Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Talk about your Burstbuckers and Seymour Duncans....

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Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by slash-ed »

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dG6BZWNVdM[/youtube]

Found the 57 Classic set in my new Traditional a bit dark so I got a Duncan Slash Signature set from Music Planet via our friendly neighbourhood Polar Bear. But first I took the opportunity to do a bit of a before and after.

Haven't done a proper write-up yet but preliminary thoughts are:

- Surprised at how subtle the difference actually is once recorded. In the room I felt like the '57s were very much darker/fatter but playing it back it's not as obvious.
- The Slash set has a springier, faster attack while the 57 Classics are darker or "warmer" with less immediacy to the attack.
- The Slash set has more high end but it's a very sweet high end that is never harsh.

Interested to see what you guys think.

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by Eruera »

Weird! My trad with 57s is really bright, bright enough that my amp dialled for it still sounds balanced with a strat :lol:

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by slash-ed »

That's interesting. I haven't actually spent a lot of time with the Classic/Burstbucker family of pickups so I have no idea which one it "should" be!
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by MrDINO »

With the LPs I've had in the earlier days really liked the SD JB and Jazz combo but usually depended on the guitar. With the LP I have now it came with classic 57s which seemed a bit muddy to me so replaced them with BK mules which are clearer sounding and have been onboard for a few years now. I've always wanted to try the pro2s in something. Glad to hear you're report. The PRS goldtop i believe you used to own sounds cool BTW

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by Eruera »

Clearly I'm just a fucking weirdo :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by slash-ed »

MrDINO wrote:With the LPs I've had in the earlier days really liked the SD JB and Jazz combo but usually depended on the guitar. With the LP I have now it came with classic 57s which seemed a bit muddy to me so replaced them with BK mules which are clearer sounding and have been onboard for a few years now. I've always wanted to try the pro2s in something. Glad to hear you're report. The PRS goldtop i believe you used to own sounds cool BTW
The 20th Anni SCT? Ahh is that yours now? Nice guitar.
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by MrDINO »

slash-ed wrote:
MrDINO wrote:With the LPs I've had in the earlier days really liked the SD JB and Jazz combo but usually depended on the guitar. With the LP I have now it came with classic 57s which seemed a bit muddy to me so replaced them with BK mules which are clearer sounding and have been onboard for a few years now. I've always wanted to try the pro2s in something. Glad to hear you're report. The PRS goldtop i believe you used to own sounds cool BTW
The 20th Anni SCT? Ahh is that yours now? Nice guitar.
Yep that's the one. Nice acoustic ring to it. Might experiment with pups yet....bad habit

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by hamo »

You know, to my cloth ears, in your video the 57s seemed to have more bite and the Slash set were fatter, until you got to the solo-ing.
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by slash-ed »

hamo wrote:You know, to my cloth ears, in your video the 57s seemed to have more bite and the Slash set were fatter, until you got to the solo-ing.
Well, that's the benefit of a clip like this - your ears ultimately decide! What I think is good tone, or even a certain type of tone could be vastly different from the next guy.
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by sirvill »

Especially cause "bite" and "fatter" might mean different things to different ears

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by sizzlingbadger »

That guitar has 500k pots too. They both sound pretty good to me ;) The 57 bridge has a bit more grind to my ears.
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by fuzziebro »

sirvill wrote:Especially cause "bite" and "fatter" might mean different things to different ears
especially when were talking about double whoppers with cheese!

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by GrantB »

I also find Classic 57s dark and fat Ed...and compressed. In my Explorer they sound great on the treble strings, bridge pickup. But nothing else sounds good. This was also my memory of the 57s that were in my R9. Burstbuckers are more PAF like in my experience than 57s.

Oh yeah, at the pub so will have to listen later :)
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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by slash-ed »

I rather liked the '57 Classic Plus in the bridge, but yeah, both neck and bridge had less treble than I wanted.

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Re: Gibson 57 Classic/Plus vs Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro

Post by faceless »

I love the 57's on my '98 R8, I yet have to try the Slash set, but I guess they are awesome replacements as well. Double blacks on LPs ala Slash always look badass.

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