Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

[hydro]

Hey people,

I have a Midtown Standard (bigsby model) with a Classic 57 in the neck and Classic 57 plus in the bridge, stock.

I'm OK with the neck pickup but the bridge pickup just seems to be too compressed/squishy sounding for me. Not quite enough bite and not enough dynamics, compared with some other old Gibsons I have.

I'm hoping for more clarity and dynamics in a vintage output humbucker. I tend towards a hard midrange sound overall in my pedal/amp stack - very 70s hard rock - while trying to conserve gain as much as I can. I have a 50s style wiring harness to replace the electronics in this guitar (which is a two knob deal, just vol. and tone) but haven't installed it yet. I know that better volume cleanup might help me some, but I am looking for a bridge pickup that might help too.

Thanks!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

70s hard rock...

Custom (Custom 5), JB, Demon, C/59 hybrid.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Clarity and Dynamics- a 59 or Whole Lotta Humbucker. Both do hard rock well, and both have what you need.

 

[hydro]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Ended up putting a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge. Big improvement over the 57 classic plus (which is now for sale, fyi, after that ringing endorsement). Much more clarity. Still getting used to it but adjusting the height helped a LOT. It has some nice chime with light gain. It's little harder, less spongy than the 57+ which is what I wanted. And it seems to capture a little bit of that semi-hollow "honk".

 

[SJ318]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

I put a WLH Bridge in my Les Paul Jr. And it almost has a P-90 type of "crunch" to it. Very nice sound. Works well with volume pot changes. Not too much high end loss when turned down. Different from my usual fare of Seth's with RCA5's. Great choice!

 

[dystrust]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Ended up putting a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge. Big improvement over the 57 classic plus (which is now for sale, fyi, after that ringing endorsement). Much more clarity. Still getting used to it but adjusting the height helped a LOT. It has some nice chime with light gain. It's little harder, less spongy than the 57+ which is what I wanted. And it seems to capture a little bit of that semi-hollow "honk".

Thanks to your influence / corruption I put a set of WLHs in my 335 during your last hiatus. Man, they've been amazing; just wanted to say :thanks:

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Ended up putting a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge. Big improvement over the 57 classic plus (which is now for sale, fyi, after that ringing endorsement). Much more clarity. Still getting used to it but adjusting the height helped a LOT. It has some nice chime with light gain. It's little harder, less spongy than the 57+ which is what I wanted. And it seems to capture a little bit of that semi-hollow "honk".

Cool! I will keep this thread in mind if a come across a Midtown. That guitar is on my wish list.

 

[RobJGolde]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Hey people,

I have a Midtown Standard (bigsby model) with a Classic 57 in the neck and Classic 57 plus in the bridge, stock.

I'm OK with the neck pickup but the bridge pickup just seems to be too compressed/squishy sounding for me. Not quite enough bite and not enough dynamics, compared with some other old Gibsons I have.

I'm hoping for more clarity and dynamics in a vintage output humbucker. I tend towards a hard midrange sound overall in my pedal/amp stack - very 70s hard rock - while trying to conserve gain as much as I can. I have a 50s style wiring harness to replace the electronics in this guitar (which is a two knob deal, just vol. and tone) but haven't installed it yet. I know that better volume cleanup might help me some, but I am looking for a bridge pickup that might help too.

Thanks!

I highly recommend the Saturday Night Special.. I have the bridge pickup in my Epiphone Sheraton iI and I love it. I paired it with a Phat Cat in the neck, but apparently the SNS set was designed specifically to mimic 70’s rock tones.

 

[David Garner]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

To me clarity, dynamics and midrange all spell out “unpotted Alnico 2.” So Seths or Antiquities are where I’d start.

I sold a set of Wolfetone Dr. Vintage recently that epitomized that tone. So that would probably be the first place I’d go to recapture it. But Seths seem a logical starting place to me from the SD lineup, Antiquities if you’re willing to spend a little more. The Antiquities have a lot of bite.

The CS Pearly Gates I just got has more of all that, but the Antiquities are more open and clear, and I imagine the Seths would be too.

 

[hydro]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

Cool! I will keep this thread in mind if a come across a Midtown. That guitar is on my wish list.

I think they are really underrated guitars. Gibson doesn't make them any more but you can see them around for sale still here and there. The one I have is the "Standard with Bigsby" which only has a single vol/tone and a B7 on it. I do really like it, it's not as pretty as a 335/345 but mine is a great player.

 

[hydro]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

To me clarity, dynamics and midrange all spell out “unpotted Alnico 2.” So Seths or Antiquities are where I’d start.

I sold a set of Wolfetone Dr. Vintage recently that epitomized that tone. So that would probably be the first place I’d go to recapture it. But Seths seem a logical starting place to me from the SD lineup, Antiquities if you’re willing to spend a little more. The Antiquities have a lot of bite.

The CS Pearly Gates I just got has more of all that, but the Antiquities are more open and clear, and I imagine the Seths would be too.

I thought about a Pearly Gates. At some point I really want to try that pickup in SOME guitar that I have! I didn't think about a Seth or ants - I avoided unpotted humbuckers in this case because I do a fair amount of higher gain stuff and the guitar already squawks a little...

 

[David Garner]

Re: Gibson Midtown standard - alternatives to Classic 57 and 57plus

I thought about a Pearly Gates. At some point I really want to try that pickup in SOME guitar that I have! I didn't think about a Seth or ants - I avoided unpotted humbuckers in this case because I do a fair amount of higher gain stuff and the guitar already squawks a little...

I grant I haven't tried Seths with higher gain, but the Antiquities do fine for the gain levels I use. I don't do super high gain, but up to AC/DC, GnR, Van Halen -- all of that is fine. And the Custom Shop Pearlies I have in my other one get some serious gain levels with minimal squealing, though if you stack both sides of a Fulldrive 2 into a Marshall 18 Watt on 7, it will be pretty microphonic. That doesn't bother me because on 5, the same amp gets all the gain I will ever use with the same configuration and no microphonic at all, and they are unpotted.

We played "Living After Midnight" at rehearsal the other day and not a single problem with the pickups being unpotted. And we had every bit as much gain as Judas Priest uses on that track, live or studio.