rockabilly69
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Posts posted by rockabilly69
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2 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:
Thank you !! I do some research... but do you think having a faber locking bridge be more superior than their faber non locking bridge ? Tone ?
no I just prefer the locker because it keeps the bridge on when your changing strings, same with their tailpiece
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18 minutes ago, bolero said:
The question ( and this thread title ) "did Schaller do anything right" is a bit unfair and a very broad generalization, as obviously their stuff *is* well made, and solidly engineered.
As I said I LOVE their tuners. So I'm not knocking them across the board, just saying that I'm not a fan of their hardware or pickups if I'm going after the classic old LP Kalamazoo sound. If people like their stuff, and they are getting the sound they want out of their guitars, that's all that really matters. This was opinion thread, and we all have them.
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On 5/3/2024 at 3:35 AM, nuke said:
Yes, I have. A bunch of them actually.
Schaller made pickups from the same stuff everyone else does. Here's one fully apart. Alnico V magnet, 42AWG copper wire, 8.5k DCR, I have the electrical and magnetic measurements as well, Inductance, Ls 4.98 henries, Q2.02, Cs 98pf, DCR 8.394k.
Also the same pickup being characterized on my oscilloscope with an exciter coil connected to a signal generator.
Different covers, different wind pattern,. different base plates, different wire, different magnet composition, and oh yeah, potted, close but no cigar. There are certain winders that put a little more emphasis on the proper PAF recipe. I don’t think Schaller is one of them!
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10 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:
Kuz work is immaculate !! My first time taking off the tailpiece stud... it was a tough task.... i ended up slightly lifting up the paint finishes but luckily it didnt tear off.... surprise the H150 finishes is slightly thicker.... contrast to my R8 R9 its thin ....am not sure if its standard for new LP like these, sure they kept the know how on their finishing reciepe... my gassing is they probably gas out as time goes and finishes would thin out flatten and collapse being brittle.....
I am not sure on the tone knob... never a tone knob player.... but i guess i probably go with luxe bumble bee as i heard thru the clips these bumble bee oil in paper is indeed the tone cap....
I probably order one soon next month... but if were to choose faber locking bridge vs faber non locking ABRN-1 which is a better win ahead in hearing any difference?
I been thinking of bswkit but am a bad wood worker... it needs to drill in a larger hole and screw tap for the bswkit to fit in ? I think more likely the nswkit is more of my thing.....
The bswkit is kind of tricky installing, and in my case was even harder, because I had to remove the Faber inserts that I installed in the guitar to begin with. And they are much tighter into the body than stock Nashville bushings. If you are considering the bswkit, just have a repairman do it, if not, the standard inserts are fine, and much better than the stock inserts! I think Kuz had the ones in my H525 P90 installed by his tech.
As for the Luxe PIO cap being THE TONE CAP, I wouldn't go that far. Remember they started out just putting phony covers over Russian PIO caps so they use just as much hyperbole in their marketing. And then a lot of people on gear forums spread that around. Many of these people have no idea what the cap is doing in the first place. There are a few companies making good PIO caps RS guitarworks that are reasonably priced https://rs-guitarworks.myshopify.com/collections/loose-electronic-parts/products/rs-vintage-guitarcap-paper-in-oil-capacitor
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3 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:
Thanks Rockabilly ! Nice Zemaitas !
Well i emailed Larry and he introduced his NSWkit for direct replacement for Nashville style bridge on my H150...
Its a simplier installation where it didnt require any drilling opposite to his other kit ..... and your right it would be fitted with their FaberABRN bridge... i wonder if this kit would a big game changer...
As for the pickup i would try the gibson 490r/498T.... probably also swap the capacitors to luxe bumble bee 0.022uf but it kinda pull me back as i am not a tone knob player.... and mostly i set it all rolled off as am a rock to metal guy.... do you think even with ya tone knob all rolled off... the cap still plays part in the tone for some reason ?
Actually just the opposite, the cap plays a bigger part in the sweep but not when it's wide open. The 490R/498T setup is tried and true, but I would use an .015 cap on the 490R for the clarity but more importantly, it's perfect for the woman tone when the tone knob is rolled off!
As for the NSWkit I have never used that alone, at first I used Faber inserts which were far better than the stock Gibson and Heritage inserts.
Difference very clear here, stock inserts in the left. Faber German steel, Gibson/Heritage pot metal!
And than I used the BSW kit in one of my H150s and I heard a difference. Kuz also had the BSW kit installed in my H535 P90 (once again, thank you Kuz!!!)
Kuz has extensive experience with Faber you should address some of these questions to him. That way it's more than my opinion
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7 hours ago, Kuz said:
NEW AGED NICKEL FINISHED GOTOH TUNERS....
SO... the last 150 CC mod/improvement was buying on Ebay some new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners. To me, the Chrome on the Gotohs tuners was a complete eyesore with the aged finish of the rest of the 150 CC. These new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners were not cheap ($110 + shipping) but to me they were the final piece in the puzzle to getting my Aged 150 CC to look close to Vintage LP Burst. (I also added some Kluson-like tuner buttons to finish the transformation)
BEFORE with the CHROME GOTOH tuners
AFTER with the new ANTIQUE NICKEL GOTOH 510 tuners
Nice mod Kuz! You know I love Gotohs (especially the 510), and I think your guitar looks better with nickel. For me it's either Gotoh of Schaller (not Sperzel) I love them both!
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3 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:
Am late to the game lol.... any idea do they build any thing alike or in the path of the duncan Jazz/JB ?
I just bought a used Gibson 490R/495T after hearing the clips on youtube on these gibson 495T set vs duncan JB.... and the tone on these are great!!
Be getting the Faber bridge post soon too hope the Faber bridge for nashville be a contributing factor on the tone being more mids accentuated & louder acoustically when played non plugged in....
Are you saying you're going to put a Nashville Faber on your guitar??? I have never heard a guitar go from an ABR bridge to a Nashville and sound better. And as I've said in many earlier posts, I've worked on 100's of guitars. I love Faber bridges, and as Kuz will tell you, I hipped him to them. I especially like the brass saddle tone lock bridges. I have them on both of my H150s, my H525 P90 (that Kuz sold me), and my Firebird. Every single time they cleaned up the low end and gave me a more balanced tone. On every one of these guitars they replaced a Nashville! Another benefit of the ABR is that could always get the tailpiece into it's sweet spot (low to the body) without having the string hit the back of the bridge.
And besides the guitars that I still own. I replaced the Nashvilles on two other Les Paul Specials, an SG Classic, and a Firebird. And all of those sounded better with the Faber ABR. I only ever had one bad experience with Faber with an ABR that sounded dead. But a few weeks after I installed it I got a letter from Larry Corsa and he told me mine came from a bad batch and that he would send me a new one. I never told him about my bad bridge!!! And the new one was great. Now that's customer service!
If you want a great set of pickups with the jazz/jb vibe, pair a Wolftone Legend in the neck with a Wolfetone Fenris in the bridge. Same vibe better tone. If your guitar is dark try a 0.15uf cap in the neck, and a .022uf in the bridge. If it's bright, try .022uf caps for both the neck and bridge! 500K pots all the way round!
That's the setup in this guitar and it rules, I love having the ballsy bridge pickup...
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7 hours ago, skydog52 said:
Personally, I liked the Schallers better. You be the judge.
In a bright solid state amp the tone is going to be much different than what I'm accustomed to. And I think both of these pickups sound good in this demo. I like Rick Severson's demos for jazz style playing/voicing, but that's worlds different from the tones I like to go for. But when he was riffing towards the end of the demo I heard some things I liked and that was with the Seths. That guy is a monster player!!!
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6 hours ago, Kuz said:
I am sorry, YES, you are correct they were Sperzel tuners, not Schallers that stripped out. I stand corrected, thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I'm glad to hear this because I LOVE Schaller tuners.
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5 hours ago, bolero said:
Has anyone pulled apart a Schaller & documented what kind of wire & magnets they used?
There has to be a quantitative reason they sound like they do.
I've heard audio & studio transformer experts talking about metallurgy & formulas being a key part of their sound: trade secrets, sometimes lost forever after businesses folded, and modern materials not having the same character. In something as basic as a gtr pickup, maybe raw materials matter more?
I think they do, I've swapped many magnets around and have heard some pretty big differences. I've even heard changes from pole piece slugs! Funny thing though I mostly apply this to guitars when I'm looking for a classic PAF sound. My Teye guitar has potted Lollars (very light potting), a 5 way switch, and a mood knob (which is like HPF), crazy aluminum bridge and tailpiece, and I love the sound of that guitar! I doesn't have the classic Gibson/Heritage sound though.
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15 minutes ago, bolero said:
I've tried to like Schaller humbuckers: I deliberately left them in gtrs for a while because I thought ppl were just being finicky or parroting stuff they'd heard people say. In every case after I put duncans, lollars, throbaks, js moore, sheptones, or wolfetones in, the gtr sounded much better.
I've had the same exact experience with Schallers! I've said this before that I did many pickup swaps for people as a side hustle, and replaced more than one set because, they were just dull sounding, just like any other overly potted pickup. I also can't stand Nashville bridges of any make, or any bridge that uses an insert into the body instead of the post going right in.
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1 hour ago, Kuz said:
Hard to argue with any of the above EXCEPT.... EVERY pair of Schaller tuners that I had with ivoroid buttons (which was default on 150s for a while) eventually striped. I know many others that had the same problem. My G tuner striped in a gig and was unrepairable.
All I ever used were the Schaller M6.
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5 minutes ago, MartyGrass said:
Here are my votes.
Tuners: ok
Tailpiece: too heavy
Bridge: roller bridge good for Bigsbys
Pickups: good for jazz hollowbody archtops
The engineering is very good. Designs are not optimal for many uses.
Growers are excellent tuners. SD 59s are a solid default. Whatever they are using for bridges and tailpieces are a step up.
Tuner's: Every set I've ever used were GREAT! I prefer them over most tuners except for the really high end Gotohs!
Tailpiece: good for holding doors open, or holding stacks of paper down.
Bridge: never found a use for ANY roller bridge, if a Bigsby isn't working, I say go TruArc bar bridge and if needed Serpentune!
Pickups: decent at best, if they worked in a guitar I probably wouldn't yank them, just kidding, they'd be out in a second
If I wanted PAF tone: I would go with Wolfetone Legends, Throbak MXV, Tyson Precious and Grace etc.
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On 4/22/2024 at 2:48 PM, davesultra said:
(IMO) I don’t really believe that any years of the “Pre-Plaza” era H-150s’ were any better or worse. You really have to take them on a case by case basis.
Yes!
On 4/22/2024 at 6:29 PM, Kuz said:This...period.
Yes!
On 4/23/2024 at 6:41 PM, Jwmusic said:Purely my own experience and anecdotes from others. I own a 98 H150 and a late 80s- early 90s 535. Both are incredible guitars and every person who has tried them comments on them, both will be on tour with me for a up coming project.
Ive heard a lot of people say about this era being sought after as the best was incredible and the worst just average. However I have also heard of the inconsistency’s of this era but I’d argue that’s down to the hand made nature.
Conversely, I’ve played several transition years heritages from across the range and they were all average at best and mediocre at worst. The shop I work for was a UK dealer at the time and could not shift them for this reason. Poor finishing such as bad fret work, poor woods, defects such as incorrect neck angle, electrical issues and just general poor QC when compared to the obvious comparatives.
I have heard since the new take over quality has vastly improved again and they are once again the sort after guitars they were.Although some of the coolest Heritages I've played have been old ones, a good percentage of the worst quality, I've seen were also from the early years, with many guitars having to be sent back to the factory! One of my close friends was a Heritage dealer in the so called good old days, and he relayed to me some stories of such guitars, and some newer dealers I've talked too have repeated these stories, so average at best is a fallacy. Also the factory in my opinion was very run down and in need of some good clean up, but these days it's looking great. And some of the new ones are in my opinion the best Heritages I've ever seen, heard, or played! Hands down, with the new guard, the nuts, frets, and binding on the on the standard models look great, and both of my older H150s needed work in all of those departments. The only thing I don't like with the new guard is the relic-ing, especially on the tuners and around the headstock. Another thing, on the custom cores, I think they should offer unpotted humbuckers, for what they are charging for CCs, I think they should cut a deal with Throbak! They should also use better bridges (Faber or ABM would be nice), and better tuners, like Japanese made Klusons (or upscale Gotohs). But all all in all, I think Heritage has upped their game.
Things I love that went by the wayside...
Schaller bridges, tailpieces, and pickups!, I never liked any of them.
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On 4/25/2024 at 7:57 PM, LonelyLefty said:
When you used the naptha did you dilute it or did you use it straight? Was it VM&P naptha? Thanks so much for the reply.
I use plain Zippo lighter fluid, non-diluted, and it works great! My guitar not only smelled of smoke, but of of dank basement. And now it smells fine (like old nitro)!
This is the guitar I'm referring to...
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On 4/25/2024 at 8:41 PM, TalismanRich said:
Don't dilute the naphtha with anything. Nitrocellulose resins are totally insoluble in VM&P naphtha. The grades that are used by Heritage are dissolved in acetone and I think they might use a touch of alcohol.
You don't want to soak the finish, but a dampened rag should be sufficient. It will evaporate quickly. Make sure you use it in a well ventilated area. Stay away from water heaters and furnaces.
Yes stay away from flames!
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I also love low frets!
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Wipe the entire guitar down with naptha. I've done this to a few smokey guitars. and it has helped immensely. Naptha is safe for nitro finishes! I'm personally not a fan of the ozone generator or fabreeze. I tried that many times and either didn't work (ozone genrator) or my guitar smelled like Fabreeze, which I find almost as unbearable as smoke!
Leaving my case out in the sun did help immensely help. but I had to leave it outside in my backyard every day for almost a month before it took hold.
The little fan trick sounds like it would work for hollow body! And I also thought that was the charcoal sounded like a good idea! Good luck!
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Sounded great! Good to see you rocking out
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Nice looking guitar with some seriously flamey wood!
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That natural one had some SERIOUS flame and killer woody tone!
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I recorded a guy that played a Garnet that was once owned by Randy Bachman. It sounded really good!
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5 hours ago, TalismanRich said:
It's not Friday, but I'll put this up anyway....
I love that one!
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15 minutes ago, RJLII said:
So glad the size-able group of social justice warriors took it upon themselves to threaten his distribution outlets and create a boycott. Lord knows none of us are smart enough to make our own decisions and without this kind of virtuous assistance we might be buying the wrong stuff for all the wrong reasons. Buy what you want. Don't buy what you don't want. Just keep me out of your politics.
That goes both ways!
Did Schaller Do Anything Right?
in Heritage Guitars
Posted
I was, on one of my telecasters I used a heavy brass bridge plate and brass nut. They were made by mighty mite. And my L5 S Guitars got those big harmonica bridges, weren’t they made by Schaller?