Joe Bonamassa’s “The Blonde Dot” 1960 P.A.F. Humbucker Set

[@TJJJJJJJJJJJ]

0:38 😯 that’s the man himself ! SD is literally a living legend. When we are all dead and buried, guitarists will still be saying his name for decades if not centuries

[@JS-nf1sn]

More Bonamassa copies, please. It's awesome that these pickups are being documented, so everyone can own the sound. Big thumbs up.

[@zitnbit]

I totally agree

[@vuoluteachersband]

Bought 'em today. #44. Can't wait to have them installed on my ES-335

[@vkelly1975]

I have a set of skinner burst in my Les Paul that sounds great , I got a similar set of MJ Magic for my es339 they also sound great.

[@Mr.D34]

My God what a sound! I'm so grateful that legends like Seymour Duncan and Joe Bonamassa exist.

[@tonyormston]

I've played this guitar! John (Joe's friend) is also a friend of my son-in-law, Brad, and he invited us to his studio in London a few years ago to jam with a collection of vintage guitars and amps. I got to play this one through a 1958 Vox AC15. It was in absolutely mint condition and worth about £25,000 at the time. It's an amazingly good guitar and i'm pleased I got the chance to play it.

[@seymourduncan]

What a great story, thanks for sharing!

[@CaptainRon1913]

That LP sounds great with those pickups

[@DavidOakesMusic]

That LP was gorgeous !!

[@stratman9449]

most of Joes guitars are more than "gorgeous"......

[@Desmond-ul7cw]

Nice. I have a 335 that would make a nice home for these.

[@arustydodge2111]

Fantastic Tone! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@JeremyBall76]

Yeah! They sound amazing. I have 2 sets - I installed one in a new 335 build, they sound incredible!

[@kingbrutusxxvi]

I've never been a big fan of bridge pickups on semi-hollowbodies (and Strats) but this one is insane. Really sweet and fluid without sounding brittle at all (haha, worst description ever). I've been playing 40 years and know very little about winding pickups but this set is a 10/10.

[@Funkybassuk]

That sounds great! Couldn’t really hear a difference. Joe’s noodling is superb. Love it. 👍🏽

[@zitnbit]

Great. Amazing series of pickups! Now I'm waiting for Joe's 53 tele pickups.

[@beachlifebestlife]

58' unbound blonde dot neck only 50 made...was the one to own.. my father had an early march 1958 blonde dot neck unbound . interesting fact, 335 represented retail price...my dad paid $267.50 still have his receipt and 58' gibson catalog... i still have his 1959 ga-40 les paul amp....killer amp ... ..george gruhn appraised his guitar for $26,780 in 1998...

Pickups sound great! really liked them in the LP. The thing is the 60 335 sounded from another planet. It is a big step up from the modern one tonewise

[@adamwatson6916]

That 1960 would sound like that no matter what pups were in it .

[@Cre8alotsound]

THE 335 pickups in the LES PAUL SOUND GREAT!!

[@jvbluesville3426]

Joe should have a daily show

[@JoshuaLTRyan]

these sound really good, nice work!

[@Hhenriette]

beautiful demo. big tone. les paul and dot sound great. great video.

[@lifebreath77]

I put them in a LP R0, and they sound fantastic. They are a superb pickup. My second favorite pickups after a set of Righteous Sound RAF.

[@ajandthedrifters3130]

Just bought a Les Paul standard 60’s same color as used in the video…… think I just found the pickups for it!

[@stanesposito2664]

The new ones sound a little tighter sounding, but really good!

[@stratman9449]

yeah..i thought they sound nearly a bit too "clean"......

[@dieterwesterteicher829]

I think they should put the pots and the whole wiring with the set. The wiring and parts are also very important to get that sound.

[@30smsuperstrat]

Not really! They're either the right values or not. Any quality pot with the proper taper will do.

[@photronic]

Came for the Joe, stayed for the pickups. Actually prefer the Seymour remakes. Smoother, more refined. Less messy. There, I said it.

[@TAKEONEURBANPRODUCTION]

I added original 1960s es335 pickup to my 1991 classic plus bridge and a new 59 vintage duncan .. reissue amazing upgrade. Have to make video soon.

[@paulocosta3007]

Hey Seymour and Seymour people. I was initially inclined to install a set of antiquity humbuckers on a 335. But now with the Joe 335 pickups you left me in doubt... Both antiquity are alnico ii. Would that mean that an alnico 4 or 5 in the bridge and a 2 in the neck would be a more accurate 60s style 335 sound much like claptons 64 335? The thing is i LOVE the antiquity alnico 2 sound on the bridge because it sounds a tad bit closer to a p-90 while still being a humbucker, but with both alnico 2 set, that would mean my 335 would lose that balance joe is talking about in the video right? What do you recommend? What a head scratcher... haha Anyway, big hug and thank you for all the dedication and love. Wealth and Health to you people! Cheers from Portugal!

[@stratman9449]

very nice....just bought a slash 2.0 bridge zebra pu......not sure if to install it in my 61SG or not...haa...wi'll see.. might try these 1960 ES 335 pafs. as well.....sounds great when Joe playes them....

[@ro307805]

I don't have a blonde 1960 dot but i do have a 59 dark sunburst one....

[@matmarchi]

I don’t have a blonde 1960 dot nor a 59 dark sunburst but I do have a…2021 epiphone 335 🤷‍♂️

[@stratman9449]

haha...how about a Sire H7 in vintage burst.....and it's all mine....@@matmarchi

[@Shining_umbreonz]

That neck pickup is pretty close, that treble pickup on the 60 is ridiculous though. The Duncan doesn’t even come close, still sounds good though

[@denmar355]

Well, with Joes hands and a Marshall they sound really good!

[@zacgiacomazzo879]

It looks like he's plugged in to the fender twin reverb.

[@rossvanuatu2666]

It's a Super Reverb...

[@runingblackbear]

Nice axe joe

[@martineley1]

Caught you in Sydney a few years ago with your Aussie BV crew. I have a Gibson ES335 (1984) dot with Kahler arm! But I did it a nasty by putting EMGs in and then lost the originals HBs. Thanks for the tip! I have a bunch of Jim Burns era early sixties with wound singles too.

[@f.duranleau4416]

Great playing as usual by Joe! I find that these new Seymour Duncan Blonde Dot humbuckers sound better in the 335 than in the Les Paul... My personal choice for a Les Paul is regular output humbuckers fitted with rough cast alnico 5 magnets...With all these offerings from different pickup makers it would be too costly for me to try all these humbuckers especially when thinking that Gibson only made one model of humbucking pickup in 1957...

[@catmandoodoo7903]

The modern 335 sounds like a good 335. The ‘60 sounds like a great 335.

[@davidkoral1673]

I just saw this for sale on the Emerald City Guitars KZbin channel. I have no idea why Joe would get rid of this.

[@gadymarcus2362]

Bello/Magnifico.🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨👑

[@bldallas]

Cool stuff. I know pickups can make vastly different sounds, but I struggle to visualize how (and I’m an engineer). Besides the magnet types, sizes, etc, a pickup is essentially hundreds (thousands?) of feet of extremely fine copper wire wrapped around a plastic bobbin. Sure more winds sounds different than less winds. I guess the precision of the winds (think of string winds on a tuner leg) can affect tone. Finally the gauge and alloy of the copper could affect tone. Other than that, I can’t think of no any other variables. Now, that said, how does one reverse engineer an old pickup without damaging it? You could measure the gauge and calc it’s until weight. Then if you weigh the old pickup, subtract the weights (known or assumed) of the other parts (i.e. magnets, bobbin, wax, etc), you could calc the total length of wire used. Still, there are literally hundreds of “signature” pickups out there; can they really all sound that different from each other?

[@brentnokes4365]

It's always the fingers

[@comaproductions3288]

I enjoyed the OG Neck Pickups better, and oddly, the newer revamped Bridge pickup better. It also would have been nice to hear some chording on The Bridge pickups on both versions as well

[@yoopermichigan]

Any suggestions for pots to pare with these?

[@seymourduncan]

Hey there! We officially recommend 500k pots for these.

[@yoopermichigan]

@@seymourduncan awesome, thank you!

[@blonde335]

Nice guitar, very much at the 'burst end of the 335 tone spectrum. I probably shouldn't have sold it, but I had five blonde dots at that time which seemed a bit excessive. I still prefer a couple of others I have, but I'm partial to the "jazzier/blusier" end of the tone spectrum.....so thin top dots for me. Funny thing is, this is probably the cleanest vintage 335 on the planet and one of the best sounding......which puts the "unplayed guitars sound crap" myth firmly where it belongs.

[@SeeMick1]

The old guitar/pickups just have that extra 15% that makes it special

[@scottstpierre]

I agree. It was a REALLY good reproduction, but there was just something about the '60s 335. They sounded amazing in the LP, but now I wonder what the original 335's would sound like in that LP too.

[@cowboygypsey]

All the technical stuff is great, but for me anytime I can watch Joe ad lib is gravy.

[@jebusgod]

these things make you want to buy a ES then a set of them to throw in the thing

[@scottdavidson6066]

Damn, Joe. You should have demoed the middle position, as well!

[@michianabaddriversin4690]

New ones a bit warmer..but still sound sweet

[@alphadogstudio]

To my ear (or taste) they sounded better in the Les Paul, especially the neck pick up.

[@MrBluzhound]

I’m sure his playing would make a bolt neck Tiesco sound good, but those pickups are as good as anything. Changing pups in an ES style guitar sucks, but tempted to swap some Burstbuckers out in a Lester.

[@alainmalo3791]

8Bombcustom Mr Nitro 59 alnico 4 👌Good , tu connais ?

[@temujenbarca1284]

I thought that they sounded closer to the originals in the LP imnshore...

[@Wishmasternet]

Joe just listed this guitar with Carter's Vintage it's on Reverb too. For $160k+ it can be yours.

[@adamwatson6916]

1960 PAFs seem to be the most agressive . Consensus seems to be Gibson were using the stronger Magnet Grades in 59 and Especially 1960. They were Using alot of A4 and A5 in 59 and 60

[@kaegengalindo]

definitely not the same. the air isn’t there. still sounds great, but you can’t get that 1960s tone without actually being in 1960

[@Jacke7111]

The new pickups sounds better.

[@stratman9449]

clearer...but then they are "NEW"......!!

[@GrandpaMunstersMultitrackLab]

I just priced these. IF you can get them, they are $375 a set. I sure as hell won't pay that.

[@xaviermerchant9247]

I wonder how these would sound in an SG

[@seymourduncan]

Only one way to find out ;)

[@musicalgear1024]

Robben Ford, Mark Ford, John Scofield, Matt Schofield, Warren Haynes, Larry Carlton, George Benson, Kurt Rosinwenkel, Wes Montgomery I have heard of.....Who is this guy?

[@SisterSandoz]

Like them better in the LP. They sound like Duncans to me. The 60 335 pickups sound better. More clangy single coilish. May be the guitar, honestly. The SD in an LP sounds awesome. Duncans in that aged 335 want to feedback easy. OG Gibson is better.

[@garthwick19]

That is chewy AF.

[@bellsclubsbarsandbows76]

I wonder how these would sound in an SG 🤔

[@HenritheHorse]

Not bad, but the old pickups sound better. I guess it's the old guitar too.

[@pgong]

No doubt.

[@danielferrera8773]

I think it's really hard to replicate the airiness of the original neck pickup. Sounded amazing IMHO.

[@HenritheHorse]

@@danielferrera8773 Is it the original character or years of wear? Loved the neck pickup most. Really stratty like Joe said..

[@danielferrera8773]

@@HenritheHorse maybe the aging? I recently sold a 1988 Greco SG which pickups had the same mojo, and I'd swear it was because of its age. Maybe the wax potting dried up a little bit, or the magnets degaussed, or maybe a mix of several factors, who knows...

[@pgong]

I wonder if the Duncans were set just a bit too close to the strings...

[@davidallen346]

I'd prefer to have alnico V magnet in this pickup

[@doctersound9630]

Wax potted? If not could be quite microphonic. They sound great as is. (However I would want them to be wax potted) modern / Vintage. Let’s improve upon the originals. Anyone wanna do a”wax potting” tone test video? Would love to see real world results.

[@mh287]

The bridge sounded dead on, the neck not so much.

[@skillzmcgavern]

The pickups sounded better in the LP, IMO - closer to the original 335 sound.

[@beachlifebestlife]

okie dokie

[@adamwatson6916]

I wish seynour Duncan would reissue all the past Bonamassa sets ad retail custom shop sets . I want them to especially reiisue the Skinner Burst set as a full permanent custom shop model and keep them as a custom shop offering and not make them a non custom shop regular production set because i find when Duncan takes a custom shop set and turns them into a less expensive regular production set the tonal quality diminishes . For exapmlle the Green magic pickups while grreat are not at the level of the custom shop Greenie set . Luckily they still offer the Custom Greenies along with the Cheaper Green Magic set . Also the Custom Shop Jimmy Page spec set blow away the Whole lotta Humbuckers . Dont make the Bonnamassa sets limited . Sure have the limited signed sets but then have unsinged sets with no special packaging as regular custom shop offerings .

[@ByGraceThroughFaith777]

Yeah but Joe can probably make a chibson sound like Greeny...

[@guitarsofold100]

The eq on the bridge is totally different tubby in the mids... need to be in the same guitar for any real comparison

[@blakesadler]

Stop doing just pickup sets and start doing the entire harness with pots as well.

[@ben156]

Lol

[@Tyson-u3m]

Sound nothing alike. The 335 sounds bad ass!

[@AL_1991]

love SD but bonamessy is a tool, he has a collection of 59s and vintage and then he says he has the sound replicated for you to use. Oh only if you have murphy lab. Lmao what a turd

[@ben156]

What are you talking about? Clown

[@raymondpetracca6208]

Very Tasty in My Opinion, Oh Yeah The Boy can Play LOL ✌️👍🙏🏻😉