Thinking a pickup change out on Prospect blues

[nitroman58]

I have a 2001 model year Prospect blues.  I thought the former owner told me that these came stock with the Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, but I am not sure.  I do like the bridge pickup, but I have found the neck pickup to be muddy for my tastes.  

Is there a pickup, or pickup set that would work well in this model?

Thanks

[bolero]

Well if they are Seth Lovers I'm surprised the neck is muddy? Have you popped the pups to verify what they are?

Lowering the neck pup away from the strings can help clear it up, fwiw

[nitroman58]

I am going to pull them out to see for certain.

[skydog52]

Is that a Ed Roman Blues Prospect?

We love pictures here. ?

[ledzeffer]

My '03 Blues Deluxe came stock with Schaller pups.

[nitroman58]

1 hour ago, skydog52 said:

Is that a Ed Roman Blues Prospect?

We love pictures here. ?

Yes. The tag on the inside reads "Ed Roman Blues Deluxe OSB".  This seems strange since the guitar does not have the features of the deluxe.  I will add pictures shortly.

BTW, its a lefty.

[nitroman58]

They are Seymour Duncan's.  I would assume the Seth Lover's since that is what the former owner said, but I cannot say with certainty.  Would Heritage be able to tell me?

[bolero]

 I'm not familiar enough with SD to be able to tell without a label & product number. The Seths I've seen have the signature inked on the bottom.

 Ed Roman had some unique SD pickups made that he used in his guitars, didn't he?

Maybe reach out to Seymour Duncan? They may know how to ID

[nitroman58]

Thanks. I will do that.

3 minutes ago, bolero said:

 I'm not familiar enough with SD to be able to tell without a label & product number. The Seths I've seen have the signature inked on the bottom.

 Ed Roman had some unique SD pickups made that he used in his guitars, didn't he?

Maybe reach out to Seymour Duncan? They may know how to ID

 

[bolero]

Just had a thought: maybe the label fell off the pickup & is still inside the gtr?

Also did you check the bridge pup?

And good luck!

[nitroman58]

28 minutes ago, bolero said:

Just had a thought: maybe the label fell off the pickup & is still inside the gtr?

Also did you check the bridge pup?

And good luck!

That is possible since I did have the wiring reversed for left handed orientation.

[nitroman58]

I contacted Seymour Duncan today, and they were very helpful.  The bridge pickup did have the Seth Lover mark, and the signature.  I send pictures of both pickups, with the reading in ohms.  The rep said based on the pictures and readings that they are not wax potted so they are both Seth Lovers.

[DetroitBlues]

There you go.  Makes sense to me.  What's interesting is Roman must have changed the pickups or someone did over the years?  I only say this because it has Schaller pickup rings....

[bolero]

Mystery solved!

You can lower the polepieces too, to adjust the sound.

DB I believe ER commonly spec'd pups other than Schallers, but the factory would have been using their stock rings in the builds. Someone familiar with the Los Vegas gtr shop could probably confirm or explain more. M Maestro?

[skydog52]

Heritage back then used the Schaller 3-hole rings for versatility.

 

 

[Kuz]

I have used A LOT of aftermarket pickups (Throbaks, being my favorite), but I would NEVER call Seth Lovers muddy.   I think the Seth Lover Neck pickup is always just about perfect.

Have you tried raise/lowering the pickups or raising the pole pieces on the neck pickup?  Also, I would check the pot values on the Tone & Volume pots.  Are they at least 500K?  If not, I would adjust the pickup/pole piece heights and change the pots before making a pickup change.  Especially if you have 250K or 300K pots, I think you will find all replacement pickups will sound bad with those pots (especially in the neck pickup).

[nitroman58]

I did lower the pickup, but have not raised the pole pieces. The pots are 500k and the original pots.

I put a set of the Curt Mangan fusion matched 10.5-48 on it yesterday too. They do sound pretty good on this guitar.

[Kuz]

14 hours ago, nitroman58 said:

I did lower the pickup, but have not raised the pole pieces. The pots are 500k and the original pots.

I put a set of the Curt Mangan fusion matched 10.5-48 on it yesterday too. They do sound pretty good on this guitar.

Ok, I was just warning you not to assume the pots are 500K.  Up till about 7yrs or so, Heritage defaulted to using 250K & 300K pots that will definitely darken your tone.

[Spectrum13]

4 minutes ago, Kuz said:

Ok, I was just warning you not to assume the pots are 500K.  Up till about 7yrs or so, Heritage defaulted to using 250K & 300K pots that will definitely darken your tone.

This   Also you could go to 1000K