Heritage 535 'Alvin Lee'

[Kap]

Hi,
I bought a Heritage 535 'Alvin Lee' from Ebay a few months ago. Being an old Ten Years After fan I was thrilled at my luck, however, I have two issues that I would hope I can get advice on.
Firstly was I lucky or not. I will try to post some images of the guitar to see what others feel, is it the real thing or not? I have tried a number of times to get an answer from Heritage but .........no luck

Second, love the feel of the guitar and after cleaning it and setting up, it is great to come home to, but I must say I don't like the Schaller pups, they sound muddy without any depth. Should I change 'em if so what do people recommend.
thanks

[brentrocks]

i would upgrade it the way you want it but keep all original parts.....got pics???

[t0aj15]

but I must say I don't like the Schaller pups, they sound muddy without any depth.

I came to the same conclusion when I bought my 535. I changed mine to SD 59's.

[bolero]

Ha I don't like the schallers either but they work well for many people... I have lollar imperial s in my 535 and love them. Big Alvin fan myself:)

[Spectrum13]

Before changing the pups you might want to examine the volume and tone pots as well as adjusting pickup heights. Heritage used a lot of 250s. If you swap in 500s your pups will be brighter. Very few Alvin Lee 535 were built.

[DetroitBlues]

Just to put it out there....

 

[Kap]

Sorry for the delay, not very savvy on the image upload bizzo, but here goes....

This is the guitar

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the case was this letter and another Heritage sticker.

I also have some others of the guitar soon after receiving it......before the clean-up.

Thanks for your patience

[Joey]

After 15 years with the original Schallers, I put a set of Fralin Pure PAFs in my H555 and love them. They are extremely clean with excellent harmonic fullness. The neck pup, in particular, is the cleanest I've heard. I wish I would have made this change this sooner.

[Kap]

Yes, torn between the Fralin and the Lollar....we'll see, but this weekend hope to look at the pots first as suggested by Spectrum 13.

Also can anyone ease 'my weak little mind' . Do the pictures show a real Alvin Lee Heritage or will I wake up to find it was all just a dream?

[FredZepp]

Yes, torn between the Fralin and the Lollar....we'll see, but this weekend hope to look at the pots first as suggested by Spectrum 13.

Also can anyone ease 'my weak little mind' . Do the pictures show a real Alvin Lee Heritage or will I wake up to find it was all just a dream?

those pics came out really small .. so they're hard to see. But that certainly appears to be a Alvin Lee Heritage. That third pickup and the hardware that comes with it makes it right..

 

That was a good one to grab.

 

Congrats ..

 

( hey.. do you have these pics on a photobucket or picassa site.. ? )

[Kap]

I have them in the Members Gallery under Kap if anyone is interested. Have also included some of the neck when I first received the guitar. The owner didn't think it was a good idea to clean it or oil it. There was a lot of muck that had to be cleaned off.

[FredZepp]

[FredZepp]

And a letter by Bill Paige.. former Gibson guy and was an owner at Heritage..

 

Cool stuff.

[Kap]

Thanks, although you made me realize I should edit that letter, I don't think the receiver (original owner) wants his name around the the place...?

[DetroitBlues]

You've got plenty of room on that to add in triple humbuckers it looks like....

[bolero]

Wow that is a beauty!! Must be nice to have a single coil in there...kudos to Alvin

[DetroitBlues]

Wonder if you can find a 3 ply pickguard instead of the single ply?

[mark555]

I will really look forward to a sound clip of you playing the into to Goin' Home when you have time to post! Great snag, welcome to the HOC.

[Kap]

Thanks to all, yes I'm chuffed to to have been lucky.

Enough room for a third humbucker eh?.....now there's a cunning plan!

[FredZepp]

[Kap]

How difficult is it to get the pots out of a 535? I cannot see how it is possible, is there a secret?

[H]

How difficult is it to get the pots out of a 535? I cannot see how it is possible, is there a secret?

I've done this. It requires patience

 

They can be removed through the pickup routes or the f-holes. I posted a thread last year on the whole process - I'll see if I can find it.

[DetroitBlues]

How difficult is it to get the pots out of a 535? I cannot see how it is possible, is there a secret?

 

+1

 

Using a rubber band or string through the holes in the body for the pot attached to the pot helps guide the pot back into place when you remove/replace them.

 

Take a look at this:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0094.html

[CJTopes]

I'm a huge Alvin Lee fan and though I normaly dont care about signature models I would love to have one of those!! Personaly I'd replace all the schaller hardware.

[Kap]

'What goes around comes around'. Reminded why I admired and thought Alvin Lee is still one of the greats with his astonishing versatility. I recently found (guided by fate?) the first time I heard him, it was on an old Decca release I found in a bargain bin late 60's early 70's?, called "the world of blues power". A great compilation that includes TYA doing 'Spoonfull' and 'Feel it for me' (perhaps the sexiest piece of music from the late 60's) While 'going home' is perhaps his most popular piece, I am still left slack-jawed and drooling, listening to 'feel it for me' and 'me and my baby'.

I digress, this weekend shall try to remove pots again!! Thank you H & DetroitBlues. I use tubing to drop the pots in, but the pots will not fit through the F hole. (yes I did call it an F hole a few times). Shall try the bridge PUP cavity this time.