Pickups for an ES-339

Before you spend money on pickups, consider several things:

-Regardless of what we guitar players like to think, the acoustic sound does not translate to the electric sound where magnetic pickups placed at various positions along the string are concerned. There are factors regarding how the string harmonics are a canceled at each pickup position, as well as how a wider aperture cancels more harmonics and rolls off more higher harmonics. Furthermore, any guitar resonances will actually subtract from the sound at each pickup pos. So, what you hear acoustically will be the inverse to some extent of what is heard electrically.

-You can often get a sweeter sound at the bridge with a low capacitance cable b4 the first preamp stage. That shifts and moderates the resonance peak above the harsh 3~3.5kHz "ice pick" range--ideally into the classic 4.2~4.5kHz "bell tone" range. Something in the 150~200pF capacitance range is generally good for average 4.5~5.5H PAF type pickups, but the neck pickup will sound more mellow than it is now. The solution there (beyond lowering the neck pickup coils and raising the screws more) is to swap one of the neck pots to a 1M and/or remove the pickup cover. You'll actually want to raise the bridge pickup higher if possible to increase the fundamental harmonic strength for a warmer sound. That will also increase the attack strength, but it won't won't be harsh with the resonance peak up higher and smoother. Rapco Horizon 'G1' series cable is 25pF/foot. So, 10' = `260pF (with the plugs) and 6' = 160pF. George L cable is 19pF/foot.

-The neck pickup will still be more bassy than the bridge due to how the pickup position affects the lower harmonics per each string, but you can get the average "loudness" roughly the same with the same pickup types via coil height and pole screw adjustments, depending somewhat on the action. For me, that generally means setting the coil height of the neck pickup the same as the bridge with the 20th fret depressed.

-The low E on a 24.75" scale LP-type guitar tends to sound muddy compared to a 25.5" scale guitar anyway. A thicker gauge or stiffer material like Stainless Steel can help. Some strings have a thicker core to wrap ratio than others. That makes it tighter. You might look into some round core strings. Nickel wraps tend to sound dull. Also consider a sharp plastic pick like the V-Pick "Screamer" or a Clayton triangle Ultem.

If none of those things do the trick for you, consider swapping the AlNiCO II magnets out of at least your neck 57 Classic pickup to AlNiCo V. It's commonly done.

Hummm ... well the reply you have so far seems a super extreme from quite a number of viewpoints ... and I certainly couldn't imagine attempting to employ most of them ... I determined what my favorite picks were a loooong time ago, and, I can't use those uber hard plastic things (v-picks and the like)! I certainly can't imagine keeping specific guitar cables on hand just to be used with certain guitars and only on certain pickup settings either! As for switching to a 1meg pot ... since you're a volume knob rider, this would have no effect on you ... except make the travel feel "all wrong" as you rode the knob, so another no-go for you for sure!
Also ... while I generally agree that the acoustic tone of an electric guitar is not nearly as important as the pickups ... I certainly have encountered hundreds of guitars where the fantastic acoustic qualities of the guitar DO very much so positively enhance the electrified sound ... and have never encountered a guitar that's natural resonances canceled out that frequency in the pickup. Soooo ... here's what I HAVE encountered...

The semi-hollow body guitars like your 339, and the more common 335 are certainly a little warmer and livelier guitars than a similar solid body like a Les Paul. The neck position does tend to get pretty "bassy and muddy" compared to the bridge ... which will in fact sound a bit harsh in comparison. To really sound great in all three positions, these guitars need some fairly extreme "calibration" of the pickup to it's position. Here's what I've done to address this issue many times before:

Bridge: Yes, Alnico II 1957 ... but ... about 7-10% overwound from 1957 specs.

Neck: Alnico V 1959 ... but this time about 5% underwound from factory specs, and with my NOS Alnico 1950's V bars, which are not as edgy sounding as modern Alnico V.

I've made this set for many 335's and one other 339 ... always to fabulous response!

Just order either set, and note these specs in the notes section of the order". Oh, and please report back here with your results :-)

Pleas don't take offense Vaughn, but I beg to differ. There's a lot of misunderstanding about pickup function. The recommendations I made about cabling are becoming more common as the teachings of the late pickup designer Bill Lawrence make way into the mainstream. It was fairly common that players like Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, etc would use a low capacitance cable in the studio and a very high capacitance coil cable on stage to avoid harsh tones. It's also a very inexpensive solution. Using a higher wound bridge pickup can move the resonance down closer to the ice pick 3~3.5k range. Eric Johnson, Robben Ford and the like opt for slightly underwound PAF types to get the resonance into the bell tone range with an average capacitance cable.

Doubling pickup inductance via more windings only increases the overall output by ~1dB, but the resonance shift/level increase makes it louder within a narrow range. If that range is close to ~3kHz sounds, particularly on the bridge. Even the bell tone range can sound too bright on the bridge, but a ~200pF capacitance cable on an average 4.5H PAF type pickup with low internal capacitance can reduce the peak level (in conjunction with the reduced high end from the Fe core) to where it's roughly the same level as the low end output, assuming 500k pots and a 1m Ohm preamp impedance. I have a few PAF type pickups like that that sound warm, sweet and articulate with my ~160pF cable.

Using lower magnetic power and raising the pickup closer to the strings can reduce upper-mid harshness to some extent via a stronger fundamental harmonic ratio, but it's not the complete solution. I'd just stick with the same magnets for each pickup, and try the cables I suggested b4 anything else. Otherwise, you could go for a very overwound pickup (like a "Super Distortion" type) in the bridge to shift the resonance below ~2.5kHz, or maybe try something more average wound with a Brass base-plate and/or partial cover (like a FilterTron) to reduce the resonance peak level and roll off the highs?

It's also not uncommon for players to start using thicker picks as they get older. Hard picks aren't for everyone, but the right type can fatten the attack without loosing high end harmonics. That and string type can make at least as much difference as pickup changes.

Finally, whether we hear it or not, resonances in a guitar do subtract from what is heard at the pickup. It's just basic physics. As more energy is drained into the body, it is reduced in the string. Guitars are not perpetual motion machines after all. ;-)

Please don't take offense Vaughn, but I beg to differ. There's a lot of misunderstanding about pickup function. The recommendations I made about cabling are becoming more common as the teachings of the late pickup designer Bill Lawrence make way into the mainstream. It was fairly common that players like Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, etc would use a low capacitance cable in the studio and a very high capacitance coil cable on stage to avoid harsh tones. It's also a very inexpensive solution. Using a higher wound bridge pickup can move the resonance down closer to the ice pick 3~3.5k range. Eric Johnson, Robben Ford and the like opt for slightly underwound PAF types to get the resonance into the bell tone range with an average capacitance cable.

Doubling pickup inductance via more windings only increases the overall output by ~1dB, but the resonance shift/level increase makes it louder within a narrow range. It sounds more harsh if that range is close to ~3kHz, particularly on the bridge. Even the bell tone range can sound too bright on the bridge, but a ~200pF capacitance cable on an average 4.5H PAF type pickup (with low internal capacitance) will reduce the peak level (in conjunction with the reduced high end from the Fe core) to where it's roughly the same level as the low end (assuming 500k pots and a 1M Ohm preamp impedance). I have a few PAF type pickups like that that sound warm, sweet and articulate with my ~160pF cable.

Using lower magnetic power and raising the pickup closer to the strings can reduce upper-mid harshness to some extent via stronger fundamental to upper harmonic ratio, but it's not the whole solution. I'd stick with the same magnets for each pickup, and try the cables I suggested b4 anything else. Otherwise, you could go for a very overwound pickup (like a "Super Distortion" type) in the bridge to shift the resonance below ~2.5kHz, or maybe try something more average wound with a Brass base-plate and/or partial cover (like a FilterTron) to reduce the resonance peak level and roll off the highs?

It's also not uncommon for players to start using thicker picks as they get older. Hard picks aren't for everyone, but the right type can fatten the attack without loosing high end harmonics. That and string type/gauge can make as much difference as any other changes.

Finally, Resonances and damping in the guitar do subtract from what is heard at the pickup. As more energy is drained into the body, it is reduced in the string. It's just basic physics. Guitars are not perpetual motion machines after all. ;-)

I won't belabor these points further. Anyone can look into them. Let me just say that I find your insights invaluable Vaughn. I don't mean to be a nudge about this, but I do think it's important for players to understand some basics about guitar circuitry, and how the relevant acoustic and mechanical physics shape the sound. I'll leave off at that...for now.

After decades of real life experience from many angles (Player, tech, designer, manufacturer, college professor) ... My two cents goes something like this:

The transducer that actually turns the physical movement of your strings into electricity (the pickup) as well as the transducer that turns that electricity back into moving air molecules) are the two most important pieces of any electric guitarist's signal chain. Changing things like tubes, cables, capacitors (talking same values, different types here), string brands, pick brands, etc. ... only ever results in TINY tonal changes. How many millions of players have changed their tubes to some golly-gee-wizz tubes only to ... if they are honest ... not really be able to hear or feel any difference.

But ... change speakers or pickups and it becomes a totally different rig. For instance, going from a tired stock Jensen in your trusty 1967 Deluxe Reverb to a WGS G12C will make your amp about 10-db louder (our ears perceive 10-db as "twice" as loud)! Thant's HUGE! On the pickup side there are soooooo many similar examples, it's almost impossibly to pick out a single example ... but here goes ... A fellow brought me a ES-339 like the original poster's guitar a couple years back. He loved the guitar but was ready to throw in the towel and let her go, for pretty much exactly the same reasons as stated here. He had already changed the original pickups to a set of PRS arch-top MaCarty's, and had re-wired the guitar with a EXPENSIVE harness, and installed new caps (orange drop .022s were suggested to him). Total cost of this upgrade to him was nearly a grand!!! He felt that was an improvement ... but the bridge was still way thin wimpy and the neck way too loose and fluffy by comparison. I gave him the Rx suggested here and it became a totally beautiful instrument, with all the tonal difficulties overcame! It truly re-voiced the guitar in a way ONLY pickups can do ... and I've encountered this hundreds of times. Meanwhile ... my pro player, and pro audio engineer buddies and I have held dozens of listening parties where we swap uber high-end highly lauded tubes with no-name Chinese tubes in boutique amps (including the ones I build) ... and usually no one can ever hear much of a difference ... provided the Chinese tubes are not actually FAULTY in some way (which is a HUGE issue). Likewise, we've held many listening tests and no one can ever hear the difference between cheap cables and expensive ones ... except when the cables are very long and stupidly cheap!

Decided this topic needed a blog!
https://wgsusa.com/blog/pickups-number-one-electric-guitar-upgrade-mile