Excellent replacement pickup

I stuck one of these in the necl position of my Epiphone Les Paul Standard, and its tone went from a mushy, inarticulate, and ho-hum to a brillant tone worthy of any rock band! My only complaint was installation - instead of two wires (hot and ground), you were given a hot wire in shielded in cloth under braided metal, and you had to ground the braid. Made installation a bit tricky, but still doable for anyone who has medium skill with a soldering iron.

Reviewed by Scott on 2/27/2007 who plays Country, Rock.

This is THE neck pickup for set neck guitars. A '57 Classic in the neck and a '57 Classic Plus in the bridge is heavenly. If you're worried about the idea of the pickup being designed in the 50's, don't be. These things rock. They are both warm and articulate, and both brilliant and gutsy. I personally like the Alnico II magnets better than V's, too. I just wish these things weren't so expensive.

Reviewed by RochesterLoner on 11/2/2006 who plays Rock, Alternative, etc..

Great Pickup

I just installed this pickup in the bridge position of my SG Special to replace the 490T that came in it. The difference was night and day. I play with high gain, and the problem with the stock pickups was distinguishing some of the notes that were drowned out due to my amp setup. These pickups totaly cleaned everything up! The sound is still heavy, and has tons of ear crushing crunch, but you can hear what I am playing with a clarity that has to be heard to appreciate. The only thing I have an issue with is a bit more hum than I wanted when I am not playing, but that is also due to the high gain. On clean the sound is perfect. No hum, and nice tones. I can't wait to put another one in the neck position.

Reviewed by jotrimble on 8/30/2006 who plays Alternative Rock.

Gibson Classic 57

I installed a pair of Classic 57 pickups in an Epiphone Dot Studio. These pickups put the guitar over top, giving it some kick and sustain that the original pickups lacked. Classics are not quite as hot as Burstbuckers, but definitely have a warm, clean sound and more power than stock Epi pickups.

Reviewed by gptele67 on 10/3/2006 who plays rock.

Classic bite, without the buzz

I have an old Gibson SG and the pickups were pretty aged, and they didnt age that well so i was looking to replace the whole guitar. Right before i did my friend told me about these pickups, they sound like they did 30 years ago, just more polished and it regains the vintage sound with a new age technology tiwst. These pickups are all Gibson and very trustworthy.

Reviewed by Steve on 10/16/2006 who plays progressive.

Gibson 57 classic pickup

Absolutely awesome. Flexibility, sound countour and control. Why did gibson ever put the 'way to hot' 496's on the 1960 Les Paul reissue. I don't know why. The bridge pickup was spec'd out at 14.2 and the neck at 10.2. My guitar tech recommended the classic 57 and classic plus 57. Dont waste your time with any other pick choice. I couldn't be happier with the control, sound and flexibility of the classic 57's. Jay Lawless of Guitar center (el toro/mission viejo Calif) store styled me out. Free shipping and recieved with in 4 days! What a deal!!!! Whether you've got a Les Paul, SG or a knock off copy, You will not go wrong with the classic 57's. My rig is a Fender blues deville 2-12, and Marshall 1-12 combo with echo/delay pedal, blues driver pedal and vintage ibanez chorus pedal. The sound is fantastic. I give these pickups a 5 star rating.

Reviewed by Kurtiss on 8/23/2009 who plays rock, pop, americana style.

Great upgrade

I have a Gibson ES-333 that I recently upgraded the stock pickups (4990, 498) and put the 57 Classic in the neck position. It really makes this guitar sound fabulous, like the 335. The cleans sound really great and this guitar has that great, warm, hollow-body sound with the 57 Classic.

Reviewed by john nicholas on 7/29/2009 who plays Classic Rock.

'57 Classics in my Hamer Special

I changed the stock pups of my '96 Hamer Special (Seymour D. '59 & JB) 'cause I needed something that sounds great at clean and crunch levels. The JB in the bridge had too much output (about 16k) and sounded horrible when played clean. With the '57 classic in the neck and the classic+ in the bridge I found tonal heaven! This Pickups have nice lows but never get muddy. The mids give you enough punch for good old rock (like in Alright now) and the highs... you can melt away glaciers with them. Nice harmonics and even when played distorted you can hear every single note. They're absolutely keepers!

Reviewed by Jürgen S. on 2/10/2009 who plays Blues, Rock.

Excellent!

I replaced my pickups in my Epi Les Paul with the 57 Classic and Classic Plus and what a remarkable difference in sound. The Epi plays great but I was never that fond of the muddy sound in the pickups. It doesn't hurt to replace the pots with good ones, too. It now sounds like my Gibson Les Paul all the way!

Reviewed by GG on 4/9/2008 who plays Classic Rock.