mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 hello.. I`m from Holland and i have a question about my heritage 150 classic... I have Seymour Duncan Antiquity`s paf`s. and i wanted to make a real vintage guitar of it... So i ordered a vintage pre wired kit at internet with bumblebees... But now its the problem that is not sounding good, very muddy.... If i am turning the volume down to 5 its not good. Is it the bumblebees ?? ??? What can i do to make him sound better ?? ??? ??? I`m a huge Bluesbreaker fan..!! ;D ;D My guitarteacher says that the guitar sounds bad, but i don`t think so. I think its the electronics... Or am i wrong ?? Greetings Mark
SouthpawGuy Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Hi Mark and Welcome to the HOC. I'm afraid I myself don't have any experience with wiring kits or the like but there are plenty of guys here who do, I'm sure they will be able to help you out. By the way it is an old HOC tradition to post pics of your guitar so all of the members can drool over it ! I hope you enjoy your time here. Regards.
mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 thank u for youre comment.... I will try to make a picture today to put it on the forum..!! It`s an almond sunburst.. mark
mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 and here the electronics i hope somebody can help to remove the muddy tone Afb000.jpg Afb000.jpg_thumb
Dick Seacup Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Welcome to the Club, Mark010! Very nice looking guitar, thank you for sharing. I am not a guitar electronics expert, but the very first thing I would try is lowering (or is it raising?) the pickups. I know there was a thread here not too long ago about guitars with muddy, mushy mids and someone suggested adjusting pickup height and that solved the problem. But, like I said, I'm not an expert. I am quite sure, though, one of of the guys here will know how to solve your problem for sure. Again, welcome!
big bob Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 you might try swaping out the capacitor, http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...apacitors).html I have never seen a set up with as large a capiacitors as you have there. is that what makes them bumble bees
mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 tnx, must i have 0.020 ??? tnx for the help...!! mark
SouthpawGuy Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Mark, not to go off topic here ( that never happens at the HOC ) ... were did you get your 150 ? I'd be interested to know if there are any large Heritage dealers where you are. Thanks.
mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 yeah you have a few dealers here... haarguitars in utrecht and westerhaven in groningen where i got my guitar from....
SouthpawGuy Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 yeah you have a few dealers here... haarguitars in utrecht and westerhaven in groningen where i got my guitar from.... Interesting, they don't happen to have any lefty Heritage models in stock that they want to sell off real cheap do they ? :angel: Those lefties are very hard to get rid of you know ! ;D
davesultra Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Hey mark010, nice 150! It's a bit difficult to see the wiring as your picture is a bit blurry. I guess the first thing I would try is reversing the capacitors so that the ends with the red rings connect to the lugs on the volume pot. Sometimes that can have an influence on the tone. If possible try posting a clearer picture, that way we can get a better look at the wiring. Good luck!
AnH555 Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Mark, welcome to the HOC. There's a lot of info on this site about pickups and electronics, so you might try a search or two. There are also some people around here who know a lot about getting the best tone. You'll probably hear from them shortly.
mark010 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 this wiring i got... Gibson_50_s_Style_Wiring1.png Gibson_50_s_Style_Wiring1.png_thumb
jamison162 Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Mark, Did you buy the guitar used? What was in there before exactly and how did it sound? What changes did you make? Did you do the work yourself? How much does the guitar weigh? What pot values are you using? 500k? Any add'l info or specs on this "vintage kit" you purchased/installed? What value are your BB caps and are they authentic or repros? I would be hesitant to use Bees in a Heritage (or any PIO caps) because they really warm up the tone and make it more woody...and knowing Heritage, they just don't need help in that area. Heritages H-150's are very strong and powerful guitars with lots of mids and push, real beefy. That's what makes them shine over most Gibsons. Quality of wood and build, all top shelf. Have you tried the 50's wiring scheme? I would keep the Antiquities for now (I'm assuming they are the real deal, with aged A2 mags, and they are usually on the bright side and are unpotted). 1) Make sure the neck and bridge pickups aren't mixed up. Measure each pickups output. The hotter dcR should be the bridge position. 2) Make sure you have no shorts or grounding issues in the circuit at the switch, jack and pots. 3) Replace your pots and caps with "graded" (as close to 500k as you can find) CTS audio taper pots and Hovland capacitors. 4) On the hovlands, use a 0.01uF on the neck (hovland doesn't make a 0.015uF which is what I really like); and the standard 0.022uF on the bridge. 5) Use the largest value pot for your neck volume, 2nd largest on the bridge vol, 3rd on your bridge tone, lowest on the neck tone. 6) Try the 50's wiring scheme shown below. Your pickups are great and shoud be plenty bright and open with good character and harmonics. The controls, caps and wiring scheme should bring out the best in your Heritage and let the guitar and pickups do their thing. The Hovlanda are VERY clear and transparent which is what you want with a Heritage. This is a small effort but should get your guitar back on track straight away so that you can get back to playing. And it should sound really, really good!!!!
davesultra Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Another thing I noticed is that you stated that your guitar teacher said it sounds bad, but you don't think so. If you think it sounds good, that's all that really matters! One thing I've learned over the years is that, "if it sounds good, leave it alone".
jamison162 Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Another thing I noticed is that you stated that your guitar teacher said it sounds bad, but you don't think so. If you think it sounds good, that's all that really matters! One thing I've learned over the years is that, "if it sounds good, leave it alone". He said it is not sounding good, but muddy....?? Teacher says it's the guitar, but I agree, a lot can be done/fixed via pickups and electronics.
tulk1 Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 I have Seymour Duncan Antiquity`s paf`s. and i wanted to make a real vintage guitar of it... So i ordered a vintage pre wired kit at internet with bumblebees... But now its the problem that is not sounding good, very muddy.... If i am turning the volume down to 5 its not good. Is it the bumblebees ?? Rule of thumb in trouble shooting - go back to before the problem began and trace it forward. Your statement would lead me to think that it sounded good before you put in the kit. Maybe it didn't sound "vintage", but it didn't sound muddy or bad. It's not the guitar, that is for sure. Good luck tracking it down. And welcome to the HoC. Beautiful guitar.
davesultra Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 He said it is not sounding good, but muddy....?? Teacher says it's the guitar, but I agree, a lot can be done/fixed via pickups and electronics. This one's gettin a little too weird for me, I'm outta' here!
drewzee87t Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Sounds like teacher wants to steal your heritage > Talk it down, trade you into another guitar (that he wants out of) and keep yours. Of course, I am a skeptic.
mark010 Posted July 24, 2008 Author Posted July 24, 2008 Hello, Hovland caps installed, everything is fixed...!! thanx for all youre help everybody... Mark
tulk1 Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 Most excellent!!! So now you get to keep it? :wink: Oh, and do we get to see pics of this now infamous guitar?
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