Identifying Gibson Classic '57 Pickups Without Removing Them

Phil

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Jul 21, 2009, 2:14:55 PM7/21/09

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Hi,

I'm wondering how to tell if my '92 ES-335 has Gibson Classic '57
pickups or not. Can I tell without removing them?

Thanks
-Phil

Joey Goldstein

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Jul 21, 2009, 2:49:32 PM7/21/09

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Gibson started with the 57 Classic model pickup sometime in 1990 when
Gibson was bought from Norlin by the present owners.
Some 1990 guitars had 57 Classics and some had the Norlin-era model
humbucker, called The Original, which never sounded very good.

Chances are that your 1992 335 does have 57 Classics.
But Gibson was also using their new 490 model pickup on some
rock-oriented guitars like Les Pauls and possibly 335's.

This isn't 100% but I think all the 490s used 4-conductor cable which
should have a black vinyl covering.
The 57 Classics were 2-conductor cable which has a silver coloured wire
braid around the cable.
So if your pickups have the wire braid, the chances are very high that
they are 57 Classics.

--
Joey Goldstein
<http://www.joeygoldstein.com>
<http://homepage.mac.com/josephgoldstein/AudioClips/audio.htm>
joegold AT primus DOT ca

Phil

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Jul 22, 2009, 9:28:32 AM7/22/09

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Thanks Joey, I'll try to do some sleuthing tonight. I have never been
able to get the pickups tweaked to my liking. Or maybe they are fine,
I just don't like the ES-335 sound.

Yvan

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Jul 23, 2009, 8:13:15 AM7/23/09

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You can write to the customer service. It took 3 days for me to get
the answer.
All they need is the model and the serial number.
A friend of mine called them and it worked as well.

Gibson Customer Service
1-800-4GIBSON
ser...@gibson.com

Yvan

Phil

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Jul 23, 2009, 4:33:46 PM7/23/09

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On Jul 23, 8:13 am, Yvan <fortiny...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> You can write to the customer service. It took 3 days for me to get
> the answer.
> All they need is the model and the serial number.
> A friend of mine called them and it worked as well.
>
> Gibson Customer Service
> 1-800-4GIBSON

> serv...@gibson.com

>
> Yvan
>
> On 21 juil, 14:14, Phil <pdema...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Hi,
>
> > I'm wondering how to tell if my '92 ES-335 has Gibson Classic '57
> > pickups or not. Can I tell without removing them?
>
> > Thanks

> > -Phil- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks Yvan, that's assuming the previous owner(s) didn't replace
them, but I do appreciate the resource.

Joey Goldstein

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Jul 23, 2009, 4:41:48 PM7/23/09

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Phil

Gibson wires the hot and ground from their pickups directly to the
volume pot.
You should be able to see what the wire looks like by peeking through
the lower f-hole.
If the wire is coated with silver coloured wire braid then they're
probably 57 Classics.
If the wire is coated with black vinyl they're not 57 Classics.

No need to take the guitar apart to see that.

The problem is that if the pickups were replaced by a previous owner
there are several other pickup makers who also use silver coloured
braided hook-up wire.
But if it is braided wire the chances are real good that it's a 57 Classic.

If they look to be 57 Classics and you think the tone is off for some
reason then check the pots and the cap on the tone pot.

Bok Bok

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Sep 10, 2020, 9:14:34 PM9/10/20

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My 2002 Gibson CS-356 has a black vinyl coated wire and a silber bradied wire...both appearing to go to the volume pots? The black one has splashes of red. I have a more recent (2017) cs-356 and it souns different...more loose. So not sure about mine now?