Epiphone ProBuckers?

ellangus

Are Epiphone ProBuckers any good? 

I’m looking for a pair of humble money humbuckers. I was going to plump for a pair of Vanson 57s but a pair of ProBuckers with wiring loom are being waved under my hooter. 

Any opinions welcome. 

chrisj1602

I have the mini probuckers in my Riviera and they’re great. Not tried the full size version but they seem to be fine on demos I’ve seen.

hollywoodrox

I had pro buckers in my 2016 epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro  and got compliments on the sound at local jam nights , someone said they preferred the sound to the Seymour Duncan Slash Signature humbuckers in my 96 epiphone Les Paul  and I myself must admit they did sound nice .

gjonesy

Alegree, tonerider and irongear get good comments 

Funkfingers

Epiphone Probuckers are certainly better than the "waxbuckers" that earned Epiphone their previous poor reputation. 

I have a pair of de-covered Vanson Rockatron pickups. These are marketed as faux Filter'Trons but any resemblance is only cover deep. Underneath, they are generic vintage output humbuckers that happen to have twelve polepiece screws. The good news is that they sound okay. The four-conductor + shield output cable allows fancy wiring possibilities. (Phase reversal, partial coil split et cetera.) Expect Vanson '57 humbuckers to be the same - apart from having slug poles in one coil.

My experience with Tonerider pickups is that they are "good for the price." This smacks of damning with faint praise.

My experience with Alegree handwound and Oil City Masterwound is that there is nothing to make excuses for.

ellangus

Funkfingers said:

Epiphone Probuckers are certainly better than the "waxbuckers" that earned Epiphone their previous poor reputation. 

I have a pair of de-covered Vanson Rockatron pickups. These are marketed as faux Filter'Trons but any resemblance is only cover deep. Underneath, they are generic vintage output humbuckers that happen to have twelve polepiece screws. The good news is that they sound okay. The four-conductor + shield output cable allows fancy wiring possibilities. (Phase reversal, partial coil split et cetera.) Expect Vanson '57 humbuckers to be the same - apart from having slug poles in one coil.

My experience with Tonerider pickups is that they are "good for the price." This smacks of damning with faint praise.

My experience with Alegree handwound and Oil City Masterwound is that there is nothing to make excuses for.

I hear nothing but good about Oil City and Alegree (both their hand wound/mastarwounds and their standard pickups). But, on this project, I’m looking for cheap as it’s just a try out. 

Thanks all for the posts btw

Sarge

the vanson 57s are indeed cheap generic pickups, but don't let that put you off, I found the neck to be smooth and articulate, I don't use bridge position much so can't really say much about that other than they seemed well matched as a pair. 

english_bob

^^ Likewise. I'm quite happy with the Vanson 57s I put in my 07 Epi Sheraton to replace the godawful Waxbuckers.

I might upgrade at some point, but I'm in no rush.

victorludorum

Waxbuckers are fine as long as you take the covers (or change them) and melt the wax.

ellangus

Thanks for all the input people.

I've ordered a pair of Vanson '57's, should be here on Thursday. 

english_bob

victorludorum said:

Waxbuckers are fine as long as you take the covers (or change them) and melt the wax.

The covers definitely make a difference. I pulled them off the waxbuckers to put on the Vansons because 335 style guitars with uncovered pickups look weird to me (and because Vanson didn't have gold covered '57s in stock when I ordered)

Out of curiosity I took them off a week or two ago. Very noticeable increase in brightness and clarity. Going to get some nickel silver covers at some point.