MHS Pickups In An ES Guitar

I would like some feedback about MHS pickups. I tried to search them and nothing came up. What do you guys think of them? Why are they just in ES guitars? Are they the best thing since sliced bread or could use an upgrade? Thanks.

Here's a link:

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/114664-mhs-pickup/

I believe MHS stands for Memphis Historic Spec, and are described by Gibson as being nearer to PAFs than any other pickup.

AFAIK, they are not fitted as standard to LPs. Why, I don't know...:hmm

Thanks majorminor for the info. I guess they are under wound Custombuckers. I haven't tried Custombuckers. Are people still liking them ?Are they great in a ES guitar? Would they be great for Les Pauls for maybe jazz tones? Has Gibson scored a winner? Thanks

The MHS in my 64 345 Historic are my favorite pickups at the time ,in middle position it sounds killer . And if you play with the volume of each pickups you really are in for some great tones . IMO they out perform any of my BB historic's . And that's with a veri tone non stereo . The thing kills my Original 60's 345's my Trini Lopez & 355 . I would still own these guitars if they delivered like the Memphis. Vintage = great tone ?

I had them in my 335 and swapped them for some Rewinds that I got a great deal on. MHS were nice but found them to be a little muddier than the Rewinds.

The set I got with my `63 reissue block Inlay ES-335 were very muddy. I took them out and installed a pair of late Sixties T-Tops which I kept in until I got the ThroBak Pre-T-301's.
The Pre-T's sound like every vintage ES-335 I've ever played!

Love the MHS pickups in my '63 reissue ES-335. One of the few Gibsons I haven't wanted to modify in any way. Love the sound and feel of that guitar just as it is.

Uncle Gary said:

Love the MHS pickups in my '63 reissue ES-335. One of the few Gibsons I haven't wanted to modify in any way. Love the sound and feel of that guitar just as it is.

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That's great! I just didn't like the way they sounded in my Reissue `63. I'm sure that in some guitars they sound great.. all depends on the wood!

Uncle Gary said:

Love the MHS pickups in my '63 reissue ES-335. .

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This is my experience too. I A/B'd my '60 335 and the '15 Memphis 345 I have and they sound pretty close. For covers gigs the 345 is a no brainer for me...great sound, great feel, non-vintage value.

I've got a 2016 63 RI 335, I've been a single coil guy My entire life and last year I pretty much gutted my entire collection buy this guitar. I've played pretty much everything Gibson has put out over the last few years and this 63 ri I have to say absolutely excels. I find that 57 classics sound great until you really turn up at gigging volume then they sound a little shrill to my ear, they sound very bright and articulate at lower volumes and when completely clean though. I've played plenty of custombuckered Lesters some of them have been ok some of them where great again I think it depends on the guitar, generally I find that they are more on the woolly side and lack top end sparkle. Other than my 63 ri I've only ever played one other guitar with MHS pickups in it and that was a 64 345 RI which i thought was nice on the front pickup but I found the back to be a little on the honky side, very mid focused with not much bass or top end.

Now depending on how you like to get your sound and how you like to run your rig this will be different. I usually run my 335 straight into the amp with nothing but a wah between if i can get away with it, if I need to I have a board with a fulltone ocd and a Jrad Archer (Klon Clone) they're both set for a little bit of boost and a little bit of gain, I don't like a fuzzy sound (unless I'm using a fuzz that is....). My experience in using the 335 in this manner is that it is very sensitive to the amp you're using, the fact that the pickups aren't wax potted really makes them sing and sustain in a very unique way when your infront of an amp that is really working and for me that is where this guitar really comes into it's own. A big influence on me buying this guitar was playing JD Simo's 62 335 last summer which was a big turning point for me, I played that guitar and thought "fuck i didn't know guitars could be like this" I'd played expensive guitars before then and a fair few vintage pieces but never anything with real PAF's or had I ever really been in a room with some one playing a PAF'd guitar through a dimed amp, I'd say if you want a reference my MHS pickups are pretty ballpark to JD's 335 in terms of sound. Would caveat all this by saying that 1 guitar is a pretty small sample size but I wouldn't change out the pickups on mine for anything, these pickups in this particular guitar do everything I want them to do!

Here is a video about a week after I got the guitar at my sisters wedding it's the front pickup into my AC 15 which is up a little over half way, the video quality is pretty shitty as i had to rip it from some one else'd Facebook page and re upload it and I have no idea what I'm doing in that regard, but the sound is accurate to what it does sound like. I would say that before you ask, yes I am doing a guitar duel with my cousin on the cajon who is harmonica noises with his mouth. It was a wedding and we'd been drinking, quite a bit.....


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FRkGL_iatrQ?ecver=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

Good pickups. They could be a bit more bright to suit more my playing style, but still i like them a bit more than Burstbuckers or 57 Classics.

Interesting is, that the underwound Custombuckers on Wildwood spec 63 ES335 and Rusty Anderson ES335 i tried, were much brighter and articulate than these MHS - so perhaps they arent just "underwound Custombuckers". :hmm

I'd agree with saying ,they are good pickups . I don't care for them much ,but they haven't motivated me enough to swap them out ....yet ... (laziness might be a part of that too :laugh2



IIRC The Anderson Pups were the 1st.rendition of what became MHS pups People raved about them and, here we got to ...

I don't crank my volume much(small practice room and Tinnitus) so I can't speculate on the tone they produce at those levels ... The sets i have (1 is a 2014 -345(MHS??? IIRC) , and the other a 2015 - '63 -335 )
are OK ...
I love the BB's 1&2's in my 2013 , '59 Memphis Blister top 335 RI . Everything about the guitar is Right .

IN general I like BB's more . But it depends on the guitar . Bigly .....:spabout

Uncle Gary said:

Love the MHS pickups in my '63 reissue ES-335. One of the few Gibsons I haven't wanted to modify in any way. Love the sound and feel of that guitar just as it is.

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Uncle Gary,

what year is your 63 ES-335? As you know I recently got a 50th anni. 63 reissue, so as per 2013 specs, I'm stuck with BB1/BB2 :laugh2:
Thing was, I had no idea what pickups were in the guitar, so when I plugged my R7 (with stock BB1/2) and my 335 (whose pickups I didn't know yet at that time) into my Fender PR and Marshall 2061x, I was shocked at how different and how good each of them sound. And then I realized both guitars had the same set of pickups :laugh2: Shame on me.



To the OP, sorry for getting off topic! I don't have direct hands on experience as of yet, but my close friend with the same model guitar but w/MHS pickups does say his sounds a little quiter/softer than mine with BB1/2.

P.Walker said:

Uncle Gary,

what year is your 63 ES-335? As you know I recently got a 50th anni. 63 reissue, so as per 2013 specs, I'm stuck with BB1/BB2 :laugh2:
Thing was, I had no idea what pickups were in the guitar, so when I plugged my R7 (with stock BB1/2) and my 335 (whose pickups I didn't know yet at that time) into my Fender PR and Marshall 2061x, I was shocked at how different and how good each of them sound. And then I realized both guitars had the same set of pickups :laugh2: Shame on me.
.

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My '63 reissue is a '16, that I bought in May of last year, so I am assuming it has the MHS pickups. I haven't had them out of the guitar to see, and I'm not sure there are any identifying marks on them anyway. I do know they're much better to my ears than the Burstbuckers in the Warren Haynes 335 I traded for this one. Whether they're better than the '57 Classics in my '09 depends on which guitar I'm playing at the moment. They're both good.

Then too, I like the Burstbucker 1 & 2 combination in the two Les Paul R0s. Truth be told, I'm not a habitual pickup swapper. For me to change pickups in a guitar, there has to be something really wrong.

Just received my Rusty Anderson 335 Pilot Run, and I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of the MHS pickups.

Low-winds are one thing. Relatively flat and lifeless is another. A/B'd with a set of Rolph '58's there was absolutely no comparison. The guitar itself is as fine a new Gibson as I've played, and I'm somewhat of a tough audience. The build quality is absurdly good and the acoustic resonance outstanding. The Pilot Run has hand-picked woods, etc. and only 24 were made, which may account for it's above-and-beyond quality.

I'm constantly amazed that Gibson can build guitars as good as the RA then flub the pickups 90+ % of the time. Personally, I couldn't get the MHS out fast enough. Of course, as with all things Internet, YMMV. Just putting it out there that if you get the MHS, anticipate changing pickups, which ultimately isn't that big a deal. Cheers all!