H Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Do you think Rendall Wall would do one more HRW for Joshy boy? If he can't (I believe that inconsistent supply of the necessary components forced the halt in production) then perhaps you could look for a used neck HRW for Josh and have it retrofitted. I have played through various pickups in the last 30 years or so and none has ever captured my attention like the neck HRW pickup. The bridge HRW does nothing for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachiron Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 I have played both and found quite a difference. If you look at my signature below, you will see I find Throbaks superior. Which ever way you go, I wouldn't go cheap on the pickups. You ordering a $2200 guitar and you are worried about a $200 difference for pickups? Don't go the cheap route or you may regret it. Remember that you should get a credit for stock pickups if you order another brand to replace them. Good luck and I am sure you are going to have a great guitar soon. Spoke to Jon Guidry of Throbak, he recommended SLE 101 or DT 102. What do think we would pay for difference? The SD Seth Lovers are $150/pair and the Throbaks are $500!! Jay Wolfe was sold on Seymour Duncan...I could work directly w Heritage on change, what do you recommend?? Love to see Josh play unique Humbuckers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum13 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 My guess $200-$300. Big fan of Throbak but just have his overdrive- boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunote Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I think $500 is too much for a couple of plastic bobbins and magnets wound with braided wire. I'd go with Seth Lovers and buy some pixie dust to sprinkle on them when I next visit Disneyland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HRB853370 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 What do you have in your Millie??? Really liked Dan Greenberg's Millie in semi hollow pups I have Seth Lovers, sounds just like Dan's Millie. While I respect Kuz's opinion on the Throbaks, that is his personal choice, and if he is willing to toss the coin for those because he feels they are well worth it, so it be. I think the law of diminishing returns applies to pickups as well as most anything that we invest in. You won't go wrong with any of the suggestions above, but as everybody has pointed out, there are sonic differences between different brands/models. I have Schallers, 59's, Seth's, and HRW's as well as 57 Classics in various Heritage guitars and they all offer something a little bit different. I can't say I dislike any of them for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 yes, what Slammer said...it's not like any of those pup choices are crap, they are all good!! just different flavors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Love to see Josh play unique Humbuckers!! Why? Save your money! Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Ted Nugent, John McLaughlin, Eric Clapton, Johnny A, etc. did extremely well with stock pickups. Randy California of Spirit recorded some beautiful music using an old Sears Silvertone. As Jeff Beck says, tone is all in the fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HRB853370 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Why? Save your money! Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Ted Nugent, John McLaughlin, Eric Clapton, Johnny A, etc. did extremely well with stock pickups. Randy California of Spirit recorded some beautiful music using an old Sears Silvertone. As Jeff Beck says, tone is all in the fingers. "I got a line on that" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 By the way, Randy California was 16 when Spirit's first album came out. It was the month before his 17th birthday that it was released. Another prodigy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcVU9PiS6tQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalismanRich Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I have Seth Lovers in my Mille. They are very good pickups. With any pickup, make sure you set them up to balance between the two. Sometimes it takes a bit of adjustment to hit the sweet spot. This summer I replaced the old Schallers in my 140 with SD Alnico Pro IIs. It changed the character a quite a bit. Notes are clearer than the old pickups. On the other hand, the Schallers in my 535 and 157 are both very clear. I don't know if its the covers, or a difference in winding between 1987 and 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yavuz Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 HRWs are indeed not available anymore. My custom millie order is going to have to have something else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachiron Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 I just received a Millie Ultra Standard and had them put Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays in it. Specs are a low wind and I love them. Very articulate versatile pickup. Check out their sight. http://www.bareknuck...ups.co.uk/main/ Hey Skydog, what was the upcharge for Bare Knuckles?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachiron Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 HRWs are indeed not available anymore. My custom millie order is going to have to have something else... Have you heard of Skatterbranes...spoke to Rod and he also hand winds. Pups make the guitar, frankly. No point spending 2K on a guitar with average pups and I believe SD are rather average. They go on most any $750 guitar semi hollow. If we are getting a custom guitar, like to have high end pups also. Otherwise, Josh could make a Washburn sound fine or Ibanez sound cool. No point spending 2 grand. Really not happy w lack of choice...HRW are handwound by legend Ren Wall. SD are found on guitars for less than $75. I am on a rant now...Dan also mentioned Faber bridge...again the guys at Wolfe guitars nixed the idea of a more resonant bridge...what is the word on the Faber stop bridge for Millie? Any opinions...Dan says it is the bomb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I think $500 is too much for a couple of plastic bobbins and magnets wound with braided wire. I'd go with Seth Lovers and buy some pixie dust to sprinkle on them when I next visit Disneyland. Wow, a lot of comments from some that have never played a set of Throbaks before....... I will kindly bow out now, I tried to state my case to the OP because I have had Seth Lovers, Lollars, HRWs, Peter FLorance, and Throbaks all in the same guitar. But everyone is more than allowed to have an opinion. But it seems some people make judgements on items they have never played or seen before. To the OP I hope you do realize you are going to get about 20 different recommendations from 20 different well intended members.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Oh, and as a side note..... I actually am in Disney World now..... But haven't seen any pixie dust...... Just see my wallet going bare. But we, especially my boys, are having a terrific time! I actually miss playing my guitars..... That is sad I know! Ha, ha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum13 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 .... I actually am in Disney World now..... But haven't seen any pixie dust...... Jon you have to go to Anaheim for the pixie dust. Disneyland is the original land of make believe. Like Kzoo vs Nashville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalismanRich Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Len, I don't have experience with any of the boutique pickups, so that's one I can't answer. In the original post you mentioned that Josh likes a hotter pickup in the bridge position. Has he played a SD JB? It's quite a bit hotter than the normal SDs. The Seth Lovers are not an overwound pickup. Its much more vintage. One problem I have with the whole handwound boutique pickup market is that EVERY winder says that his particular pickup hits that PAF sound. If that's true, then either they all sound the same, or they are all chasing a different PAF sound. I think it's the latter case. When Gibson wound all those PAFs and Patent # pickups, they weren't all done with some magic formula. They had a target wind, bought bobbins and magnets where they could (at the best prices they could, as any business does), wire from multiple places, and had different people manning the winder at different times. There's going to be variation. Modern reproductions are probably going to be more consistent over the long term of hitting a particular sound as the QC that is done is probably more precise. The good thing is that you can easily swap out pickups if he finds one that really hits his sweet spot. Picking a particular model based on someone else's recommendation or a Youtube video is still going to be a bit of a crapshoot. As Josh found out when he played Spectrum's guitars, the right one will speak to him. As for the bridge, all I can say is that lots of people complained and replaced the Schaller stuff when it was standard. Probably 90% went to TonePros hardware because it was top line. Now it comes standard with TonePros. Its REALLY solid well made stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I can't comment on the quality of these new Jimmy Wallace pickups. They are another boutique line from a serious guitarist. Check out the website. http://jimmywallacepickups.com/home.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallershadows Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Wow. Lot of opinions here, so I'll put in my two cents. I have three Heritage H150s and a Millie DC. In the Millie, I have fralin pure paf Jimmy Page winds (7.8k, 8.2k Alnico II). In the H150s, I have Skatterbrane Yangbranes (7.6k, 8.4k A5), Motor City Blackbelts (7.3k, 8.5k A4), and Wolfetone Marshallhead neck and Timberwolf bridge (8.2k, 14.2k, A5). Each guitar came stock with either SD 59 or Lovers. The SD are good pickups, no doubt. For the price as well, they are great buys. Are they as good as the boutique pickups? In my opinion, no. Every pickup I have sound more articulate and clearer. Also, they have a tone that I have never achieved with stock pickups. The pickups I have range in cost from $260-300, so about twice the cost of the SDs. Personally, I think the upgrade is worthwhile. Also, there are less known makers such as Jon Moore (tonefordays.com) who will wind a set of pickups for less than $200. He made me a pickup that sounded great and on par with the others. Also, every boutique pup maker can be easily contacted and will listen and provide great guidance. I have read phenomenal reviews about throbaks which are more expensive, but never heard them live personally. Sheptone also has a great rep. If you do go this route, have your son listen to as many soundclips as possible (understanding that internet soundclips can be variable in quality). After all, it doesn't matter as much what we think sounds good, but more importantly, what sounds good to your son. If he thinks the pickups sound better, then I think it's a worthwhile purchase. I would love to be in his shoes right now. I am very happy with my choices so far and don't think I'll be replacing any of the pickups I have already. This begs the question, do I need more guitars then? Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachiron Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 Wow. Lot of opinions here, so I'll put in my two cents. I have three Heritage H150s and a Millie DC. In the Millie, I have fralin pure paf Jimmy Page winds (7.8k, 8.2k Alnico II). In the H150s, I have Skatterbrane Yangbranes (7.6k, 8.4k A5), Motor City Blackbelts (7.3k, 8.5k A4), and Wolfetone Marshallhead neck and Timberwolf bridge (8.2k, 14.2k, A5). Each guitar came stock with either SD 59 or Lovers. The SD are good pickups, no doubt. For the price as well, they are great buys. Are they as good as the boutique pickups? In my opinion, no. Every pickup I have sound more articulate and clearer. Also, they have a tone that I have never achieved with stock pickups. The pickups I have range in cost from $260-300, so about twice the cost of the SDs. Personally, I think the upgrade is worthwhile. Also, there are less known makers such as Jon Moore (tonefordays.com) who will wind a set of pickups for less than $200. He made me a pickup that sounded great and on par with the others. Also, every boutique pup maker can be easily contacted and will listen and provide great guidance. I have read phenomenal reviews about throbaks which are more expensive, but never heard them live personally. Sheptone also has a great rep. If you do go this route, have your son listen to as many soundclips as possible (understanding that internet soundclips can be variable in quality). After all, it doesn't matter as much what we think sounds good, but more importantly, what sounds good to your son. If he thinks the pickups sound better, then I think it's a worthwhile purchase. I would love to be in his shoes right now. I am very happy with my choices so far and don't think I'll be replacing any of the pickups I have already. This begs the question, do I need more guitars then? Good luck. After much listening we narrowed PUPs down to Throbaks DT 102 and Skatterbrane Earthbranes A4 magnets. Both pup makers provided assistance. He really likes the Jimmy Page Les Paul tone but he would like that in a Millie. Will have to work with Jay Wolfe to get us some credit for Duncans...but I appreciate the imput since we kind of felt after the videos of seth lovers that they would not cut...despite everyone saying they would, the videos told the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallershadows Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I had the earthbranes in a gibson les paul which I sold to my instructor. He thinks they are the best pickupshe has ever heard. Of all the magnets, I favor the A4's the most. They have a hybrid sound between A2 and A5. The earthbranes also sound hotter than their given output. The turnaround time was also very short. Just a few days. Two great choices. Once again, your son is in an enviable position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallershadows Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Also, if your son likes a hotter bridge, look at the benwabranes. They have the same A4 neck pickup as the earthbranes, but an A5 bridge wound to 9k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachiron Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 Rod Kinkade (Skatterbrane Custom Pickups) is going to wind them a little hotter in bridge for Josh after he heard him play. Also tighter to reduce feedback he said. All greek to me!! He also gave us special OEM pricing so that the pickups were approximately 30% less ($100 off). Plus for a custom pup builder he was really nice and listened to Josh video and made a spot on recommendation w A4s; everyone else just said our vintage PAF's will do fine. He worked with us directly with OEM pricing which Klein pickups and Throbak would not. I will let you know once we receive guitar in a few months but I would highly recommend dealing with Rod Kinkade and Skatterbrane pups. Very knowledgeble and easy to work with regarding costs w OEM pricing. Thanks for all of your imput regarding pickups and guitars, you guys have been really great and the videos sent were awesome, they really told the story more than written words ever could!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunote Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Rod Kinkade (Skatterbrane Custom Pickups) is going to wind them a little hotter in bridge for Josh after he heard him play. Also tighter to reduce feedback he said. All greek to me!! He also gave us special OEM pricing so that the pickups were approximately 30% less ($100 off). Plus for a custom pup builder he was really nice and listened to Josh video and made a spot on recommendation w A4s; everyone else just said our vintage PAF's will do fine. He worked with us directly with OEM pricing which Klein pickups and Throbak would not. I will let you know once we receive guitar in a few months but I would highly recommend dealing with Rod Kinkade and Skatterbrane pups. Very knowledgeble and easy to work with regarding costs w OEM pricing. Thanks for all of your imput regarding pickups and guitars, you guys have been really great and the videos sent were awesome, they really told the story more than written words ever could!!! I'm sure they'll sound special in the Millie. Just in case, be sure to order some pixie dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 cool, looking forward to hearing him play on his new guitar; the stuff you posted was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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