hogrydr Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Swapping pickups is something we all do and for various reasons, mostly to find THAT tone......tell me who's did you install and what were the results?.....this might be very interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhog96 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 No, not everyone swaps pickups. I have read were many players are happy with the 57 classics in their 335. There a good all round pup that will do jazz, rock, blues or anything else for that matter. Swapping pups can get pretty pricey especially if your not happy with any of the ones you end up trying. Before I'd go and swap out pups I'd fine tune the ones you have. Adjust the height and poles so the strings are all balanced and output is equal. Then swap out the controls to some good quality Audio taper pots and PIO caps. Try them with 50's wiring, same wiring that comes in Gibson's 339. 50's wiring will let you roll off the volume control but retain the treble. You cannot do this with modern wiring. You can have infinite tone options with 50's. Lots of pot tapers to choose from too. If you've already done all this and your not happy then go for the pup swap. I cant recommend any because I've been able to work with and have been very happy with the stock pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LysanderSky Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Mine came with BB Pros, which aren't ideal in that guitar in my opinion because the acoustic qualities of the guitar don't shine through (they're too hot). I am based in the UK and for PU upgrades, one the most popular ones here for 335s are Bareknuckle Stormy Mondays. I have them in my guitar too and they are great. I would describe the clean sounds as very lush, overdriven you are in classic rock / Neil Young territory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogrydr Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 Thanks for the imput roadhawg, im not looking for advice on what to install, just starting a topic on others quest for tone. We all love our 335's but usually cant leave well enought alone. Im always trying new things, like I have 6 different late 60's to early 70's SF amps, my 335 really loves the Vibrolux and Super Reverb....things like that. We can all learn learn some new tricks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I have a very cheap but well made Tokai Firebird I...the original P/U was awful So in went a SD SM-2 4 conductor Resulting in a superb usable tool Quite possibly 'better than the real thing'... V PS I just noticed this was 335 orientated...whatever... PPS I would leave my 335's 57's as is...the ES 137 Classic rocks harder if desired... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejohnny Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Mine came with BB Pros, which aren't ideal in that guitar in my opinion because the acoustic qualities of the guitar don't shine through (they're too hot). I am based in the UK and for PU upgrades, one the most popular ones here for 335s are Bareknuckle Stormy Mondays. I have them in my guitar too and they are great. I would describe the clean sounds as very lush, overdriven you are in classic rock / Neil Young territory... Hi I have burstbuckers pro in my es too and I want to replace them pretty soon. Can you tell me a little about how your tone changed with the BK pups? I miss a certain midrange in the burstbuckers pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintc Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 My 335 came with "splittable" p90S, and I think they sound just right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluezguy Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 WOULDN'T TOUCH IT!! I've had mine (nos) since last January. It's the first Gibson I've never messed with - and never will! Came with '57 Classics. Is now primary guitar for everything but slide work. If there is a complaint, I'd have to say the guitar is too loud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LysanderSky Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hi I have burstbuckers pro in my es too and I want to replace them pretty soon. Can you tell me a little about how your tone changed with the BK pups? I miss a certain midrange in the burstbuckers pro. I found the Burstbucker Pros to be quite ice-picky. The clean-sound of the BK SMs is incredible, the highs are to die for. Overdriven, they sound great, very vintage-like with a Fulltone OCD and a 70s Fender amp I get a tone which I find resembles the guitar sounds on Neil Young's 'Mirrorball'. I have to say though that I found the Burstbucker Pros to be quite mid-rangey. If you're going for a mid-rangey, overdriven rock-tone, they're not too bad although you'd be probably happier with a Burstbucker (1,2 or 3) or a BKP Riff Raff. I find it really hard to explain, also I don't know what you would like your 335 to sound like. Personally - when it comes to PUs in semi-hollows - , I like them to be low output with an A2 magnet, since this will accentuate the character of these guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejohnny Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I found the Burstbucker Pros to be quite ice-picky. The clean-sound of the BK SMs is incredible, the highs are to die for. Overdriven, they sound great, very vintage-like with a Fulltone OCD and a 70s Fender amp I get a tone which I find resembles the guitar sounds on Neil Young's 'Mirrorball'. I have to say though that I found the Burstbucker Pros to be quite mid-rangey. If you're going for a mid-rangey, overdriven rock-tone, they're not too bad although you'd be probably happier with a Burstbucker (1,2 or 3) or a BKP Riff Raff. I find it really hard to explain, also I don't know what you would like your 335 to sound like. Personally - when it comes to PUs in semi-hollows - , I like them to be low output with an A2 magnet, since this will accentuate the character of these guitars. thanks for your answer, actually i ordered a set Vintage Player PAFs from Leosounds ( since I'm in germany, a german manufacturer seems a good option to me). This is actually a low output PAF style pickup with A2 magnets. I found the BB pros also pretty ice-picky and and they were overpronaunced in a the low-midrange = muddy ith my amps (Fender DRRI and tweed princeton clone). I will report back as soon as I get the pu's and have enough time to install them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I have not changed the pickups in my 339 only because they are special wind, low output 57 Classics and not BB's. The BB 3's and Pros are too hot for my taste and the ice-pick comment is right on. I think you are doing the right thing by going with a low output PAF. The BB 1 or 2 would also be a good choice as well as the 57 Classics in a 335. You may want to consider a coil tap installation to even further the tone range. I am not familiar with the PAFs from Leosounds but low output with A2 magnets sounds like a great choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LysanderSky Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 thanks for your answer, actually i ordered a set Vintage Player PAFs from Leosounds ( since I'm in germany, a german manufacturer seems a good option to me). This is actually a low output PAF style pickup with A2 magnets. I found the BB pros also pretty ice-picky and and they were overpronaunced in a the low-midrange = muddy ith my amps (Fender DRRI and tweed princeton clone). I will report back as soon as I get the pu's and have enough time to install them. Very likely a good choice. I don't think it matters much where you're getting the replacement PUs from as long as they're a small specialised manufacturer... I'm curious about the outcome of your PU swap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejohnny Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hi everybody, I said I report back, so here we go. Since the Leosounds PU are just made when ordered, it took about two weeks for them to arrive. During the holidays I had enough time to make a new harness and install the pickups. The result is simply amazing. The low output PUs really allow the character of the guitar shine trough. The PUs are really well balanced. Everything that drove me nuts about the burstbucker pro PUs ( ice-picky high end, boomy low mids) is gone. For everybody in europe, if you want to change your PUs, you should consider the Leosounds PUs as an option. Really great value for the money. As far as the original thread is concerned: I think it is really important to know what you want and what amp you play, when it comes to changing PUs. I think its a pretty subjective issue. I don't think burstbuckers pro are bad PUs in general, there are just not good for my setup and for what I want from a PU. Second thing I realized in the process of deciding on which PU to buy is, that the description of the sound of PUs in reviews on the internet is nearly worthless. For example someone is talking about mids (like i did in this thread), what frequence is he really talking about??? Mids is a pretty wide spectrum. Unless you talk back to someone, you'll never know what he means. Or a description like "just enough high end": says nothing at all, because "just enough" evaluation is total subjective and only makes sense in the combination with a certain setup. Whatever.. bottom line: I really love my Es 335, what a great guitar! Thanks Gibson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Good news. Sounds like a good pickup choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LysanderSky Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Hi everybody, I said I report back, so here we go. Since the Leosounds PU are just made when ordered, it took about two weeks for them to arrive. During the holidays I had enough time to make a new harness and install the pickups. The result is simply amazing. The low output PUs really allow the character of the guitar shine trough. The PUs are really well balanced. Everything that drove me nuts about the burstbucker pro PUs ( ice-picky high end, boomy low mids) is gone. For everybody in europe, if you want to change your PUs, you should consider the Leosounds PUs as an option. Really great value for the money. As far as the original thread is concerned: I think it is really important to know what you want and what amp you play, when it comes to changing PUs. I think its a pretty subjective issue. I don't think burstbuckers pro are bad PUs in general, there are just not good for my setup and for what I want from a PU. Second thing I realized in the process of deciding on which PU to buy is, that the description of the sound of PUs in reviews on the internet is nearly worthless. For example someone is talking about mids (like i did in this thread), what frequence is he really talking about??? Mids is a pretty wide spectrum. Unless you talk back to someone, you'll never know what he means. Or a description like "just enough high end": says nothing at all, because "just enough" evaluation is total subjective and only makes sense in the combination with a certain setup. Whatever.. bottom line: I really love my Es 335, what a great guitar! Thanks Gibson! Glad you like the new PUs! I agree a 100% that descriptions of sound on the internet are a a bit useless but to be fair, it's hard to put acoustic properties into words. But yes, A2 low output PUs are the way to go for 335s... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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