ES 135 - what pickups does this come with?

[pmgnut]

Hi, I'm looking to buy a 2002 ES-135. Can anyone tell me what pickups Gibson used that model year? The covers on this particular one are silver.

[bobouz]

The 2001 catalog spec sheet says "Dual '57 Classic Humbuckers" or "Dual P100 Stacked Humbuckers" for the ES-135. The 2002 model should be the same, and silver covers would indicate the '57 Classics.

[pmgnut]

Thanks for the reply, I ended up buying it last night and your right, the are the 57 classics. Guitar is mint, paid 1,025.00

[vincentw]

great model! congrats.

[pmgnut]

...if I were to swap pickups down the road with Lindy Fralin pure paf's {7/8k}, should both the bridge and neck pickups be the same? I have seen where pickups were replaced but some people put one in the neck and a different one on the bridge. Also, would these drop right in or require an alteration?

[RadioXGtr]

...if I were to swap pickups down the road with Lindy Fralin pure paf's {7/8k}, should both the bridge and neck pickups be the same? I have seen where pickups were replaced but some people put one in the neck and a different one on the bridge. Also, would these drop right in or require an alteration?

They should have the same footprint and drop right in.

 

When I bought my '94 My ES-135, it had an odd pairing of a Rio Grande Baby Bucker on the bridge and a Bill Lawrence L-550 on the neck. Both have a soapbar surround. The guitar sounded OK, but when I pulled the pups to have a look, they were both "Lead" pups. I'm going to pull those and replace with a pair of Fralin P-90s. I have read that that an underwind on the neck ("Rhythm") pup is advisable. My point is some folks apparently don't make a big distinction between the neck and pups. If it sounds good, do it. For now, I'm going to follow the common wisdom and see how it works out. Plus, the P-90s will give me a more stock look.