smurph1 Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 Thier all about the same, like i always say the musicians playing will make the guitar sound the way you want it, not the pickups. The tone of the guitar can be dialed in by the tone controls on the guitar and amp. Personally I think alot of people spend alot of money and time trying to find componets to add to the guitar to make them sound better, but in all honesty its thier playing skills that make the difference. JMO I think that the amp you use would be a the much more important equation. humbuckers are humbuckers and singles are singles, in the end the pickup is just a magnet. Some just a little stronger than others. Not going to effect sound just the output, which in turn can just as easily be dialed in with a good amp setting. I have played a long time and have had every kind of guitar and pickup you can imagine but in the end they all are close to one another and arnt going to turn any heads more than the other, but your playing skills do everytime. Good amp and lots of practice makes an awsome sounding player. But I have only played for 23 years and owned every piece of equipment and guitar & (PICKUPS!) imagineable, what do I know? i really agree with that..I've always thought Jimmy Page sounded like Jimmy Page whether he was playing a Les Paul, Dano, or a Telecaster..That being said I vote for Seths, mainly because those are the only pickups I've heard in a 535..(my own)..
FredZepp Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 I'd been thinking that you'd like a Burstbucker 1 , better than the 2. And Seths are an easy win... but I'd work a combo of an Alnico Pro with a Seth, I'd think.
koula901 Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 i really agree with that..I've always thought Jimmy Page sounded like Jimmy Page whether he was playing a Les Paul, Dano, or a Telecaster..That being said I vote for Seths, mainly because those are the only pickups I've heard in a 535..(my own).. X3 I find that whatever guitar I use, I'm dialing in a certain tone that I like. And I do think that a better player, brings out the best in an amp.
NoNameBand Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 I have different pickups in all of my guitars because of there characteristics. There is no perfect pup for all music, guitars and players. However, there may be a perfect combination for the pup/guitar, strings, music choice, amp and player. Have a little variety in your life. I see my guitars as a library. I know where to go for each sound/style I like. Everybody has an opinion and they may all be right, for their taste.
big bob Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 First off, yes you can put them all in. Don't be a little girlie man. Second If you just can't bring yourself to rout the third pup you may want to consider a set of P-rails you get the single rail coil the humbucker and the p-90. I have a set in my 575 and they sound great.
smurph1 Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 Opinions are like armpits: every body has two and they both stink! That said the correct answer is Seth Lovers. Period. End quote. You can thank me later. +11 We don't need no stinking wax potting!!
NoNameBand Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 +11 We don't need no stinking wax potting!! What do you know about "wax potting"? Did you take a "potting" class?
yoslate Posted April 15, 2011 Author Posted April 15, 2011 Test drive at speed last night. Got the 535 back Wednesday, Seth-loaded. Missed it! I'd bonded with it in about thirty-six hours; The Holy Grail took longer than that.... Plugged it up as soon as I got home, at low volume. Instantly liked the bridge! Seemed, at low volume, just a tad chunky, fairly transparent, but with character and authority. I'm not on the bridge much, but this bridge pickup is useful, and the bridge p'up also asserts its authority nicely in the middle position! The middle is really nice! Clean, without a hint of harshness, but all about that balanced, round, middle-position humbucker honk. I'll spend a lot of time there chunking rhythm, playing double-stop fills, and soloing! Very fine! The neck, initially, I was disappointed in it. Very, very pleasingly warm and round, but it didn't seem to have any of the snap and ring I like so much in the Phat Cat neck in my 576. All of this was at dulcet low bedroom volume, though. So, we're opening for Margolin and Ronnie Baker Brooks at the big local blues festival next month. I wasn't sure about what rig to use. There's what I want to play (the new 535), and there's what I know will work no matter what(sorry...it's the Tele). So I took the 535 and The Note to our jam last night, to wring out in the first set, which was the set we'll do at the festival. I'm second fiddle in this band, and I work to fill that roll as well as I can, which generally means playing beneath and behind. But last night, which was basically a rehearsal, I had to turn it up to see just what I had. Boy, oh boy! The pickups, the guitar, the amp, all just came alive when I got into it! It was one of those moments wherein the tone everything is producing is just inspiring. So, it'll be The Note and the 535 for the festival in three weeks! The Seths are great in that guitar, just as so many of you said they'd be! I can see eventually wanting to try a Phat Cat at the neck (you called that one, Jeff), but for the time being, I am very, very happy with the Seths in that guitar!
kidsmoke Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Test drive at speed last night. Got the 535 back Wednesday, Seth-loaded. Missed it! I'd bonded with it in about thirty-six hours; The Holy Grail took longer than that.... Plugged it up as soon as I got home, at low volume. Instantly liked the bridge! Seemed, at low volume, just a tad chunky, fairly transparent, but with character and authority. I'm not on the bridge much, but this bridge pickup is useful, and the bridge p'up also asserts its authority nicely in the middle position! The middle is really nice! Clean, without a hint of harshness, but all about that balanced, round, middle-position humbucker honk. I'll spend a lot of time there chunking rhythm, playing double-stop fills, and soloing! Very fine! The neck, initially, I was disappointed in it. Very, very pleasingly warm and round, but it didn't seem to have any of the snap and ring I like so much in the Phat Cat neck in my 576. All of this was at dulcet low bedroom volume, though. So, we're opening for Margolin and Ronnie Baker Brooks at the big local blues festival next month. I wasn't sure about what rig to use. There's what I want to play (the new 535), and there's what I know will work no matter what(sorry...it's the Tele). So I took the 535 and The Note to our jam last night, to wring out in the first set, which was the set we'll do at the festival. I'm second fiddle in this band, and I work to fill that roll as well as I can, which generally means playing beneath and behind. But last night, which was basically a rehearsal, I had to turn it up to see just what I had. Boy, oh boy! The pickups, the guitar, the amp, all just came alive when I got into it! It was one of those moments wherein the tone everything is producing is just inspiring. So, it'll be The Note and the 535 for the festival in three weeks! The Seths are great in that guitar, just as so many of you said they'd be! I can see eventually wanting to try a Phat Cat at the neck (you called that one, Jeff), but for the time being, I am very, very happy with the Seths in that guitar! Right On Glad you're happy with it! And thanks for the review. I'm leaning Antiquities. If I go that route, we'll have some great tone comparison opportunities at PSP IV, pick and amp and pass 535 with different p'ups around.
pegleg32 Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Hey Rob, I've been listening to some of your playing on Youtube, very tasty!! From that, I can see where that 535 would fit very well with your style. I think you've made a great choice.
fxdx99 Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Cool review - thanks, Rob. When you got to the part of "one of those moments wherein the tone everything is producing is just inspiring", I could hear the orchestra crescendo and the hero getting the girl. Oh Yeh!! Smile... so in a semi, you're saying that: Seths work okay: But you'd really like a Phat Cat in the neck: Gee - this is so deja vu... So, did you put your other SDs into the LP you took the seths from?
Hfan Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Great Thread Yoslate, seems we're in exactly the same boat, a new ASB 535 that we're looking to give a new voice to. I included this article in the other thread as well, but I do think it's worth the few minutes it takes to read. Author goes into great detail on his swapping of various PAF style p'ups, including Seth Lovers and Burstbuckers. He's doing all this in an LP, but he does give a good explanation of tonal differences he experiences going from one to another. http://www.legendary.../vinpicup2.html As for the Schallers. I know that some people love them while others don't but I've never heard technical data. What are they? Alnico II or V? What's the output? Hey kidsmoke, I had this thread saved regarding your Schaller p up questions, think the Alnico deal is in there somewhere. Have em in my 157 . http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/index.php?/topic/10137-schaller-pickups-vs-burstbuckers/page__hl__%2Balnico%2C+%2Bschaller
Hfan Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Right On Glad you're happy with it! And thanks for the review. I'm leaning Antiquities. If I go that route, we'll have some great tone comparison opportunities at PSP IV, pick and amp and pass 535 with different p'ups around. I can vouch for Antiquities, have them in my 535.
NoNameBand Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I can vouch for Antiquities, have them in my 535. I have a pair of Antiquities P-90's in a Les Paul Gold Top and love them. I think they're perfect. Also RS Guitarworks pots and Bumblebee tone caps. Great combo.
kidsmoke Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I have a pair of Antiquities P-90's in a Les Paul Gold Top and love them. I think they're perfect. Also RS Guitarworks pots and Bumblebee tone caps. Great combo. I'm aware of RS, but I was leaning towards a Mojotone assembly - pots and oil filled caps -..... any words of warning? I wasn't aware anyone had the antiquities in their 535. Actually, I was surprised. That's great to hear. Leaning towards this as my May GAS fix.
kidsmoke Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Hey kidsmoke, I had this thread saved regarding your Schaller p up questions, think the Alnico deal is in there somewhere. Have em in my 157 . http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/index.php?/topic/10137-schaller-pickups-vs-burstbuckers/page__hl__%2Balnico%2C+%2Bschaller Thanks!! Got any clips of your 535?? What's the tone you were going for with it?
NoNameBand Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I'm aware of RS, but I was leaning towards a Mojotone assembly - pots and oil filled caps -..... any words of warning? I wasn't aware anyone had the antiquities in their 535. Actually, I was surprised. That's great to hear. Leaning towards this as my May GAS fix. I also was thinking of trying their solution, but their pots are just standard CTS pots with +or- 1% tolerance. RS Guitarworks actually has pots of higher custom made quality for the guitar and are supposedly made with better components as well as the values and curve or taper for Volume and Tone are different. In other words, MojoTone uses standard pots of higher tolerances, RS Guitarworks has gone to the next level and has them built for specific measurements even higher than the standard 500k ohm limits. In the end, I believe that RS Guitarworks components are superior.
NoNameBand Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I'm aware of RS, but I was leaning towards a Mojotone assembly - pots and oil filled caps -..... any words of warning? I wasn't aware anyone had the antiquities in their 535. Actually, I was surprised. That's great to hear. Leaning towards this as my May GAS fix. I also was thinking of trying their solution, but their pots are just standard CTS pots with +or- 1% tolerance. RS Guitarworks actually has pots of higher custom made quality for the guitar and are supposedly made with better components as well as the values and curve or taper for Volume and Tone are different. In other words, MojoTone uses standard pots of higher tolerances, RS Guitarworks has gone to the next level and has them built for specific measurements even higher than the standard 500k ohm limits. In the end, I believe that RS Guitarworks components are superior. Kidsmoke, check out my post on the "pots, and caps............" thread as I go into more detail on this very subject.
kidsmoke Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks NNB, I just went and read in detail on the RS site. Their pots are in fact CTS, but to your point, it appears CTS makes them a proprietary volume "superpot". Interesting. Thanks for the feedback!
NoNameBand Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks NNB, I just went and read in detail on the RS site. Their pots are in fact CTS, but to your point, it appears CTS makes them a proprietary volume "superpot". Interesting. Thanks for the feedback! Yes they are CTS, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, only that the others are standard CTS with measured tolerances. Good luck.
111518 Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I'm aware of RS, but I was leaning towards a Mojotone assembly - pots and oil filled caps -..... any words of warning? I wasn't aware anyone had the antiquities in their 535. Actually, I was surprised. That's great to hear. Leaning towards this as my May GAS fix. Rob: Glad that you are happy with your pickup choice --and not surprised at all that you are digging the 535. I don't seem to ever be able to get too far away from the semi thing, just a classic combination of tone and the way the guitars wear and resonate. About antiquities and 535's: I have them in mine, mostly because Wolfe chose them for his "35 special model of 535, on which my custom order was based. The '35 special design then became the basis for the twentieth ann. 535s, and, unless I'm mistaken in my assumption, those guitars also came equipped with antiquities. So, there should be a number of 535/antiquity guitars/owners around. I like my 535, so I guess that means I like Antiquities, but then I think I get pretty much the same response out of most PAF-type (vs. heavily overwound) 'buckers.
yoslate Posted April 15, 2011 Author Posted April 15, 2011 Rob: Glad that you are happy with your pickup choice --and not surprised at all that you are digging the 535. I don't seem to ever be able to get too far away from the semi thing, just a classic combination of tone and the way the guitars wear and resonate. Thanks, Larry! And "classic combination of tone and the way the guitars wear and resonate," is exactly what does it for me with this one! You nailed the qualities that are so appealling about the 535!
Guest HRB853370 Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 I'm aware of RS, but I was leaning towards a Mojotone assembly - pots and oil filled caps -..... any words of warning? I wasn't aware anyone had the antiquities in their 535. Actually, I was surprised. That's great to hear. Leaning towards this as my May GAS fix. Kid, I have the Mojotone assembly in my red 535
MartyGrass Posted April 15, 2011 Posted April 15, 2011 There is a greater chance of Zsa Zsa Gabor giving birth than agreement on pickups. http://www.inquisitr.com/104155/dr-gupta-says-zsa-zsa-baby-wont-happen/ I have a set of Fralin PAFs I really like on a semihollow. http://www.fralinpickups.com/humbuckers.asp It is hard to go wrong with SD Seths though.
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