for that matter

Cheers boys

I still dont know if I want a set of 61r 61t 

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Well as a rule of thumb I start with all poles even with metal cover if there is none then all edges of pole flush with pickup top . And pickup height low 

Record it move height slightly up record 

Repeat  if you get to the point where your notes are not sustaining as long as you would like back it off and start with poles higher for more attack and volume. 

It's all a personal preference I like articulation and ability to control the gain with pick attack 

Muddy usually indicates to much output  and most likely height should be lower but not always.. your amp setting can also have alot of impact try and start with your favorite clean tone settings to really appreciate the differences in sound

I use an old marshall 2204 master volume model run master at 1-2 and guitar volume 4 or 5 to start and bring the preamp on amp to verge of break up then start playing with pickups and guitar volume and tones

Can be quite time consuming but you will find your sweet spot... a simple sound recorder on your cell phone set about a foot away from the speaker. with a set decent of headphones for play back will give a decent enough recording to gauge your differences.

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34 minutes ago, jdgm said:

Good post.

I have a set of burstbuckers on my recently-purchased Gibson.  

I agree about adjusting the poles beneath the treble strings, and perhaps the basses on the neck pickup.  Mine's a bit mushy.

To clarify are you telling me 61t set are not to your liking and not to purchase?

I have no exp with them and looking a a LP classic with them 

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23 hours ago, Who theFis BOB said:

To clarify are you telling me 61t set are not to your liking and not to purchase?

I have no exp with them and looking a a LP classic with them 

They're ok so far; mine are in an ES guitar.  I need to work with them a lot more and fiddle with the amp eq too.

I haven't played them at loud gig volume yet.   I'm certainly not considering replacing them.

🎸

 

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  • 7 months later...
On 8/3/2020 at 8:41 PM, David Makowski said:

...

I'm still not entirely clear about the "Phase" potentiometer though? In Phase, Out of Phase, plain ole Phase, I'm not sure what Phase is exactly.

 

PHASE deals only with situations with 2 (or more) pickups being active. The switch just reverses the flow direction of electric current through one of the pickups.

In-phase means, that both pickups have the same magnetic polarities and electric flow directions in the wire OR have opposing magnetic polarities and electric flow directions. (two distinct cases of in-phase)

On the other hand, If two pickups have the same magnetic polarities and different electric flow directions OR different magnetic polarities and same electric directions, they're "out of phase".  (two distinct cases of out-of-phase)

Edited by OrdinaryNimda
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The 61 set is super responsive to height changes and you'll be fiddling with them for a while, but they're magic once you find the sweet spot. Mine are set very low, and they sound amazing. Full, warm, very Les Paul-esque. 

But you WILL have to put time in. We're talking 1/8 of a turn can make them sound completely different. Odd but true. 

Edited by Pinch
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  • 2 months later...

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