P90s on H535

[LeBaron]

Has anyone here got experience in replacing humbuckers with P90s on a H535?

I am so very impressed with my H530 and its dogear Lollars that I am considering mounting P90s on my H535. They clearly would have to be humbucker size, maybe lollars or fralin. Not sure how easy the replacement, fitting and finetuning  procedure may be...

All advice welcome.

[High Flying Bird]

I put a set of SD Phat Cats in my 535.  Killer tone. 

[LeBaron]

Did you do it yourself and how easy was it?
 

[Steiner]

Replacing pickups in any hollowbody is a labor of love.  Everything has to come out and go in through 1 pickup hole.  Not a simple task, search utube for how-tos.

[davesultra]

Definitely a PITA of a job. Make a day (or 2) of it, and remember, blue painters tape is your friend.

[LeBaron]

So it’s not just a matter of disconnecting the old ones then connecting and dropping in the new ones?

[davesultra]

There are those who cut the lead near the pickup and splice it in with the original leads from the controls. It's kind of a hack but it'll work.

[deytookerjaabs]

No, not at all. The F-Holes are pretty big on most Heritage guitars and it's only the volume pots that get the pickup leads soldered on. Thus, you can drop the whole harness and just pull out the two volume pots, one at a time, then solder the leads on. No big deal, very different from having to replace a whole harness etc. The harness, if well soldered (most are), should stay in tact just fine. 

That said, I'm "meh" on the look of giant singles in a humbucker spot, just an aesthetic thing. 

[TalismanRich]

I remember working on the wiring on my 535.   The first time I did it,  while changing the noisy volume pot,  the lead from the tone cap broke off.   I had to pull the harness and fix that.  The next time, I was swapping the pups in my 535.   Got everything in and somehow the shield on the cable managed to hit one of the tabs on a pot, making the tone control not work.   Pull it all out, troubleshoot it (which meant adding shrink wrap over the wire) and reassemble.    I think I spent about 8 hours total!

That's not so say you'll encounter the same issues.   It might go smoothly and you'll be done in 30 minutes.   

[LeBaron]

Thank you all for the advice... and warnings. Food for thought 

 

[LeBaron]

How about tone? Anyone with specific P90 experience on a H535, other than SD Phat Cats?

[Gitfiddler]

48 minutes ago, LeBaron said:

How about tone? Anyone with specific P90 experience on a H535, other than SD Phat Cats?

HOC'er Kuz has a custom P90 loaded H535.  Maybe he'll chime in with his comments.

[High Flying Bird]

20 hours ago, LeBaron said:

Did you do it yourself and how easy was it?
 

No way!  I was an electronic tech for 16 years and small tools and a soldering iron were my craft.  This is a job best left to a guitar tech.  I suspect you would have to cut wood to get a P-90 into those slots.  Fishing the wires out through the f-hole is a job. 

[Kuz]

[Kuz]

It is the first 535 with P90s ever made.   Marv's Wine Burst finish (it doesn't have that much red it real life).

[Genericmusic]

58 minutes ago, Kuz said:

[rockabilly69]

That's a sweet looking rig Kuz! I especially like the burst and the striped fingerboard!

[LeBaron]

Kuz, Those look like the same Lollars as on my H530. What’s the tone like on the 535?
That said, if I were to replace the buckers, it would have to be with bucker size P90s, not dogears.

 

 

[cobo]

I’ve become reasonably adept at swapping pickups and making whole new harnesses for hollow body guitars. As others have mentioned, you do need to be patient, but it’s not that hard. The key I found is to use 1/4” clear tubing (like an aquarium air line) to help coax the pots back into their holes. But a foot of it at Home Depot in the plumbing department. Just insert the tubing through the hole where the pot wants to go, pull the tubing up through the F-hole, connect the tubing to the pot’s knurled-knob mount, carefully put the pot in the body cavity without stressing the solder joints, and gently pull the tubing out through the hole in which you inserted it. Voila! The pot pops right up into the proper hole! ?

The other kinda tricky one is the output jack.  I use a 12” piece of 20 gauge solid-core wire.  I put the wire through the body hole where the jack goes, pull the wire out through the F-hole, push it through the output jack’s female connector hole, bend the wire ~90° to “latch” onto the solder lugs, the  gently pull the whole thing back through the body hole and the output jack will appear.  Put the washer and nut on it, then pull hard on the 20 gauge this wire and it will let loose of the solder lugs.  

[LeBaron]

6 minutes ago, cobo said:

I’ve become reasonably adept at swapping pickups and making whole new harnesses for hollow body guitars. As others have mentioned, you do need to be patient, but it’s not that hard. The key I found is to use 1/4” clear tubing (like an aquarium air line) to help coax the pots back into their holes. But a foot of it at Home Depot in the plumbing department. Just insert the tubing through the hole where the pot wants to go, pull the tubing up through the F-hole, connect the tubing to the pot’s knurled-knob mount, carefully put the pot in the body cavity without stressing the solder joints, and gently pull the tubing out through the hole in which you inserted it. Voila! The pot pops right up into the proper hole! ?

The other kinda tricky one is the output jack.  I use a 12” piece of 20 gauge solid-core wire.  I put the wire through the body hole where the jack goes, pull the wire out through the F-hole, push it through the output jack’s female connector hole, bend the wire ~90° to “latch” onto the solder lugs, the  gently pull the whole thing back through the body hole and the output jack will appear.  Put the washer and nut on it, then pull hard on the 20 gauge this wire and it will let loose of the solder lugs.  

Very neat! Thanks for the tips.

[High Flying Bird]

On 12/12/2019 at 4:46 PM, Kuz said:

It is the first 535 with P90s ever made.   Marv's Wine Burst finish (it doesn't have that much red it real life).

Your white balance is off.  Lighroom can solve that.  Use the white balance tool to select the whitest part of the image.  Very nice guitar!  ;^)

[Kuz]

On 12/12/2019 at 11:54 PM, LeBaron said:

Kuz, Those look like the same Lollars as on my H530. What’s the tone like on the 535?
That said, if I were to replace the buckers, it would have to be with bucker size P90s, not dogears.

These are the same Lollar dog ear P90 pups.  I am generally not a fan of Lollar P90s (or humbucker pickups really), they are too bright with not enough creamy goodness on the neck nor grind & grunt on the bridge.  BUT the Lollar dog ears sound much better.  I have really like them in this 535 P90 and a 525 that I used to have.  As far as the tone of the 535 P90 guitar it is the best sounding Heritage I own.  Big thick, creamy & clear neck, with grunty rock & roll on the bridge that isn't ice picky.  Since you have to use humbucker-sized p90ish pickups, I can't promise yours will sound like mine.  If I were doing the conversion, I would get Throbak humbucker sized p90s.  Bite the bullet on the price and ask for the Heritage Owners Club 20% discount.  I love everything that Jon at Throbak does.  A cheaper option is Phat-cats which I have heard and they sound good as well. 

 

[Kuz]

5 hours ago, High Flying Bird said:

Your white balance is off.  Lighroom can solve that.  Use the white balance tool to select the whitest part of the image.  Very nice guitar!  ;^)

Thanks Bird.  I know the white balance is off, I am just too lazy to fix it.  ha ha

[DetroitBlues]

With no control cavity, electronics are crazy hard to fix.  The only large opening is the pickup hole, but even then there isn't much space to put your hand it there.

In my opinion, have a professional take care of it.  Where I live, if you buy pickups from a shop I frequent, they will replace the pickups for free.

[LeBaron]

Thank you for the review and suggestions, Kuz.