Replacing SD 59 pick ups on my 2014 H-150

[Andyv94]

Hello everyone, 

I did a search on this forum to see if this topic has been talked to in the forum but I didn’t see any new or old topics specifically talking about which new pick ups you kind folks would replace the originals with…
 

im not crazy about the 59’s or Seymour Duncan pick ups to be honest. To me they are too whiney and a bit on the scratchy, rough sound (if that makes sense) 

I would like to put in a set of humbuckers,  I’ve had good luck with Tom Brantley PAF Humbuckers, I also like the new Gibson Custombuckers Humbuckers, but  I am trying to stay away from Gibson. 
 

Any recommendations? I know it’s a very personal choice but it’s always good to hear other people’s opinions. 
 

Here’s my lovely guitar! 
Thank you in advance and my apologies if this subject has been talked to death and I missed the posting!  

 

[bolero]

Wolfetone Legends

[PunkKitty]

JS Moore humbuckers are the best pickups I've ever played. Wolfetones are also very good.

[tbonesullivan]

What kind of music do you play? Are you more of a clean player? The SD 59's are nice, but they are definitely a bit "rude" sounding, designed to sound good for rock and roll.

Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickups aren't super expensive, and are really REALLY nice sounding. Not as crystal clear as say the Schaller Golden 50s that Heritage used for years, but very balanced and just really nice sounding pickups.

[Andyv94]

Thank you all for the recommendations, I’m more of a blues player, Eric Clapton type of music in general. Although I do love me some RUSH & The Police lol

[nuke]

Try this:

Roll the volumes down to 9 and your tone controls down to 7. This will take the hair off the SD59's.  

My '98 H150 came factory equipped with SD59's. Heritage back then was equipping them with 300k volume and 150k tone pots, which smoothed them down quite a bit. A little too much in my opinion. I had occasion to replace a bad jack and a slightly scratchy pot, so I replaced the pots with Dimarzio 500k volumes and 250k tones.  That's electrically, the equivalent of making 7.5 the top of the tone pots.  Seems about right to me.

The Dimarzio pots have a 30% audio taper, which allows smoother control of the volume as you turn down from full. The usual 10% audio taper pots are designed to give smooth control coming up from full off. 

I have a Gibson Custom Shop 1960 re-issue with the Custom Bucker III pickups. They're lower output, softer in the highs with a little upper high frequency shimmer. The Alnico 3 magnets are low flux, so the pickups can go closer to the strings, which they kind of need to. 

Had occasion to play a Collings I35-LC (ES-335 style) which was equipped with ThroBak SLE-101-plus pickups. Wow, match made in heaven. 

Clapton's ES335 was most likely "patent sticker" humbuckers. 

Lifeson's ES355 was most likely t-top humbuckers. 

Different tones, different eras. 

 

[Andyv94]

Wow thank you nuke, that’s some great info on your post! Much appreciated!! 🙏🏻

[tsp17]

I’ve also replaced the 59s in a lot of guitars, but they sound great in my H575 Custom.  

I usually end up with Lollar Imperials as the replacement.  

Edited November 3 by tsp17

[rwinking]

On 11/1/2024 at 6:59 PM, tbonesullivan said:

Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickups aren't super expensive, and are really REALLY nice sounding.

I have two H-150s, an H-170 and an old H-140 and I replaced the Schallers with the Dimarzio Anniversar PAFs. I had some Wagners and Wolftones and tried a few others but the Dimarzios hold their own. And the price is incredible. Once I AB'd and measured some Wagner Filmores and the Dimarzio Super Distortions and could not tell the difference. And they measured out exactly the same. I guess the difference was $180 per set vs $450 per set. I do have sme SD's in my H-535 and they are really nice and warm. 

[High Flying Bird]

12 hours ago, tsp17 said:

I’ve also replaced the 59s in a lot of guitars, but they sound great in my H575 Custom.  

I usually end up with Lollar Imperials as the replacement.  

My friends an I have found the '59s to be very muddy.  I have Imperials in my custom 137.  They are fantastic pickups. 

[TalismanRich]

I've got Alnico Pro IIs in my H-140 and they sound fine.   I put Sheptone Tributes in my H-535, and my Mille 2000 has Seth Lovers.  The 157 still has the Schallers in them.  Nobody complained about the tone at PSP when I played it.

I get more differences from my amps than I do from the pickup changes. 

[Andyv94]

Good morning

 

I ended up going with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers! 
I just got them, now I have to put them in my guitar! 👍🏻

[MartyGrass]

You're on a tonequest!  This may be incurable.

SD 59s are decent pickups.  Schallers are as well.  If I could only have one pickup, it would be Fralin P-92s.  That is not to say they are the best.  I just like the single coil-like sound.  The same is true with the Z-coils from G&L.

There are innumerable variables in the signal chain and output.  Strings, picks, technique, harness, control settings, cable (maybe), amp and its settings, speakers, position of speakers to the ears, and room or hall environment.  Then there are pedals.

The electric guitar has been around close to a century.  It is funny that one of the great choices in pickups with jazz players is the very old Dearmonds.  https://dearmondpickups.com/

If pickups were cheap, I'd like the idea of popping in a different set with string changes.  There could be mini-toggle switches to change the circuits internally.

Heritage semi-hollows are not so easy to change harnesses on.  And pickups are not cheap.  And your ears and brain are different than mine.  So this could be a terminal journey, worth every step.  Enjoy it.

 

[bolero]

I had a great sounding Pearly Gates bridge pup in an H150 once. Maybe the blue one I sold to Detroit Blues?