Least favorite recent Gibson brand pickup

[GNAPPI]

OK, we've seen threads lauding pickups but AFAIK none on the bad ones. I always say even a broken clock is right twice a day but has Gibson missed the mark altogether with new pup designs?

NOTE, the ones with the LEAST votes by default are considered pretty good.

FWIW, I mean sound. Anyone who picks a pup for any other reason should not vote :-)

[Frank67]

I don’t know the 500 but the honkey, nasally burstbucker is my least favorite of the remaining ones.

[icr]

Worst in what way? Looks, construction, microphonics? They all sound pretty similar.

[GNAPPI]

Is there a link to some way to hear them on the same guitar and amp. Otherwise, how would one know?

You pretty much have to had owned them or played them in a store. Online demos are about the worst way to get a sense of what a pup would sound like in my gear.

[GNAPPI]

Worst in what way? Looks, construction, microphonics? They all sound pretty similar.

Seriously? I don't think least fave is vague in any way. If you think they sound similar you are truly blessed.

[jads57]

So pickups like all other things are designed for different styles of music. While I may not like certain variations of Gibson pickups, it doesn't mean they are poorly designed. Just like certain years of Gibson guitars that appeal to me than others.

For me the newer Gibsons as well as the MHS and Burstbuckers appeal to me the most!

[Frank67]

That is true of course jads. Depending on the style of music and the instrument the pickups sound quite different. For example, I really like the Seth Lover in archtops, but in a Les Paul I find them too mellow and tame. My dislike for Burstbuckers is from Les Paul experiences.

obviously, we are talking nuances and personal preferences ...

[ThatRhythmMan]

For jazz I really only like the MHS out of what they are currently making. I like early classic 57s, but I don’t think the current ones sound the same. Essentially all of the other current humbuckers are my least favorite for jazz.

I have different opinions once we are talking overdriven or high gain applications.

[Stringswinger]

The only Gibson humbucker that I did not like (and I have owned most of them over the years) was a Burstbucker 2 that came in the neck position of my 2002 Custom shop Les Paul Custom. I think Gibson got the memo about that because the following year they only shipped BB2's in the bridge position of guitars equipped with Burstbuckers. As a neck position PUP, the BB2 lacks clarity. So I voted for (against?) the Burstbuckers in the poll.

My favorite remains the late PAF/early Patent sticker PUP (short magnet with Alnico 5 magnets). This is the humbucker you hear in Joe Pass' "For Django" album and also the Wes Montgomery albums of the early to mid 60's. Need I say more?

[lawson-stone]

Is there any way to get an MHS pickup?


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[GNAPPI]

Is there any way to get an MHS pickup?

AFAIK, they only were standard in the Les Paul ES, Gibson does not not sell them retail... yet.

[Herbie]

Is there any way to get an MHS pickup?

I found one from Ebay. Digged it a lot in my ES175 VOS.

Changed it to Fralin Pure PAF. I like it more – so far.

Sometimes there is a set of MHS for sale in My Les Paul Forum too. And sometimes for insane prices.

[Stringswinger]

MHS PUPS have replaced Burstbuckers in the 2018 ES-335's. They were also standard in most "reissue" Memphis ES guitars. At some point (assuming Memphis Gibson survives) they will probably be offered for sale. Gibson has a bunch of Burstbuckers that need to be sold in the mean time.

[Herbie]

Gnappi, You forgot the most famous Gibson pickups: PAFs and Tim Shaws.

I can’t vote, every one of those pickups in the poll has a place and time in different needs. Now in 2017 some of them might sound like crap for someones ears but all of them has been an answer to someone’s needs. We all have listened and digged a myriad of great songs recorded with all of those pickups.

(And a whole lot of crap too!)

[neatomic]

gibson p-100...a humbucker dressed up as a p-90...totally defeats the beauty that is a wide single coil p-90 design


great info from the seymour duncan forum-

Some info on Gibson P-100 pickups that might interest you

Because P-100 pickups look identical to P-90 pickups, many people mistakenly think that they are also single coil pickups, and that they are something like a P-90’s on steroids. Nothing could be further from the truth. In order to understand how this guitar sounds, it is important to have some understanding of exactly what a P-100 pickup is, and what it is not. The P-100 is often mistakenly thought to be a “hotter” or more powerful version of the classic single coil P-90 pickup. This is far from the truth. The P-100 is not a single coil pickup at all, in fact it is a “stacked humbucker,” designed to look like a standard P-90. The P-100 pickup was designed to be the same size as a P-90, and to fit in the same cover as a P-90, but it is a humbucking pickup and not a single coil pickup like a P-90. The P-100 is often referred to as a “Vintage Vertical” pickup because it is capable of producing a very warm, vintage humbucking sound.


All early pickup designs were single coil designs, such as the P-90, which itself debuted in 1946. Single coil pickups have, you guessed it, a single coil of wire, and although they are specifically designed to pickup the sound of the strings on a guitar, they can act like an antenna, and may also pickup unwanted radiation or signals from the air, such as 60 cycle hum from electrical house wiring, electric appliances, and florescent lighting. Humbucking pickups on the other hand have two coils, and each coil has wiring that is wound with opposing electrical polarity. The polarity of the noise signal, or unwanted hum, that is picked up is thus negated or “bucked” because the signals are going in opposite directions, and the result is that they cancel each other out. Typically, humbucking pickups have two coils that are side by side. However, the P-100 is a “stacked” humbucker, and it has two reversed single coil pickups or wound bobbins of wire that are stacked one on top of the other, which serve to cancel out unwanted noise and hum. A “stacked” humbucker does not sound exactly the same as conventional side by side humbucker, nor does it sound the same as a single coil pickup. The P-100 has slightly less high frequency response than a P-90, but much more so than a conventional side-by-side humbucker, without the “midrange” hump associated with humbucking pickups. However, because of its humbucking design, it also has a fatter, warmer, and richer sound than could ever be gotten from a P-90, and it is also a “hotter” pickup as well.


How hot is the P-100? Well, for comparison purposes, a P-100 has more output than a Gibson Burstbucker Pro, a Burstbucker # 2, a 490R, and/or a 1957 PAF Classic Humbucking Pickup. On the other hand, a P-100 has less output than a Gibson Burstbucker # 3, 498T, 496R and/or a 500T Humbucking Pickup. The P-100 has the same output as a 1957 PAF Classic Plus and a P-94T Pickup.


cheers

[GNAPPI]

Note, The "original PAF's" Tim Shaws, Tarbacks, and T-Tops are NOT Recent pickups an were not forgotten they were left out deliberately.

[GNAPPI]

Wow! 246 views and only EIGHT votes!

Note to Gibson: Even though peeps change your pups like I change my socks, I guess everyone likes them???

[customxke]

P100.

[jads57]

Lawson Stone> Not sure MHS pickups are available for sale separate in the accessories or not. But Manluis PAF's as well as Sheptone PAF's are just as good from my experience.

[newsense]

Wow! 246 views and only EIGHT votes!

Note to Gibson: Even though peeps change your pups like I change my socks, I guess everyone likes them???

Of all the variations, I only have experience of 57 Classics, so they are the worst.......and the best, as far as I am concerned. Please can I be excused from voting ?

[ThatRhythmMan]

Is there any way to get an MHS pickup?


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They don’t come up very often and usually they were removed from ES-Les Pauls. I picked up three loose ones not too long ago because I wanted to have some on hand.

[Herbie]

Note, The "original PAF's" Tim Shaws, Tarbacks, and T-Tops are NOT Recent pickups an were not forgotten they were left out deliberately.

You are right, of course, my bad. Seems that this semi-heavy flu of mine makes me blind too!

But where is Custombucker!?

They came between Burstbuckers and before MHS-pickups. I have had one in a LP as a neck pu. Not bad, clearer than Classic 57 and warmer than a Burstbucker 1. They were (are?) available only with some higher end Custom Shop guitars. And as used ones ripped off them.

[lawson-stone]

They don’t come up very often and usually they were removed from ES-Les Pauls. I picked up three loose ones not too long ago because I wanted to have some on hand.

Interested in a sale or trade?


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[ThatRhythmMan]

Interested in a sale or trade?


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Possibly, I’ll send you a message.

[Stringswinger]

AFAIK the Custombuckers come from the Nashville Custom shop while the MHS come from the Memphis plant. Sometimes I think Gibson does a small tweak and a rename just so they can market a "new and improved" product. Each new humbucker is the closest thing to a real PAF yet according to the Gibson ads. Marketing to a saturated market takes "imagination".

I have had the following Gibson PUPs:

T-tops (early and late)
Early Patent sticker (Pre T-Tops)
Tim Shaw Pups
Super Humbuckers
490/500s
57 Classics
Burstbuckers (2 and 3)
MHS P-90

I thought they all sounded great with the exception of the Burstbucker 2 as a neck pickup. For the most part, Gibson hits it out of the park when it comes to pickups. I would bet that every Gibson Pickup has its fans. Like they say in the car business, there is an ass for every seat.