Tweak Posted June 21, 2009 Posted June 21, 2009 I have a new (for me) Heritage 535 and am not sure what the pickups are. I was told they are Schallers, but I am not convinced. They have only one adjustment screw per side per pup if that helps. Didn't Schallers have two per side? In which case, what else did Heritage use as stock? Seth Lovers? 59's? I measured the resistance. The bridge was around 8.4K and the neck was about 7.5K. Next string change, I will pull them out and look at the bottom, but in the mean time: Any help?
High Flying Bird Posted June 21, 2009 Posted June 21, 2009 Looking at the bottoms is the best way to tell.
pushover Posted June 21, 2009 Posted June 21, 2009 I agree that the single adjustment screw is not typical of Schallers, but really the only whay you're gonna tell is to pull 'em and look underneath. From the top you can't tell for sure..
High Flying Bird Posted June 21, 2009 Posted June 21, 2009 If I am not mistaken Schallers have 3 holes in the ear that is used to mount the pup to the ring.
cod65 Posted June 21, 2009 Posted June 21, 2009 when I ordered my 158 I asked for Duncans and I got em.
Tweak Posted June 21, 2009 Author Posted June 21, 2009 Maybe I'll luck out and find out they were swapped for some Tom Holmes or Lollar Imperials............But having said that, I must admit that whatever they are, sound pretty dang good.
smurph1 Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Maybe I'll luck out and find out they were swapped for some Tom Holmes or Lollar Imperials............But having said that, I must admit that whatever they are, sound pretty dang good.That's the important thing..But I understand you wanting to know what brand they are..It took me months to figure out what model my Heritage was..But with help from the brothers I finally figured it out..
Tweak Posted June 22, 2009 Author Posted June 22, 2009 I will change the strings in a couple of days and pull the pups to see the bottom. That oughta do it.
SouthpawGuy Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Have you checked the label inside the f-hole ? Sometimes the pickup type is hand written on it. Here's a shot of the label of my Millie .... You can't see the pickup type listed in the pic though, any excuse !
mars_hall Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Nothing written on mine.t Nothing as in nothing or as in no pup description?
jaywolfe Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 As a Heritage Dealer for 20+ years I could always order the guitars with whatever pickups I or a customer wanted. Think of Heritage as a "Custom Shop" that will accommodate many special order features. When we think of Heritage we should not think of the guitars as having a standard set of specifications, as this small shop has been very flexible & willing to install many, many different pickups over the years...........and players love to try different pickups & are known to change them, especially the "love 'em or hate 'em" Schallers that Heritage clung to for way too many years. While they were supplying most Dealers with Schaller loaded guitars- we special ordered most of ours with Duncans. Took me almost 15 years to convince them to make the SD's the standard pickup, and Seymour "plays" a H150! (Thanks Vince Margol) Besides the obvious tonal advantages- I always felt a USA crafted instrument should have USA made pickups. BTW- Wolfe Guitars conducted a very thorough pickup "Tasting" blindfold test using Heritage H150's with a large variety of pickups. I feel it was the most extensive test performed with all the same model guitar, and the participating players scored the pickups without knowing their make & model. Seth Lover Duncan's & Lollar Imperials tied for 1'st place, with SD 59's close behind. Jay Wolfe
chico Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 As a Heritage Dealer for 20+ years I could always order the guitars with whatever pickups I or a customer wanted. Think of Heritage as a "Custom Shop" that will accommodate many special order features. When we think of Heritage we should not think of the guitars as having a standard set of specifications, as this small shop has been very flexible & willing to install many, many different pickups over the years...........and players love to try different pickups & are known to change them, especially the "love 'em or hate 'em" Schallers that Heritage clung to for way too many years. While they were supplying most Dealers with Schaller loaded guitars- we special ordered most of ours with Duncans. Took me almost 15 years to convince them to make the SD's the standard pickup, and Seymour "plays" a H150! (Thanks Vince Margol) Besides the obvious tonal advantages- I always felt a USA crafted instrument should have USA made pickups. BTW- Wolfe Guitars conducted a very thorough pickup "Tasting" blindfold test using Heritage H150's with a large variety of pickups. I feel it was the most extensive test performed with all the same model guitar, and the participating players scored the pickups without knowing their make & model. Seth Lover Duncan's & Lollar Imperials tied for 1'st place, with SD 59's close behind. Jay Wolfe interesting, Jay. thanks, chico
GuitArtMan Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 As a Heritage Dealer for 20+ years I could always order the guitars with whatever pickups I or a customer wanted. Think of Heritage as a "Custom Shop" that will accommodate many special order features. When we think of Heritage we should not think of the guitars as having a standard set of specifications, as this small shop has been very flexible & willing to install many, many different pickups over the years...........and players love to try different pickups & are known to change them, especially the "love 'em or hate 'em" Schallers that Heritage clung to for way too many years. While they were supplying most Dealers with Schaller loaded guitars- we special ordered most of ours with Duncans. Took me almost 15 years to convince them to make the SD's the standard pickup, and Seymour "plays" a H150! (Thanks Vince Margol) Besides the obvious tonal advantages- I always felt a USA crafted instrument should have USA made pickups. BTW- Wolfe Guitars conducted a very thorough pickup "Tasting" blindfold test using Heritage H150's with a large variety of pickups. I feel it was the most extensive test performed with all the same model guitar, and the participating players scored the pickups without knowing their make & model. Seth Lover Duncan's & Lollar Imperials tied for 1'st place, with SD 59's close behind. Jay Wolfe Jay, Not sure, but I like to think that 535 I custom ordered from you all those years ago may have been the first with Seth Lovers. If you remember, we tried to get Antiquities but at the time Seymour Duncan would not supply them to a manufacturer, he would only sell them as after market pickups. Anyway, I don't remeber seeing any 535s (or 150s for that matter) listed with Seth Lovers before that and by the time the Millenium Ltd. came out a year or so later they were a standard upgrade. Bob Faulkner
Tweak Posted June 24, 2009 Author Posted June 24, 2009 Great info Jay! I am going to pull the new strings off just to have a look! T
pcovers Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 BTW- Wolfe Guitars conducted a very thorough pickup "Tasting" blindfold test using Heritage H150's with a large variety of pickups. I feel it was the most extensive test performed with all the same model guitar, and the participating players scored the pickups without knowing their make & model. Seth Lover Duncan's & Lollar Imperials tied for 1'st place, with SD 59's close behind. Jay Wolfe Where did the HRW pickups fit into the impressions?
Kuz Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Where did the HRW pickups fit into the impressions? When I read of this "study" here before, I believe the HRWs weren't included in the tone test.
jaywolfe Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 "Where did the HRW pickups fit into the impressions?" HRW's were in 5'th place for bridge & 7'th for neck. Not very good I'm afraid. However we asked the raters, of which there were just over 30, to keep in mind that we were hearing these tones solo- No Bass, drums nor any of the sonic clutter you must compete with in a band setting. From my experience HRW's do very well in cutting through a live mix. They are also popular with some top level Jazz players for their clean, clear mix cutting presence. When we play a guitar alone, it's tones stand alone & must produce the most pleasing tones to "our" ears. It can be warmer, fatter & richer. When we play in a live mix- we most often need to brighten it up some & eliminate some of that richness, as it can muddy things up & we lose articulation. When I play alone I zero the presence control on my amp. When in a group I bring that richness killing presence up considerably, so that I can be more into the mix and not contributing a muddiness to it. HRW's can be quite good in a live situation, as I'm pretty sure many of you already realize. Also- Duncan's 59's will do this with a bit less output. HRW's are excellent for a heavy Rock style too, as they do push a signal with some authority. I'm thankful Heritage offer so many choices. (I was not a rater in this comparison, and we all learned plenty from it) Jay Wolfe
pushover Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 "Where did the HRW pickups fit into the impressions?" HRW's were in 5'th place for bridge & 7'th for neck. Not very good I'm afraid. However we asked the raters, of which there were just over 30, to keep in mind that we were hearing these tones solo- No Bass, drums nor any of the sonic clutter you must compete with in a band setting. From my experience HRW's do very well in cutting through a live mix. They are also popular with some top level Jazz players for their clean, clear mix cutting presence. When we play a guitar alone, it's tones stand alone & must produce the most pleasing tones to "our" ears. It can be warmer, fatter & richer. When we play in a live mix- we most often need to brighten it up some & eliminate some of that richness, as it can muddy things up & we lose articulation. When I play alone I zero the presence control on my amp. When in a group I bring that richness killing presence up considerably, so that I can be more into the mix and not contributing a muddiness to it. HRW's can be quite good in a live situation, as I'm pretty sure many of you already realize. Also- Duncan's 59's will do this with a bit less output. HRW's are excellent for a heavy Rock style too, as they do push a signal with some authority. I'm thankful Heritage offer so many choices. (I was not a rater in this comparison, and we all learned plenty from it) Jay Wolfe +1 in the now "virtual" karma for Jay for posting this.. Thanks
chico Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 "Where did the HRW pickups fit into the impressions?" ....HRW's can be quite good in a live situation, as I'm pretty sure many of you already realize. Also- Duncan's 59's will do this with a bit less output. HRW's are excellent for a heavy Rock style too, as they do push a signal with some authority. I'm thankful Heritage offer so many choices. (I was not a rater in this comparison, and we all learned plenty from it) Jay Wolfe I have to agree with that, I love HRWs in the group situation. Never thought about a comparison of solo sound vs. a group sound, but that is good food for thought. thanks. chico
jacques Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 Wonderful to hear about this test (and its results). I've always been in favour of the SD '59s, mostly because they get you so close to the tones that made Les Pauls and 335s famous (like from early Clapton and Jeff Beck on his album 'Truth') both in stand alone and band situations. I've noticed in an earlier discussion that many of us here don't like the '59s - probably for the very same reason I do like 'em... So it is rather funny to hear the test results from mr. Wolfe. I also compared a 535 with Set Lovers to my own 535 with 59's and like mr. Wolfe's test I didn't think the difference was that spectacular. Always wondered why so many people think there'd be that much difference between one good pickup and another. And I agree that Schallers don't always bring out the best. I've owned an H 127 that could not handle any loud playing and also my VIP2 sounded a lot better when I replaced the Schallers with SD Alnico II pros. But...I love the Schaller single coils and humbucker in my 162, so maybe it depends on the guitar... (just my two cents)
Tweak Posted June 25, 2009 Author Posted June 25, 2009 The mystery is solved: SD59's bridge and neck!!
Paul P Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 BTW- Wolfe Guitars conducted a very thorough pickup "Tasting" blindfold test using Heritage H150's with a large variety of pickups. I feel it was the most extensive test performed with all the same model guitar, and the participating players scored the pickups without knowing their make & model. Seth Lover Duncan's & Lollar Imperials tied for 1'st place, with SD 59's close behind. There should be more tests done like this. And do one for cables while you're at it Wouldn't the best pickup depend on the person and the type of music played ? I can't imagine a smooth jazz player liking the same pickups as a shredder. What kind of musicians were those that tested the pickups ? (I guess the H150 is one indication)
tulk1 Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 The mystery is solved: SD59's bridge and neck!! Tweak, good to hear you sleuthed this one out! Those are excellent pickups. Kinda like finding buried treasure, isn't it? Or that $5 bill in the pocket of your jacket.
Tweak Posted June 26, 2009 Author Posted June 26, 2009 How sweet it is........ I am dying to try Jason Lollar's Imperials. These 59's will stay in the 535, but I have something else that might be a good guinea pig.
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