• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Help with Gibson Burstbucker 1 & 3 pickups

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
I have a Gibson Les Paul with Gibson Burstbucker 1 pickup in the neck and a Gibson Burstbucker 3 pickup in the bridge and after 3 consecutive weekends of squealing and feedback I am at my wits end with these unpotted headaches that pass as pickups . I am playing thru my beloved Marshall 2555X amp and have 10 other guitars ( all Gibson's and Fenders ) that I do not have this issue with and I am ready to rip these pickups and the harness out, any and all help is greatly appreciated .
 

P.Walker

New member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
941
I have a Gibson Les Paul with Gibson Burstbucker 1 pickup in the neck and a Gibson Burstbucker 3 pickup in the bridge and after 3 consecutive weekends of squealing and feedback I am at my wits end with these unpotted headaches that pass as pickups . I am playing thru my beloved Marshall 2555X amp and have 10 other guitars ( all Gibson's and Fenders ) that I do not have this issue with and I am ready to rip these pickups and the harness out, any and all help is greatly appreciated .

Some aftermarket BBs were available unpotted- so if they were replacements that could be the culprit.

Yet, even if Gibson potted yours, they probably potted the pickups themselves but just stuck the cover on there and called it a day- which is wrong because it is the most critical source of that annoying feedback at high volume. The cover needs wax too.

When done right, you shouldn't get that clikkidy clank when the cover hits your pick as you play.

At high volumes, when you tap your pickup cover with a pick, does it make more of a thud thud sound or a high pitched sharp tick that rings?

If it's the latter, either the pickup is not potted, or even if it is, the cover itself is barely waxed.

For your needs I'd make sure both are done right.

As for me, I have an old set of unpotted Duncan antiquities with an especially high wind, that i replaced with full strength A2 magnets and left them unpotted, but just the covers I made sure to wax. The marshall gives me no grief, so I don't have to pot the whole thing (at least not yet). High gain gig? Yeah I'm definitely doing that.
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Some aftermarket BBs were available unpotted- so if they were replacements that could be the culprit.

Yet, even if Gibson potted yours, they probably potted the pickups themselves but just stuck the cover on there and called it a day- which is wrong because it is the most critical source of that annoying feedback at high volume. The cover needs wax too.

When done right, you shouldn't get that clikkidy clank when the cover hits your pick as you play.

At high volumes, when you tap your pickup cover with a pick, does it make more of a thud thud sound or a high pitched sharp tick that rings?

If it's the latter, either the pickup is not potted, or even if it is, the cover itself is barely waxed.

For your needs I'd make sure both are done right.

As for me, I have an old set of unpotted Duncan antiquities with an especially high wind, that i replaced with full strength A2 magnets and left them unpotted, but just the covers I made sure to wax. The marshall gives me no grief, so I don't have to pot the whole thing (at least not yet). High gain gig? Yeah I'm definitely doing that.
Thank you for your reply .
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Update , I have ordered a new harness with 500k pots and vintage Bumble Bees from Marks Guitar loft and new pickups from ThroBak -SLE-101 Plus ,which will be wax potted for me so I can rip thru my Marshall 2555X with no problems and I am excited and looking forward to hearing my Les Paul shine properly .A big thank you to Jon Gundry at ThroBak, and Mark Bishop from Marks Guitar Loft . As soon as all the parts come in then I will have to pack up the guitar and send her out to have the work done .
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Major update . I got the guitar back from The Music Zoo who are absolutely the BEST . The best tech in the world Pete changed out the wiring harness and the pickups and installed ThroBak SLE -101 + and oh my good Lord what a night and day difference in tone .Wow , I am so blown away by the tone of this R8 Les Paul .The tone of the neck pickup is the best I have ever heard in my entire life, such a clear articulate tone without any of that bottom end mushiness or drown out by bass sounds that a lot of neck pickups are known for and the neck pickup is not even my favorite ,but I do use it when I am playing clean and soft passages .Now on to the bridge pickup where my bread and butter lives .Words cannot describe the joy and epiphany of this most magical tone conjured up by the magical windings from Jon Gundry @ ThroBak .Trying to think up words to describe the tones is like a concert violinist playing his Stradavarius and playing a single note with the bow and the sustain just going on forever . Such a rich creamy tone and sustain that I have never heard before and so articulate . I have played all kinds of humbuckers over the years from Dimarzios to Seymour Duncan's 59's to Gibson 57's, and to Gibson CustomBuckers which the Throbak take it to the next level- Holy Grail of tone to my ears . I was so blown away by the tones and I requested to have the pickups wax potted as I did not want any repeat of that dreadful squealing a-la the Burstbucker 1&3 and Jon @ThroBak cautioned me that I might lose some highs with having the pickups wax potted but I am here to tell you his magical pickups had plenty of highs to spare . I have the tone control on the Les Paul set to 6 on the bridge pickup and a lot of people have stated that they place there tone control between 6-7 .I was so upset that I thought I had a tone turd piece of wood and the Throbak SLE-101 + really knocked it out of the park in spades and really made this R8 Les Paul sing . Major Thank you to Jon Gundry @ ThroBak and I will be one of your most vocal rabid fans preaching the TONES of ThroBak pickups .
 

renderit

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
10,951
Major update . I got the guitar back from The Music Zoo who are absolutely the BEST . The best tech in the world Pete changed out the wiring harness and the pickups and installed ThroBak SLE -101 + and oh my good Lord what a night and day difference in tone .Wow , I am so blown away by the tone of this R8 Les Paul .The tone of the neck pickup is the best I have ever heard in my entire life, such a clear articulate tone without any of that bottom end mushiness or drown out by bass sounds that a lot of neck pickups are known for and the neck pickup is not even my favorite ,but I do use it when I am playing clean and soft passages .Now on to the bridge pickup where my bread and butter lives .Words cannot describe the joy and epiphany of this most magical tone conjured up by the magical windings from Jon Gundry @ ThroBak .Trying to think up words to describe the tones is like a concert violinist playing his Stradavarius and playing a single note with the bow and the sustain just going on forever . Such a rich creamy tone and sustain that I have never heard before and so articulate . I have played all kinds of humbuckers over the years from Dimarzios to Seymour Duncan's 59's to Gibson 57's, and to Gibson CustomBuckers which the Throbak take it to the next level- Holy Grail of tone to my ears . I was so blown away by the tones and I requested to have the pickups wax potted as I did not want any repeat of that dreadful squealing a-la the Burstbucker 1&3 and Jon @ThroBak cautioned me that I might lose some highs with having the pickups wax potted but I am here to tell you his magical pickups had plenty of highs to spare . I have the tone control on the Les Paul set to 6 on the bridge pickup and a lot of people have stated that they place there tone control between 6-7 .I was so upset that I thought I had a tone turd piece of wood and the Throbak SLE-101 + really knocked it out of the park in spades and really made this R8 Les Paul sing . Major Thank you to Jon Gundry @ ThroBak and I will be one of your most vocal rabid fans preaching the TONES of ThroBak pickups .

SOooooo. Would ya say ya liked 'em huh? Don't leave us guessing! I have only one (ONE (1)) guitar they didn't rock in. Strangely that one took to Wizz very well (a 339). They sounded GOOD in it though. (I even change out GOOD to try to get to PERFECT. I suspect Jon could'a hit on it though had I called him. I have a cabinet full of pickups that I feel the NEED to try as I spent the coin though).
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
SOooooo. Would ya say ya liked 'em huh? Don't leave us guessing! I have only one (ONE (1)) guitar they didn't rock in. Strangely that one took to Wizz very well (a 339). They sounded GOOD in it though. (I even change out GOOD to try to get to PERFECT. I suspect Jon could'a hit on it though had I called him. I have a cabinet full of pickups that I feel the NEED to try as I spent the coin though).
If had to answer under oath I would say they are GREAT pickups . One big difference for me is that when I ordered the set of SLE-101+ I spoke with Jon on the phone and the big difference for me in addition to how awesome his pickups are is that he was very attentive and responsive to my needs as a customer and that is tremendous for me as well as his most outstanding and excellent pickups are . I knew before hand as to what type of sound/pickup I had in mind and he was a pleasure in working with and now after this most positive experience I now want to order 3 more sets of his pickups for 3 of my other Les Paul's.
 
Top