Explain the Burstbucker 3 to me please

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Great insight, gentlemen!
I appreciate all the input and info.

Always something to learn here in the SD Forums.

 

[Securb]

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.

I feel the 57s are absolutely fine clean. When I use them for high-gain I feel the upper-mids and highs get a bit hotter and it is difficult to dial out the overly high tone and get some bottom without the pickup getting muffled sounding.

 

[Aceman]

I feel the 57s are absolutely fine clean. When I use them for high-gain I feel the upper-mids and highs get a bit hotter and it is difficult to dial out the overly high tone and get some bottom without the pickup getting muffled sounding.

I'm sure aI was playing in dirt. Maybe that's it, maybe it is something else, something about the A2's in there with the symmetrical wind, I don't know. Maybe they were just adjusted higher in the guitar. Anyway, I don't like 57's or BB Pros. I love BB 1, 2, and 3's

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I personally find PAFs in general, and A5 especially, are usually tighter than what people give them credit for.

Yes, they're kinda scooped, but the emphasis is always towards the treble rather than the low-end, I find. And they almost always tend to be scooped towards the lower mids which is usually where mud and stuffiness come from.

I like Fishman Fluence Classics for metal, personally. Same as the '59B and the BBP-Lead. Then again, those pickups are more twangy and attacky (without going as extremely scratchy and thin as an actual Fender-esque single coil) rather than chunky or full. It's a unique sound for sure. They're a very niche "Metal" tone I find, especially for today's standards, but I find they're super rewarding to picking hard for the TWANG.

However, you do usually have to raise the gain from your usual settings with hot pickups in order for them not to sound dry like a desert, which usually leads to more preamp hiss or even a tubbier tone from many amps that have a bright cap.

 

[Demanic]

What does it matter what the specs are? You don't listen with your eyes, but rather your ears. If you like them, just play them.

 

[beaubrummels]

What does it matter what the specs are? You don't listen with your eyes, but rather your ears. If you like them, just play them.

Specs just give a directional kind of idea what they might sound like or how they might work with your guitar and rig. But experience is the best judge.

 

[SweetClyde99]

I found myself in a similar boat as the OP a year or two ago. I didn’t expect to like that BB3/2 set that came in my LP because, on paper, an A2 PAF should not be my thing (I’m mostly a grunge/post-grunge guy at heart), but it’s got good output, the lows stay tighter than I expected, and the pickups are just extremely balanced in this guitar. It may not by my best-sounding guitar for super high-gain, but it’s damn close, and it does everything else really well too.

I’ve got a spare BB3/2 set lying around, and I’m thinking about trying them a 72 Tele Deluxe that I’m not loving the sound of for anything but clean tones, just to see how it sounds. I want to see if I really like the pickups or if they just sound really good in this particular Les Paul, which sounds good with just about everything I’ve tried in it.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

How do you guys find BB3's sit as far as output goes compared to a '59B? Or a PAF Pro? I found the '59B surprisingly hot (relatively speaking) to the point it could keep up with the PAF Pro which is more overwound and has a larger magnet.

 

[Demanic]

Specs just give a directional kind of idea what they might sound like or how they might work with your guitar and rig. But experience is the best judge.

Experience?
You mean like when you put them in a guitar and just love them?
Something like that?

 

[hamerfan]

2. Is this underpowered 8.7k Gibson pickup actually something special??

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

Thoughts?

Its not underpower by any means. Around 9k is what you can cram on 2 standard bobbins with 42 awg, maybe a bit more with CNC. I failed gloriously on hand guided rewinding them to 8.9k, one bobbin slightly warped. And i potted it heavyly and put a cover on it to conceal…..

 

[Securb]

Anyway, I don't like 57's or BB Pros. I love BB 1, 2, and 3's

I played an Epiphone Genesis Deluxe PRO with BB Pros that sounded amazing. Probably the nicest sub-$500 guitar I have played.

And agree with the 57s. But I know somewhere out there someone is getting a killer tone with them. They are just not me.

 

[ErikH]

How do you guys find BB3's sit as far as output goes compared to a '59B? Or a PAF Pro? I found the '59B surprisingly hot (relatively speaking) to the point it could keep up with the PAF Pro which is more overwound and has a larger magnet.

Keep in mind that the '59B and the PAF pro have an A5 mag vs the BB3 having an A2 mag. They have a little more push in the highs and lows but overall output I would say is comparable. I don't have a problem getting what I want out of the BB3 in my Les Paul. I bet it would be kick ass in a Strat too.

 

[beaubrummels]

Experience?
You mean like when you put them in a guitar and just love them?
Something like that?

yeah, like, specs help you decide if you want to bother, and actually bothering helps you decide if you want to keep.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I wonder what's the real specs for the BB3. Someone posted it's in the low 7K's. The OP reports 8.7K. That's almost a 20% variance.

 

[Securb]

I wonder what's the real specs for the BB3. Someone posted it's in the low 7K's. The OP reports 8.7K. That's almost a 20% variance.

I was curious myself, from Gibson.com

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Awesome. At 8.7, I bet it'd sound killer with an A5, LOL.

 

[ErikH]

An A5 would probably kill it. With the unbalanced coils, it doesn't sound like a typical A2 pickup. It has some nice bite to it and is nice and full sounding. I think an A5 would make that bite too harsh. That's what the BBPros have and they are nowhere near as nice sounding to my ears.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I prefer the BBP's, personally, when I had them. But I never AB'd them.

If I have a low output pickup, I want it to be broad and bright, personally. If I wanted darker/fuller (for me), what's the point of the pickup being low output? That's just me, though.

But I also kinda agree, LOL. The BBP's were a bit much compared to the Duncan '59. That's why a slightly overwound BBP I think would be nice. But not unpotted.

 

[ErikH]

I think you'd like the BB3 then. It doesn't sound or feel like a typical A5 humbucker in that class. It can be bright, but is oh so sweet. I play all sorts of stuff and it's never let me down.