Schaller Pickups

[PunkKitty]

The Prospect that I'm getting this week has the original Schaller pickups in it. What are your thoughts on these pickups? I'm going to compare them to a few Duncan 59's, Gibson 57 Classics and Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs before I make any decisions on keeping them. I'm guessing that the Schallers are basically PAF copies. So how different are they than any of the pickups I listed?

[tbonesullivan]

They are a bit different, but they are nice. Everyone seems to give them a bad rap but they are good PAF style pickups, not "twelve dollar pickups" as Ed Roman alleged. They have a nice warm sound, and have some nice clarity. Definitely clearer than the seth lovers, which are a bit more vintage sounding.

 

I have a set in my H535. They aren't going anywhere. I have SD'59s, SD Seth Lovers, Gibson 57 classics, and a bunch of other pickups in guitars I own, and don't see any real advantage of one over the other. They are all different, not better or worse.

[Blunote]

I recently reinstalled Schallers in my 150P after "upgrading" to Burstbucker Pros a year ago. It's not a slam against the Bustbuckers, but I like the sound of the Schallers better. They are very clear when played clean. Dirty, I lthink they have a really nice saturated, compressed sound.

 

It's totally subjective whether you like that or not.

 

SD 59s are fine pick-ups as well but I prefer the Seth Lovers, which I've read are unpotted versions of the 59's. If I had to give up my Schallers or my Seth Lovers, I'd let the Schallers go. It would be a hard choice between the 59s and the Schallers though.

[TalismanRich]

There are Schallers in both my 157 and my 535. I like them, they have a crispness that the Seth Lovers don't have in my Mille. The old Schallers in my 140 were much darker than the 535 and 157, don't know exactly why... I replaced them with SD APH1 Alnico Pros and it's much better.

 

I would rather have the top end, which I can roll off if needed. If the pickup is dull to start with, its much more difficult to being them back.

[PunkKitty]

Sounds good. I'm just not familiar with them. The pickups that I listed in the OP all sound different. But they still sound PAFish. It sounds like I really won't get much better if I decide to swap unless I go to Lollars or something like that. Or unless I find that I just don't like the Schallers.

[tbonesullivan]

The 59s and seth lovers are different from the ground up actually. The 59's were one of the first pickups SD made, and were made to sound like the 59 les paul sound. But, they are made using modern production techniques, and have AlNiCo 5 magnets.

 

The Seth lovers were designed with Seth Lover himself, and are basically recreations of the original PAF pickups using AlNiCo 2 magnets, vintage style materials and production methods, as well as being unpotted: http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/vintage-output/sh55_seth_lover/

[FredZepp]

I don't have Schaller pickups in a guitar ( I've got a set in a drawer that had been swapped out of a Heritage though) .

I did have a 150 that I was doing a set up on that I got to try for a couple of days. I would not have swapped them out of that guitar if it were mine, they had a nice sound.

 

A bit unique, but they didn't strike me as dark or bright either way. They did a nice job on classic rock.

 

You'll just have to see how they sound to your ears.. in that particular guitar. But don't assume that you'll have to swap them.

[PunkKitty]

At this point I'm expecting that I will keep the Schallers. At least I'm going to give them a fairly long trial before I make the decision.

[TalismanRich]

The 59s and seth lovers are different from the ground up actually. The 59's were one of the first pickups SD made, and were made to sound like the 59 les paul sound. But, they are made using modern production techniques, and have AlNiCo 5 magnets.

 

The Seth lovers were designed with Seth Lover himself, and are basically recreations of the original PAF pickups using AlNiCo 2 magnets, vintage style materials and production methods, as well as being unpotted: http://www.seymourdu...h55_seth_lover/

 

While the original design had Alnico 2s, PAFs over the years have varied greatly. As with most "inventions" a lot of times, the material used is whatever was available at the time. Since P90s used A2s, its logical that Seth Lover would have used them to make his humbucker.

 

 

From 1956 until 1961 Gibson used different Alnico magnets in their PAF pickups. Alnico magnets (alloys ALuminum, NIckel, and CObalt) come in a different grades based on their magnetic strength. Gibson generally used the same magnets (size/grade) which was available for their P-90 pickups. But Gibson randomly used Alnico 2,3,4,5 grade magnets in PAFs until 1961 (remember the higher the magnet’s number, the higher the magnetic strength). This can often account for how two PAF pickups can sound quite different

.

In July 1961 Gibson began consistently using a smaller Alnico 5 magnet (smaller as in the flat top side of the magnets were smaller length-wise). Since inconsistency was king at Gibson during this time, Alnico 2 short magnets are sometimes seen too. By 1965 though Alnico 5 was the standard for all Gibson humbuckers.

[FredZepp]

The Prospect that I'm getting this week ........

Your Prospect will be a very enjoyable Heritage, I predict. I love the design. You'll have a Happy New Heritage Day soon....

[tbonesullivan]

 

While the original design had Alnico 2s, PAFs over the years have varied greatly. As with most "inventions" a lot of times, the material used is whatever was available at the time. Since P90s used A2s, its logical that Seth Lover would have used them to make his humbucker.

Actually, to muddy the waters further, P-90s used AlNiCo 3 magnets from 1952 and later switched to AlNiCo 5 in 1957. Yes, the original PAFs used whatever could be sourced, but "officially" used A2's, which is why the Seth Lover pickups, as well as the Gibson 57 Classics, use them as the magnet. using a stronger magnet did allow them to use a smaller magnet though.

[Hfan]

I like the Schallers in my 157. And on the practical side, you have already paid for yours so they are free. The longer I spend on gear forums I am convinced there is way too much time spent swapping parts looking for "tone", when most of the missing element is technique and practice.. Assuming you have decent gear to start with of course.

[DetroitBlues]

I recently reinstalled Schallers in my 150P after "upgrading" to Burstbucker Pros a year ago. It's not a slam against the Bustbuckers, but I like the sound of the Schallers better. They are very clear when played clean. Dirty, I lthink they have a really nice saturated, compressed sound.

 

It's totally subjective whether you like that or not.

 

SD 59s are fine pick-ups as well but I prefer the Seth Lovers, which I've read are unpotted versions of the 59's. If I had to give up my Schallers or my Seth Lovers, I'd let the Schallers go. It would be a hard choice between the 59s and the Schallers though.

 

wow, I rather think the BB Pro's are some of the best pickups I've ever heard...

[Wolfi]

I first had Schaller Golden 50's in my H 555. The bridge pickup was really a weapon, but it didn't go with the neck pickup. I replaced them with Seth Lovers. Feedback came to early by far (my onwn fault because SD said this in their brochure). The next ones were SD 59 pickups. They sound quite ok, no matter if I need to have a clean jazzy sound, or if it has to scream. But I will replace it again, because I'm sure the SD 59 pickuops are not yet the good pickups for the H 555. Not bad, but not better than ok.

[PunkKitty]

I like the Schallers that came with my Prospect. My only issue is that they feed back easily. Still, it's not enough for me to go through the headache of changing pickups in a semi hollow. They're staying.

[FredZepp]

I like the Schallers that came with my Prospect. My only issue is that they feed back easily. Still, it's not enough for me to go through the headache of changing pickups in a semi hollow. They're staying.

Hey... that's cool, I'm glad to hear it. It's not a guitar that you want to change pickups in.. and the ones that I tried briefly in a 150 sounded very nice.

[schundog]

I have Schallers in my H-170, and, as Fred mentioned, they do Classic Rock quite well. I HAD them in my 535, and thought they were fine.....Until I had SD Antiquities put in, and it felt like I had a completely different (better) guitar. That said, I'd leave the Schallers in for a while, at least, to see if you like them. Congratulations again!

[DetroitBlues]

I did not give my Schaller's a good test. I didn't like them only to realize I had some defective components that did not allow me to hear them properly. Makes me wonder what did they really sound like. Brent bought them but I think he sold them before using them... They were Golden 50's made in the early 90's...