ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

[Lkdog]

I have an 2011 ES 335 I picked up that had Sheptone T Tops in it (A5). Great clarity, but a little too bright for me as I want to do some straight ahead jazz as well as other lower/medium gain stuff.

I had a set of OX4's (A4) pickups in another guitar so swapped those out and put those in. In the right direction, and sounds very good, but still not as jazzy or full on the neck.

I do have a Gibson BB1/BB2 set here that I am not using. Would that get me closer?
Or should I look for a set of 57 classics, or SD Ants/Seths?
Is A2 the way to go which is what I am thinking.


I guess I am looking for the Larry Carlton type versatile tone out of this axe.

Any ideas welcome. Thanks.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I really like the whole lotta humbuckers because they fill in the low end so the 335 sounds much more closer to a full hollowbody, minus the feedback.

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I really like the whole lotta humbuckers because they fill in the low end so the 335 sounds much more closer to a full hollowbody, minus the feedback.

Really?? Those would not have come to mind.
I see they are A5 and pretty high output. ????

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I like them. Ive used 57's, SD59's, A259's,Pearly gates, PG8 and finally the WLH set. In my 175 ive used 57s, 59s, jazz and APH. I've used quite a few paf type pickups for playing both straight ahead jazz and overdriven blues and rock sounds in these types of axes. The obvious omission of course would be the seths and the antiquities. Lots of people seem to like them too.
You have some nice pickups in your inventory to choose from. The real question comes down to your amp and what it is capable of. Larry Carlton is well known for using a dumble, but you should get some sweet tones from plenty of other amps as well.

 

[blueman335]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

Really?? Those would not have come to mind.
I see they are A5 and pretty high output. ????

If you think WLH's are high output, what do you consider to be low output?

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

If you think WLH's are high output, what do you consider to be low output?

Well, not really high output ceramic LOL, but the WLH look like they would push the amp quicker.
I have had a few PAF type pickups all in lower wind mid 7's for both b and n.

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I use an Axe Fx II modeler.
I can tweak the amp settings a lot.
Just want the guitar pickups and height adjustments, etc to get me in the ballpark for the tone I am looking for.
Had 335's before and really didn't like the 57's too much, but that is what Carlton uses in his.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

Have you tried playing around with different value capacitors in the tone pot and rolling back a bit? That can make a pretty drastic difference when aiming for jazzy sounds.

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

The guy who had this before swapped out the harness with new pots and caps.
I think they were your usual 335 harness upgrade set.

It is nice guitar. The OX4's warmed it up some and still has good clarity.

I should prob work with them and amp settings more.

The harness has pigtails so easy to swap pickups.

 

[blueman335]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

Had 335's before and really didn't like the 57's too much

You're not alone there. I have a variety of PAF's and think '57's are the worst-sounding I've owned, which is ironic considering that Gibson isn't shy about what they charge for them. All of Duncan's PAF's sound better. Seth's are one of the best PAF's you can get.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

really didn't like the 57's too much, but that is what Carlton uses in his.

This is simply NOT true.

His #1 uses the original p'ups: T-Tops.

His #2 was modded with real PAFs.

The commercial Gibson Larry Carlton model uses '57 Classics, he personally doesn't use any of those.

However, you don't need to take my word for it: here's Larry Carlton himself talking about his gear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcfZwva-v64

HTH,

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I LIKE the '57 Classics in my 335s. I use Mesa Mark Series amps and play in a G/B/K/D cover band. We cover all kinds of music; from classic rock, blues, pop, country, jazz. I use my 2HB guitars, either a 335 or a LP for about 12-15 songs of a 4-hour gig. My Number One is a G&L Legacy.

I think the '57s will give you the warm tones your looking for, but you might also try lowering the pickups and raising the pole pieces above the cover, just a tad, to add some clarity. The BB 1&2 set sounds good in a 335 (I really liked them in the Warren Haynes Sig. Gibson!) They will have more clarity than the '57s, and just a bit of an edge, too.

I think you would like the Seths and the Ants. I have Ants in a '97 LP 1960 Classic Premium Plus, and they are amazing. I have Seths in a chambered Les Paul Supreme, too. They are very warm also, but the Duncans as a rule have better clarity and string-to-string separation than most of the Gibson pickups. The Seths are a huge improvement in this guitar over the stock 490R/498Ts. I think if I were going to do some replacements in my 335s, it would be either the Seths, Ants or the BB 1&2.

FWIW, BB King uses the 490R/490T set in his Lucille Sigs.; not a bad tone there, either.

And then if you want to spend the bucks, consider Lollar Imperials, Throbaks, Zephyrs, or the Bonamassa set. I think any of those would be great in a 335.

Good luck!

Bill

 

[DreX]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

The DiMarzio Air Nortons are worth checking out for all-purpos medium output, and jazzy clean. Similar to how someone described the WLH, they have that mid spike around the spot a full hollow will produce a mid spike, and give more solid guitars a tone more often associated with hollow bodies. They are definitely a notch hotter and darker than most PAF, so there's no going back to Kansas once you put them in.

 

[SJ318]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

+1 to Boogie Bill, blueman, others on the Seth's. They are a little more articulate than the Antiquities IMO.
+1 to DreX, gibson175 on mentioning WLH, I have not tried them, but if they are wound w/a decent mid and an A5 Mag they should be maybe the most versatile set of almost PAFish pups around, close to the Joe Bonn. set, maybe better.
Drex - really funny quote on not going back to Kansas, LOL on that one. (and I have never said LOL in print ever).
As always, Lt. Pepe just KNOWS stuff! His knowledge base is spooky. I would take what he says as gold. He will distance himself from any and statements I make about how smart I think he is. But he is.
SJ

 

[LtKojak]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

The harness has pigtails so easy to swap pickups.

I too build my semi- and full-hollow harnesses with pigtails; it really makes swapping easy.

Having said that, I've already responded to this question in the MLP Forum: my vote goes to the Electric City Pickup RD-59 Hybrid set (A4).

IME, they're the Holy Grail of 335 tone.

For the record, I own other 335s with modded Duncan p'ups: an UOA5 Antiquity set and an A4 Seth Lover set.

HTH,

 

[SJ318]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

+1 Seth Lover A4 magnet, Love mine till death do us part.
SJ

 

[blueman335]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

FWIW, BB King uses the 490R/490T set in his Lucille Sigs.; not a bad tone there, either.

BB's tones were better before he had his signature guitars. The tone on "Live at the Regal' in the mid 1960's is the best sound I've heard from him, and I've got 20 of his CD's.

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

I too build my semi- and full-hollow harnesses with pigtails; it really makes swapping easy.

Having said that, I've already responded to this question in the MLP Forum: my vote goes to the Electric City Pickup RD-59 Hybrid set (A4).

IME, they're the Holy Grail of 335 tone.

For the record, I own other 335s with modded Duncan p'ups: an UOA5 Antiquity set and an A4 Seth Lover set.

HTH,

What would you think about an ECP RD 59 Hybrid set with and A2 in the neck??
I have a standard RD 59 set in another guiatr. Very nice.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

What would you think about an ECP RD 59 Hybrid set with and A2 in the neck??

The RD-59 Hybrid set is PERFECTION as it is. To use an A2 in the neck without changing the A4 in the bridge will kill the harmony and the tonal balance of that particular set.

If you don't want other A4 set, then ask Bill to make the RD-59 hybrid set with an A3 in the neck and an A2 in the bridge.

This mod will smooth things out and have a more "Jazz prone" tone, and the neck p'up will never "mush out" with the most complex chord-work found in Jazz.

HTH,

 

[Lkdog]

Re: ES 335 pickup ideas please for jazz/medium gain

The RD-59 Hybrid set is PERFECTION as it is. To use an A2 in the neck without changing the A4 in the bridge will kill the harmony and the tonal balance of that particular set.

If you don't want other A4 set, then ask Bill to make the RD-59 hybrid set with an A3 in the neck and an A2 in the bridge.

This mod will smooth things out and have a more "Jazz prone" tone, and the neck p'up will never "mush out" with the most complex chord-work found in Jazz.

HTH,

Thanks for the input. I appreciate your insight. I really like the ECP stuff. I put the Royal Tributes in my R9 and have the RD-59 regular wind in my chambered LP doublecut style guitar.

Tell me again how the lower wind neck at 7.25 in the Hybrid set retains fullness?
Seems counter intuitive.
I would think the regular wind neck at 7.65 would have a little rounder tone.

I am tweaking the OX4's a bit by lowering pickup height and backing off the Vol and Tone on guitar and getting a little more rounder and acoustic tone.