Guest HRB853370 Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 Heritage advertises that it used SD's as standard pups on its guitars, unless HRW's or P-90 style pups are requested. When did Heritage abandon using Schaller pups and does anybody know why? They seem to be high quality and sound really good. I imagine they are expensive too, being mfd in Germany.
H Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 A side effect of this would seem to be that it will be harder for the non-European members of the HOC to source Schaller pickup mounting rings.
tbonesullivan Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 I know that a lot of people aren't huge fans of the Schaller pickups. Ed Roman calls them "$12 pickups", and Schaller is not particularly known as a pickup manufacturer, having only a handful of offerings. They are much more known for making top quality guitar hardware. However, I do like them, and I doubt they are cheap, being imported and all. The HRW's, which are based on the Schaller Golden 50's, are quite nice, though it's still unclear exactly what makes them different from the Stock golden 50s.
Kuz Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 I was told that the availability of parts & pickups from Schaller has been VERY difficult and that Schaller was very inconsistent with their manufacturing & delivery times. A source at Heritage told me this slowed down Heritage production times because they were regularly waiting for backordered parts. This is one of the reasons that HRWs are so difficult to get from Heritage now.
tulk1 Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 Here's a thought on why they're changing pu brands. Just a WAG. Or 2. Or 3. During PSPI we asked Ren about neck sizes. He quickly spouted off numbers for the width and depth that they shoot for on "normal" necks. He then mentioned that recent custom orders were asking for thicker necks and they were starting to do that as the norm. Schaller has been the hardware of choice for many years. But with the advent of Tone Pros locking hardware, more custom requests were being made for those. Schaller has been the go to pu for years. Even tho' they did offer SD '59s. But of recent, more custom requests have been for SD pickups - American designed, affordable, greater variety. Kinda all follows for me. And my skewed perception of reality.
cod65 Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 'American designed' ? doesn't that mean 'made in asia' these days? I love how Apple computer puts 'designed in California' on their computers and ipods.(but made in Asia). I'm all for USA made everything, but I think this kind of advertising is insulting to just about everyone. As for Schalller pickups I think they sound good.
tulk1 Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 'American designed' ? doesn't that mean 'made in asia' these days? I love how Apple computer puts 'designed in California' on their computers and ipods.(but made in Asia). I'm all for USA made everything, but I think this kind of advertising is insulting to just about everyone. As for Schalller pickups I think they sound good. I put that in because not all SDs are MIA, these days. Wasn't implying our boys are using those. But, Schaller isn't MIA, either. BTW, I do believe Mackie is using the same language as Apple in their mixers. Come to think of it, Vox uses that same concept in their amps. Lakeland basses comes to mind, too.
kidsmoke Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 I put that in because not all SDs are MIA, these days. Wasn't implying our boys are using those. But, Schaller isn't MIA, either. BTW, I do believe Mackie is using the same language as Apple in their mixers. Come to think of it, Vox uses that same concept in their amps. Lakeland basses comes to mind, too. Isn't it the case that "Seymour Duncans" are MIA, while "Duncan Designed" are offshore?
tulk1 Posted April 5, 2011 Posted April 5, 2011 Isn't it the case that "Seymour Duncans" are MIA, while "Duncan Designed" are offshore? Believe so.
enordlund Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Is there an easy way to tell which brand of pickups is in your guitar without taking it apart?
golferwave Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Is there an easy way to tell which brand of pickups is in your guitar without taking it apart? Try removing the plastic cavity cover off of the back. On the backside of the cover is a decal with the model number, serial number, finish, and usually the pickup brand and type.
tbonesullivan Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 if the pickups have 2 screws on each side, they are schaller Golden 50's, or HRWs. Guitars with factory HRWs should have a dot on the top of the pickup selector, black dot on white selector, white dot on black selector (or cream or whatever). If it has one screw on each side, it is probably loaded with seymour duncan pickups, and as said in any case they usually will have the pickup type written on the label, which is on the inside of the control cavity cover on solid bodies, or in one of the F-holes on semi-hollow bodies. If it doesn't say anything, that usually means schallers.
Guest HRB853370 Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 if the pickups have 2 screws on each side, they are schaller Golden 50's, or HRWs. Guitars with factory HRWs should have a dot on the top of the pickup selector, black dot on white selector, white dot on black selector (or cream or whatever). If it has one screw on each side, it is probably loaded with seymour duncan pickups, and as said in any case they usually will have the pickup type written on the label, which is on the inside of the control cavity cover on solid bodies, or in one of the F-holes on semi-hollow bodies. If it doesn't say anything, that usually means schallers. My 2005 150 was advertised as having SD59's when I bought it. I wanted to verify that so I removed the lower cover on the back and nothing was notated on the label about the pickups. They are however, of a single screw on each side so I have no reason to disbelieve they are SD's and they do not sound like Schallers (which I have in another 150) either.
tbonesullivan Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 Ahh yes, I forgot about that. Seems back then before they were doing Seth's as a standard option they were all schallers, except for some that were "deluxe" that had SD 59's. Either way, I usually go by the "if it sounds good don't mess with it" on my guitars. Pickup swapping quickly becomes an expensive habit.
sheetsofsound Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 the schaller pickups sound great. I think TGP contributes to the cork-sniffery nonsense (non conventional wisdom) that states that schallers are inferior.
FredZepp Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 I believe at the time that my VSB 150 was made (2000) , the Schallers were standard in a 150. But mine was called a H-150CM Classic, the difference being that it had the SD '59 pickups. Certainly the SD pickups are better known and fairly accepted as a versatile pickup, so it made sense to offer them.
brentrocks Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 I was told that the availability of parts & pickups from Schaller has been VERY difficult and that Schaller was very inconsistent with their manufacturing & delivery times. A source at Heritage told me this slowed down Heritage production times because they were regularly waiting for backordered parts. This is one of the reasons that HRWs are so difficult to get from Heritage now. +1
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