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Seymour Duncan x Joe B collab: “The Blonde Dot” 1960 ES-335 Humbucker Set

jb_abides

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Apr 6, 2005
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5,452
New offering...

A2 neck - "stratty and clear"
A4 bridge - "punchy and dark"


Description:

When Seymour Duncan approached Bonamassa to recreate a set of humbuckers from one of his favorite ES-335s, he was quick to bring us one of the finest instruments in his collection – his rare 1960 dot-neck Gibson ES-335 with blonde finish, aptly named “The Blonde Dot”. Purchased from a friend who had an impressive collection of vintage dot neck 335s, Joe found that the pickups in the pristine Blonde Dot were some of the most balanced P.A.F.s in his collection.

Careful to keep the guitar in its immaculate condition – Seymour Duncan measured and recorded the original pickups to faithfully recreate them as “The Blonde Dot” 1960 ES-335 Humbucker Set. Joe describes the neck pickup as “stratty and clear” and the bridge pickup as “punchy and dark”, making a balanced set that he knew would sound good in any guitar. To capture these tones, this vintage set uses an Alnico 2 magnet in the neck, whereas a stronger Alnico 4 magnet was found to best deliver the qualities of the original bridge pickup. To match the like-new original Blonde Dot, the nickel covers are unaged and come with black pickup rings. The first 800 sets come in limited edition packaging, and with bottomplates signed by Bonamassa and Seymour Duncan himself. After these limited edition sets are sold, "The Blonde Dot" pickups will be available with standard Custom Shop cosmetic options to perfectly match your ES-335, Les Paul, or any guitar that demands great P.A.F. humbucker tone.
 

J.D.

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May 24, 2006
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10,037
From past experience, this is probably my favorite humbucker combo for classic rock tones; a standard sub-8K A-II neck pickup and an overwound A-IV bridge pickup. It pretty much works in everything.
 

jb_abides

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Apr 6, 2005
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5,452
From past experience, this is probably my favorite humbucker combo for classic rock tones; a standard sub-8K A-II neck pickup and an overwound A-IV bridge pickup. It pretty much works in everything.

I have a 59 Dot Reissue with 57 Classics that I am thinking of trying these out in, not sure I'd opt for the limited signed ones however... no need for that.
 

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
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3,777
Joe sounds pretty good on that USA standard with OUT - Florian neck set , hide glue , wrong wood , wrong neck joint one thing for sure you hand 99.9 of the guitar players I know a burst & the Tone would not change at all .
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
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4,889
In the lab I don't hear the Blonde tone. I do in the LP- distinctly- even on my phone.
I have a set of Bona SD 1959 PAF's- they are spot-on PAF's.
 

mixtaplix

New member
Joined
Mar 8, 2024
Messages
1
That 60....mmmmm that's saweeet. Can't believe the stratiness of that neck pickup. Don't find the SD sounds as bright and bell-like in the TM 335. Love the tone coming outta that LP though. Wow.
 

stevieboy

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Joined
Mar 18, 2002
Messages
245
I have a 59 Dot Reissue with 57 Classics that I am thinking of trying these out in, not sure I'd opt for the limited signed ones however... no need for that.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, II'm not sure, but I don't think the unsigned ones will cost less, if you want them now you'll get a signed set until those run out. But yeah no need to jump on them just to get the signatures other than maybe future resale (something I rarely consider because I'm usually wrong anyway!)
 
Last edited:

stevieboy

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2002
Messages
245
I have a 2008 CR8 that currently has a set of hum sized P90ish pickups, sounds really good but I'm currently without a humbucker equipped LP and I have multiple P90 guitars. So I've been considering what humbuckers to put in. These seem like they'd work really well. Just ordered a set! Should be here early next week if not by the end of this week.
 

jb_abides

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Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,452
Correct me if I'm wrong here, II'm not sure, but I don't think the unsigned ones will cost less, if you want them now you'll get a signed set until those run out. But yeah no need to jump on them just to get the signatures other than maybe future resale (something I rarely consider because I'm usually wrong anyway!)

Yeah, I am in no rush... earmarked for a future project.

Please keep up posted on your results and good luck!
 
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