harf Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I am interested in buying a 575. I have been able to try a couple but am not sure of what configuration I want. I have tried a maple top with HRH pickups and a spruce top with Seth Lover pickups. They sounded radically different to me. The maple with HRH sounded very bassy, maybe even boomy, on the lower strings and very trebly on the upper strings. The spruce with Seth Lovers had a more even tone with the lower strings sounding somewhat more trebly and the upper strings sounding more mellow than the other guitar. I preferred the guitar with the Seth Lover pickups tone-wise, but am not sure I like the spruce top. My question to those of you who have been able to test more guitars than I can get my hands on is this: how much of the difference I heard can be attributed to the pickups and how much to the wood? If I got a maple top guitar with Seth Lovers would it sound pretty close to the spruce one I played? Thanks for any light you can shed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Hi. And welcome to the HoC. We've got some jazz players here that I'm sure will chime in. Just one question from me, tho'. If you like the one with the Seth Lovers, why do you care if it has a Spruce top? Anyway, welcome, join in, get ready for GAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harf Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks for the note of welcome. The reason I did not like the one with spruce top was that I like the look of the maple top and I did not like the color that was on the spruce top guitar I saw. Sort of petty I know, but if I am going to spend that much I want to love everything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 First of all--WELCOME! My H575 Custom has a maple top with Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers in it. I really like the way it sounds. Some have said the HRW pickups have a "Hi-Fi" sound to them. Personally, I don't like them in hollow-bodied guitars, but they sound great in solid bodies. H575new.jpg H575new.jpg_thumb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Pickups are only one part of the equation, but an important one. Solid spruce tops also have more of a tendancy to feedback than solid maple archtops. Overall the spruce should be more mellow than maple. The string-to-string differences you mention could be the pickups, their individual adjustment screw height and the pickup's overall distance from the strings. There are a ton of reasons for the differences you experienced, but the generalities above should help. Bottom line, get the 575 that you really want to live with long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bob Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 my 575 has a maple top and sounded good with the stock schallers (but fed back horibly) I switched the pups to duncan p-rails and Boom baby, perfect tone and easy to control feedback.. science fair 010.jpg science fair 010.jpg_thumb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LH575 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 If you are considering getting one custom built, think about it again. It seems that the custom built guitars seem to have more QC issues. Why? No one seems to know, maybe they are rushed, maybe expectations are too high on the buyer's part, who knows. Custom configurations seem to be fine - gold vs. chrome, different pickups, but when the "wood part" of the guitar is custom, there seems to be more problems. I have a custom built H575, it has issues (mostly cosmetic, but annoying), in the process of sending it back for the second time. If I were to do it again, I'd get a stock model, but upgrade the hardware only. Mine has Seths. I dig it. I'd almost recommend P90s. I have a ES125 with a P90. Love that sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 If you are considering getting one custom built, think about it again. It seems that the custom built guitars seem to have more QC issues. Why? No one seems to know, maybe they are rushed, maybe expectations are too high on the buyer's part, who knows. Custom configurations seem to be fine - gold vs. chrome, different pickups, but when the "wood part" of the guitar is custom, there seems to be more problems. I have a custom built H575, it has issues (mostly cosmetic, but annoying), in the process of sending it back for the second time. If I were to do it again, I'd get a stock model, but upgrade the hardware only. Mine has Seths. I dig it. I'd almost recommend P90s. I have a ES125 with a P90. Love that sound. Sorry, but I could not disagree more. My custom Heritages are by far better quality that the "off the floor models". Now you do need to remind them of the correct specs, but once it is done the custom Heritages are the way to go. They once sent me the wrong specs on a guitar, they said to send it back, no questions asked, and built me a new guitar to my specs. I don't really remember anyone criticizing their custom made Heritages, I'm sure it has happened, but I don't remember reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
je00143 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I got my 575 twelve years ago with stock pups. Went to HRWs maybe eight years ago, and liked what I had OK. Made another switch maybe six months ago and put a Seymour Jazz humbucker in the neck and left the HRW on the bridge. Now I have two guitars in one as far as tone and range are concerned. I LOVE this combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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