What's wrong with BurstBuckers?

[zoork_1]

I'm not sure about Y, if memory serves me right it was Shed's but I have to check that....

 

[rockinlespaul]

Don't be afraid to adjust those pups/polepieces people!

 

[DADGAD]

I am pretty easy to please as long as the tone falls in my range of expectations. A neck pickup that has that "boing" or jangle when clean, a bridge that does crunch well (to my ears), and a middle position with sizzle or twang. I used to write off pickups too easily before I learned about adjusting them on this forum. My tastes vary from time to time so I try not to be so judgemental on pickups unless something is seriously mismatched to my guitar.

I used to think Duncan's were the "Walmart" of pickups until I tried a set of Custom Shop Whole lotta Humbuckers. In my Page they blew my mind. I have another custom shop neck pickup made by MJ in it now with an 80's 59 bridge and it sounds very vintage to me. The combinations are endless. The solution is simple. More guitars.

 

[Progrocker111]

Im not a big fan of Burstbuckers too. I had many guitars with them and i find them mostly dead and kinda flat sounding. They lack dynamics and articulate mids. They are often either shrill or muddy sounding.

I once had 02 68 Custom Authentic and i put there early 70s T-Tops instead of stock Burstbuckers and the guitar felt immediately much more alive, with better and bigger mids and much more articulate. T-Tops are much better pickups to me. I even like 57 Classics more than Burstbuckers.

 

[DADGAD]

I've had a few burstbuckers. When I was new to guitars I thought they were great. As I got to try more and more pickups I started to think they lacked "dynamics" and "depth". 2 dimensional is the best way I can describe them. I thought 57 classics would be better but they pretty much were the same to me. Good sounding but not my cup of tea.

 

[BHamster]

Just my $0.02...

I bought a '02 Historic R8 plain top "unseen or played" in my quest for the "end all" Les Paul. The guitar is fine, a beast at nearly 9 lbs, but pretty much what I expected.

After the initial honeymoon, I found myself "forcing" to play the LP (versus a nice but not special US Tele and a 10 yr. old PRS CE) as the guitar cost more than the other two combined and I was feeling guilty.

Playability of the guitar wasn't so much the issue, my Tele's neck is much sweeter, and the PRS is just a cakewalk to play, but that really wasn't what was driving me crazy. What WAS, was the complete lack of personality, depth and dimension to the instrument. Yes, it could play LOUD and it "sounded" sorta' like an LP should in my pre-biased opinion, but it absolutely was easy to put down.

I was ready to cut my losses and pass the axe to someone who maybe had a better understanding of the guitar when a member in here STRONGLY suggested I change pickups.

My R8 came with a 57 neck pickup and BB2 in the bridge. Both of these were replaced with Sheptone Tributes (8 week wait).

The result? An entirely new and eminently more playable guitar. Dynamics, range, reverberation, GROWL, freaking everything is so much better I find it difficult to believe that all I changed were the pickups.

I don't mean to step on any toes, but the difference between the 57/BB2's and this "boutique" rig is night and day. My Tele misses me. I have no idea or understanding why the difference is so profound, but if I were to guess, I'd say that a professionally hand-wound pickup engineered by an artisan is likely to crush a machine-wound mass-produced item. With that said, I'm sure there are great 57s and BB2s out there. But they sure as hell weren't what came with my R8.

Peace out,
rt

 

[RAG7890]

Really happy that change worked for you Robert.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

Cheers, Rudi

 

[in2madness]

Nothing wrong with BBs or 57s for that matter. They are a perfectly useable pickup that actually sound better at gig volumes than home volumes. Listen to Geg V play them in the Creama Wheat Tungsten demo or many of the Wildwood Greg Koch demos to hear what they can sound like in the hands of a great player into a good amp like a Tungsten or Toneking.

That said there are far better pickups out there especially if you like a low output PAF type pickup.

 

[QReuCk]

I am pretty easy to please as long as the tone falls in my range of expectations. A neck pickup that has that "boing" or jangle when clean, a bridge that does crunch well (to my ears), and a middle position with sizzle or twang. I used to write off pickups too easily before I learned about adjusting them on this forum. My tastes vary from time to time so I try not to be so judgemental on pickups unless something is seriously mismatched to my guitar.

I used to think Duncan's were the "Walmart" of pickups until I tried a set of Custom Shop Whole lotta Humbuckers. In my Page they blew my mind. I have another custom shop neck pickup made by MJ in it now with an 80's 59 bridge and it sounds very vintage to me. The combinations are endless. The solution is simple. More guitars.

I'm even easier to please than you. I like your definition of what pickups should do. It took me time, turning knobs on the guitar and the amp, using a screwdriver to patiently find a sweet spot for each pickup height and each pole piece height, but I'm now pleased by my set of pickups. They are not even burstbuckers or "wallmarts'" SD pickups, they are Duncan Designs HB102. And I'm pretty sure Duncan Designs are considered the wallmart version of regular Seymour Duncan, right?

I'm not educated to high-end pickups (I still had the opportunity to play various versions of production PU's). But I believe all that matters is:
- have fun playing your instrument (or upgrading it if it's your thing)
- sound good for your audience, even if the audience is just you
I can hear differences from one pickup to another. I still can find a usable and enjoyable tone from almost any pickup that was remotely designed for the type of tones I use. I am not over obsessed about sounding like a particular artist from the past though, and have no problem sounding like me. If I change pickups (or guitar for that matter) I still sound like me playing something else, and that's just fine to me.

 

[Classicplayer]

I'm even easier to please than you. I like your definition of what pickups should do. It took me time, turning knobs on the guitar and the amp, using a screwdriver to patiently find a sweet spot for each pickup height and each pole piece height, but I'm now pleased by my set of pickups. They are not even burstbuckers or "wallmarts'" SD pickups, they are Duncan Designs HB102. And I'm pretty sure Duncan Designs are considered the wallmart version of regular Seymour Duncan, right?

I'm not educated to high-end pickups (I still had the opportunity to play various versions of production PU's). But I believe all that matters is:
- have fun playing your instrument (or upgrading it if it's your thing)
- sound good for your audience, even if the audience is just you
I can hear differences from one pickup to another. I still can find a usable and enjoyable tone from almost any pickup that was remotely designed for the type of tones I use. I am not over obsessed about sounding like a particular artist from the past though, and have no problem sounding like me. If I change pickups (or guitar for that matter) I still sound like me playing something else, and that's just fine to me.

Excellent post! I could not have said it better, myself.

Classicplayer

 

[Chadd]

I actually like the BB3 in both of my Traditional Pros. I tried a few other pickups in the bridge of one of them, but nothing has sounded better for what I play. It's actually pretty surprising, as I have long been the type of guy that always swaps out pickups at the drop of a hat.

That said there are far better pickups out there especially if you like a low output PAF type pickup.

That's probably the issue for me. I don't really care about finding some holy grail type of tone. I use strats or teles when I want really low output tones.

 

[LeftyF2003]

I much prefer the 57 classics to the BBs, at least for a neck pickup. It mixes well with a good bridge pickup and sounds great on its own dialed in right. IMHO YMMV

 

[carydad]

Same place here . After spending thousands on guitars, amps, pups, pedals...playing my frankcrap with a BB2 in the bridge and loving it. Key word there-playing. Gave up modeling, down to 3 pedals, one of those a tuner. Why the BB2...cause I needed a double back I could split-and it was the only one in the box

 

[tonedragon]

I like mine .

 

[tonedragon]

Why is it that the Custombuckers have had consistently good reviews yet burstbuckers get mixed reviews? We know Gibson is capable of making good pickups but I'm pretty sure cost trumps putting in the best they can make.

Bustbuckers got good reviews to when they came out. Then came the boutique builders...... and we've come full circle.Bet you they start mixing mags...

 

[Rustylix]

Well, after 30 years of playing guitar, I finally got a Les Paul Standard last month. It is a 2013 that came with the BB Pros. After calming the **** down from spending that kind of scratch, I had a lot of problems with the pickups. They were microphonic and harsh. I repotted them. Big improvement (yes I know they're supposed to be potted, but it must have been a friday when they made these things). Then came the ice picky sound when I stepped on a pedal to take a lead. Too strident. More anxiety. More obsessive reading on this website. Then, lowered the bridge pu slightly and lowered the pole pieces on the high E and B strings...Great sound! No harshness, no icy picky sadness! Gigged with the guitar and it sounded like a Les Paul! And yes, I use the volume and tone controls on it more than any other guitar I have owned. It is worth the work and thanks to all of you for your posts. It inspired me to use a screwdriver and join the forum.

 

[HRC]

Welcome to MLP.

 

[neoclassical]

The BB pro neck pup was pretty decent, but there are MUCH better out there. THe bridge was one dimensional, flat, meh. Putting in a Holy Diver was the first thing I did.

 

[Rustylix]

Thinking of putting uoa5 magnet in the bbpro bridge. Will report findings.

 

[Classicplayer]

I suppose there are better pickups on the market, but Rustylix has the right idea with the BB Pro. The bridge model might need some tweaking before you realize its' tone. I had to do some tweaking with the one on my 2010 Les Paul Studio Deluxe. As of now the high E string side is right up very close to the string itself. I set the bass side high enough so that when both e-strings are played together they sound nearly equal in volume; with a slight emphasis on 6th. string as opposed to the 1st. This alone has improved the pickups's articulation, especially when using fingerpicking. I'm usually able to find my own tone with most pickups and the BB Pro once dialed in is not an exception to me.

Classicplayer