57 Classics good enough for Tracii Guns in his SG
- Thread starter mdubya
- Start date
OP
mdubya
Well-Known Member
Paul G.
Well-Known Member
I am wrong!!
I like 'em in Semi-hollows, though. They're pretty nice in any guitar, but I like other pickups better in other applications.
There are sounds in my head, you know.
P.
OP
mdubya
Well-Known Member
I think SG's and 335's are very similar and 57 Classic/57 Classic + combo are perfect in both.
I would love to see Gibson revert back to the original specs on 57's. I believe the ones made in the 90's sounded better. The newer ones sound OK, but not the same.
I have a set of Tom Holmes 450/455 ready to try in my Firebird. If those do the business, I am going to try Arcane 1957 Experience in my 335. Tom Holmes designed the original spec 57 Classics. The Arcane guy worked for Tom Holmes and the 1957 Experience are supposed to be his take on Holmes 450/455.
I would love to see Gibson revert back to the original specs on 57's. I believe the ones made in the 90's sounded better. The newer ones sound OK, but not the same.
I have a set of Tom Holmes 450/455 ready to try in my Firebird. If those do the business, I am going to try Arcane 1957 Experience in my 335. Tom Holmes designed the original spec 57 Classics. The Arcane guy worked for Tom Holmes and the 1957 Experience are supposed to be his take on Holmes 450/455.
RVA
Ambassador
I am equally wrong as you Paul.
No disrespect intended....but would like to throw this experience in here.
I had a pair of new Gibson 57 Classic's for a while. They were wound in September 2016. They did have good tone, as one would expect from a low impedance PAF, but they were too noisy to suit me. They did not have a remarkable or "amazing" tone either. Not a "flame" remark, just my observations.
After the 57 Classics, a pair of 2015 490T/490R's and a second pair of "revised specification" 490's out of a 2017 Gibson Les Paul Tribute (wound November 2016) I threw up the white flag and sold them all.
The original 490's in my 2016 Gibson SG were noisy...very noisy. Tone was really thin for a humbucker too and you can hear them on some videos I posted here.
The 490R/490T out of the 2017 Les Paul Tribute were a mix of good and bad. The neck pickup was dead silent, but too muddy for my liking. The bridge 490T sounded good, but was noisy.
I tried all three sets of Gibson pickups with full copper shielding and my original PCB, followed by the Tone Man harness with .033uf/.015uf K40Y Soviet tone caps.
All the Gibson pickups sounded better with the Tone Man harness than the PCB, but still had the aforementioned issues. The tone was much more "adjustable" with the Tone Man harness.
Before selling them, I installed all 3 sets in my 1987 Squire Stratocaster and got identical results. Funny that all 3 sets of Gibson pickups went crazy if I played in front of my computer monitor.
Same amp, same cable, same seating position every time.
Finally, in frustration, I swapped in a pair of GFS Alinco II PAF clones (Classic II's) I had laying around - 7.93k bridge and 7. 88k neck with nickel covers...wider pole spacing on the bridge and double wax potted.
I thought they were shorted out at first because they made no noise whatsoever. I was totally floored by how quiet they are.
Tone is very balanced, as one would expect from a low impedance PAF with a nickel cover. Playing through my DSL40C, with the gain cranked up, it's pretty close to Angus Young's tone on H to H.
Never muddy...even with the tone rolled off and no volume loss. Plus i can sit in front of my amp now with no feedback and they dont react to sitting in front of my computer monitor either.
The Tone Man harness really was $90 well spent.
So, in the end, the Gibson pickups just didn't work out for me. I don't want to discourage anyone from using Gibson pickups, I know there are good ones out there, but mine were apparently lemons....
I had a pair of new Gibson 57 Classic's for a while. They were wound in September 2016. They did have good tone, as one would expect from a low impedance PAF, but they were too noisy to suit me. They did not have a remarkable or "amazing" tone either. Not a "flame" remark, just my observations.
After the 57 Classics, a pair of 2015 490T/490R's and a second pair of "revised specification" 490's out of a 2017 Gibson Les Paul Tribute (wound November 2016) I threw up the white flag and sold them all.
The original 490's in my 2016 Gibson SG were noisy...very noisy. Tone was really thin for a humbucker too and you can hear them on some videos I posted here.
The 490R/490T out of the 2017 Les Paul Tribute were a mix of good and bad. The neck pickup was dead silent, but too muddy for my liking. The bridge 490T sounded good, but was noisy.
I tried all three sets of Gibson pickups with full copper shielding and my original PCB, followed by the Tone Man harness with .033uf/.015uf K40Y Soviet tone caps.
All the Gibson pickups sounded better with the Tone Man harness than the PCB, but still had the aforementioned issues. The tone was much more "adjustable" with the Tone Man harness.
Before selling them, I installed all 3 sets in my 1987 Squire Stratocaster and got identical results. Funny that all 3 sets of Gibson pickups went crazy if I played in front of my computer monitor.
Same amp, same cable, same seating position every time.
Finally, in frustration, I swapped in a pair of GFS Alinco II PAF clones (Classic II's) I had laying around - 7.93k bridge and 7. 88k neck with nickel covers...wider pole spacing on the bridge and double wax potted.
I thought they were shorted out at first because they made no noise whatsoever. I was totally floored by how quiet they are.
Tone is very balanced, as one would expect from a low impedance PAF with a nickel cover. Playing through my DSL40C, with the gain cranked up, it's pretty close to Angus Young's tone on H to H.
Never muddy...even with the tone rolled off and no volume loss. Plus i can sit in front of my amp now with no feedback and they dont react to sitting in front of my computer monitor either.
The Tone Man harness really was $90 well spent.
So, in the end, the Gibson pickups just didn't work out for me. I don't want to discourage anyone from using Gibson pickups, I know there are good ones out there, but mine were apparently lemons....
OP
mdubya
Well-Known Member
^^^ No worries and no offense or disrespect taken.
It is certainly valuable and interesting to hear your experience. Curious that the trouble occurred with the quick connect pickups.
It is funny, some find 57's dark and muddy, others find them to be too bright. Many find the early ones (from the 90's, the earlier the better) to be much better than modern examples. I have a very early 90's 57+ which is just awesome. I also have them from 2009 and 2014 (the regular Classic and the Classic + varieties). They all sound a little bit different in individual guitars. It is surprising how closely they can be dialed in, though.
I prefer a 57+ in the bridge with a 300k volume pot. I have a regular classic in the neck of my Epiphone Sheraton with a 500k pot and it is close to perfect in that guitar.
This thread was meant to be a nod to the old etsg forum; so many of us loved 57's in our SG's. I thought is was cool that Tracii felt no need to change out the 57's in his SG, one of his favorite and well used current guitars. Validation for us 57 lovers.
Your faded brown SG is spectacular! Love it! :dood::dood::dood:
It is certainly valuable and interesting to hear your experience. Curious that the trouble occurred with the quick connect pickups.
It is funny, some find 57's dark and muddy, others find them to be too bright. Many find the early ones (from the 90's, the earlier the better) to be much better than modern examples. I have a very early 90's 57+ which is just awesome. I also have them from 2009 and 2014 (the regular Classic and the Classic + varieties). They all sound a little bit different in individual guitars. It is surprising how closely they can be dialed in, though.
I prefer a 57+ in the bridge with a 300k volume pot. I have a regular classic in the neck of my Epiphone Sheraton with a 500k pot and it is close to perfect in that guitar.
This thread was meant to be a nod to the old etsg forum; so many of us loved 57's in our SG's. I thought is was cool that Tracii felt no need to change out the 57's in his SG, one of his favorite and well used current guitars. Validation for us 57 lovers.
Your faded brown SG is spectacular! Love it! :dood::dood::dood:
Yep... I started out at ETSG myself.
I wonder sometimes if Gibson's habit of still using a lot of human hands in the build process is one reason for their hit-and-miss quality issues???
Oh yes...issues the quick connect wiring on the Gibson's...
A guy on E-Bay makes adapter plugs that allow you to use Epiphone puckups in Gibson and vice-versa, plus use a non-quick connect on a PCB and adapts quick connect to standard wiring.
My 57 Classics were not quick connect. They were vintage style wiring. Both sets of 490's were quick connects...
I wonder sometimes if Gibson's habit of still using a lot of human hands in the build process is one reason for their hit-and-miss quality issues???
Oh yes...issues the quick connect wiring on the Gibson's...
A guy on E-Bay makes adapter plugs that allow you to use Epiphone puckups in Gibson and vice-versa, plus use a non-quick connect on a PCB and adapts quick connect to standard wiring.
My 57 Classics were not quick connect. They were vintage style wiring. Both sets of 490's were quick connects...
The connectors here:
https://reverb.com/item/3265567-2-quick-connect-adapters-for-gibson-5-wire-pickup
https://reverb.com/item/3265567-2-quick-connect-adapters-for-gibson-5-wire-pickup
