what was Gibson thinking when they designed the Burstbuckers ?

[garywright]

He is now “Closer to Home”

?

 

[latestarter]

?

Me too. I was thinking, did Mike and the gang “take him out” OG style?

 

[Carlosdjimenez]

My 2009 that came with Burstbuckers. Sounds like shit. Right? <note sarcasm>

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Sounds like a Les Paul to me. nice song man.

 

[latestarter]

Well, if anyone has any 2002 first issue burstbuckers they think suck, send me a message!

 

[LCW]

I discovered a shop ordered “M2M” CS 61 RI SG that I recently bought had BB2/3 instead of Custombuckers like the description said.

I couldn’t figure out at first why it sounded weird vs my other CS guitars with Custombuckers. One being a CS 64 RI SG.

Well now I know. Very nasally and honky in comparison. I hate them.

 

[Classicplayer]

Thread running 4 years, 7 months and 205 posts. I read them all and don't 100% know what Gibson was thinking when they came out with Burstbuckers. IMHO Gibson seems to always put pickups on their guitars that fairly represent the style(s) of music in vogue at the time. I think the company designs a pickup that a cross section of players can like and find useful for more than one music genre. I think Gibson also has an eye on demographics over time that indicate trends in the guitar-playing public that favor playing Gibson electics.

I sort of fit into that category and at age 83, and heard all electric guitar styles from 40's Jazz up to today's Slash-era styles. My #1 Les Paul now is a 2018 Trad with the BB 1,2 pair and I really get along with their sound, especially when experimenting with Page-like tones and creating tones reminiscent of his approach to a Les Paul. I feel the Burstbucker in my guitar are capable of reproducing many of the sounds I've played over time. I'm convinced that Gibson knew what they were doing with the BB design, so much so that offered variations on their BB “theme” that have been described in the previous 205 posts.

Classicplayer

 

[Bumhucker]

I’d say the BB1/2 set is ‘good’. Paired with the right amp, guitar wood, tone pots, caps and then actual installed set up, they can certainly be Desert Island quality. But that means nothing to compare them to. I’ve got a set on the shelf from 2007 and a set of CB’s from 2017 right next to them. C’est la vie.

Not sure Gibson was going for anything specific in the evolution where the ‘PAF formula’ is known to all, including 4th grade girls. Marketing people market, electrical engineers engineer. To stand still is to be passed by.

 

[charliechitlins]

This might be a faulty assumption about the OP, but, in general, people don't use their volume knob enough.
I played a guitar awhile ago that got all those sweet, woody tones we love to gas off about, from a pair of DiMarzio Super Distortions.
The volume knob just had to be 6-8.
I have a '65 Firebird with P90s, and if the amp is overdriving, it sounds like total ass until I roll off the volume a bit.
Then it's amazing.
One should never judge a pickup solely by how it sounds on 10.
This is why we have pots.

 

[renderit]

This might be a faulty assumption about the OP, but, in general, people don't use their volume knob enough.
I played a guitar awhile ago that got all those sweet, woody tones we love to gas off about, from a pair of DiMarzio Super Distortions.
The volume knob just had to be 6-8.
I have a '65 Firebird with P90s, and if the amp is overdriving, it sounds like total ass until I roll off the volume a bit.
Then it's amazing.
One should never judge a pickup solely by how it sounds on 10.
This is why we have pots.

I usually pull off the knobs and rotate them so it will roll PAST 10 and go to 11.

 

[charliechitlins]

I usually pull off the knobs and rotate them so it will roll PAST 10 and go to 11.

My main amps go to 12, so I've got that shit covered!

 

[ChuckNOS]

You were around here when they came out. Have you forgotten all the posts about how perfect and wonderful they were? All the CC models that had them???? Seems they were even compared to pafs directly by members with both, iirc. Sound familure???

Wilko nailed it and I'll add this, damn few could ID them in a blindfold listening. As to what Gibson was thinking??? They were making an authentic sounding paf in several varieties, just like and as good as any. Everyone has a favorite and some just have to have expensive, unobtainium magic elf wound pickups to feel fulfilled. The big problem is one of contempt for anything familar. It's frankly laughable. My half dead ass, crippled beat up old hands and ears have no problem dialing up killer tone with ANY Gibson paf type pickup made. It ain't hard.

Exactly