Post
by Despot » Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:45 am
The pickups in the guitar have a lot to do with it.
I've gone on the record many times about my dislike of '57 Classics ... the pickup only works in SGs for some reason (where it sounds great), but in semi-hollows they sound muddy and woofy in the neck, though usually okay in the bridge (if a little lacking in character). Unfortunately these are sort of the 'standard' pickup that Gibson fits to ES335 type guitars - even the upscale high end models like the ES355.
I bought an ES335 earlier this year (traded against the SG Custom now). It was an exceptionally nice ES335 - a Nashville custom shop model from the late '90s. Played great and sounded great unplugged - but dead and lifeless thanks to the '57 classics when plugged in. I replaced the pickups with a set of Bareknuckle 'The Mule' humbuckers ... which are styled on earlier '60s PAFs. Immediately the guitar changed - the neck pickup was still full sounding, but the notes were clear and defined with a lot more treble overall. The bridge was just as full as the '57 classic, but with a lot more character to it. Instantly changed the guitar.
Old ES guitars are a different story - you can find ES335s fitted with PAFs that sound like Telecasters on steroids - they've got twang and bite to them in both the neck and bridge. I played a '59 ES345 that was just like this a few years ago in a store. Then you can find PAFs that sound like 'classic rock' without even trying - my '62 ES345 has a neck pickup that, if you turn the amp up, sounds like pretty much any classic rock song from the 1960s ... but each string is defined, and while the bass strings are powerful they don't mush together in a chord and become muddy - the top end is tight and full. It's a fantastic sounding humbucker and you can pretty much play anything just on that neck pickup.
Then you get PAFs that sound weak or underwound - these tend to be super bright and chimey. The bridge pickup on my ES345 is like this - unfortunately it's completely out of whack with the neck and so balance is an issue I'm constantly struggling with. It sounds more like a Jaguar than ... well ... a Jaguar.
Later '60s saw the Patent Number pickups. Earlier Pat Nos. are basically short magnet PAFs ... same construction, different sticker. These are usually in the same ball park as a 'decent' earlier PAF. Towards the end of the '60s you get into T-Top territory ... so called because of a stamping on the bobbin that aided pickup winders with their work. These pickups are very consistent - they tend to be around the 7k range and usually within a very consistent spectrum in sound.
Wait for it ... I'm going somewhere with this long rant!
That period is, for me, the golden era of ES guitars. Later '60s with either Patent Numbers or the start of the T-tops. These guitars are bright - a lot of people who like PAFs don't rate t-tops because they're seen as being a bit too consistent and perhaps lacking character - and being too bright. But in an ES guitar this means that every setting will be useful. The neck will sound full, but with top end sparkle in chords and never muddy. The bridge will be chimey and bright when clean, but will bite like hell when you drive the amp.
When people talk about an ES guitar being able to do anything, they often reference session guitar players like Larry Carlton. He used a few other guitars (I believe a Les Paul special as well), but he's mainly associated with an ES335. And as far as I recall that's a '67 or '68 ES335 ... so right from that period I'm talking about.
That's when an ES guitar is effectively 'one guitar for most jobs'.
I've owned (at a rough mental calculation) about 15 ES guitars - from ES330s, ES335s, ES345/355s ... from the '60s, '70s and modern era. I've only kept one humbucker ES - the ES345 I mentioned and one ES330 (a '62 as well as it happens). For my needs an ES330 is actually better - I prefer P90s, and a fully hollow guitar can be used like an acoustic at night when I don't want to wake anyone up. But the characteristics of a 'good' ES guitar for me are clear - bright, articulate pickups, lighter weight, resonant and loud unplugged and a big old baseball bat of a neck.
