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ES-330 Problem - Anyone have a solution?

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
About 13 or 14 years ago I found this ES-330 in a pawn shop in Colorado for $450. It has never been broken but it had Humbuckers in it, cheap tuners and bad pots.

I replaced the wiring harness, put some reissue Klusons on it and put Lollar P-90s in it. It's a killer guitar that sounds great and it has freakishly low action.

Anyways, I came across an original set of pickup covers but they don't seem to fit the neck pickup. The Lollar in there is low profile, as is the cover and the neck pickup fits fine. Does anyone have a solution for this? If a couple of the polepieces were moved just a hair it would be fine. I figured the poles would be standard. 330b.jpg330a.jpg
 

VamboRool

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Nov 25, 2015
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The Lollars pole pieces are spaced differently for the neck and bridge pick-ups. Get another bridge pick-up and put that in your neck position and that should solve your problem.
 

Don

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Dec 1, 2001
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5,732
Doesn't the ES-330 have a neck pickup on a special low bracket? If so, you need a pickup with bridge spacing and neck mounting height.
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
Doesn't the ES-330 have a neck pickup on a special low bracket? If so, you need a pickup with bridge spacing and neck mounting height.
Yes, that would do it. I'm not sure if Lollar sells one like that. I will check out their site. Thanks! OTOH I could prob just buy a bridge one and put it in the bracket i have I guess.
 

Don

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Dec 1, 2001
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Yes, that would do it. I'm not sure if Lollar sells one like that. I will check out their site. Thanks! OTOH I could prob just buy a bridge one and put it in the bracket i have I guess.
I'd contact Lollar and ask, though thier baseplate might have the narrower spacing. I had another vendor make me a P90 like that to but in the bridge position of a '63 Epiphone Olympic due to it requiring a low profile pickup.

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Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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Cool man! I have a blue Olympic that looks a lot like that.
 
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Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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I had TroBak pickups in a LP and took them out a few days after putting them in. I have another old LPC that has them and I love them. Ordering them is too hard, all kinds of mumbo jumbo, etc…. I’m not smart enough/don’t care enough to sift through all of that to figure it out. I know most guys love the minutia I just want something that will fit and sound good.
 

giselegadot3

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Mar 20, 2020
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I'd been looking for an ES-330 or a vintage Epiphone Casino for a long time, but I was always leaning to the Gibson. It's my first Gibson, my first vintage, and my first online purchase.
It's got a few dings of course, but I think it's got that well loved look and feel. The fretwork is great and the neck straight.
The two Gibson p-90s are the best sounding pickups I've ever played. They can be rolled down for a smooth blues or cranked for a bite that leaves a mark. I'm playing it through a Vox AC-15 and can't get the volume passed 3 without complaints.
I'm sorry if I am bragging, but I am in love. I've enjoyed looking at everyone's gear, so I hope that you'll like mine, too. But I also need your help. As you can tell, I've taken off almost all the hardware. I noticed a big problem when I tuned up the first time.
I noticed today that when the strings were at tension, the Kluson tuning pegs started lifting off from their screws. So, I took the strings off and it seems that some special individual at some point put Grovers on. This has caused two major problems that I don't know if I am smart enough to solve. First, the screw holes are stripped and the screws don't bite in anymore. Second, the peg holes have been routed slightly larger for the Grovers, and the Kluson pegs are secured with cardboard.
I am mostly concerned with playability as I'm not going to sell it, but I would also like to keep it as original as possible. Any help that anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Also, this is my first Bigsby, and even though vshare I had to take the strings back off, I really cocked up the restringing. Maybe some of you Bigsby experts can help me. I yelled at it, I called it a son of a bitch, but nothing worked. I've tried nothing, and I'm all out of ideas.
Thanks for looking, feel free to ask me anything, I look forward to any comments. Once I get everything back together I'll upload some more pictures and get a soundcloud recording up.https://omegle.onl/
 
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Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
You can get conversion bushings to use the Klusons again. They’re pretty inexpensive iirc
 

dna9656

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Jun 14, 2021
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I had a '68 that had finish cracks from you know where... It was wine red, I bought it for $200.00 in 1979 or 80; in Hawaii. I sold it for $300.
 

Wilko

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...and you have the longneck! great guitar.
 
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