Jump to content
Heritage Owners Club

The 535 has finally arrived!


Reverb

Recommended Posts

Well, after a long, arduous, wait the 535 finally arrived a little before noon today. No new f-holes or a custom removable headstock! Over all it's in pretty good shape. The frets do have a little wear but have plenty of life left in them. The pickups were a bit tarnished from hard playing and the bridge and tailpiece had the usual crud on them.

 

She doesn't play bad at all. The neck feels great. Especially compared to those G#*#! guitars. The tone wasn't bad to start...but the Schaller pup's had to go. I ripped out the old pups, took all the hardware off, gave her a good rub down, changed the black rings to cream, and threw in some Classic 57's. She sounds much better now but may be a bit bright for me. Still trying to find that balance between pup's. Overall though, she plays better and sounds better than the 3K 335 hanging on the wall in town. And for a third of the price..who can argue that??! She's also pretty easy on the eyes I think.

 

Here's a pic. Forgot to put the knobs back on the pots but you get the idea :)

 

width=455 height=480http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/RobHodges/535.jpg[/img]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats, Reverb. She looks nice :)

 

Depending on what music you intend to play, the SD 59 pups are the better choice instead of the 57's. The 57's are nearly as bright as the Schallers. The 59's are a bit smoother.

 

Enjoy !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kinds words. I appreciate it!

 

I ended up taking the 57 classic out of the bridge and putting in a SD 59. The 57 just sounded so thin in comparison to the neck. The 59 thickened it up a bit and gave me more of "range" back there.  I now have a nice blend between the two. I think it's the best sounding 535/335 I've ever heard after the swap. Nice and warm with for fingerpicking tunes and plenty of bark when you get on it.

 

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reverb~That is a classy looking 535, especially with the block inlays.  Nice touch!

 

As for the pickups, if you haven't already tried this, lower the neck (Classic 57) a bit and you may notice a thickening of the tone.  Some guys like to also raise the individual adjustment screws to achieve perfect string-to-string balance.  I usually raise my high E a bit more than the rest to compensate for the thinner gauge and increase the volume when soloing.  It definitely does not improve my playing, however.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reverb~That is a classy looking 535, especially with the block inlays.  Nice touch!

 

As for the pickups, if you haven't already tried this, lower the neck (Classic 57) a bit and you may notice a thickening of the tone.  Some guys like to also raise the individual adjustment screws to achieve perfect string-to-string balance.  I usually raise my high E a bit more than the rest to compensate for the thinner gauge and increase the volume when soloing.  It definitely does not improve my playing, however.

 

Oh, that neck pickup is nice, thick, warm, and chimey. But that bridge was so thin I actually checked to see if I had a bad solder joint. The only way to thicken it up was to do what you suggested. But then it had no volume and the polepiece would look like fence posts sticking out of it so far. The 59 swap seemed to have cured it. Something else might be better but the 59 was in drawer and suprisingly enough it blends well with the 57. And then I kick on the Fulton Webb Textosterone and it just generates all kinds of awesome. In fact, it generated so much awesome that I just blew my speaker.  :'(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...