H-150 pick-us

[Bonefish]

First, thanks so much for this forum (although my wife doesn't appreciate that you kept me up until 2:00 in the morning). I have a 1996 H-150 Gold Top guitar (mine since 1997). We were separated for about 6 years, but are fast renewing our friendship. It's such an awesome guitar I only wish I could show it more sonic respect than my Line6 Flextone Duo can provide. Maybe one day ...

 

My question is if anyone knows what type of pickups are in this guitar and if after 6 years of rest I should be mindful of making any adjustments. I'm trying to be much more sonically aware this time around with my playing and so if anyone has any pointers on the setup of the pickups that would be greatly appreciated. Also, at the moment I have D'Addario 11 Nickel Wounds on there. Any recommendations on getting a fuller sound (at same gauge). Most of my playing is at church so the style tends to fall in the Coldplay, U2, Nationals, genre.

 

(sorry about the lousy lighting on the picture, its 2 am!)

[fxdx99]

Nice Goldie there. The 2 per side adjust screws would indicate you have 'stock' pickups for that year, Schallers.

 

"Measuring between the top of the pickups and the bottom of the strings, with the strings depressed at the last fret, the best advice is to start with a gap of 1/16 inch between bridge pickup and strings and 3/32 inch between neck pickup and strings..."

 

I usually like mine a tab lower than the above starting point, but use your ears to the the judge. For string to string, listen to ensure it's balanced across the guitar and between neck/bridge pickups.

 

There's tons of pickups out there to experiment with, although Schallers are fine classic sounding pickups and no need to swap 'em out. Should the 'I can't leave it alone and have to mess with it' bug get you (I can relate) Tom Short's get good press on this forum as do Throbaks. Seth Lovers by SD are a personal fav of mine for the money.

[FredZepp]

If you are up until 2 AM checking out the Heritage Owners Club forum, you must really appreciate the beauty of these guitars... you'll fit right in. Welcome.

 

There is nothing wrong at all with the Schallers that your 150 has (btw, great looking guitar ) , it depends on if you'd like to change the sound. You'd probably open it up some ( more transparent ) with Seth Lovers , Tom Shorts, Sheptones, or Antiquities. A SD '59 would likely provide more mid range bark. Then of course there are hot pickups, but that probably doesn't fit your music too well.

[Bonefish]

Thanks for the quick feedback! One thing I liked about the guitar when I bought it was that the pups gave it a slightly less edgy les paul feel. I've had countless people comment on how much they like the look and feel of the guitar over the years. I'll probably leave pups as is for now, but may think about changing them out after I update my amp (wanting a purer tone from my amp, the flexibility of the Flextone was fun, but I'm in a bit of a different place now).

 

I'm going to replace strings, clean frets and fretboard and adjust intonation tonight. I'll also check out the spacing between the strings and the pups while I'm at it. Glad I found this forum, it's AWESOME!

[FredZepp]

Many here would look at pots/ caps before changing pickups ... just an afterthought.

[brentrocks]

Nice GT!!!

 

looks like Schallers to me....do you like the tone....i think they are pretty good pups!!

[Bonefish]

I've really enjoyed the guitar and like the tone I get from the pups. A Les Paul feel with slightly less grit. Really like the full warm feel in the bottom position and the grit I get from the top. I just put on fresh strings, cleaned and conditioned the fret board, and adjusted the intonation just a bit. I am VERY happy with how it turned out. Just a great feeling, great playing guitar. I bought that guitar for $650 when I was in college. I have no idea where I came up with that money, but I'm so glad that I decided to go with the Heritage H-150 over the American Strat I was thinking about.

[rooster]

If you were thinking of improving your strings, I've used Curt Mangam strings for awhile now, and find them to be really well made, especially for the $$$; I get a dozen packs for about $60 or so from Faultline Music in California off their internet store. There are many local distributers, though, so if you look at his website, you can locate one. Other than Thomastik-Infeld or Cocco, they are the best I've found (T-I are too expensive for my gigging schedule/paycheck, and Cocco are not really obtainable anymore, to my knowledge).

 

Also, if you switch to a good set of pots and caps, as FredZepp mentioned earlier, you'll get a great range of sounds previously not available. A lot of people call it "voodoo", but I look at it this way: I've been an electronics tech for over 20 years, repaired countless amps and guitars, as well as worked in some high-tech manufacturing houses, but when I put the paper-in-oil caps (in my case, Sprague Vitamin Q caps, old stock) in my guitars, I got the "growl" that I never had before on the tone control. I never heard it with Orange drops, 150s, ceramic, you name it. They made a difference that you could not have convinced me of. In fact, I originally put them in just to prove that they made no difference. I guess you can always learn something new. Goodman also made them, and several people are making them now, but they go for ridiculous money --- you'd be better off getting old stock from a surplus house.

 

Hope you continue to enjoy your guitar. I really love these Heritage guitars; enough so that my old '87 PRS (that I bought brand new) just sits in the case. It may be a "perfect" guitar, but it lacks the character that these wonderful pieces of Michigan craftsmanship have. I guess I prefer personality over perfection.

 

rooster.

[barrymclark]

First, thanks so much for this forum (although my wife doesn't appreciate that you kept me up until 2:00 in the morning). I have a 1996 H-150 Gold Top guitar (mine since 1997). We were separated for about 6 years, but are fast renewing our friendship. It's such an awesome guitar I only wish I could show it more sonic respect than my Line6 Flextone Duo can provide. Maybe one day ...

 

My question is if anyone knows what type of pickups are in this guitar and if after 6 years of rest I should be mindful of making any adjustments. I'm trying to be much more sonically aware this time around with my playing and so if anyone has any pointers on the setup of the pickups that would be greatly appreciated. Also, at the moment I have D'Addario 11 Nickel Wounds on there. Any recommendations on getting a fuller sound (at same gauge). Most of my playing is at church so the style tends to fall in the Coldplay, U2, Nationals, genre.

 

(sorry about the lousy lighting on the picture, its 2 am!)

Beauty of a GT!

 

First, I back up Brent in that these appear to be Schallers. I absolutely love these type of pickups but, then, I also like the old PAF type which the Schaller Golden 50's are modeled after.

 

Strings wise, D'Addario makes a fine string. I use them almost exclusively just because of how easy they are to get but they also sound good.

 

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with a Line6 anything. If you like the sound, then cool. Issue resolved. If you just have it because you have it and really aren't sold on the sound and hope to get another, that is another story.

 

I played Line6 amps and PODs for years. They do fine. I'd have no problem using one if that is what I had.

[barrymclark]

DBL POST!