Electrical and magnetic measurements of my HRW pickups

[nuke]

I recently acquired a 2001 H535 with the HRW pickups in it.  I was around then the HRW was introduced and it was the bee's knees, and nowdays not so much. 

I have test equipment, and I can actually measure and compare the magnetic properties and electrical properties of pickups, plot their overall response curves and characterize them objectively.  The coil resistance really doesn't tell us anything about the pickup's performance. It has very little to do with the sound they make. Wht is important is the inductance and the loaded resonant frequency of the pickup. 

After comparing the properties I measured of the HRW's I have with many other pickups, I will say they are very close to the Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz pickup set. The inductance and capacitance of the coils, the magnetic field strengths and resonant frequency are very close, right around 5% within the same measurements. The magnet fields are a bit stronger on the HRW, but not all that much. Within the range of normal variance for pickups. 

The other part of the HRW package is the potentiometer values, the HRW's use 500k volume and 250k tone pots, with the same .022 capacitors that Heritage normally used.  

My friend has a 335 with a SH-2 Jazz neck and SH-4 (JB) bridge pickup, and the Jazz and HRW neck is quite similar sounding and output is right in the ballpark. 

 

 

 

[zydecosoultrain]

Thanks Nuke.  That is really interesting. Like your friend, I have a H535 with an Sh-2 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. I also have a H575 with HRWs which I think of as fairly hot compared to the H535. Certainly the H535 makes a lot more background hiss through the amp but that may be due to other electrical issues I guess. I'll try to clean up the input jack on the H575 and carefully compare the neck pickup sound on each guitar. 

[hinesarchtop]

Nice to know. I finally picked up an LCR meter so I can measure more values. No ones ever divulged the guarded secret if the HRW as far as I know. Thanks for the info!

[bolero]

Hey good info. Thanks for doing that!

[tsp17]

I have owned both HRW and SD Jazz and concur that to my ears they sound similar. 

[bobmeyrick]

My understanding is that HRWs were Schallers that had been modified Ren Wall. It would be interesting to see how the HRWs compare with the standard Schallers.

[Gitfiddler]

3 hours ago, bobmeyrick said:

My understanding is that HRWs were Schallers that had been modified Ren Wall. It would be interesting to see how the HRWs compare with the standard Schallers.

Didn't Ren use some type of super-secret cryogenic process on the Schaller magnets or something?

In my very un-scientific comparison of HRW's vs. Schallers, the HRW's sounded clearer and slightly higher output.

My test mules were my 535, 555 and 575's.  In these guitars I like the HRW's better.  However, my favorite pickup remains SD Seth Lovers.

[MartyGrass]

5 hours ago, Gitfiddler said:

Didn't Ren use some type of super-secret cryogenic process on the Schaller magnets or something?

In my very un-scientific comparison of HRW's vs. Schallers, the HRW's sounded clearer and slightly higher output.

My test mules were my 535, 555 and 575's.  In these guitars I like the HRW's better.  However, my favorite pickup remains SD Seth Lovers.

The Seth Lover is the gold standard to me, particularly with jazz.  I'm in the minority, but I do like Schallers, too.  

[Heritage1970]

2 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

The Seth Lover is the gold standard to me, particularly with jazz.  I'm in the minority, but I do like Schallers, too.  

I agree about Schallers. All of my older Heritage models I've had that have them in it I thought sounded spectacular! But there you go. It's like anything, it's all subjective. No one person can really say any specific thing is fantastic or sucks. Everything in life is completely subjective person to person. Personally, I think Schaller pickups are great!

[rockabilly69]

1 hour ago, Heritage1970 said:

I agree about Schallers. All of my older Heritage models I've had that have them in it I thought sounded spectacular! But there you go. It's like anything, it's all subjective. No one person can really say any specific thing is fantastic or sucks. Everything in life is completely subjective person to person. Personally, I think Schaller pickups are great!

yep subjective, there's too many variables in what we all listen for.  

[nuke]

Have to consider that Schaller made a LOT of pickups!!! Many, many different variants, everything from floating bar pickups for jazz boxes, to PAF types to wildly overwound ceramic magnets with hex-poles and blades to some very unusual types used in the Fender Master series guitars of the early 1980's, The Esprit, Flame and D'Aquisto all made in Japan and overseen by D'Aquisto. The Esprit is most associated with Robben Ford. These were expensively made humbuckers, with a unique 3-point mounting system, nickel-silver baseplates and plastic covers with radiused tops and pole-pieces. 

Having had a bunch of them apart, Schaller made a good quality pickup. Competently manufactured and very consistent. 

[High Flying Bird]

These two have Schallers in them and they scream!