squay Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 I have one of the Ed Roman modified Prospects ( "Blues Deluxe"- Prospect with full center block ) with the Schaller Golden 50's PUs and D-VIP. The guitar is gorgeous to look at and wonderful to play in terms of the size and action, but it sounds shrill and weak, especially through my Fender Deluxe Reverb ( using the full humbuckers ). Played side by side with my Epiphone Riviera ( upgraded to Gibson 490R and 498T ), the Epiphone regrettably sounds way better, much warmer and full bodied and punchy, while the Heritage is over the top trebly and thin, even with the tone rolled way off. I understand that the Heritage's smaller body ( relative to the Riviera ) may play into this sound difference, but have read about the Schallers being overly trebly other places, and wondering if swapping the PU's- especially the neck, as I am primarily a rhythm player, will help. Has anyone swapped out for a warmer PU? Any recommendations? Also,regarding the D-VIP system- Will any humbucker work with this? I may remove the D-VIP, not sure. I play rock and roll rhythm guitar and favor warm, punchy midrange tones through cleanish Fender amps w/ reverb and a little overdrive, if that helps at all. Thanks for any advice.
yoslate Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 squay: Try a keyword search here, on the HOC. There have been any number of pickup threads. Many here will recommend Duncan 59's and Seth Lovers. Hard to go wrong with either in just about any application. I can vouch for Seths!
squay Posted July 15, 2009 Author Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks Yoslate, will do- I guess I am not the first person who didn't like the Schallers. Odd thing, the neck on my H-147 sounds great. Maybe because it is 20 years old?
golferwave Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 Slate is right on with the recommendation. I really love the Seth Lovers in a solidbody and some of the others here at the HOC say the 59's sound great in a hollowbody. Your own ears will be the final judge. Good luck!
tulk1 Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 First - welcome to the HOC. Glad to have you on board. Second - uh .... Wow!! That is one stunning Prospect you have there. Regardless of who ordered it. Third - sounds to me like you have the DVIP on with coils split. Or possibly even the phase thingy working. Or both. The Schallers shouldn't be thin and weak, at all. Not saying you wouldn't or don't like them. Just thinking the DVIP is farc'n them up.
squay Posted July 15, 2009 Author Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks Golferwave, I have been listening to the samples on the Seymour Duncan page today. Hmmm. Thanks Tulk1- Good looking out, I think it took me a year to get the controls straight, but I am using them as full humbuckers. The single coil is reeeallly bright! I used to get an OK ( but not ideal to me ) sound out of the humbuckers through my Custom Vibrolux Reverb by rolling the tone way back and turning down the treble, but switching to a '66 Deluxe Reverb ( a super bright amp ) has exacerbated the issue to where I am playing my Epiphone and staring longingly at my Heritage on the wall. I can get some power out of the Schallers when I crank up the tone, but it gets a harsh, sharp sound, and I am looking to blend in behind our lead guys Les Paul.
Wolfi Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks Yoslate, will do- I guess I am not the first person who didn't like the Schallers. Odd thing, the neck on my H-147 sounds great. Maybe because it is 20 years old? I replaced my 555's Schallers with Seth Lovers. It's like a new guitar. My Schallers sounded crappy, too.
JohnCovach Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I like the Duncan 59s and Seths, as well as the Lollar Imperials. But I have to say, you may have a problem with the wiring in that guitar. While I don't like the Schallers much, I'm not sure the difference should be as great as you describe. Are you sure you completely understand the VIP switching? Is it that pickup sounding thin on all settings?
Long Crapper Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I changed out the schallers in my '88 H150 with some nice handwound pickups from a guy that hangs at Harmony Central, Bryan Gunsher BG Pups. I put the Lizard model in the neck and the BG Bucker Dark in the bridge. http://www.bg-pups.com/hb.html Here's a link to a kid playing Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin with these same pickups in his Schecter PT >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wscg9jaceKI
squay Posted July 22, 2009 Author Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks guys- Seth Lovers definitely on my long "short" list, Wolfi, & the BG's sounded pretty damn good as well, LC. John, thanks for the input- I am using the D-VIP correctly- Mini switch up=Split coil, middle=humbucker, and down = out of phase, top volume and tone pots wasted on the out-of-phase. The hell of it is I only got the D-VIP because Ed Roman screwed up the order. I use the coil splitting occasionally, but mainly i am into the neck humbucker sound for rhythm playing ( I am primarily a singer ). I have no use for the out-of-phase at all really. I can get a usable sound of the guitar, but it is way too trebly for my taste. If I was playing leads primarily I would probably be fine with it. To darken it up enough for my liking I have to roll the tone way back, and then I lose too much attack and definition. Not digging it. I have had people say the guitar sounds like a tele, when using the humbucker- In fact the lead player in my last band played a tele and always got pissed when I played this guitar, because I was stepping on his tonal turf. I like a tele OK, but I bought a 335 style guitar with humbuckers because that was the sound I wanted. Lessons learned on mail order guitars, eh? But it plays so nicely! Lollars, you say?
tulk1 Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I changed out the schallers in my '88 H150 with some nice handwound pickups from a guy that hangs at Harmony Central, Bryan Gunsher BG Pups. I put the Lizard model in the neck and the BG Bucker Dark in the bridge. http://www.bg-pups.com/hb.html Here's a link to a kid playing Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin with these same pickups in his Schecter PT >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wscg9jaceKI I've known Bryan for years. +1 and more on his pickups. I have 2 custom wound P90s, well, one is an H90. And some really nice custom wound V60s. Nothing but good things to say about Bryan and his BG-Pups.
smurph1 Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I like the Schallers on my 140, but to be fair I haven't ever heard the 59's or the Seth's..They could be WAY better and I wouldn't know it.. I guess I'm just saying "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"
tulk1 Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks guys-Seth Lovers definitely on my long "short" list, Wolfi, & the BG's sounded pretty damn good as well, LC. John, thanks for the input- I am using the D-VIP correctly- Mini switch up=Split coil, middle=humbucker, and down = out of phase, top volume and tone pots wasted on the out-of-phase. The hell of it is I only got the D-VIP because Ed Roman screwed up the order. I use the coil splitting occasionally, but mainly i am into the neck humbucker sound for rhythm playing ( I am primarily a singer ). I have no use for the out-of-phase at all really. I can get a usable sound of the guitar, but it is way too trebly for my taste. If I was playing leads primarily I would probably be fine with it. To darken it up enough for my liking I have to roll the tone way back, and then I lose too much attack and definition. Not digging it. I have had people say the guitar sounds like a tele, when using the humbucker- In fact the lead player in my last band played a tele and always got pissed when I played this guitar, because I was stepping on his tonal turf. I like a tele OK, but I bought a 335 style guitar with humbuckers because that was the sound I wanted. Lessons learned on mail order guitars, eh? But it plays so nicely! Lollars, you say? Call, write, talk to Jason however you need to. Describe your current setup/tone and where you want to go. He'll get you there, no doubt. Don't have any Lollar pups, but I have talked to the man. Very approachable. And uber knowledgeable. Just don't think you can wrong there. Not while he's still involved.
smurph1 Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 Call, write, talk to Jason however you need to. Describe your current setup/tone and where you want to go. He'll get you there, no doubt. Don't have any Lollar pups, but I have talked to the man. Very approachable. And uber knowledgeable. Just don't think you can wrong there. Not while he's still involved.I've had nothing but good experiences with Jason Lollar..I put a couple of his P-90's in an old Epi Gold top I had..He e-mailed me back to see how I liked em..how's that for service?
yngwie308 Posted August 2, 2009 Posted August 2, 2009 I cannot more highly recommend a pickup more than Dr. Vintage (Rick Norman's) new series of PAF's which are replications of acyual pickups in some famous bursts.. http://www.doctorvintage.com/drv1_pickups.html Rick Norman is known as Dr, Vintage for everything except the pickups, his control sets are unparalleled yngwie308 as well
paul144 Posted August 2, 2009 Posted August 2, 2009 Did you try clipping the bright cap on the Deluxe's volume control? I'd go with a Seth in the neck otherwise.
squay Posted December 12, 2009 Author Posted December 12, 2009 Ha- Just wanted to tell you guys who offered me great advice the shocking conclusion of my saga. I decided to LOOK at the pickups finally 2 weeks ago, after months of agonizing, and noticed that the pickups were angled the whole way up on the high strings and down on the wound strings- The opposite of all of my other HB guitars. So within 10 minutes with a screwdriver, I got exactly what I want out of the Schaller pickups. I guess I am kind of an idiot! So once again, thanks for all of the spot on advice, esp those of you who questioned that I couldn't get a decent sound out of these PUs. My apologies to Schaller, maker of fine humbuckers! Tho looks like Heritage is doing SDs now. Cheers!
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