ES355 - Pickup replacement question

[StevenO]

Why not just skip to the chase and admit that you'll just wind up selling the CS and buying a beautiful vintage example for us all the drool over?

This might be coming from a bit of a conservative place, but... I think vintage pickups work best in vintage-style guitars. Anytime I have tried to put a guitar-specific pickup into an unrelated guitar, it never ends up being what I had hoped for. You don't get a best of both worlds, you just get some characteristics of both. In my opinion, anyhow. Maybe it's a mental thing, I'm not sure.

I'm thinking you could get a really great sound from the guitar just by seeking out a nice, quality-made, PAF-style pickup. Maybe try different magnets or a different wind?

Just my 2 cents.

[Despot]

That's why I keep coming back to the Throbaks Steven - this guitar will undoubtedly sound better with a nicer set of pickups. It might not sound like a vintage guitar ... but it will be an improvement.

There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I'll be buying a vintage example - there was a '65 ES355 (the exact vintage version of this) for sale in the UK a few months ago - iirc it was 6.5k sterling!! I've only put that sort of money into one guitar (the ES345) and even then it was mostly in traded gear - I can't see myself doing the same thing again. Plus ... while it's a small thing ... that would have been a stereo guitar.

There is a 1960 ES355 on the same website at the moment - but it's mono .. oh ... and 19k!

Unfortunately I'm priced out of those guitars these days ... and to be honest I'm okay about that. I'm lucky enough to have that ES345 and that scratches the vintage itch for a PAF guitar. The ES355, being a headstock break, came my way for a reasonable price - so there's no logic in selling it. I think that once I've swapped out the pickups I'll be done with it - as it is right now I play it most evenings sitting on the couch watching tv, I love it ... but when it comes to plugging something into an amp I reach past it every time. So the problem isn't the guitar ... it's the pickups. At least that's an easy fix ... and I enjoy the debates about what to do that we have on here - I hadn't considered the Gretsch idea at all, and while I'm still not fully sold on that from a visual perspective ... it's certainly given me something to think about.

[Musjagjazz]

How about McNelly Pickups?

I've seen a lot of custom guitar makes use these pickups and there are 12 to choose from here, Wide Range, PAF types, even a Filter'Tron knock off called a SparkleTron


Think they even do custom winds


https://mcnelly-pickups.myshopify.com/c ... er-pickups

[thedude99]

There is a lot of love for Duncan Antiquit's and Seth Lovers. That's the route I was going when I was considering replacing mine. But after spending time sert My the pickup height Ronny likeing - the classic 57's are staying.

[spindizzy]

I'm far from a humbucker and/or Gibson ES specialist, but have you considered BareKnuckle pickups ?
Their PAF clone have a good rep; a lot of informations on their site.

I have a set of their low output Stormy Monday's in a Gibson ES-137, they're unpotted for extra sensitivity and sound excellent. Supposedly based on late 50s 335 pickups and give that vintage feel. Look great too and considering they were made to order for me, they were despatched and delivered super quick. Would thoroughly recommend.

For something different you could try Lollar's take on Filtertrons mixed with a PAF, the Lollartron. I have a set of those in an Epi Les Paul (replaced EMG 81s, best swap-out ever) and they're very nice sounding too hitting exactly the timbre expected.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Incidentally, if you're interested in road-testing a pair of GFS Surf 90s (voiced like Dynasonics), let me know.

[Larry Mal]

Look into some Lollar El Rayos.

http://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-hum ... -humbucker" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not entirely sure this will fit what you envision for your guitar, but you might enjoy learning about this alternative even if you don't end up going that way. I'll be putting them in something, someday, I was very impressed with them when I played them.

[StevenO]

Likewise, if you ever want to try out some Pickup Wizard pickups, I'll have him send then to me and then I'll forward them your way.

Barring a few exceptions, he's the only guy I'll ever buy pickups from.

[Mike S]

Curtis Novak makes standard humbucker-sized Wide Range pickups. I imagine those would sound insane on a hollow body.

[Bert Camenbert]

If you're going to change the pickups, change the pots too. In my experience, the pots Gibson installs in most of their guitars are shit: I hate their taper, I hate how the volume pots remove most highs as soon as you tweak them a little bit. I can only use them on full.

[Despot]

So today I sort of lost it. Lets just say there were purchases. Some great purchases. Premium purchases ... everyone knows I do good purchases believe me. The. Best.

Sorry ... not sure what came over me there - I'd visions of a symbiotic blonde wig taking charge of me and making me do things. I'm blaming today's bullshit on Trump!

Anyway .. where was I - pickups!

Thanks for the bare knuckle recommendation. One of the guitars I ended up taking home today was a Nashville custom shop '59 ES335 reissue ... a really great guitar similarly hamstrung by 57 Classics. Part of the deal was that the store would fit a set of pickups of my choosing - they had Lollar Imperials in stock, and I considered it. Then it was pointed out that they were a Bare Knuckle dealer and they had Stormy Monday and Mule sets in stock that would work. I initially wanted to go for the Stormy Monday low wind pickups, but I was talked out of it by the store (on the basis that I'd identified the store's '59 ES345 as my idea of the sound I wanted - and that has a lower output set of PAFs that make it sound like a loud telecaster more so than what I'd identify as humbucker sounds).

Anyway ... they fitted the Mule set to the ES335 ... and they're perfect. They are voiced more like PAFs than the later '60s sounding pickups I want for the ES355 - but I might try another set of Bare Knuckles for the 355. On the basis of The Mule set I'd have no concerns buying a set of their pickups - these things are light and day compared to the 57 Classics. Tonnes of character, nice bite in the treble, but clear sounding without a trace of mud.

[l9gaj]

So today I sort of lost it. Lets just say there were purchases. Some great purchases. Premium purchases ... everyone knows I do good purchases believe me. The. Best.

Sorry ... not sure what came over me there - I'd visions of a symbiotic blonde wig taking charge of me and making me do things. I'm blaming today's bullshit on Trump!

Anyway .. where was I - pickups!

Thanks for the bare knuckle recommendation. One of the guitars I ended up taking home today was a Nashville custom shop '59 ES335 reissue ... a really great guitar similarly hamstrung by 57 Classics. Part of the deal was that the store would fit a set of pickups of my choosing - they had Lollar Imperials in stock, and I considered it. Then it was pointed out that they were a Bare Knuckle dealer and they had Stormy Monday and Mule sets in stock that would work. I initially wanted to go for the Stormy Monday low wind pickups, but I was talked out of it by the store (on the basis that I'd identified the store's '59 ES345 as my idea of the sound I wanted - and that has a lower output set of PAFs that make it sound like a loud telecaster more so than what I'd identify as humbucker sounds).

Anyway ... they fitted the Mule set to the ES335 ... and they're perfect. They are voiced more like PAFs than the later '60s sounding pickups I want for the ES355 - but I might try another set of Bare Knuckles for the 355. On the basis of The Mule set I'd have no concerns buying a set of their pickups - these things are light and day compared to the 57 Classics. Tonnes of character, nice bite in the treble, but clear sounding without a trace of mud.

Funny isn't it - the Mules get a lot of love but I've never really liked the sound - i Haven't tried them in an ES though, I had them in an LP. Not sure if you have tried Oil City pickups but he makes great pickups so might be worth talking to him about exactly what you want. He made me a set of tapped replacement pickups for a ES-347 a while back and they are fantastic sounding pickups, really well made too.

[Despot]

On a total whim I went with a set of OX4 pickups for the ES355 last night.

I was about to push the button on some Throbaks, but they're already expensive and when I factored in the customs/duty on them they'd have been pushing about 600 euro! The OX4s were 225 sterling - considerably less.

I do wish that the various demo videos out there weren't aimed towards blues/classic rock though ... with all the variations I'd thought of going with whenever I tried to find a video on youtube, invariably it came back with some guy (usually with a Les Paul) playing Clapton/Page et al. What I really wanted was a video giving chords played clean, slowly, demonstrating the balance between strings and note definition. I went with the OX4s because I found a video that gave just that (after sifting through a load of noodly BS) and I liked how his standard/low wind humbucker sounds.

[Despot]

Also ... what I'm going to do once the ES355 is done is to do an A/B/C comparison between the '99 ES335 (Mules), the '62 ES345 (PAFs) and the ES355 with the OX4 pickups.

But unlike the typical blooze-fest playing it's going to be really simple, chord and individual string playing (clean) where you can actually hear the difference. I'll try to keep all things equal (distance of pickup from the string etc) to make it as fair a comparison as possible. The geek in me likes the idea of this...

[Mclean]

On a total whim I went with a set of OX4 pickups for the ES355 last night.

I was about to push the button on some Throbaks, but they're already expensive and when I factored in the customs/duty on them they'd have been pushing about 600 euro! The OX4s were 225 sterling - considerably less.

I do wish that the various demo videos out there weren't aimed towards blues/classic rock though ... with all the variations I'd thought of going with whenever I tried to find a video on youtube, invariably it came back with some guy (usually with a Les Paul) playing Clapton/Page et al. What I really wanted was a video giving chords played clean, slowly, demonstrating the balance between strings and note definition. I went with the OX4s because I found a video that gave just that (after sifting through a load of noodly BS) and I liked how his standard/low wind humbucker sounds.

Awesome! Can't wait to get your take on these. I've been toying with the idea of getting a set for my old Greco LP.

Also, hear exactly what you're saying about video demos, although I suppose it's no surprise that PAF style pickups in particular appeal to those types of player. My other pet hate is when people just solo the whole time - I can't form any opinion without hearing some chords!