Alfonzo Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 Hi Everyone: I have an H150CM which I posted on here a year ago. Love the guitar. It has the SD 59s in it. I found the pickups to be great, but dark and muddy. I was really thinking of changing them and was reading all your suggestions for pairing a new neck with the bridge and also which one's to use if I was replacing both. I'm just about sold on the Lindy Fralins which got high reviews. I havent ordered them. THEN, I read on another forum about these: http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/thslrowoniel.html They are supposed to be really bright and the reviewer said dont buy them because you'll never buy anything else...... I bought a set and all I can say is wow, the guitar came alive......put a hold on those new pups. Do you think a set of strings can make that much of a difference? I'm impressed, just ordered another 5 sets, lol. I was using Elixer nanowebs before on it, maybe they have a duller sound on the heritage, they are fine on my other guitars.... Any thoughts on brighter strings, any one's that you've tried that you love? Thx, Alf
Kuz Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 Yes, strings can make that big a difference. Elixir Nano-webs can be very dead sounding. I was talking to Chuck Thornton the other day about strings and we both agreed that Daddrios are some of the brightest strings out there.
bolero Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 well I actually prefer dead strings, I don't like bright strings at all maybe it's because they're more consistent...once they're dead, they stay that way for a long time there's a joke in there somewhere otherwise you'd be changing strings every 2 weeks
iim7v7im7 Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 A couple thoughts... 1) Make sure that your pickups are adjusted to a proper height. You might find that this brightens things up for you 2) String wrap material makes a difference. In my experience in terms of brightness you'll find Stainless > Chrome > Nickel 3) The type of wire matters as well: round wound > half or ground wound > flat wound in terms of brightness 4) Coatings will also attenuate some of the highs So the brightest strings should be stainless roundwornd strings. Elixir Nanoweb electrics are nickel round wounds that are coated so they are not bright sounding strings. After playing with you pickup height if it still sounds muddy, try something like these: http://www.juststrin...dad-eps540.html Good Luck, Bob
Joey Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Alfonzo, Just some feedback on Fralin pick ups..... I put a set of Lindy's Pure PAFs in my H555 and could not be happier. After doing my research, I found them to be one of the cleanest, articulate humbuckers I have heard. The neck pup is extremely clean. I use D'addario 11's, with a wound G string, on this guitar which produces nice full, warm and lively tone.
mars_hall Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Just a thought here, but one thing you can do to brighten the apparent tone of your strings is to start using a slightly thinner pick or one with a more flexible material. Play around with this till you find the degree of bite you are seeking.
GuitArtMan Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 I've never cared for Elixirs on anything. I honestly think they are the reason so many people don't like the tone of Taylor guitars. Get those Elixirs off of there and put some good Phosphor Bronze strings on and hear the guitar come to life.
Spectrum13 Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Agree with all the above. Changing out the SD59 should be the LAST thing if all the lower cost options fail. #1 Adjust pickups. (no cost) #2 String Change (got to change them down the road anyway) #3 Pick (.25 to $35) some cost #4 Pots and Caps ( $5.50 to $125) Depending on when your 150 was built the pot values could be anywhere from 250-500 my Goldtop had 250s and a change to 500V and 500T brightened the neck pickup and provided a better taper rolling off the highs. CTS pots cost about $5.00. If you can do it yourself, just add shipping or a full RS kit installed by a tech gets into the high range of my estimate but still cheeper than replacing pickups.
tsp17 Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 I changed out the 59's in my 150, but I was looking for a much bigger tonal adjustment. If you just want to brighten it up a bit I agree with the above.
mars_hall Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Often the neck 59 is the muddy one. Try a Seth in that position for a marked change. I have this combination in my 157 Trans Red (I bought it this way) and it makes all the difference in the world.
Joey Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Sorry, I left out a key point and the original purpose in my post. The Fralin pups are much brighter than the Schallers that came on the guitar in 1995 when I bought it. Howver, the brightness is very controllable with the tone controls. Backing off the treble does not muddy up the tone.
Guest HRB853370 Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Also, if it sound muddy, try increasing the treble on your amp or your guitar! Cheaper than replacing pots or pups! Those knobs are there for a purpose.
DetroitBlues Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 well I actually prefer dead strings, I don't like bright strings at all maybe it's because they're more consistent...once they're dead, they stay that way for a long time there's a joke in there somewhere otherwise you'd be changing strings every 2 weeks I also thing "duller" or "dead" strings sound better because I get a warmer tone out of the strings, especially on a strat. Sort of odd that strings come to life when their "dead", perhaps we like Zombie Strings... Must go with the trend of this year being the year of the zombie....
Alfonzo Posted June 11, 2012 Author Posted June 11, 2012 HI Everyone: Thanks very much for your suggestions. I recently had the luthier do a setup on the guitar. He adjusted the pups and the neck is lower than the bridge for some reason, but I'm sure he did it for balance. The other thing I am going to do is change the pots, I have ordered some lefty CTS 500k pots to go into it. I also have another guitar that has very scratchy pots and will be changing those out as well. Right now, new strings and new pots, after that I'll see. I have a very clean amp with only 2 knobs, volume and tone and tone is at about 7.5 and same on the guitar, I don't like to dial tone all the way up, but right now its sounding good! I'm going to stay with the 59s for now, maybe change them at a later date. Thanks, I guess I like my guitars to sound bright, without the ear piercing, ha.
ledzef Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Might want to think about changing your cap. If it's ceramic try paper in oil also you might want to change your cap value. Changing caps require a minimium amount of soldering I know I've done it to one of my strats pretty painless. Just some food for thought.
High Flying Bird Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Alfonso, I find the 59's muddy in every guitar I have heard them in even with the same strings as I use on my guitars. If you don't like the strings you use now try DR Pure Blues. I have been using them for years.
iim7v7im7 Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Alfonso, I find the 59's muddy in every guitar I have heard them in even with the same strings as I use on my guitars. If you don't like the strings you use now try DR Pure Blues. I have been using them for years. FYI on DR Pure Blues....(read post #20, 21 and 23 from is TDPRI thread) http://www.tdpri.com...e-properly.html I noticed inconsistent intonation with these a few years ago and found out that I wa not alone.
High Flying Bird Posted June 12, 2012 Posted June 12, 2012 I noticed inconsistent intonation with these a few years ago and found out that I wa not alone. Appreciate the heads up but I have never had this problem. I do bend and cut the tips after winding the strings onto the tuning head. I rarely have to reset the intonation after a string change either.
DetroitBlues Posted June 12, 2012 Posted June 12, 2012 Might want to think about changing your cap. If it's ceramic try paper in oil also you might want to change your cap value. Changing caps require a minimium amount of soldering I know I've done it to one of my strats pretty painless. Just some food for thought. I believe in a .015 for the neck and .022 for the bridge...
Alfonzo Posted June 12, 2012 Author Posted June 12, 2012 OK, "I just met you, call me crazy, here's my number, call me maybe?" WTF? Anyway, call me crazy, but I've made the decision to upgrade everything, lol. Lindy Fralin pure PAFs, CTS Lefty Pots, new CAPS (oil in paper). My luthier thinks this is a great call and he has Fralins in his LP. Parts ordered, can't wait!
ledzef Posted June 13, 2012 Posted June 13, 2012 Heard nothing but good things about the Fralins, what are the the values on your caps? Keep us posted once everything gets installed.
Alfonzo Posted June 13, 2012 Author Posted June 13, 2012 thx, caps are oil in paper, .015 neck, .022 bridge, cts lefty pots, pups will be single conductor, so no coil tapping. Wired like it is now. Can't wait!
Alfonzo Posted July 8, 2012 Author Posted July 8, 2012 ok, lindy fralin took 2 weeks to get back to my luthier who is a dealer???????????????????? So, in the meantime, I ordered a set of wolftone marshallheads for it. Wolfe was amazing to deal with and called me just to chat about pups. He also said that if the neck was too hot, he would rewind it or send me a dr. vintage instead, no charge.................. I just got the guitar back yesterday, lefty pots make a huge difference, the righties were just weird, new caps and the wolfetones. My luthier was blown away, said he installed some legends last month and loved those as well. No more dull and muddy neck pickup, the marshallhead growls like you wouldn't believe. Its really hot. Pups are done in paf style, but 9k for bridge and 8.2k for neck. For now, all I can say is OMG....
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