nuke

I’ve taken apart and repaired many Schaller humbuckers and there’s nothing special in them. The parts are all metric, and specific to Schaller, so you can’t swap bobbins and magnets, keeper bars and screws and baseplates with US made pickups or parts. They also come with different pole spacing depending on whether they are bridge or neck position. Many other brands are the same spacing for any position even if marked neck and bridge. Even many Chinese manufacturers use the standard US measure components. It isn’t so much you can’t take the magnet out and swap it, it is just you probably won’t be able to get another magnet of the exact same dimensions to fit in the Schaller humbucker. Anything is possible as to what’s in the HRW’s. It is entirely possible they were cryogenically treated. It is also possible that the baseplates, covers, bobbins and magnets were supplied to Heritage unassembled and they wound and assembled them at Heritage. Im happy with the HRW in my 2001 H535. Don’t want to take them apart.

Yeah it’s weird. The Gibson Custom Buckers 3 are un-potted just like the Seth Lovers. The Custom Buckers have alnico III magnets. I decided to take electrical measurements of the Custom Buckers 3. The neck and bridge exactly the same in the set. They measure up at 4.4H inductance and about 7.4k. I will chalk it up to alnico 3, versus the Lovers with alnico 2 and the 59’s with alnico 5. I’ll check the magnetic field too for comparison. Just didn’t have the gauss meter out.

Well, I scored a used set of 2016 Seth Lovers on FleaBay, reasonable price and already patina'd and "pre-aged" from natural wear and tear, so they look right in this workhorse guitar with its own natural wear and tear. The harshness I heard with the stock 59's is reduced, the Seth Lovers are more bell-like, clear, and I think a step in the right direction for me anyway. I took measurements of inductance and capacitance at 120hz, DCR, and magnetic field strength while they were out. SD-59 Bridge: 5.016 H, 350nF Cs, 59.47 nF Cp, DCR 8.27k, field 40mt at the top screws. SD-59 Neck: 4.191 H, 419.6 nF Cs, 65.84 nF Cp, DCR 7.236k, field 40mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Bridge: 4.76 H, 369.6 nF Cs, 58 nF Cp, DCR 8.202k, field 37mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Neck: 4.00 H, 438.7 nF Cs, 58.84 nF Cs, DCR7.59kk, field 37mt at the top screws. I compared the Seth Lovers now installed in my 1998 H150, with Faber hardware and lightweight locking Gotoh tuners, against my Gibson Custom Shop R0, 60th anniversary edition, with its stock Custom Bucker III pickups in it, unpotted like the Seth Lovers. Both have 50's wiring, paper-in-oil caps. The biggest difference is weight, the H150 being 8lbs and 13oz, the Gibson Les Paul is a svelte 8lbs, 1oz. (not chambered). The Gibson is more lush, with a bit more overtones, the neck being on the dark side and the bridge having a good bit more brightness and snap. It does that, "beefy telecaster" thing. Though both pickups are the same in the set. The H150 with Seths is more forward sounding, brighter, punchy, but doesn't have the same rich overtones as the Gibson. They're quite distinctly different sounding guitars, in spite of their close similarities. Both have the pickups set to the exact same height, both wearing pure nickel strings. With nearly a pound of weight difference between them (about 13oz) I wonder how much is wood and how much is pickups.

Thanks guys, it is really hard to describe "tone", but I want that nice, bright, but not harsh top end. The 59's are good, especially with more gain/distortion. But I tend to play on the edge of break up most of the time and even sometimes quite clean and bluesy. The 59's seem to have a peak in the 1khz-2khz frequencyrange that grates a bit on my ears. I wish I had money for the ThroBaks, they sounded so incredibly sweet in my friend's R9. Now to find a deal on a set...

Anyone have direct experience swapping out a pair of Seymour Duncan 59's for a pair of Seth Lovers SH-55 pickups? I have a '98 H150 that was a special run with SD59's and standard tune-o-matic bridge/tail from the factory. It's also a lighter one, about 8-3/4 lbs. I've owned it for over 20 years now. Use it as a work-horse. The 59's are ok-ish, but I find them a bit aggressive and in general, I find they have in this, and many other guitars, a treble peak that's a bit harsh. It isn't overly bright, but it just has a peak in the wrong place to my ears. The original pots from Heritage were like the Norlin era-Gibson, 100k tone and 300k volumes, which darkened it up quite a bit. When a couple of the pots showed wear, I changed them to the more typical 500k and "50's wiring" since I like to roll the volumes up and down a lot while playing. I like the low-output PAF sound a lot, clear, articulate, bright but not harsh. A friend put throBaks in his Gibson R9 and that's the direction I'd like to go, but not $900 in that direction.

Yeah leveling beam to level fretboards and frets. The radius is better at establishing the fretboard radius. I find they work well to radius the top of nuts too. I have a 2001 535 that I love. I got it used in pristine condition a couple of years ago. It left the factory with a very not level fretboard. It was like a roller coaster. It was also only 9.5 radius too. Some heroic effort had been applied in its prior life to level the fret tops. It played but had buzzes here and there. it just didn’t feel right either. Some frets were as tall as new wire, some were under .030 tall. Tried everything I could think of. Then just decided to pull the frets out and do it right. After leveling the board nicely and sanding it to a 10 inch radius refretting was a snap. Having a level substrate to set the frets in meant not much leveling work was necessary. Saved a lot of meat on the frets. Moral of the story, have a good look at the fretboard. If it ain’t level, the frets won’t be either.

Wow, that's awesome!

I thought Heritage has been giving Gibson a run for its money ever since the first few I saw in the mid 1980's!!! I have a great Gibson Les Paul, 60th anniversary 1960 Ver 2 custom reissue. It is just killer. But my H535 is the best ES style I've ever owned and among the best I've ever played. Side by side with the Collings I35, I'd take the 535 for half the price (or less actually). That Collins weren't no slouch either.

Doesn't seem wrong for Seth Lovers. They're usually around 8k ish. I can't remember if they have the same impedance bridge and neck, or slightly more winds on the bridge. I was thinking they were the same. They're in the ballpark anyway. The original PAF were the same, neck or bridge.

Just curious if you can read the ohms of the pickups? Something strikes me odd about the bridge, like maybe it just got a sticker. I think SD keeps a database of the Seth Lover pickups and can recall the DCR based on the serial number sticker on it.

The pickups are little odd. Usually, the Seth Lover set has a smooth base plate, a sticker in the middle with a rubber stamp serial number, and the blue "Seth E Lover / Seymour Duncan" signature stamp over it. Then there's the little model number and date sticker by the leg. If you look at the photos here at Sweetwater, they have an image of a 2016 Seth Lover https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SH55n4NKL--seymour-duncan-sh-55n-seth-lover-4-conductor-pickup-nickel-neck Usually what they look like. Looks like you have a bridge with the embossed "Seymour Duncan" logo pressed into it, no rubber-stamp sticker and no blue signature. But the neck (fuzzy background) looks more like I'd expect. I think the H-535 '06 is actually "106". Which makes sense if it was part of special run or something. Perhaps the internal sticker has been lost to the winds. It is just a paper decal, a dose of humidity or bad luck might loosen it. Or someone picked it out, or who knows on a 9-year old guitar. I think you got one someone's mildly modified. The blonde 2001 with HRW pickups I own, I found a couple of years ago at a shop that had it marked as a 2020 for some weird reason. It was pristine, with the original Schaller hardware. It had "the sound" one wants from a 535. Had to have it. I later found it had the waviest fretboard to escape the factory. Neck perfectly straight, fretboard like a roller-coaster, though all the frets were level. Some were brand new tall, and some were leveled down to .027" tall. Eventually I pulled all the frets, leveled the rosewood, then refretted it myself with medium jumbo, which means the nibs had to go, then put Faber hardware. So, the moral of that story is you never know what someone does to them in the field. What counts is how good it is. My 98 H150 I bought used when it was 2-3 years old, from the original selling dealer. (Buffalo Brothers, who were a big Heritage dealer long ago). They ordered the run with this spec, and took this one back in trade from the original purchaser. The SD59's in it are OEM ones that SD sold to manufacturers back then. No stickers and a little different stamping on the back. So definitely original.

"Hey honey, I was thinking to get junior this guitar for Christmas." (shows picture of Ascent)

Pics? It doesn't sound quite right to me. I do own a special order H150 from 1998. It was a dealer special order, they made a run of them, maybe a few runs of them. It is a standard H150 but it came with SD 59 pickups and a Nashville tune-o-matic bridge and a zinc stop bar, instead of the typical Schaller pickups, bridge and tail at the time. But it bears a regular serial number and it has the normal sticker under the control cavity cover.

The white one looks like it is frowning at you, or it has a fu-man-chu mustache! 😆

Those are real nice looking guitars!

Yeah, I got one of those ES-135 too. It's never really "taken" to me. I guess after 30-years, I could sell it. But it was a birthday present to myself, long ago.

yeah, I have an '01 535 with the HRW's. I absolutely love the pickups. I'd never change them. The SD59's in my '98 H150 are not my favorite, OK though. They don't bug me enough to spend money changing them.

I've played a few of the H150's with the weight relief and I think Heritage got a good balance of weight distribution that some of the earlier weight-relieved Les Pauls from Gibson didn't. I have a 1998 H150, that once I changed some of the hardware on, tips the scale at about 8lbs and 14oz, definitely one of the lighter ones. Unlike most H150's of the era, it had from the factory, a standard Nashville bridge and a heavy zinc tailpiece, and was just over the 9lb mark. Swapped the Grovers out (super heavy they are) and put a Faber aluminum tailpiece and ABR1 on it. That knocked a lot of ounces off. That guitar always had a ton of acoustic resonance. Which is was why I bought used so many years ago. Just a few years ago, I got a Gibson custom shop 1960 Les Paul reissue (60th anniversary model). That one is solid, one-piece mahogany body, and total weight is 8lbs and 1oz. It is a joy to play, light and resonant.

I’ve got a 2001 535 with the HRW’s in it. Like it very much. I put a Faber bridge and tailpiece on it, mostly for feel since I’m used to a tune-o-matic under my muting hand. I later put in the Faber bushings and was amazed at how much the tailpiece bushing inserts changed the tone. Made really good even better. They go much deeper and firmer into the maple center block, seem to acoustically couple to the wood much better than the much shorter and looser Schaller hardware. The HRW pickups are very amenable to tone shaping with the amp or pedals and EQ. Can dial in a variety of tones from them very easily. Some say they are “hi fi” but I’d say smooth frequency response curve. Which is ideal for dialing the amp/effects to get a sound. I’d say exhaust all the external tone shaping options before you change parts. A 7 or 10-band EQ can be very helpful to figure out what to do to get where you want to go.

Yeah, I'm a big fan. I have a USA Geddy Lee signature model. I really love it too! And a Rick 4003. Black, of course. (couldn't live with the old Rick bridge - neither did Geddy, as he put a BaddAss bridge on it.

A very young bass player once bought a Rickenbacker bass, in the footsteps of his hero, Chris Squire. He was most disappointed to find that he didn't sound at all like Chris Squire. The young bass player eventually became quite famous on his own and associated closely with the Rickenbacker bass. Thing is changing parts will make little tweaks in the sound, but you might be chasing a ghost. We don't really know what instrument might have been played in a studio, even when a musician is strongly associated with a particular instrument. Sometimes, maybe there was just something random in the place and he picked it up and played it. Then there's the amp, and the micing and the room, and the engineer's technique to take the track, that particular session or maybe many sessions and so on and so forth. Find the guitar that works for you and your hands, and play the song(s) you want as well as possible. Then, record it. Compare overlayed on the track you want to sound like. See what you can do with various studio/DAW plugins, especially ones that represent the things that might have been in use at the time it was originally recorded. Then do some deducing what is and isn't close to your ghost. In many cases you can get "there" with some EQ, compression and creative dialing in of those.

Just got to figure out the ship in the bottle approach specific to any particular semi-hollow. They're all a little different, think it through, make some tools. I have a 1/4" plug soldered onto a pretty stiff #8 wire with teflon insulation for pulling the jacks through on guitars like 535's where the jack is in the side, and a different one for 335 types with the jack on the face of the top. Switches on the 535 are more trouble-some, since they're thinner than the typical 335. And a roll of nylon floss, to tie to the pots, a few cuss words and a hell of a lot of patience.