Should I change pickups in my 87' 335

[ArcNSpark]

I have a 87' 335 dot reissue, it's all orginal. The 57' classisc are ok
but I think I can do better. Thinking about changing the whole wiring harness out but I would have to sell it to buy something new.

Should I leave it stock and just deal with the percieved short comings of
the 57's and wiring. I really don't want to get into changing caps,pots etc.
Kinda of taking an all or nothing stance.

[Sean French]

What is it you don't like about the pickups?

[ArcNSpark]

What is it you don't like about the pickups?

Can be muddy and undefined. Hard to balance the two out.

[tfunster]

I'd say replace the pickups and the harness in one go. My Heritage H535 with CTS 500k pots and Wolfetone Marshallheads sounds fantastic.

[Seegs]

I also have an 87 335 and hated the pups (especially the neck...didn't know what they were) so I swapped them for a set of Wolfetone Dr. Vs which I like a lot although I am not really 100% satisfied with the wound strings...could be tighter and more articulate...the low E tends to sound a bit limp and blah while the treble strings are amazingly clear and sweet sounding...

I am considering putting the originals back in to try because when I took out electronics...the volumn pots measured 300Kohms and the tone pots 80K ohms...the caps were the cheapest possible ceramic disc caps...I replaced the electronics with a Dr. Vintage early spec kit in which the pots all measure about 550Kohms...that alone should brighten up the stock pups enough to where I might like them but it is such a royal PITA to change pups on a 335 that I am not excited to do this...

I would problably upgrade the pots (500K) and caps and try the original pups first before swapping pups out...

Chow,
Seegs

[Steve Gambrell]

Considering the amount of work involved, I think I'd sell the guitar. Why did you buy it?

[Seegs]

I can only speak for myself..it's quite simple really...I wanted a Gibson 335 and 80's 335 are good value for the money...I'm not gonna pay stupid money for a 60/70s 335...the new ones vary a lot in sound...quality and playability and are double what I paid for my 80s 335...

in my case it's just a matter of replaceing the electronics and finding the right pups and then I have a great guitar for an affordable price...I've invested about $300 doing that and its still way under what I could've gotten any other 335 for...

Chow,
Seegs

[Radagacuca]

i a/b´d my (long gone) late 90´s or early 2000´s 335 to a friends early 80s.
in comparison his was very dark, muffled sounding. as posted above the pot values on these 80s 335´s are not what most people would like today. (my friend actually preffered the dark tone of his 335 cause he used it for jazz only while i am more blues/rock focused and preffered mine).

so change (or have a tech do it) pots to 500k ones before swapping pickups. i like the classic 57s in a 335 very much. this will open up your tone a lot imho.

[Sean French]

Can be muddy and undefined. Hard to balance the two out.


More than likely they used 300K pots.Replacing them with 500K pots will open it up.Clarity and definition will be greatly improved.
Another thing that will help by adding a bit more chime and air would be an aluminum tail piece.Steel studs will further help.The 500K pots,steel studs and a aluminum TP is what was used on the vintage Gibby's.

[ArcNSpark]

More than likely they used 300K pots.Replacing them with 500K pots will open it up.Clarity and definition will be greatly improved.
Another thing that will help by adding a bit more chime and air would be an aluminum tail piece.Steel studs will further help.The 500K pots,steel studs and a aluminum TP is what was used on the vintage Gibby's.

I might change the pots and caps seems to be the way to go.

Can I just pull the pots, switch and jack out through the f hole and leave the pu's in place? Any surprises lurking in their.lol. Never did this to a 335.

[jetlag]

Another thing you can do w/o replacing the pups is magnet swap. Classic 57's are what, A2? You could try A4 or A5 to juice up the back pup and maybe A3 to add some chime and roll a bit of bass off the front pup. I once had in my possession a 57 classic that fralin reworked that sounded fabulous in the lead position of a '59 345 (that had it's PAFs harvested by a previous owner). I was told that all he did was change the magnets and pot it. While I'm not a big fan of potting, I do like the sound of potted pups on lead position P90s and buckers - it seems to roll a bit of the real bright highs and maybe juice the mids a hair. Anyway, I thought I'd toss that idea out to you. I had a late 90s 335 dot and know what you are dealing with. BTW, changing the pots and caps out sounds like a great idea. I think I'd wire up leads off the harness that you can connect pup wires to in the pickup cavities. Then it would make for easy pup swapping in the future (you can bundle and tape off the excess pup wire when doing this).

[FrankieSixxxgun]

Changing electronics in an ES-335 is suuuuuuch a pain in the diznick. I rewired my whole '81 ES-335 and I don't think I've cursed at an inanimate object so much in my life.

[Radagacuca]

Changing electronics in an ES-335 is suuuuuuch a pain in the diznick. I rewired my whole '81 ES-335 and I don't think I've cursed at an inanimate object so much in my life.

:) sad but true....

[ArcNSpark]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going with the new pots,caps.

Now I just have to find time to do it.lol