There’s plenty to love about Gibson’s iconic semi-hollowbody guitar.
Great playability. Retro-cool good looks. A center block to minimize feedback.
Finally, of course, the distinctive, warm, welcoming sound of humbucking pickups.
Top 3 - Popular ES-335 Pickups
Armed with a soldering iron and an appreciation for vintage tones, I’ve put together a list of some of the best pickups on the market that’ll help you get the most out of your ES-335 style guitar.
4 Best Pickups for Your ES-335 Style Guitar
1. MojoTone ‘59 Clone PAF Humbucker
When Gibson released the original humbucker pickup, I don’t think even they knew just how successful they were going to be. So much so that over 60 years later companies are still trying to clone that original PAF sound that changed rock music forever.
The Mojotone ‘59 clone is exactly that, a love letter to the humbuckers of yesteryear. The clue is in the name, the Mojotone clone, aims to imitate the original warmth, brightness and clarity of Gibson's ‘50s era pickups and does so extremely well.
The ‘59 model is, strictly speaking, based on the pickups in Gibson’s late-50s Les Paul models rather than those from their hollowbody range.
The voicing here is more Jimmy Page than BB King.
Mojotone are able to get a real vintage sound out of these humbuckers thanks to their unpotted coils which are custom wound and offset, just like the ‘50s originals were. Because of this, at higher gain levels, the guitar’s hollow body leads to some pretty unpleasant feedback.
However, if you’re playing your 335 at heavy metal levels of gain, I suggest trying a different guitar. That’s not really what hollowbodies are for: Gibson put Les Pauls and SGs on the market for exactly this reason!
When I first plugged in to try these out in my 335, I was honestly blown away at just how much definition these pickups gave, never getting too dark and heavy and losing clarity. Even with my amp and guitar cranked all the way up to 10, the mix never got so muddy that it just sounded like noise.
Through my Marshall Plexi, the sound is very appealing.
What really impressed me though, was the neck pickup, which was clear and articulate and for once didn't sound like my amp had been put underwater. The extra clarity made playing the blues that much better, as you got the warm neck tone without losing out on tonal definition.
Even better, with the amp cranked into its sweet spot, I was able to coax some very convincing Cream-era Clapton-esque “woman tones” from the guitar.
I love these little pickups and they complimented the natural tone of my ES-335 perfectly. They make a great option if you’re looking for that iconic ‘50s sound without breaking the bank.
My taste in 335 tone leans steadily towards this kind of vintage voicing, so I was thrilled with this pickup set.
2. Gibson ‘60s Burstbucker Humbucker
When we think humbuckers, we think Gibson… That's just the way it is. After all, the humbucking pickup was their invention!
As the original creator of the humbucker pickup, Gibson have a long history of excellence and their updated ‘60s Burstbucker is no different.
Gibson’s 1960s guitars had a brighter tone than their earlier counterparts. It’s a little more high-mid-forward than a '50s-style humbucker.
I love how bright the Burstbucker is, making it the ideal pickup for lead guitarists who want their sound to cut through the mix and be heard.
I find its natural brightness to nicely complement the low-end boom of my 335.
Like with any humbucker they’re clean, warm and bright in all the right places and they really shine when you put effects over it, never losing clarity or getting bogged down.
The Burstbucker is traditionally wound with unbalanced coils and are unpotted to give it that vintage look.
When I demoed these pickups, I was impressed with how much they pushed the sound through my amp and a lot of that is thanks to the Alnico V magnets that kick up the output and tighten the tone.
It's worth noting however, these pickups are a little hotter than other ‘vintage’ humbuckers on the market and if you’re a big jazz player and want a smoother sound for your ES-335, then maybe give these humbuckers a miss.
Likewise, when I tried to introduce some extra gain a la Gary Moore in the 1990s, the pickups squealed like a stuck pig. Unfortunately, hot, unpotted pickups don’t play nicely with distortion.
Even tube-saturation overdrive is a risky endeavor with these pickups in my 335.
On the other hand, with a little compression and technique adjustment, the clean tone on offer here is right at home for country playing. In the middle position it actually reminded me a lot of Chris Stapleton’s Jazzmaster tone: so much so that, at rehearsal, our pedal steel player turned to me, thinking that someone had started playing a recording of “Tennessee Whiskey!”
These aren’t warm enough for jazz playing, or for most traditional blues applications, but for anyone looking for that ‘60s rock twang and aggression these pickups will more than get the job done.3. Gibson T-Type Humbucker
Grab the hairspray and dust off your denim jackets cause for this next pickup we’re jumping forward a few decades to the humbucker that defined ‘70s and ‘80s rock, the Gibson T-Type.
These are some of my favorite pickups ever: I’ve used them in Les Pauls before, and they excel at driving an old-school tube amp into classic rock tone heaven.
As soon as I plugged these pickups in I had to adjust my amp volume ‘cause these things are loud and super responsive. Think of the T-Type as the middle ground between Gibson's low output PAF pickups and its later high-output ones like the 500T.
That being said, the T-Type absolutely shreds. It uses Alnico V magnets which are stronger than the Alnico II’s giving these humbuckers a sharp and clear sound with a bright attacking crunch.
I can’t resist playing my favorite AC/DC and KISS riffs with these. These pickups plus a Marshall Plexi is a match made in heaven.
The T-Types are also unpotted which allows for better treble response and greater note clarity. I had heard that the gain sounds were solid but I was impressed at just how strong they really were.
I still found there to be some unwanted feedback at higher gain levels, but these managed to push my amp into overdrive at lower volume than expected. This helped allay some of the feedback.
If you’re looking to turn your ES-335 into a ‘70s hardrock machine, perfect for playing Sabbath or AC/DC then these pickups are exactly what you need. They’re still clear, unlike higher-output humbuckers, but their increased output really lets you crank your amp and push sound out.
These actually sounded better at rehearsal than at home. I’ll attribute that to their ability to really slice through the mix of a full band.
The best part for me was how well they cleaned up with a little roll of the volume knob. I set the volume knob on my 335’s bridge pickup to around 6 for rhythm playing, and rolled it up to 10 for lead lines.
At about 6, the tone retains its authority, with a little less aggression. It’s assertive and ideal for locking in with the drummer. At 10, I found it really added some snarling rock and roll attitude: we had great fun jamming old Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith riffs with this tone.
Be warned, where the T-Type is bright with chimey highs, it also suffers from a lack of muddy low-end, which can sometimes make the neck pickup feel underwhelming and unexpressive especially if you’re into stuff like swampy delta blues.
I wouldn’t use this for a BB King or even a Clapton impression, but for rock and roll, it’s hard to look past these high-powered humbuckers.
4. Seymour Duncan Seth Lover SH-55 Humbucker
If clones and remakes aren't your thing, the closest modern equivalent to Gibson’s 1955 humbucker sound isn’t a Gibson pickup at all: it’s in the Seymour Duncan Seth Lover SH-55 humbuckers.
Seth Lover was the man who designed Gibson’s 1950s-era humbuckers. He taught a young man named Seymour Duncan, and these are Duncan’s loving tribute to his mentor.
The original Gibson PAF (Patent Applied For) pickups Lover designed graced countless classic records. Most modern players associate these with the Page, Clapton, and their scores of acolytes, but they were beloved by BB King, too.
When I plugged in, I was immediately thrilled with the classic PAF sound. I can confidently say the SH-55’s were some of the clearest pickups I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. They were warm and bright all while keeping that aggressive bite we want from a humbucker.
Just like with the original PAF, these pickups are unpotted giving them a slightly “honky” microphone quality that gave me real vintage vibes and it turned my ES-335 into a blues rock machine.
In the middle position, on a clean amp, I was able to get a pretty close approximation of BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone” tone.
For all their beauty and sonic brilliance, the SH-55’s did have one weakness and that’s their weak distortion performance. When I cranked it, they lost a lot of the clarity that made them so fun to listen to in the first place.
Of course, I have other guitars for those sounds. I like my 335 for classic rock, blues, and country playing. The Seth Lovers really are perfect for nailing those tones from my favorite classic riffs.
They excel in particular with demanding, precise riffing. The chiming, arpeggiated riffs from Rush’s “Limelight” and “Tom Sawyer” are extremely satisfying to play with these pickups.
Perhaps the best thing about them is how much the respond to variations in technique and phrasing. You really don’t need much more than a great amp to get awesome sounds from a 335 equipped with these excellent pickups.
Gibson vs Epiphone - Worth the Extra Price?
Gibson vs Epiphone - my Les Pauls. I honestly couldn't find a similar photo of my 335s and one of them is in another place right now, so...
If you want to get your hands on an ES-335 style guitar, the two biggest names in the game are Gibson and Ephiphone. But which one should you get?
Gibson is the original maker of the ES-335 and, because of its much larger price tag, these guitars come with some premium features that the Epiphone does not, like a nitro finish, rosewood fingerboard and a hardshell case.
But the Epiphone is by no means just a “cheap copy”, boasting a really solid sound and build quality for just a fraction of the cost. Epiphone guitars are built with cheaper woods, like Indian laurel instead of rosewood.
In the interests of transparency, my 335 is actually an Orville by Gibson, which was short-lived Japanese brand under the Gibson umbrella. It’s closer in spirit to an American-made Gibson guitar, and even includes American electronics. Its stock pickups were PAF-style Gibson humbuckers.
The Epiphone ES-335 also has a slightly shorter scale length (24.72”) as well as a narrower fretboard (1.69”) than its Gibson counterpart.
Of course, the Gibson overall feels more premium. While the Epihpone is manufactured in China, Gibson still does everything stateside and therefore their guitars benefit from stricter quality control measures and a better “out-the-box” setup.
Having played both, I do enjoy playing a great Gibson 335. If you have the money, it’s worth going for the real deal, especially if you’re a musician playing or recording regularly. However, for most hobbyists, an Epiphone is just fine.
However, for a quarter of the price you could just get yourself an Epiphone ES-335 and make a few small upgrades here and there, committing some extra time and money to get it sounding almost as premium as a Gibson.
Best ES-335 Upgrades
Bigsby Bar
Looking for a way to spice up your playing? Why not add a Bigsby bar to your guitar and introduce some vibrato to your set.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of whammy bars, but they can be fun.
Any decent guitar shop will help you install it but if you’re feeling confident you can go ahead and try it yourself, it's not a super complicated procedure and it's a great way to build confidence making adjustments to your guitar.
A Bigsby can improve the sustain of your guitar (by increasing its strings’ resonant length) and offer expressive pitch-shifting techniques. Be warned: it’s not the same as a Floyd Rose, so don’t try any Pantera-style dive bombs!
Locking Tuners
Investing in some locking tuners is a great way to keep your ES-335 in tune and make string changes that much faster.
A lot of performing musicians swear by locking tuners as the clamping design makes it easy to restring your guitar quickly should they break during a performance.
They’re also great if you’re the type of person who struggles with restringing in general.
I’ve never noticed a difference in tuning stability between locking and non-locking tuners. Better tuners are always a good upgrade on cheaper guitars, however: if you’re using a low-end Epiphone 335, it’s worth the upgrade regardless.
Locking tuners are popular on guitars getting a lot of mileage and plenty of performance hours because they enable rapid string changes.
The Gotoh SD90 MG-T is a great option if you want locking tuners that work great and keep that vintage look.
Grover’s Rotomatic tuners fit nicely onto Gibson-style guitars like the 335, too.
I do think that all guitar players should know how to quickly and easily restring their instruments, but these are a great time saver for those who need it.
Pickup Selector Toggle
On all my Epiphone guitars, the first part to break was the pickup selector.
Admittedly, this is because when I mostly played Epiphones I was really into the Ace Frehley killswitch effect where you turn one pickup off, the other on full, and rapidly switch between the two. You can check out Ace doing it here at about 1:17.
This wore out my pickup selector faster than I hoped, but it’s an easy fix: an improved, more durable toggle switch is really easy to install. This one from Gibson is nice and affordable and fits into a 335!
Pickups
The easiest, cheapest way to massively upgrade your guitar tone is to swap out your pickups.
This is especially true of cheaper guitars like those made by Epiphone, especially when compared to the high-end Gibson hollowbodies.
Depending on what type of ES-335 guitar you’ve got, it might be worth upgrading your pickups to something with a little more oomph.
The pickups are responsible for about 80% of your guitar's tone, and investing in a solid pair of pickups can turn a cheap no-name into a stage ready machine.
My advice to pretty much any Epiphone player is for pickups to be the first upgrade.
Regarding your options when it comes to pickups, you now have this list of the best pickups for ES-335 guitars!
Bottom Line
In my experience, changing out pickups is the easiest way to change or improve your guitar’s tone.
Although Gibson’s 335s tend to ship with great Gibson stock pickups, there’s always room for improvement. Cheaper 335-style guitars like Epiphones can really benefit from a new set of pickups.
In either case, it’s a simple, affordable upgrade. All you need is a soldering iron and a screwdriver, or a friendly staff member at your local guitar shop.
How about putting in a set of Gibson 1959’s. A bit expensive you say? So was the guitar!
I’m partial to my Lollar Imperial medium wind on my ’97 Gibson 336 dot.
I’m a fan of Fralin Unbuckers. They’re spec’d exactly like the standard “Pure PAF,”: 7.5K-neck/8K-bridge, Alnico II magnets, the same enameled wire, etc. Except where the Pure are wound to be pretty balanced between the coils (maybe a few hundred ohms difference), the Unbucker is a ⅓/⅔ winding. So the neck would have one coil at 3K/ the other is 4.5K. This is intended for coil splitting, but I use them as straight humbucker.
I’m partial to underwound PAF for ES335s. The semihollows naturally have a lot of midrange resonance to them, and the scooped quality that underwound pickups have match nicely. The Unbucker leans into that even more (though not overly so), but give you the push of a more traditional output PAF.
Admittedly they’re not cheap, so I have a tip if you find the pickups you’re using are too muddy or compressed or just don’t have the definition you’re looking for, but you might not be in the position to replace them, I do this with the neck pickup to a small degree to most of my personal guitars.
-take the pickup and lower it, start around ⅛”. After you get it down, back the screw poles back out so they’re at the hight they were at before you lowered the entire pickup. Lowering the entire pickup reduces the output of the pickup, but when you raise the screw poles you’re increasing the output of that individual coil. Mark down they original height if you’re concerned that you won’t be able to get it back to the original height, and play around with the heights until you get it where you want.
I had one guitar that I used the partial coil tap more than full humbucker, but the hum was irritating. I was to set the pickup low enough, and get the screw slugs to just the right height that it sounded EXACTLY like it did when I split them, but with both coils still in the signal it retained all the hum cancelling of the humbucker.