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'57 Classic pups in Les Paul..

spursn17

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May 10, 2020
Messages
8
About to rid my Lester of it's BB Pros, and put in a set of 57 Classic.
Good choice, any one did the same and what are your thoughts?

Cheers:)
 

Keefoman

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Nov 4, 2009
Messages
576
About to rid my Lester of it's BB Pros, and put in a set of 57 Classic.
Good choice, any one did the same and what are your thoughts?

Cheers:)
You won`t really know until you`ve tried, but generally speaking, 57 Classics do sound good in a lot of guitars.
 

jrgtr42

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Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
I have '57 Classics in my Heritage H150 (for all intents and purposes it's a Les Paul.)
Personally I think I prefer the BBs in my '02 Std.
The 57s are great pickups, and I'm not looking to move them out of the H150, but the BBs have a bit of...airiness, is the only word I have... to them that the 57s don't.
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
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2,522
early 57 classics are pretty damn good, later ones pretty much suck... but, as with all things Gibson the only consistency is their inconsistency... :salude
 

grimlyflick

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Oct 27, 2005
Messages
1,276
Horses for courses really, I prefer the 57s to the BBs, some prefer the BBs.
I don’t think you’ll really know unless you try it as most of the answers will be down to personal taste.
 

TexasFM3

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Jan 30, 2006
Messages
45
About to rid my Lester of it's BB Pros, and put in a set of 57 Classic.
Good choice, any one did the same and what are your thoughts?

Cheers:)

It is driven by what your ears are wanting to hear. The BBPros are a hotter set of pickups, but I love em because messing with those 4 knobs give me a crazy array of all sorts of sounds from classic to modern rock to spanish and blues. I do need the Classic pups though or else the entire set would be the crowd watching me dialing in the BBPros. The classics just works for certain songs. I wont tell the songs and steal the thread because that's a whole discussion in itself :hee:spabout:dude:

Listen to what your ears want is always the best cure for that itch!

Rock on Brother
 

Bob Womack

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Apr 8, 2002
Messages
2,189
I've got two guitars with '57 Classics and one with BBPros. Someone above said the BBPros have more "air." I'd say they have more "hair." They are on a Les Paul and that guitar is a riot. If I plug in after one of the '57 Classic-equipped guitars it is obvious that the guitar is louder and has gobs of upper end. Where I'll typically run the tone control of the bridge pickup on one of the '57 Classic guitars on 5-6, I have to pull it back to around 3 on the BBPro guitar to match.

I've considered replacing these with 57 Classics but I'm going to hold tight for now. If I pull the volume back a pinch the bridge pickup tone sounds like the tone from all those '50s LPs the guitar guys of the '60s and '70s used. It just is perfect for melodic rock.

Bob
 

spursn17

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May 10, 2020
Messages
8
To clarify, the reason i'm getting rid of the BB pros is because they are too hot for my taste.
I have a 1965 Es 335, a 1970 LP Deluxe and a 1992 Sg 61reissue, and all of these has a "sweet spot" when i pull back the volume a tad.
On the Lp with the BB pros that don't really work that well, and i love the 57 classics on the Sg...but was unsure how they would work in a LP.
 

TexasFM3

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Jan 30, 2006
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45
To clarify, the reason i'm getting rid of the BB pros is because they are too hot for my taste.
I have a 1965 Es 335, a 1970 LP Deluxe and a 1992 Sg 61reissue, and all of these has a "sweet spot" when i pull back the volume a tad.
On the Lp with the BB pros that don't really work that well, and i love the 57 classics on the Sg...but was unsure how they would work in a LP.

Brother I know exactly what you are getting at. I have fought that beast myself. So much so I simply got a LP with the 57 classics.

Sweetwater has a nice comparison chart that might offer you some "feel" as to the output of each Gibson PUP model.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/Gibson/pickupguide/

Not sure if it will help but maybe it will.

Rock on Brother!
 
Last edited:

Rockhard

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Sep 6, 2001
Messages
113
Back when I bought a new 2001 R7 it came with 57's . Great sounding guitar agreed by anyone who heard .
 

Trans-Am

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Jul 15, 2001
Messages
4,686
If you have more than one Les Paul's? You got too have a pair of 57's/+. It's a must period in your wood and sound EQ pups collections period!:2cool

Love mine on the 335:dude:
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
While I find the 57 Classic to be wonderful, I have no use for the 57+, nasal, dull, lifeless when I tried them.
 

Trans-Am

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While I find the 57 Classic to be wonderful, I have no use for the 57+, nasal, dull, lifeless when I tried them.

Hmmmmm!:hmm really Big Al?

Maybe it's the pup height/pole pieces adjustments? (You've been there I know)

I found them to be really dynamic and tweakable. Depends on the model and wood it's syncing with?

Might just to listen to it more than usual i guess and listen to recordings etc.

Great to read your stuff back again Big Al. Cheers!
 

Big Al

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Hmmmmm!:hmm really Big Al?

Maybe it's the pup height/pole pieces adjustments? (You've been there I know)

I found them to be really dynamic and tweakable. Depends on the model and wood it's syncing with?

Might just to listen to it more than usual i guess and listen to recordings etc.

Great to read your stuff back again Big Al. Cheers!

I didn't find the 57+, a plus. I use pairs of 57 Classics and they work superb. I tend not to favour hotter paf pups as much as lower winds. It makes a big difference. One guitar has a matched pair of 7.5k Antiquity's that everyone seems to love. Depending on the model, I, II, III & ProV, I'd prefer a BBII for bridge pickup grunt. I think the Burst Buckers are excellent pickups. The BB I is a fantasticly expressive paf type. But that clear, smooth & articulate tone gets smeared when wound fuller, imo.
 

jethro1

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Jan 10, 2016
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I have a 2002 standard with BBs and a 2011 traditional with the 57s. Prefer the BBs, as someone said a bit airier and hairier, but it's good to have both for a bit of variety.
 

Trans-Am

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Jul 15, 2001
Messages
4,686
I didn't find the 57+, a plus. I use pairs of 57 Classics and they work superb. I tend not to favour hotter paf pups as much as lower winds. It makes a big difference. One guitar has a matched pair of 7.5k Antiquity's that everyone seems to love. Depending on the model, I, II, III & ProV, I'd prefer a BBII for bridge pickup grunt. I think the Burst Buckers are excellent pickups. The BB I is a fantasticly expressive paf type. But that clear, smooth & articulate tone gets smeared when wound fuller, imo.


Great insights there Big Al, I will have to really listen well and compare it with my other Paul that's got a stock BB (my fave as well) Although I did compared it with another with 490/498 on my Standard there is a sure difference in sonic sound. Again these are adjusted and tweaked to certain height and model etc.

I might just have to swap the plus for a normal 57's in which I have a pair for future bastardizing moods hehe!:hmm

Thanks man!:dude:
 

tjdjr1

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Mar 7, 2016
Messages
71
If you access to a pair of the 57 and 57+ try them before you spend the money on them. There are a lot of nice pickups out there for a bit less. I had the 57/57+ in my 16 Traditional it sounded good but there was a brightness (57+) that was not pleasing to my ears and removed them, it now has Vineham SV 59's very nice sounding, but I like the Vineham 6070's (rough cast alnico 5) a lot more ! Other pups I have in guitars now are Mojotone 59 clones (alnico iv)and Duncan 59's (alnico5). I'm not knocking the Gibsons but they wouldn't be my first choice to spend retail money on... Good luck !
 

Big Al

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Great insights there Big Al, I will have to really listen well and compare it with my other Paul that's got a stock BB (my fave as well) Although I did compared it with another with 490/498 on my Standard there is a sure difference in sonic sound. Again these are adjusted and tweaked to certain height and model etc.

I might just have to swap the plus for a normal 57's in which I have a pair for future bastardizing moods hehe!:hmm

Thanks man!:dude:

They are all a litle bit different is all. I just found that my preference, in the bridge spot, favours the Classic and if I feel the the need for more push and grind there, I prefer a BB of added power to the 57+, for my needs. The 57+ is popular for good reason and I'm not saying it's a bad pickup. I'm old and have my preferences and like my tube amps to supply gain and look for strong, clear pickup tone that won't overdrive or slam the preamp. In my case that fis better.

Of course, on a full moon this old wolf may still want to howl and when I feel the old werewolf needs unleashing I have some special Larry Talbot approved pickups in my hairier guitars to unleash the beast.
 

Trans-Am

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They are all a litle bit different is all. I just found that my preference, in the bridge spot, favours the Classic and if I feel the the need for more push and grind there, I prefer a BB of added power to the 57+, for my needs. The 57+ is popular for good reason and I'm not saying it's a bad pickup. I'm old and have my preferences and like my tube amps to supply gain and look for strong, clear pickup tone that won't overdrive or slam the preamp. In my case that fis better.

Of course, on a full moon this old wolf may still want to howl and when I feel the old werewolf needs unleashing I have some special Larry Talbot approved pickups in my hairier guitars to unleash the beast.

Now that's what I call " BEAST Mode " Big Al.:yah I somewhat share the same preference to what you would want to hear as far as pups goes, as some amps will give you the compliments a very nice paired set-up as well. I have come across a lot of other custom made pups and heard them but haven't really installed one in my Gibson's.

I tend to be a Traditionalist when it comes to these thing and just tweak and adjust to your best how your Paul's will sound and play. Just plain stock and do your best to make it work.

Certain amps will like the BB and 57's etc, unless you have one amp that you can say that it's a one trick pony does it all.

CHeers!:salude
 

spursn17

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May 10, 2020
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The 57+ is not in this equation for me, defies the purpose you might say.
The low output of the '57 is what made me choose them in the first place.
 
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