what's heritage's hottest 150/157 pickup

[heritagefan7]

I am investigating a custom order...Looking at the decision b/w paying custom retail and buying used. Of course custom gets my specs---used I take what I can get and modify if need be--in both cases it's a win/win b/c I get a great guitar. BUT if I custom order--I want to try to get a hot P/U in the bridge. I think the SD 59 in the neck would be great---but what options does H have for a hot bridge pickup?---Is there a stock ceramic option? Buying custom & then paying to get a hotter p/u installed--seems awfully expensive--or at least for me. Big want is the ebony board--I can't imagine the $/effort/sense of taking a good RW board off of a used guitar. Mahogony body, Maple cap--Ebony board--Warm neck/Hot bridge PU--Burst Finish--That's what I'm thinking (really don't care for the gold h/w)---Does this make sense or am I off in left field?...Have called Wolfe and gotten a quote on the 157. Waiting on some other quotes to come in--and some other inquires out there as well w/ the used stuff.

[FredZepp]

I'd think it would be easy to pick something from Seymour Duncan.. the JB model comes to mind.

 

But they do make even hotter ones.... like the Distortion Parallel Axis or Invader or Dimebucker..

Here is their chart...

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones

[tulk1]

And if you provide your own pickups, Heritage will give you credit for the stock pickups towards your choice. Sometimes it's a 1:1 deal, sometimes 1:$ or vice versa. Custom is cool! Biggest drawback is you don't get to see it or play it before you buy it. Otherwise, if you can swing it, it's the way to go. Oh, and then there's the wait ... and wait ... and ... ...........

[DetroitBlues]

Just go to SD site like FredZepp said, best place to start.

[FredZepp]

And with a custom build.. you can add some uniqueness to the guitar besides just pickups... make it YOURS...

[eor]

perhaps consider something with a more aggressive eq curve, magnet type or wind before for going for something with just a lot of output. you can always add output or gain, but you can't remove it once its there. just something to think about. i had some higher output fizz buckers that i swapped out for a lower output a4 mag with a little more grit in the mids and i was very pleased, especially for the higher gain stuff.

 

there are some "cheaper" custom winders out there, tom short and bg pups to name two. they can both tailor something to your needs.

 

best of luck with your build. i've always wondered about an ebony board on a 157.

[Millennium Maestro]

Ceramic magnets... sounds like the sh6 Duncan Distortion. I Believe Heitage will install any Duncan in though I believe they use 59s, Seth and Pearly gates mostly.

[blueox]

Your basic specs for a custom guitar sound very doable, but avoid the H-157 since you don't want the gold hardware. Take the H-150 platform and adjust it to your needs with the ebony fingerboard, hot bridge pickup, and so on. For pickups, the factory regularly uses Lollar and Duncan brands, so anything in those catalogs would be easy to use. But the factory would be able to use other brands, whether they obtain them or you provide them, during the build process.

[Joe]

If you do opt for a custom build, you may want to consider another difference between H-150 and H-157. H-157 has binding on the back as well as on the front of the body. Since you want an ebony board, maybee a 157 with chrome hardware.

[heritagefan7]

I got another quote from Herb David guitar tha came in as the low bid so far---Interestingly enough a 150 w/ an ebony board seems to cost as much as a 157 w/ nickel hardware!

[FredZepp]

I got another quote from Herb David guitar tha came in as the low bid so far---Interestingly enough a 150 w/ an ebony board seems to cost as much as a 157 w/ nickel hardware!

I was thinking that that would be the case... It adds more cost to change the wood spec (on the 150), than to do a slight hardware alteration ( on the 157) .

[mtpatty]

1. Bare Knuckle Emerald

2. Suhr Aldrich

3. Dimarzio Super Distortion

4. Seymour Duncan Custom 5

5. Bill Lawrence XL550

6. Dimarzio X2N

Just my preferences-

[rooster]

When I ordered my Black-and-Tan H150, I sent a set of Bill & Becky Lawrences L-500C (neck) and L-500 XL (bridge). They worked out perfectly. The C gave me a very clean, chimey sound, as they have a pretty low wind on them, and the XL works great in the bridge for me -- high output, but no mud. At all. I've tried just about everything, and the L-500s from Bill & Becky (Wylde pickups now) are in all of my H-150s, with their L-280s in my Strat.

 

Just saying.

 

rooster.

[DetroitBlues]

You could always go the Gary Moore route and add some EMG's...

[Guest HRB853370]

Audition them all Heritagefan, and see what appeals to your own taste.

[DetroitBlues]

Thankfully a couple manufacters make their pickups with quick connects making it much easier.

[Trouble]

Dont over look the Duncan Screaming Demon, my buddy had a Peavey tele type that was nice but sounded blah, put a fullsize Screamin demon in it and whole new guitar, high output warm/dark sound.

 

My personal favorite bridge pup for a guitar you are gonna use a lot is the JB, with a 59 or Jazz in the neck, versatile combination with good harmonics and balance.

 

Also, some builder customized a lot of LP's with DiMarzio Air Norton in the bridge and Bluesbucker in the neck, my 150 had these installed by the previous owner, and they were good, I ended up going back to the original 59's though, was in a primarily country band at the time and the 59's suited that better.