Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 142 Location: Northern CA
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:34 am Post subject: Gibson ES335 - Pickup Recommendations
I have an older Gibson ES335 ... with the original pickups. Do pickups lose anything over time? I am a complete novice to such subjects. In any event, I was wondering if anyone had some recommedations. I love that sweet blues sound, that great sustain, all done with a little biting edge.
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 1504 Location: Methuen, MA
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:46 am Post subject: Re: Gibson ES335 - Pickup Recommendations
Michael wrote:
I have an older Gibson ES335 ... with the original pickups. Do pickups lose anything over time?
I've wondered this myself. I still have my 1st guitar- a circa 1960 Kent semi-hollowbody ES335-looking kind of thing. Someday, I'm going to have a luthier restore it, but I wonder about the pickups. Were they any good in the first place, and, have they lost anything in 45 years? Any thoughts?
Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 916 Location: Fairhope, AL
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:58 pm Post subject: ES335
Just my opinion, but uless you have a real problem with the pickups, I'd leave an older Gibson 335 stock. Those are great guitars. If there is a problem with the sound, I'd be willing to bet it's in the wiring and/or solder joints.
Andy, my first electric guitar was a 4 pickup Teisco. I've got a picture somewhere. It had a great tone after I took out the two middle pickups and stuffed the opening with styrofoam! Before that it would feedback a lot.
Frank
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 1504 Location: Methuen, MA
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:47 pm Post subject:
Hahaha AndyR, great post. No, my guitar isn't that one, but somewhat similar. Thanks for the link- I'm going to check it out right after this post.
Oh, after I got the Kent, and being bashed for it (5th graders can be cruel!) because it wasn't a Fender, Gibson, or Gretch (Gretsch sp?), I pried off the glued-on "K" metal logo from the face of the headstock (which peeled off some laquer and finish down to the barewood, and still remains "K"less and blemished to date!). After that, it's identity was lost, except for the KENT engraved in the tailpiece which was not as obviously visible. So, I proudly played that guitar in many a basement horror jam, playing mostly the Monkees (remember, this was mid-late 60s, and I was just a prepubescent (sp?) young lad trying to impress the much more mature young lassies...
Anyway, as I said earlier, I still have this guitar. As desparate as I was at times earlier in life for cash, selling this instrument was never an option. Reason being- it's a gratefull tie to my Mom, who toiled in a sweatshop as a seamstress as I was growing up. For several weeks, on our way to do the food shopping (just me and her, no car, 4 or 5 blocks from our home), we'd pass this pawn shop and stop to admire this nice looking guitar hanging in the window. One day, she asked me if I wanted it, and 3 weeks later, she bought it for me. It cost 60 bucks- just over one week's take-home pay for her. Thanks Mom! She still lives today- 91 years old! And my Kent is around 45 years old, the old bastard!
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 1504 Location: Methuen, MA
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:59 pm Post subject:
Ok, I just checked out that Teisco site and look at every picture, and my Kent is definitely not a Teisco. I'll post a picture soon, and maybe someone will recognize it... _________________ Soul on Eleven
Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 142 Location: Northern CA
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:20 pm Post subject:
Hello JohnnyZ:
I saw your tag line ... I was wondering if you've read the book "John" by Lennon's first wife. Some of the descriptions of John's behavior boggle the mind. Giving peace a chance certainly did not refer to the sane treatment of his first wife and son ... at least according to the book. It is a sad story at best.
Joined: 21 Feb 2004 Posts: 243 Location: Rochester, MI
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:01 pm Post subject:
Well, if there's one thing I am in this world, it's a "335 guy", or more generally a semi-hollow guy. As a backgroud, here's what I have (including the pickups) along with commentary:
1993 Gibson ES-335 Dot re-issue with Fralin Unbuckers. This guitar had '57 classics originally which sounded great. I wanted a bit more bite on the neck pickup and also something "more". I love the Unbuckers. In the full humbucking position, they have a "sweetness" to them that is just great. I have coil taps on both pickups which work very well and provide more sound options. Interestingly enough, I think I like the tap capability on one of my other guitars more (see the Ibanez below).
1967 Gibsone ES-335 (vintage) with original patent number pickups. This guitar is the real deal--I LOVE it. It is totally Freddie King. Very nice bright pickups. The bridge is very sweet and the neck is KILLER. Almost p-90ish. Very vintage sounding.
1981 Ibanez AS-200 with Duncan JB in bridge and Jazz in neck. I got this guitar new in 1981 and had the pickups installed (along with coil taps) immediately. This was my main guitar for 14 years. These pickups are fantastic, especially tapped. I like the bridge tapped and the neck full humbucking for rythm playing. This is my Robben Ford equivalent guitar. In fact, I used this guitar at GIT in '83 and '84, when I got to study with Robben. I remember him trying the guitar and really liking it. This was BEFORE he came to school with the prototype Fender Esprit! Perhaps there was a little inspiration here!
PRS Hollowbody II with PRS specially designed pickups. These pickups are slightly underwound compared to the standard McCartys. They sound very bright, clear and sweet, but I would not say that they are "hot". However, the guitar and the pickups break-up very nicely. This guitar sounds great clean and dirty.
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 234 Location: Hartlepool, U.K.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:20 am Post subject:
Marin, May I say that that was exceptional playing! I could hear Larry and Robben fighting over the licks. What a great sound, and some great ideas too. Keep it up! _________________ "Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 1504 Location: Methuen, MA
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:32 pm Post subject:
Michael wrote:
Hello JohnnyZ:
I saw your tag line ... I was wondering if you've read the book "John" by Lennon's first wife. Some of the descriptions of John's behavior boggle the mind. Giving peace a chance certainly did not refer to the sane treatment of his first wife and son ... at least according to the book. It is a sad story at best.
These are the kinds of things that one tends to not want to hear about a hero, or at least, want to think that it was a mistake in the past and was changed as life moved on. I haven't read the book, but I am interested. Regardless, I enjoy my memories of John and the early Beatles, from the early 45's I played over and over and over, to the Ed Sullivan shows, to the AM radio airplays of the singles hits, to the psychedelic change of events, to the Beatles breakup, and to John Lennon's own albums ( which I really only like about half of his stuff )... Honestly, I started to lose touch with the man, until I heard he got shot, and then was dead. Total sorrow hit, like no one I've ever known...
So, again, the book may reveal another side, but I cannot dismiss the man that I've known.
God bless John Lennon's soul, and George Harrison's while we're reminiscing... _________________ Soul on Eleven
Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 142 Location: Northern CA
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:35 pm Post subject:
Hello JohnnyZ
I too was interested and found the book to reveal a human side that exists in all of us. The book points out that things were changing for the positive at the time of his death. I'm glad I read it as her book provided a true insiders view of what was going on during a rapidly changing period of approx. 10 years. It's a side of the Beatles and John that no one else could present. Many of the great songs take on new meaning ... as Julian describing some early school art by saying ... it's Lucy in the sky with diamonds. And I thought the phrase came from John's LSD experiences. Or Paul writing Hey Jude on his way down to visit Cynthia and Julian after things turned messy.
It's interesting how older more meaningful music is finding an audience with the younger generation today ... believe it or not ... The Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, and even Johnny Cash ... an making another music impact.
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 234 Location: Hartlepool, U.K.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:30 am Post subject:
Turns out the BBC is airing some tapes of an interview Lennon did for Rolling Stone in 1970. The program goes out tomorrow on BBC Radio 4: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4489772.stm
Not sure whether you non-UK people could listen to this via the BBC's webstite. _________________ "Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 234 Location: Hartlepool, U.K.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:32 am Post subject:
Yup, looks like you can get it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/lennon.shtml _________________ "Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982
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