Gibson Burstbucker PRO and Gibson 57' Classic/ 57' Classic Plus Sets- Differences?

[SZjammin83]

I am interested to know what the differences are between Gibson Burstbucker Pro (Rhythm and Treble) and Gibson 57' Classic/ 57' Classic Plus pickup sets. Which types of music would either of the two be best suited for and so on? Any info from individuals with experience with these types of pickups would be much appreciated.

 

[beaubrummels]

I think the most significant difference is the 57s have balanced coils and Burstbuckers have slightly different coils. They are just variations of the same thing. Any music done with a 1950's-1970's Gibson guitar could be played with either set. How close they could sound to original recordings would depend on guitar/wood/hardware, amp, speaker, settings, etc.

 

[esandes]

57s use A2 mags. BB pro use A5.

 

[Securb]

I found the 57's in my Burst to be a bit shrill and trebly. I replaced them with a WLH set. The Burstbuckers in my Goldtop are more mid focused, they can chug and have a thick tone with tones of sustain. I love mine they blast right through the mix. They will never come out of my Goldtop.

As far as music styles go I play everything from the '50s to Metal on both guitars.

 

[EmiAba]

They are both PAF replicas. As already said the 57 has A2 mag while the burstbucker pro has a A5. I don't like the 57 classic, I find it dull and uninspiring (those adjectives are quoted by a description made by another forumate, Blueman, and I agree with him). The Pro neck is pretty good, while the Pro bridge is too harsh to me. A couple of years ago I had a tough chat with Discharged (I didn't hear him around here lately) in regards with the unbalance coils of the Pros. He stated that, in his experience, there was no mismatch between the two coils. It is only advertised on the Gibson website. Anyway, I don't care much about Gibson pickups, even if almost the totality of my guitars are Gibson. But if you like it, take them in. I prefer the Pros over the 57 classic, if you ask me, I think because of the A5 mag.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Just to add yet more confirmation on it, BBPs are wound to around 8-8.4k at the neck and 8.3-8.8k at the bridge with slightly mismatched coils and A5 magnets. The '57 Classic models all have A2 magnets are totally matched (at least within manufacturing tolerances) coils, with the plain Classic wound within 7.7-8.2k (Gibson specify 7.5k but I've never seen or even heard of a '57 Classic actually being that low) and the Plus version is wound to 8.1-8.5k.

Putting the stats aside and just listening to them, the Pros are always brighter and higher in power while the Classic/C+ set is kind of like an Alnico II Pro tone with just a tiny fraction more mids – slightly smoother and not quite as 'hollow' as fully-authentic PAF copies tend to be.

Really they're both appropriate for exactly the same kinds of music, mostly blues and classic rock but you can easily use them for country, jazz, pop and classic metal. I wouldn't use them for high-gain shredding myself, but then again, lots of people have done that with PAF-style pickups, so why not the BBP and 57s? They're general-purpose humbuckers, there's really nothing they're totally inappropriate for. Of the two I'd say the BBP is very slightly more versatile simply because it's a little more defined under very high gain and if you split any of them you'll find the BBP gives a more typical single coil sound, but it really is very close between them and it's not like you might love one and hate the other. Anyone who likes the BBP will probably like the 57s and vice-versa.

A couple of years ago I had a tough chat with Discharged (I didn't hear him around here lately) in regards with the unbalance coils of the Pros. He stated that, in his experience, there was no mismatch between the two coils. It is only advertised on the Gibson website.

In the case of the Pros, yes. They are mismatched, but not by any more than you usually get within manufacturing tolerances. Less than 5%. So some people consider that to be 'matched', though it is, to nitpick, mismatched.
For the record, other pickups with the Burstbucker name are far more mismatched, to the point where they often don't cancel hum very well and can almost sound like overwound P-90s. (Which is rather the point.)

 

[SZjammin83]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Much appreciated