Best Vintage Guitar Mods! '67 Gibson ES-330 Gets Stainless Steel Re-Fret & Emerson Treble Bleeds
Absolutely — here's the updated description with the sibling video callout added right after the intro paragraph:
📝 Video Description
The 1967 Gibson ES-330 is back from the shop — Jescar stainless steel refret and Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds on both volume pots. Would you mod a vintage guitar? Let me know in the comments. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the 1967 Gibson ES-330 takes center stage — freshly refretted with Jescar stainless steel and fitted with Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds on both volume potentiometers, into the Benson Amps Earhart 2x12" with Scumback speakers via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. The Echo Fix EF-X3 Chorus Echo, Effectrode Tube Vibe, and Expresso FX Ge Fuzz, Octave Fuzz, and Ge Boost feature from 06:17 onward.
Also watch: the sibling video — 1967 Gibson ES-335 Refret + Emerson Treble Bleeds, same rig, same mods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcQQLCxqbKo&t=109s
Grab Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds: https://emersoncustom.com/products/2017-treble-bleed-circuit-volume-mod?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG
The ES-330 is often mistaken for the ES-335 — the two are close siblings in the Gibson thinline lineup, but with a fundamental difference: the 330 is fully hollow with no centerblock, where the 335 has a solid maple centerblock running down its length. The full hollow construction gives the 330 a more acoustic-like resonance, sensitivity to feedback at high volumes, and a distinctly different midrange character that interacts with the P90 pickups differently than a 335 would. The 1967 dating also places this guitar in the period of the 16th fret neck joint, significant for upper register access and neck feel.
The P90 pickups in the 330 are the original 1967 Gibson units — the same raw, aggressive, midrange-forward single coil in soapbar packaging that defined Chicago blues. Pairing them with the fully hollow ES-330 body produces a particularly reactive, open tone that responds dramatically to volume knob position — which is exactly why the Treble Bleed mod matters here more than in most guitars.
I went a few years without treble bleeds in my vintage instruments, but it just grinds my gears when guitars go to mud by 9 on the volume knob. The Treble Bleed is an easily reversible mod — it preserves the high-frequency content through the full volume sweep so the guitar actually cleans up rather than just going dark. Both volume pots have independent Treble Bleeds. The difference is explored from 04:05 onward across neck and bridge P90 positions.
The Jescar stainless steel refret: harder than nickel silver, the frets will outlast any conventional refret by a significant margin with a consistent, smooth playing feel across the entire neck.
The Expresso FX triple stack from 06:46 — all three built by Sof in the UK with NOS components: Ge Fuzz (dual CV7005 Newmarket germanium transistors, Fuzz Face-style), stacked into the Octave Fuzz (Ge diodes up / Si diodes down) from 08:09, and Ge Boost (AC107, Rangemaster-style) from 08:34.
🎸 Emerson Custom: https://emersoncustom.com
🎛️ Expresso FX: https://expressofx.com
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 1967 Gibson ES-330 | Fully Hollow | Original 1967 Gibson P90s | Jescar SS Refret | Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds (Both Volume Pots)
🎛️ Expresso FX Ge Fuzz (CV7005 x2) | Expresso FX Octave Fuzz (Ge/Si Switch) | Expresso FX Ge Boost (AC107) | Effectrode Tube Vibe | Echo Fix EF-X3
🔊 Benson Amps Earhart 2x12" | Scumback Speakers | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Ableton Live 12
