Broadway pickup upgrade - opinions needed

[humbucker]

Hi! I've been playing on my Epi Broadway (regular, not Elitist) for a couple of months now. I do like the sound of the stock PUPs, but I'm thinking about an upgrade now. Many Broadway owners seem to go for the Gibson Classic 57 and it sounds tempting (no pun intended). But I'm wondering how much of a difference in sound this will make.

 

Btw, I'm not looking for a typical jazz sound. Rather I'm looking for a good 50's/60's vintage sound, mostly clean (think early Elvis rockabilly through Beatles era). I think the stock PUPs do provide that sound more or less already. But I'm curious to know if the Gibson Classic 57 upgrade (or anything else?) would be worth the $$$.

 

If it helps, here's a youtube clip where you can see and hear me play my Broadway in the style I'm talking about:

 

Thanks for any replies!

 

humbucker

[RotcanX]

Gibson '57s would be a good way to go. The Gibson 57+ is not as ridiculously hot as the Epiphone Hot Classic, but of course the Broadway will have two regular Classics if I'm not mistaken. If I were in your shoes I would probably consider a pair of Burstbucker Pros. These are modern versions of the Burstbucker series (roughly equivalent in output to the BB I and the BB II) and as such they are wax potted so as to be less feedback-prone which is probably a good idea in a Broadway. FYI BB Pros are what Gibson installs in their LP Standards these days.

 

The BB Pros are nice vintage-sounding pickups and they're not over the top in terms of output; even the bridge model is only "slightly" overwound.

[humbucker]

Thanks very much for your reply, man!! I think I will definitely consider a BB now. How would the Classic 57 differ from the BB in sound? On youtube, I've only seen people playing the Classic 57 distorted, but I'm more interested in the clean sound.

 

There's a video of a guy playing a Broadway with BB and Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge. Sounds really sweet:

 

I think I might get that combination. Any idea how that would compare to a Classic 57 / Classic 57 plus combo?

 

Thanks again!

[garyelcrrt1281733995]

My favorites are Seymour Duncan pickups. Click here for some sound samples which are useful for comparative purposes, but usually are not exactly the guitar/amp combo you will be using. Please listen to these neck pickups: Jazz, Alnico II Pro, '59, Seth Lover. Then these bridge pickups: Same as neck, plus JB and Pearly Gates. Almost any combination of these will give you a really good all purpose pickup that does sweet, sweet cleans as good as any out there.

 

Enjoy the hunt!

[humbucker]

Thanks for the Seymour Duncan page. That's very useful! I might indeed get a Gibson/SD combo with either a Classic 57 or a Burstbucker in the neck and one of the SDs in the bridge position.

[RotcanX]

Any idea how that would compare to a Classic 57 / Classic 57 plus combo?

 

Thanks again!

 

Well, both the '57 Classics and the BurstBuckers were designed to do the same job, i.e. to replicate that vintage Les Paul tone. However the '57s are manufactured with modern technology with wax potted pickups and precisely matched coils. The BurstBuckers represent a true return to 1959 with no wax potting (except for the BB Pros) and mismatched coils as would occur back then when the pickup coils were wound 'by eye' as opposed to according to a turn counter. If I had to put it in fuzzy words I would have to say that the BBs have the 'mojo' of the original PAFs while the 57s duplicate the raw specs of the PAF but in a modern, sterilized fashion.

 

The 57 Classic/Classic Plus compare to the BBII and BBIII in terms of output. The BB Pros are similar in output to a BBI/BBII combo.