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Gibson Pickups, on my Dot..which?


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I've done some searching, but can't find what I wanted so I will ask you guys that "know".

I know it's all about a person's tastes, but I am thinking about changing pickups on my Dot.

First of all, I don't know squat about pickups. I'm not even sure what comes stock on the my Dot. Humbuckers? That's just a name to me. I don't understand this stuff, so be gentle with me.

I am not a musician, I have been playing by ear for 40+ years, and am not a natural. I love playing lead stuff. And lately the blues.

My Dot sounds pretty good to me. I don't have the best amps out there, and don't really know what to do with the knobs anyway. I move them around and get different tones. THat's about it...lol. AM I stupid? no, just never had anyone show me anything, so I am not knowledgeable.

I have been watching videos for a couple of years now, and listening to lot's of electric blues. I love SRV, but my Strat doesn't sound like him, cause it's me playing...lol

THe Dot is my favorite bluesy sounding guitar I own. But could it be better? Smoother maybe? Would changing to Gibson Burstbuckers for instance make a big difference? P90's? I just keep seeing these names so those are the names I am using.I don't know the differences. Listening to youtube doesn't tell me a whole lot cause folks use different amps and different settings anyway.

WHat pickups will "fit right in without mods? I know I will have to take it to a shop (I am 60 miles from anywhere)to get it done.

What are your experiences? Is it an upgrade? I will never own a Gibson ES 335. But what can I do to make mine sound the best it can? What pickups did the old 335's have? Are there different variations?

I know this question will get lots of different answers, and opinions. I am just beginning to think about doing this. Just not sure where to start, and not even sure it would be worth it. I don't have extra cash. Especially considering my playing skills...lol..

I found one video that impressed me some. The guy playing is geting some real nice tones out of his Dot with "Gibson" ppups, he doesn't say which ones. It's

Here is one with Burstbuckers #2, but he's not playing bluesy stuff

 

A gibson with P90's

Gregor Hilden plays some real nice tones thru any guitar..lol

So what have some of you done?

I haven't been sorry for a second that I bought this DOt BTW, I love it. Just thinkin about some changed.. SOrry for the long post and typos :o)

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Oh boy....get ready for a long thread...You play guitar, have been for fourty years, and play by ear........You ARE a musician !!!!!!! Pickups are are an amazing thing to study, and even after studying them, choosing which ones for which guitar still comes down to personal preferance in addition to the specs and types of each pick-up.

This will be a long thread, and very interesting as well...Myself, I prefer Gibson 57s and 57+ pickups...But thats me...I also love P-90s, of which there are so many to choose from..I own more guitars than I can count, so, there are many pickups of all kinds and makers in them...Hopefully those who really know their stuff will pitch in with their personal choices, likes, dislikes, reasons why, discussions about magnet types, wire types, coil tapping and splitting, GFS pickups, Seymores, etc. etc...

For a dot, I'd pop in 57s, but, you'll see, some will agree and some won't.......Hopefully, you will learn a lot; I'm sure I'll learn a bit more as well...

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Oh boy....get ready for a long thread...You play guitar, have been for fourty years, and play by ear........You ARE a musician !!!!!!! Pickups are are an amazing thing to study, and even after studying them, choosing which ones for which guitar still comes down to personal preferance in addition to the specs and types of each pick-up.

This will be a long thread, and very interesting as well...Myself, I prefer Gibson 57s and 57+ pickups...But thats me...I also love P-90s, of which there are so many to choose from..I own more guitars than I can count, so, there are many pickups of all kinds and makers in them...Hopefully those who really know their stuff will pitch in with their personal choices, likes, dislikes, reasons why, discussions about magnet types, wire types, coil tapping and splitting, GFS pickups, Seymores, etc. etc...

For a dot, I'd pop in 57s, but, you'll see, some will agree and some won't.......Hopefully, you will learn a lot; I'm sure I'll learn a bit more as well...

lol.. Well I know its going to be opinionated. I don't meant to a open a big can of worms..lol..worms.gif.. and, I am really not looking for techincal comparisons using big words..lol

Maybe I should rephrase it some.

First priority is ease of fit. WHich ones will fit right in?

THe Humbuckers (I assume from reading) I have now, are hot enough for me. This guitar really loves gain and distortion. It sounds great. But, I would like to have some really nice warm clean tones for Blues, without compromising being able to sound like say... ALvin Lee in his heyday. I love that sound, and I have it now.

But then you listen to maybe BB King, or Larry Carleton, Robben Ford. And they have a different tone. Bright and smooth but plenty deep too.

Not having other guitars around to check out, I may never know what I am looking for except for more talent..lol. I know the fingers get lots of tone too.

I may not learn a thing if folks start getting technical on me. But I am willing to try and understand.

What do the 57's sound like in comparison to what I have now? I heard a guy on youtube showing the differences but again, his style wasn't what I am looking for. Hard to tell under lots of overdrive. Kinda lookin for warm and clean with the ability to have bite with the right amp settings.

I hope I'm not asking too much..lol. Thanks for the reply :o)

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From your above post, I'm still saying Gibson 57s......A 57 in the neck, and a 57+ in the bridge.......Very smooth full sounding pickups, and they play well with pedals and tube overdrive as well...

 

On the web, type in Burstbuckers, and you will see many links to ' 57s vs Burstbuckers' etc. on the MyLesPaul forum and other forums..This will help you understand the differences a bit...

 

There are 4 kinds of Gibson Burstbuckers...some love them; I don't mind them, but I prefer 57s, and always will.....You can get P-90s to drop into a Humbucker size hole, but P-90s are a whole different animal, and may not be what you want.......If you decide to install pickups yourself, we can provide links to help guide you through the process...Or, as you will probably do, you'll have someone install them for you.....Now, I'm biased towards 57s, but I think that they are exactly what you are looking for....On stock Epi pickups, all I'll say is that some players and members love them, some hate them, and some have no preference.....I sometimes change them out, and sometimes not, it depends upon how the particular guitar sounds like to begin with.....The 57+ is wound a bit hotter than the 57 to match up the 'volumes' of the pickup slots.........On a dot, my opinion is that 57 classics will make you a VERY happy camper.....

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From your above post, I'm still saying Gibson 57s......A 57 in the neck, and a 57+ in the bridge.......Very smooth fuul sounding pickups, and they play well with pedals and tube overdrive as well...

 

On the web, type in Burstbuckers, and you will see many links to ' 57s vs Burstbuckers' etc. on the MyLesPaul forum and other forums..This will help you understand the differences a bit...

 

There are 4 kinds of Gibson Burstbuckers...some love them; I don't mind them, but I prefer 57s, and always will.....You can get P-90s to drop into a Humbucker size hole, but P-90s are a whole different animal, and may not be what you want.......If you decide to install pickups yourself, we can provide links to help guide you through the process...Or, as you will probably do, you'll have someone install them for you.....Now, I'm biased towards 57s, but I think that they are exactly what you are looking for....On stock Epi pickups, all I'll say is that some players and members love them, some hate them, and some have no preference.....I sometimes change them out, and sometimes not, it depends upon how the particular guitar sounds like to begin with.....The 57+ is wound a bit hotter than the 57 to match up the 'volumes' of the pickup slots.........On a dot, my opinion is that 57 classics will make you a VERY happy camper.....

THanks for the info. THisis what I am lookin for, just honest comparisons. Are they hard to find?

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For comparsions ??? For that, explore the links I mentioned....To buy the 57s; Checkout Musician's Friend, ZZ Sounds, Music 123, and perhaps other on-line retailers...The prices rise and fall, and different sites will have different prices; but, ALL will price match, which is a wonderful thing these days !!! Last I checked, 57s were around $100.00 each....but, there may be 'sets' for cheaper out there...

Now, this may sound like a lot, a lot of money to put into an Epi.......but, the tone and sound difference will make you never want to leave home again...and, you can always move the pickups to a different guitar if you upgrade....I'll research for you as well, I've got the time; as I'm retired at a fairly young age and hang out with my guitars and cats and girlfriend; all I do is study law and guitar stuff....

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For comparsions ??? For that, explore the links I mentioned....To buy the 57s; Checkout Musician's Friend, ZZ Sounds, Music 123, and perhaps other on-line retailers...The prices rise and fall, and different sites will have different prices; but, ALL will price match, which is a wonderful thing these days !!! Last I checked, 57s were around $100.00 each....but, there may be 'sets' for cheaper out there...

Now, this may sound like a lot, a lot of money to put into an Epi.......but, the tone and sound difference will make you never want to leave home again...and, you can always move the pickups to a different guitar if you upgrade....I'll research for you as well, I've got the time; as I'm retired at a fairly young age and hang out with my guitars and cats and girlfriend; all I do is study law and guitar stuff....

You make it sound better all the time..

listen to this guitar.. Man that's sweet. Can you tell what it has in it>

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Last month at Musician's Friend, Gibson '57 Classic Plus pickups were $110 a piece. Now they are $160. [rolleyes] Burstbucker Pro's are $170. [blink]

 

The regular Gibson '57 Classics are "On Sale" for $99 and that's what you would probably want anyway. That's what's in Gibson 335's.

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What kind of amp are you playing through?

 

You can buy the best pups in the world. But if you are playing through a crappy amp, you're going to still sound crappy!

Well I am almost embarrassed that I don't have any great amps. I have an old Fender Princeton Chorus. SOunds good clean. I have a Fender BLues junior Tweed. Not what I expected. I bought in online without actually playing one. It;s okay. actually my favortie is an old Peavey Backstage. Small and surprisingly nice for a cheap, solid state amp. The Dot sounds great at any of the settings..lol.. I can';t afford n expensive Amp right now. But I understand completely what you are saying. But that's a whole other thread..lol.. Lets say I have the best amp made (whatever that is). Then what would e a great set uf pickups.

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You make it sound better all the time..

listen to this guitar.. Man that's sweet. Can you tell what it has in it>

 

99% certain 57s..........so so sweet.....I have them in two of my eight or so LPs...........perfect pickups......

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Last month at Musician's Friend, Gibson '57 Classic Plus pickups were $110 a piece. Now they are $160. [rolleyes] Burstbucker Pro's are $170. [blink]

 

The regular Gibson '57 Classics are "On Sale" for $99 and that's what you would probably want anyway. That's what's in Gibson 335's.

 

Just checked that....Supersonic, correct me if I'm wrong, but...the match is a 57 in the neck and a 57+ in the bridge (?)....So, one of each...(?)....

Well I am almost embarrassed that I don't have any great amps. I have an old Fender Princeton Chorus. SOunds good clean. I have a Fender BLues junior Teed. Not what I expected. I bought in online without actually playing one. It;s okay. actually my favortie is an old Peavey Backstage. Small and surprisingly nice for a cheap, solid state amp. The Dot sounds great at any of the settings..lol.. I can';t afford n expensive Amp right now. But I understand completely what you are saying. But that's a whole other thread..lol.. Lets say I have the best amp made (whatever that is). Then what would e a great set uf pickups.

Amps, yeah, different thread.....I used a Peavy s.s. for a long time.........Never liked Fenders much...but; Yes, I'd say the Gibby 57s are great.......Similar pickups for cheap would be GFS, but...........

 

Yes, one pays for the Gibson name, and many 'botiuque' makers make repros, but you pay for their 'name' as well........And unless one wants handwound 'specialty' pickups, for the sound you want, I say the 57s...........my opinion.........Perfect when clean, perfect when driven hard, and with the right amp settings, they even sound good for hardcore metal.....

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Nice to hear another "Dot" who fan likes the big beast! What made me buy the Dot I picked out (of several I played) was the neck pickup. It was so sweet and strong and could produce that classic Clapton "woman tone" folks talk about. That and the neck of course. Love the neck and action on this guitar. The bridge pickup was only ok. I replaced the bridge pickup with a Classic 57 (not the 57 plus). I adjusted the pickup heights and they are really a good match for each other. The Gibson ES-335 has Classic 57's in both positions.

 

To each their own! The other mod was to replace the plastic nut with a real bone nut and get a professional setup. This guitar is awesome. Check out Amazon. You can often find Classic 57's for less than $100. (I have no financial interest in Amazon, Gibson, Epiphone,etc.) :-)

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Last month at Musician's Friend, Gibson '57 Classic Plus pickups were $110 a piece. Now they are $160. [rolleyes] Burstbucker Pro's are $170. [blink]

 

The regular Gibson '57 Classics are "On Sale" for $99 and that's what you would probably want anyway. That's what's in Gibson 335's.

Thanks for the reply. I was just lookin at musicians friend they list 57's as a neck pickup. You can you use them at the bridge too? Same? I'm thinkin bout changing only the bridge first. See how it sounds. Just haven;t seen the 57's listed any way except for 57 "neck" pickup. Then they also list 57 plus. Which is which?

And, no one has really stated if they can be put in without mods. I mean how close with they fit "right in".

THanks for all the help. THis is an awesome forum. :o)

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Nice to hear another "Dot" who fan likes the big beast! What made me buy the Dot I picked out (of several I played) was the neck pickup. It was so sweet and strong and could produce that classic Clapton "woman tone" folks talk about. That and the neck of course. Love the neck and action on this guitar. The bridge pickup was only ok. I replaced the bridge pickup with a Classic 57 (not the 57 plus). I adjusted the pickup heights and they are really a good match for each other. The Gibson ES-335 has Classic 57's in both positions.

 

To each their own! The other mod was to replace the plastic nut with a real bone nut and get a professional setup. This guitar is awesome. Check out Amazon. You can often find Classic 57's for less than $100. (I have no financial interest in Amazon, Gibson, Epiphone,etc.) :-)

And what's the differences with the plus models, as opposed to the not plus..lol..

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Yes you can use them in both the bridge and/or the neck. Many Gibsons come with '57 Classics in both positions, including the ES-335. The "Plus" is a little bit hotter than the regular one so a lot of people like to use a Plus in the bridge and the regular one in the neck. I think the 57 classic/57 classic plus combo is used more in solid bodies.

 

And, no one has really stated if they can be put in without mods. I mean how close with they fit "right in".

 

Yes they should fit right in. You'll need to do a little soldering. If you're not comfortable doing that yourself, you can take it to a professional and it shouldn't be that expensive.

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Yes you can use them in both the bridge and/or the neck. Many Gibsons come with '57 Classics in both positions, including the ES-335. The "Plus" is a little bit hotter than the regular one so a lot of people like to use a Plus in the bridge and the regular one in the neck. I think the 57 classic/57 classic plus combo is used more in solid bodies.

 

 

 

Yes they should fit right in. You'll need to do a little soldering. If you're not comfortable doing that yourself, you can take it to a professional and it shouldn't be that expensive.

 

SO is this what I am looking for? RIGHT_HERE

I think I am convinced. Just not sure whether to get one or two. Money is tight.

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Yes you can use them in both the bridge and/or the neck. Many Gibsons come with '57 Classics in both positions, including the ES-335. The "Plus" is a little bit hotter than the regular one so a lot of people like to use a Plus in the bridge and the regular one in the neck. I think the 57 classic/57 classic plus combo is used more in solid bodies.

 

 

 

Yes they should fit right in. You'll need to do a little soldering. If you're not comfortable doing that yourself, you can take it to a professional and it shouldn't be that expensive.

Yes.........!!!

 

Neck: 57 Classic

Bridge: 57 Classic +

 

Should sound pretty sweet in a dot

 

Some players want a slightly 'louder' pickup in the bridge for leads......

SO is this what I am looking for? RIGHT_HERE

I think I am convinced. Just not sure whether to get one or two. Money is tight.

 

 

And yes, those are the ones.....good price.....I suggest getting both now at this price; and both being 57 classics....As supersonic clarified (for me at least), Gibson puts them in both positions in 335s.........

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Yes.........!!!

 

 

 

Some players want a slightly 'louder' pickup in the bridge for leads......

 

 

 

And yes, those are the ones.....good price.....I suggest getting both now at this price; and both being 57 classics....As supersonic clarified (for me at least), Gibson puts them in both positions in 335s.........

Well, I just clicked the button and bought two. Half of what the guitar cost me 11 years ago with the case.. But I thnk I will like them. Seem to be pretty popular everywhere I looked.

Thanks for the help. it may be a whuile before I get someone to intstall them. But the prices aint goin down, so nows the time.

Thank you!

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Well, I just clicked the button and bought two. Half of what the guitar cost me 11 years ago with the case.. But I thnk I will like them. Seem to be pretty popular everywhere I looked.

Thanks for the help. it may be a whuile before I get someone to intstall them. But the prices aint goin down, so nows the time.

Thank you!

 

Great !!! Thats a fun button to have.............you'll love the pickups ................The older a guitar gets, the 'mellower' the wood gets......and, post some pics of your guitar, if you can.........

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Great !!! Thats a fun button to have.............you'll love the pickups ................The older a guitar gets, the 'mellower' the wood gets......and, post some pics of your guitar, if you can.........

I hope I love'em. I can't afford to buy them. I got weak..lol.. Maybe I should put one on my Agile al3000..lol

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Hi, just wanted to join in the discussions etc....I am too just thinking about doing the same mods but to my Sheraton - by replacing the stock Epi pick ups for Gibson 57's in both neck and bridge, but I am also a bit unsure as to whether it's worth spending the money and will I notice a big, big difference. (I am wanting to get my Sherry to sound as good as a Gibson 335 if possible). I'm not sure how good the stock Epi pick ups are in the Sheraton - so would welcome any advice or better still, as anyone already done this etc!!!!!!

 

Cheers

 

Paulocon

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Hi, just wanted to join in the discussions etc....I am too just thinking about doing the same mods but to my Sheraton - by replacing the stock Epi pick ups for Gibson 57's in both neck and bridge, but I am also a bit unsure as to whether it's worth spending the money and will I notice a big, big difference. (I am wanting to get my Sherry to sound as good as a Gibson 335 if possible). I'm not sure how good the stock Epi pick ups are in the Sheraton - so would welcome any advice or better still, as anyone already done this etc!!!!!!

 

Cheers

 

Paulocon

 

 

I need to be very careful here.........Stock Epi pickups can be wonderful; many love them........I will carefully say that changing them out to 57s is an option that I would do..

 

I do not own a Sheraton, but I have made the swap in similar guitars, and have been very pleased with the results..........

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