Explain the Burstbucker 3 to me please

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Its probably well documented that I am a metal head, and the 2 things I have to have in my arsenal and installed on every guitar I use are #1. A Duncan Distortion/BW or #2. Blackouts
there have a been a few exceptions over the years with dozens and dozens of others wired into various projects. Learning more and more about what tones I can carve out of an p or signal chain.... anyhow

Every Gibson branded pickup I've ever owned (with the exception of the 500t) I have tried, hated, and promptly removed!

Last week I bought a Wonderful example of a 2020 Explorer that I genuinely drool over. It was born with a BB3 in the bridge. (BB2 neck)
After doing a bit of research, I've discerned that the BB3 is the hottest wound pickup in the Burstbucker line of pickups.... Underwood... underpowered..... and a PAF kind of flavor ....
All of these words describe the exact opposite of what I do.... and yet (the conundrum) I really like it! I think it sounds great!

Here are the possibilities in my head anyhow...

1. Could the guitar be soooo good that most pickups would sound glorious in it?
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S​​​​ide note: (My epi goth is sort of that way, I've wired in live wires, customs, custom customs, distortions, alt 8s, DD designed, dimebuckers, invaders, screaming demon, full shreds... to name a few into that guitar, and they all sounded good!)

2. Is this underpowered 8.7k Gibson pickup actually something special?? Or it could just work well with my current rigs and settings?

3. Soo many brain injuries have lessened my ability to know what I know?

Thoughts?

 

[Chistopher]

So here's the lore as I see it. Gibson came out with the 57 Classics. Burstbuckers 1 and 2 correspond to scatterwound 57 Classic neck and 57 Classic bridge. Burstbucker 3 is an overwound scatterwound 57 Classic bridge.

If you buy a guitar with BBs they come potted, buy them on their own and they are unpotted

Most guitar people I know outside the interent really love Burstbuckers, myself included. But they get a bad rep because if theres two things the online guitar community hates, it's stock pickups and modern Gibson products

 

[Chistopher]

Also, I've never tried it, but I have reason to believe any BB set could function fairly well with an A3 in the neck and A8 in the bridge.

 

[jeremy]

the bb3 is pretty hot for a paf type pup, most people who love vintage type pups think its too hot in my experience. doesnt matter what it is, if you like it, then its good!!

 

[beaubrummels]

Saying a BB is a Classic scatterwound is a little oversimplifying, but tone-wise yeah maybe. I believe they have different numbers of turns. There was a conversation on Gibson.com forum where someone had the numbers.

From what I know, reading Gibson and other forums:

57 Classic 6.9k A2 wax potted, balanced coils
57 Classic Plus 7.4k A2 wax potted, balanced coils

BB 1 6.7k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter
BB 2 7.0k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter
BB 3 7.75k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter

BB Pro Neck 6.8k A5 potted
BB Pro Bridge 7.1k A5 potted

Other variants are the 61 Burstbucker and Custombucker, which I don't have complete specs for, but the 61 is a Burstbucker with the slug coil hotter, and the Custombucker is A3 unpotted.

 

[jeremy]

i think those dcr numbers are all very low. mag types and coil offsets are correct as far as i know.

the 57 classic is usually around 8k, 57+ is almost 9k. bb1 ->7.8k, bb2 -> 8.4k, bb3 ->8.7k, bbpro neck ->7.8k, bbpro bridge 8.4k

 

[ErikH]

The BB3 came in my Les Paul Trad Pro with a '57 Classic in the neck. At first I wasn't too fond of it but it has grown on me and even after putting a couple other bridge pickups in that guitar, I went back to the BB3 and there it will stay. With today's overdrive/distortion options, lower output pickups can be a benefit.

I'm with jeremy, those numbers from the Gibson.com forum are way low. I had a '57 Classic / .57 Classic+ set before and they lined up more with the numbers jeremy posted. I think the regular Classic was around 8.1k and I know the Classic+ was right at 9k.

Toss the Classic+ in a Strat thru a loud Marshall and you're in the ballpark of some killer vintage vibes of a certain player from Pasadena..LOL. (speaking from experience).

 

[Chistopher]

Excuse me, I meant unbalanced coils but scatterwound slipped out. I believe the coil mismatch is very slight though. Less than a few hundred turns difference.

I don't know if they have something like this, but I've debated buying a BB1 so I could make my own BB1/BB2 hybrid for the neck, and a BB2/Bb3 hybrid for the bridge, and have a left over BB1/BB3 hybrid. But I don't think I'll ever get around to it.

 

[zionstrat]

BB3 is an excellent bridge pickup! Mainly worked on them in Les Paul's but have installed them in other heavy builds.

Overwound PAF is probably correct literally, however, I would describe them in the real world as a punchy bridge that avoids extreme brightness, but still has more than enough high end.

In a way they have their own niche... They have plenty of power but they keep a Les Paul from sounding like mud. It's not like they are heavily based rolled off, it's more like they've got the right overtones.

I've never put one in an explorer, but I would imagine it would be good because I think of explorers as slightly brighter, tighter Les Paul's and the BB3 would keep it tight and moderately aggressive.

Had one customer that wanted to trade out a BB3 bridge and I talked him out of it because it fit his guitar perfectly and he was just wanting a name brand pup. Good news is we got him a jazz neck instead

 

[Rex_Rocker]

8.7K is pretty hot for a PAF!

I removed my BB3/2 from my Epi 1959 when I got it. I would to give the BB3 another shot. I'm back to liking PAF-types for Metal. Right now, I'm digging the Fishman Classics in Voice 1.

In my last PAF phase, I did remember never liking A2's. For me, it was always overwound A5's. My reasoning is anything in the 8.something range is already low power. No need to further make it even weaker.

I remember liking the BBP's. If they made a potted BB3-Pro, I'd be all over it.

If you're liking low output pickups, I'd recommend giving the PAF Pro a try.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

So here's the lore as I see it. Gibson came out with the 57 Classics. Burstbuckers 1 and 2 correspond to scatterwound 57 Classic neck and 57 Classic bridge. Burstbucker 3 is an overwound scatterwound 57 Classic bridge.

If you buy a guitar with BBs they come potted, buy them on their own and they are unpotted

Most guitar people I know outside the interent really love Burstbuckers, myself included. But they get a bad rep because if theres two things the online guitar community hates, it's stock pickups and modern Gibson products

It's not scatterwound. It's just the coils are mismatched. The hotter coil of the two is the slug coil.

 

[Securb]

I have BB1&2 in my Goldtop, and it is one of the few guitars I have not installed Duncans in and one of my best-sounding guitars. I get compliments on the tone of that guitar all the time. I have been dying to try the BB3. And it is well documented that I am a metalhead also.

 

[EmiAba]

Saying a BB is a Classic scatterwound is a little oversimplifying, but tone-wise yeah maybe. I believe they have different numbers of turns. There was a conversation on Gibson.com forum where someone had the numbers.

From what I know, reading Gibson and other forums:

57 Classic 6.9k A2 wax potted, balanced coils
57 Classic Plus 7.4k A2 wax potted, balanced coils

BB 1 6.7k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter
BB 2 7.0k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter
BB 3 7.75k A2 unpotted, unbalanced coils, screw coil hotter

BB Pro Neck 6.8k A5 potted
BB Pro Bridge 7.1k A5 potted

Other variants are the 61 Burstbucker and Custombucker, which I don't have complete specs for, but the 61 is a Burstbucker with the slug coil hotter, and the Custombucker is A3 unpotted.

My BB PROS measure 7.8 and 8.6 installed

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I've never liked a low output pickup....ever.

I had a set of 57 zebra classics in a Les Paul that sounded passable.... but I sold that one off.

Wondering what it is that really makes this BB3 sound so good?
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[beaubrummels]

i think those dcr numbers are all very low. mag types and coil offsets are correct as far as i know.

the 57 classic is usually around 8k, 57+ is almost 9k. bb1 ->7.8k, bb2 -> 8.4k, bb3 ->8.7k, bbpro neck ->7.8k, bbpro bridge 8.4k

FWIW my BB3 here is 8.04k. I can't find my BB Pros to measure them right now. (The Pros suck anyway. They're like a really murky Seth IMO)

 

[beaubrummels]

My BB PROS measure 7.8 and 8.6 installed

Cool. I can't find mine to measure right now.

 

[ErikH]

In circuit, my BB3 measures 8.42k, the '57 Classic measures 7.89k.

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

A sound byte example if you can tolerate the sloppy play.

Signal path:
'20 Gibson Explorer
Burstbucker 3
EHX East River Drive
ISP noise gate
Marshall JVM ch3 red
Eminence Swamp Thang
Sennheiser E609
Focusrite scarlet
Dolby On app

 

[freefrog]

To me, satisfaction with the BB3 in this case might come from the external factors evoked there:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/for...g-v-and-an-explorer-an-experiment#post6217460

Big chunk of resonant wood > meaty low mids. High stray capacitance of inner wiring going back and forth from pots to the switch on the upper bout > a lower pitched resonant peak, darkening the sound. Both making the BB3 sonically closer to a higher inductance / hotter pickup.

The last bridge HB that I've mounted in an Explorer was a 7.8k pickup - a neck model! And guess what? It sounds twice bigger with gain.

Even a neck HB under 7k can sound as overwound in an Explorer, IME. I think that's why Bill Lawrence did design the neck "tarback" Super Humbucker mounted in 1976 Explorer's with so weak coils (=5.2k for a neck model and a ridiculously low inductance of 1.97H: it's twice less than for a normal P.A.F. replica and less than for a CS69 Fender Strat PU).


Off topic side note: my data state 8.13k and 7.72k for a pair of BB-pro's from 2005, FWIW.

 

[Aceman]

I always think BB1/2/3 = Seth/59/PG. I like them all, but I dig a PAF every now and again. I think the point is more vintage BB1/2, or more sporty, BB2/3 and honestly, that works.

I think the 57's get a touch too hot for my tastes. (Says a guy who digs a 9k PG). They may not be hotter but they feel it? I don't know. Haven't played them much. Didn't like out of the gate.

Steve, I think what you like about them is that the BB3 is hot enough for the response you want, but they also work nicely under the Uber-gain you use.