Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

[ehdwuld]

so which SD pickups would come close to the tone of these Gibson Pickups
the Epi Tribute I played sounded awesome with the 57s
the Florentine I'm getting has Epi Pro Buckers
I haven't heard the Pro Buckers yet but I really liked the 57s
and figure on swapping to something very close
the Gibson 57s are just outrageous at $150-160 each

can I get there with Duncans?

who can tell me without complaining about spelling or grammar or style of writing
If you don't understand the question, hold your criticism
Move on to the next post
spare me your wit

 

[AZ Picker]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I've only played 57 classics in one Les Paul, but I would have to guess the APH-2 slash set is probably the closest Duncan pickup. You can get them reasonably priced used on eBay or a new set for around 180 bucks. I've played this pickup set in everything from Gibson Les Paul Standards to Epiphone Les Pauls, and they sound really good in ANY guitar I've played them in.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

so which SD pickups would come close to the tone of these Gibson Pickups
the Epi Tribute I played sounded awesome with the 57s
the Florentine I'm getting has Epi Pro Buckers
I haven't heard the Pro Buckers yet but I really liked the 57s
and figure on swapping to something very close
the Gibson 57s are just outrageous at $150-160 each

can I get there with Duncans?

who can tell me without complaining about spelling or grammar or style of writing
If you don't understand the question, hold your criticism
Move on to the next post
spare me your wit

The Tribute and the Florentine have two very different ground tones. The Florentine is a semi-hollow, so I'd go with an APH-1 set, with an A3 in the neck. I actually have this very set in my L-5 CES copy and I couldn't be happier.

HTH,

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

The Tribute and the Florentine have two very different ground tones. The Florentine is a semi-hollow, so I'd go with an APH-1 set, with an A3 in the neck. I actually have this very set in my L-5 CES copy and I couldn't be happier.

HTH,

My man
Just what I wanted to hear

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I've only played 57 classics in one Les Paul, but I would have to guess the APH-2 slash set is probably the closest Duncan pickup. You can get them reasonably priced used on eBay or a new set for around 180 bucks. I've played this pickup set in everything from Gibson Les Paul Standards to Epiphone Les Pauls, and they sound really good in ANY guitar I've played them in.

Wonderful
Sounds like we have a plan going forward

 

[Aceman]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

Go used - around $75 on the bay.

If those pups work, get THOSE pups.44

 

[Shooter.556]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I have a 57 Classic and Classic Plus set in my LP Traditional.
I have an on going love hate with them. I usually don't like 57s but they sound awesome in this guitar.
I had a Blackstar and loved them in it then I bought the EVH and hated them thru that amp at first.
I had to do tons of tweaking and go thru several overdrive pedals finally settling on a Fulldrive 2 Mosfet for my OD.
My long winded point here is, 57s seem to be really picky about guitars pedals and amps more so than most other pickups I've tried.
The Slash set is different than that for some reason, they sound a lot like the 57s but with a sweeter high end and a bit more modern but they sound pretty consistent in every guitar I've tried them in. The 57s don't do that, they can sound great in some guitars and like poop in others.
Don't think you can just put 57s in and get what you want, it may not happen. I honestly think if you compared 20 sets of 57s none of them would sound alike, you get a good set or you don't. The Slash set ain't like that, Seymour Duncan has a lot better consistency than Gibson does on pickups. When you get a good Gibson set they are magical when you get a bad set you can't get em out of the guitar fast enough.
Just my 2 cents, I've had a set in a Lester for 3 years now and I can't find a better set for my needs, they just sound how a PAF should sound.

 

[hydro]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I have a 57 Classic and Classic Plus set in my LP Traditional.
I have an on going love hate with them. I usually don't like 57s but they sound awesome in this guitar.
I had a Blackstar and loved them in it then I bought the EVH and hated them thru that amp at first.
I had to do tons of tweaking and go thru several overdrive pedals finally settling on a Fulldrive 2 Mosfet for my OD.
My long winded point here is, 57s seem to be really picky about guitars pedals and amps more so than most other pickups I've tried.
The Slash set is different than that for some reason, they sound a lot like the 57s but with a sweeter high end and a bit more modern but they sound pretty consistent in every guitar I've tried them in. The 57s don't do that, they can sound great in some guitars and like poop in others.
Don't think you can just put 57s in and get what you want, it may not happen. I honestly think if you compared 20 sets of 57s none of them would sound alike, you get a good set or you don't. The Slash set ain't like that, Seymour Duncan has a lot better consistency than Gibson does on pickups. When you get a good Gibson set they are magical when you get a bad set you can't get em out of the guitar fast enough.
Just my 2 cents, I've had a set in a Lester for 3 years now and I can't find a better set for my needs, they just sound how a PAF should sound.

+1

I have had 57s in two different Gibson semihollows - in one, they are perfect and I wouldn't change a thing; in the other the bridge was muddy, fizzy, smooshy -
I swapped them for a SD WLH set and it brought the guitar to life.

That being said, I liked the 57 in the neck and that seems to be a common sentiment.

Also, in my own experience, the 57 classic plus in the bridge is better than the regular 57 classic.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

Do you guys realize that since their inception in early '90s, Gibson changed the specs of their '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus to cheap'em down so many times that I've even lost count?

Add that to their constant change of suppliers of magnets and wire due to brokerage, reality is, no two of those will sound the same, not even in the same instrument!

HTH,

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

Do you guys realize that since their inception in early '90s, Gibson changed the specs of their '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus to cheap'em down so many times that I've even lost count?

Add that to their constant change of suppliers of magnets and wire due to brokerage, reality is, no two of those will sound the same, not even in the same instrument!

Nice to know they value consistency. So the reason in how different they sound in one guitar to the next, may be the PU as much as it is the guitar? A crapshoot? If that's the case, it's almost kind of pointless to put '57's in a guitar. All the moreso since they're priced in the boutique range, and there's a lot of better-sounding PU's at that price or less.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

Do you guys realize that since their inception in early '90s, Gibson changed the specs of their '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus to cheap'em down so many times that I've even lost count?

Add that to their constant change of suppliers of magnets and wire due to brokerage, reality is, no two of those will sound the same, not even in the same instrument!

HTH,

Interesting….

I'm not gonna be a stickler for the screw materials, plastic, or baseplate suppliers etc….


But do you know any substantive changes? Winds, mag types etc. and dates????

 

[JeffB]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

They changed to polysol about 10 years ago.

I have seen polished and roughcast mags too.

IME, Any pickup swap is a crapshoot. No matter how expensive or well designed they may be. In some guitars, I like 57 classics over anything. In some guitars, no workie. Same with a multitude of Duncans, Dimarzios, other Gibsons, PRS, Fralin, and some custom stuff.

 

[Shooter.556]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

My Traditional is the only guitar that I keep going back and forth on with the 57s.
My brain tells me to hate all 57s because they suck and I'll eventually change them but for now they are 90% of what I want.
I just think for Gibson prices there are way better PAF options on the market in that price point than the 57s.
I think the differences are just quality control issues and like Lt Kojak said, the lowest bidder is where the supplies come from.
Plus like Seymour says, it's all in the wiring and the wind. When you got floating temp labor and many different people winding pickups you're not going to have a lot of consistency across them. I think you get different amounts of wire, different tensions different hands result in lots of very different sounding pickups. I think Gibson just makes pickups, they ain't like Seymour, they don't care how they make pickups. Quantity over quality.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I just think for Gibson prices there are way better PAF options on the market in that price point than the 57s.

No kidding. The retail on '57's is significantly more than any of Duncan's production PAF's, yet every Duncan PAF has better sound quality than '57's. None of the Duncan PAF's are muddy or have dull high ends. Seymour wouldn't sell a PAF that sounds like that. In fact, you can get a pair of some of Duncan's PAF's for the cost of a single '57. That's ridiculous. A pair of Seth's is a little more than one '57, and '57's aren't anywhere near the same league Seth's are in. Why would anyone buy a new set of '57's?

Part of Gibson's pricing strategy is built around the premise that if they charge a lot, people will assume they're getting the best.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

so are we in agreement on APH-1's or APH-2's or the Slash APH-2s?

I want something that sounds jazzy and warm like semi-hollow should

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

But do you know any substantive changes? Winds, mag types etc. and dates????

What I've personally seen?

Type of wire (PE to SPN, dyed to look like PE)
TPL: changed many times, from 95 to all the way down to 10 TPL.
Turns: The Classic started with about 5,000, today is about 5,300, the Plus started with about 6,000, today is about 5,500.
Mags: I've always found polished A2s, but their differences in holding a charge varied a lot, indicating different suppliers, most probably chinese.
Dates: whenever they could low-ball a supplier.

HTH,

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

What I've personally seen?

Type of wire (PE to SPN, dyed to look like PE)
TPL: changed many times, from 95 to all the way down to 10 TPL.
Turns: The Classic started with about 5,000, today is about 5,300, the Plus started with about 6,000, today is about 5,500.
Mags: I've always found polished A2s, but their differences in holding a charge varied a lot, indicating different suppliers, most probably chinese.
Dates: whenever they could low-ball a supplier.

HTH,

Well, with their competitive low prices, they have to cut corners someplace.

 

[Humbugger]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I loved the 57's while playing at home. I especially liked the bridge, nice amount of output and grunt for my taste. My issues became apparent when playing live. At stage volume with a full band the neck pickup was extremely muddy and non-defined, regardless of what adjustments I made to my equipment. I had no issues with the bridge, but I use the neck position a lot and it just wasn't working for me. When I switched to the APH-1's I noticed the difference right away, the neck pickup would sing and cut through the band, even with large amounts of gain. I felt like I lost a little bit of output overall but gained much needed clarity. The little bit of output I lost was gained back by using a FD2 or a TS9 as a booster. This was with both of my 2013 Traditionals. I have since replaced the APH set in one of them with a PG set (to better match the natural eq of the guitar) but would recommend either set as a replacement for 57's. This is based on playing in a live setting - I liked the 57's while playing at home, but many times deficiencies don't become apparent until playing in a live setting.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

I liked the 57's while playing at home, but many times deficiencies don't become apparent until playing in a live setting.

For me, '57's were so bad at home, I couldn't risk using them on stage.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Gibson 57 Classic and Classic Plus

Duncan doesn't have anything that's extremely close to the '57 and '57+. The PG set sounds the closest IME. An A2 '59 set might be closer, but that's not a stock set; you'd have to make it yourself.