Gibson '57 Classic vs. Burstbucker 1 & 2

[rvschulz]

 

Anyone combine these?? Maybe a '57 in the neck for cleans and lower gain and a BB 1 or 2 in the bridge for more aggressive drive?

 

 

yes - in my 335. 57 in the neck, BB2 in the bridge. i can play EVERYTHING from a tone perspective.

[Crxsh]

Have you compared that '57 to a BB1?

[Wyatt]

 

Has anyone ever tried a BB1 and a BB2 in the same position of the same guitar? Is one brighter than the other?

 

 

General rule of thumb is the larger the coil, the warmer the tone. (lots of things come into factor here, including wire gauge and number of winds, so mere resistance is a poor measure of pickup output)

 

The stronger the magnet, the brighter the tone. A2 magnets are weaker than A5 which in turn are weaker than Ceramic (there is also A3, A4 and Neo, but let's simplify).

 

So, a weaker wound pickup relative to the magnet will produce a brighter tone. A weaker magnet relative to the windings will be warmer. This is why you don't see (m)any high-output humbuckers with A2 magnets, they are so warm they are mostly total mud. The idea is to balance the two. Generally as you over-wind the pickup, you increase magnetic strength to balance the tone and and keep definition.

 

Now, with this said, the BB1's and BB2's both use identical magnets, but the BB2's have more windings. So, the BB1 will be brighter and more articulate...but with less overall output than the BB2. The BB3 has even more windings and an even warmer (and higher output) tone.

[cratz2]

General rule of thumb is the more larger the coil, the warmer the tone. (lots of things come into factor here, including wire gauge and number of winds, so mere resistance is a poor measure of pickup output) The stronger the magnet, the brighter the tone. A2 magnets are weaker than A5 which in turn are weaker than Ceramic (there is also A3, A4 and Neo, but let's simplify). So, a weaker wound pickup relative to the magnet will produce a brighter tone. A weaker magnet relative to the windings will be warmer. This is why you don't see (m)any high-output humbuckers with A2 magnets, they are so warm they are mostly total mud. The idea is to balance the two. Generally as you over-wind the pickup, you increase magnetic strength to balance the tone and and keep definition. Now, with this said, the BB1's and BB2's both use identical magnets, but the BB2's have more windings. So, the BB1 will be brighter and more articulate...but with less overall output than the BB2. The BB3 has even more windings and an even warmer (and higher output) tone.

 

Thanks Wyatt. I was hoping you'd chime in response to my question. I knew most of that, but I wasn't sure how the uneven windings might play into that. Sounds like I'd probably go for BB1s in both positions. I LOVE the articulation of the 57 Classics in my guitar which is LP-like, but has a thinner mahogany body, is double cutaway and has a bolt-on neck... making it not really all that Les Paul like.

 

Anyway, among the HBs I've owned, they are the most articulate, clear and single coil-like so if the BB1s are evem more so, then I guess I need to get myself a set.

 

Thanks again.

[Wyatt]

Thanks Wyatt. I was hoping you'd chime in response to my question. I knew most of that, but I wasn't sure how the uneven windings might play into that. Sounds like I'd probably go for BB1s in both positions. I LOVE the articulation of the 57 Classics in my guitar which is LP-like, but has a thinner mahogany body, is double cutaway and has a bolt-on neck... making it not really all that Les Paul like. Anyway, among the HBs I've owned, they are the most articulate, clear and single coil-like so if the BB1s are evem more so, then I guess I need to get myself a set. Thanks again.

 

Well, the uneven windings are fairly simple.

 

That weird phasiness in the midrange of all humbuckers -- what gives them their "creamy tone" that thickness where nothing is perfectly articulate or defined but instead big and round and mellow sounding -- is a result of the two coils "reading" the string at two slightly different places. A guitar string vibrates in a wider radius nearer its middle and a tighter radius nearer the bridge. So, it's never exactly the same over both coils, and that slight difference causes a bit of a detuning effect -- there is some canceling out by the two competing coils. It's the exact same reason that positions 2 and 4 in a Strat have that pseudo "out of phase" tone, but because the humbuckers coils are closer together (and in series), it isn't as dramatic. But obviously, if the coils are near identical in windings, the effect is at it's strongest.

 

Now, enter uneven windings. This through the balance of the two coils off. The stronger coil dominates the output. So, the "creaminess" is decreased and less noticeable because the two coils aren't mixing on even terms. Instead you get a little more of that stronger coil in your signal, which means you get a little more of that one coils articulation and clarity.

 

There is no better or worse, the even coils are little more of that fat tone people expect from humbuckers, the uneven coils compensate for the weak spots of many humbuckers...brightness and definition.