heagle Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Hello everyone, to be honest the main cause for my presence here was in the beginning the Ed Roman's comment about heritage guitars... but I yet read here elsewere that maybe realty is a bit different from the one described in Ed's website.. So here I am now, glad to talk about my H535 natural, I bought here in Europe. In particular I'd like to have some advice from you experts about pickups. I play jazz, 011 flatwound strings, and at the moment my guitar is still mounting the original SD '59. Good sound, but still quite "modern", brilliant.. if you see what i mean. Is there a way to obtain a sound closer to the classic gibson 335? As far as I understood, seems that HRW pickups sound this way... could these be an option? Or should I switch to a couple of original Gibson classic '57 PUP? .. or maybe the matter is that the H535 is actually different from a Gibson 335, and with that guitar that kind of sound is simply unreachable... thanks for your thoughts! bye from Italy!
wingnut1 Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 The SD 59 are supposed to be SD's PAF style pickup. It has alnico II magnets and is wound to emulate the original Gibson Humbuckers. Gibson's custom 57 is going to be very similar to this pickup. There are various boutique pickup makers that you can try.
heagle Posted August 31, 2007 Author Posted August 31, 2007 The SD 59 are supposed to be SD's PAF style pickup. It has alnico II magnets and is wound to emulate the original Gibson Humbuckers. Gibson's custom 57 is going to be very similar to this pickup <...> thx for answering! i see... and actually the sound is very similar! But I had a couple of chance to play my H535 and a 335 (I think it was a regular model, not older than a few years) side by side, and the 355 had "that" sound... Being virtually the same guitar (if not better!), I thought that mounting those pickups on my 535 I could achieve that sound too... ... and what about HRW? Are they completely different?
GuitArtMan Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Hi Heagle and welcome to the forum. As for the H-535 vs. new 335, I think Heritage makes a better 335 than the G word does. I've compared my H-535s to numerous current Gibson offerings and everytime walked away feeling the 535 was the superior instrument. No contest. Some suggestions: Duncan Seth Lovers - These pickups just shine in a semi-hollow body guitar and are my favorite for semi-hollows. Duncan Antiquites - If you're looking for the sound of a 40+ year old 335, few if any pickups will get you closer. Flat wounds? Unless there is a specific reason you are using flatworunds and want that sound/feel, I'd go woth round wounds. I'd bet that most of the classic 335 tones you are looing for were done on round wounds.
heagle Posted August 31, 2007 Author Posted August 31, 2007 Flat wounds? Unless there is a specific reason you are using flatworunds and want that sound/feel, I'd go woth round wounds. I'd bet that most of the classic 335 tones you are looing for were done on round wounds. I feel more comfortable with flatwounds while comping. Smoother fingering change even with complicated chords. But since I started to play also a korean archtop, I think I'll keep flatwounds on it, and switch back to roundwound on the 535... (when I'll be accustomed to the different body and scale sizes, I'll think about some archtop Heritage too... )
Thundersteel Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Welcome to the club, heagle! My H157 originally had the SD '59s in it, but I had them changed out for HRWs--much better sounding IMHO--YMMV.
GuitArtMan Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 I feel more comfortable with flatwounds while comping. Smoother fingering change even with complicated chords.But since I started to play also a korean archtop, I think I'll keep flatwounds on it, and switch back to roundwound on the 535... (when I'll be accustomed to the different body and scale sizes, I'll think about some archtop Heritage too... ) Ok. I forgot to mention a few years back I had in my possesion a H-535 with Seth Lovers, a H-535 with HRWs and a G word CS-336 with '57 Classics. I liked them in this order: 1st - Seth Lovers. The just sound great in a semi-hollow. The neck is warm and full, but still with a crispness to it never rmuddy. The bridge was very clear sounding with a nice edge that could be dialed out using the tone control. The middle toggle position was to die for and a million sublte variations of great tone could be had by just varying the volume controls. 2nd. The HRWs. These are a great pickup, very clear and full sounding and with a HiFi (in a good way) quality to them. A little higher output than the Seth Lovers - settings that were clear with the Seths were getting overdrien by the HRWs. 3rd. '57 Traggics, ehr Classics. I really didnd't care for them at all. The neck position was muddy and woffy soudning. The bridge position was thin and weak and bright and harsh. The middle toggle had none of the magic I normally association with this position. In a word - yuch!
golferwave Posted September 1, 2007 Posted September 1, 2007 It's hard to beat the Duncan antiquities in a hollowbody for vintage tone.
High Flying Bird Posted September 2, 2007 Posted September 2, 2007 A set of DR strings would sound sweet on that 545. I like 10s.
Dick Seacup Posted September 3, 2007 Posted September 3, 2007 I put a set of flatwound 11s on ... hrmm, can't remember what the first guitar was, but it was three or four years ago. Now I put them on everything I own (except the Ovation and the Adamas)...I love the feel, have gotten used to the tension (recently switched from D'addario Chromes to GHS flatwounds...GHS are made in Battle Creek, not too far from the Heritage factory!) and IMHO, the tone is so much more cool. Thing is, regardless of which guitar I'm playing, I think it always sounds the same. Good luck with that 535, let us know what works for you!
monobasic Posted December 28, 2007 Posted December 28, 2007 Hello everyone - glad to be "on board"! Heagle: I am on the same quest... did you changed the pickups in the meantime? Please share your experiences... Greetings from Switzerland monobasic
JohnCovach Posted December 28, 2007 Posted December 28, 2007 I just put a pair of Duncan 59's in my 535. The first thing anyone should know about doing it yourself is that this is the most difficult job of any pickup replacement. To wire the new pickups to the volume pots, all of the electronics need to be removed from their holes, though you can do it without removing them completely from the guitar. Have plenty of patience when reassembling (there are a few tricks to this, one includes attaching fishing line to each component to lead them back to the proper hole). It's the very small space inside the guitar that's the problem, together with no back plate to get at it. The Duncan 59's sound great and can be quite powerful if you adjust them close to the strings. One thing many people forget to do is to adjust the height of the pickup. I find that this affects not only the volume, but also the tone of the pickup (maybe this is partly because of the change of volume). At any rate, experiment with pickup height--get them close to the strings, then farther from the strings, etc. Compare the tone. Do this with the volume pots on 10. (I do not mean adjusting the pole pieces, but rather using the screws on either side of the pickup to raise and lower the entire thing.) I've found that when the pickup is farther from the strings, it will be brighter and more articulate, while closer to the strings will make it less bright but fuller and more fluid. If you want the Carlton/Ritenour sound, I'd get the pickups close to the strings and use 10-46 roundwounds. With a little adjusting, you might find that the Schallers will get the sound you're looking for.
Kazwell Posted December 28, 2007 Posted December 28, 2007 As far as I understood, seems that HRW pickups sound this way... could these be an option? Or should I switch to a couple of original Gibson classic '57 PUP? Hey heagle, go the the for sale section of this forum- rooster has a great price on a HRW neck pu- for 30 bucks including shipping and handling you can't beat it!!!!
Kazwell Posted December 28, 2007 Posted December 28, 2007 Doooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh I didnt' see the date of the original post Oh well, an FYI for the rest of ya'll. Has anyone played BOTH a SD 59 and HRW neck PU? If so, how do they compare. I am flirting with the idea of buying the HRW to put in another guitar that I put the 59's into that were originally taken out of my H-150. I didn't care much for em. (anybody interested in buying em?-sorry wrong section, but offer is STILL good)
Windstring Posted December 28, 2007 Posted December 28, 2007 Buongiorno Heagle, I'm going to play the role of curmudgeon ("stronzo") and suggest you do nothing more to your guitar than adjust the tone controls, both on the guitar and on your amplifier. Also, being a jazz player myself (or at least aspiring to be), I fully applaud your choice of flatwound strings - they themselves will lessen the brilliance of your tone, and they are much nicer when doing chord-melody. Roundwounds will sound brighter, in my opinion. Penso che puo ascoltare la differenza! (Mi dispiace, non me la cavo bene!) Let the onslaught of differing opinions begin. Salve e Buon Anno Nuovo!
jacques Posted December 29, 2007 Posted December 29, 2007 and don't forget those Italian FINGERS. Usually they make much more difference than a pickup change! ciao Giacomo
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