Artcore Pickups/Replacements

woyvel · #1 08-06-2010, 03:52 PM

Lots of Artcore users here, so... Has anybody swapped out the ACH pickups for anything else? Your findings? What is the ACH closest to in a generic sense? And who makes them for Ibanez? I've heard the Custom and Super 58's and loved them, but they're only available on the Custom series. What's the main difference between them?

gadjo · #2 08-06-2010, 05:07 PM

I found the ACH to be dark and lower output compared to the Seymour Duncan Jazz i replaced it with. I had it before i got the guitar, it's not like i bought it just because it wrote 'jazz' on it.

(or maybe i did, even then)

Out of what i've read people favored the SD SH-55 Seth Lovers to replace the ACHs. Didn't afford to do this switch myself though.

I'm stuck with what i got now... the bridge ACH is actually pretty nice!

praesentire · #3 08-06-2010, 06:32 PM

From what I've heard on Youtube and etc., I'm jonesing for Gibson '57 Classic. I heard that StewMac's Golden Age Humbuckers also provides nice warm mellow tone. I'm curious about Bare Knuckle Pickups' Stormy Monday but I haven't found a single example of one in a hollow-body playing chord-melody or something.

bkdavidson · #4 08-06-2010, 06:49 PM

+1 for the '57 Classic. +a lot more than 1 if I'm allowed the extra votes.

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #5 08-06-2010, 06:51 PM

The '57 Classic is not potted, right? Does that cause any problems -- squeal or microphonics?

praesentire · #6 08-06-2010, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

The '57 Classic is not potted, right? Does that cause any problems -- squeal or microphonics?

The new ones are apparently wax potted unlike the originals.

Anandbhat · #7 08-07-2010, 08:09 AM

Ibanez Artcore AS73.
Replaced neck PU with Lollar Charlie Christian.Along with my polytone it get's as close to the Jim Hall sound as it gets.
Not sure I would do it over if I wanted to use the Ibanez for anything other than jazz!
Let's see,$350.00 for the guitar,69.00 for the case,165.00 for the Lollar,about $150.00 for expert set up,polishing frets,etc.
It sure adds up.Doubt I'll get anything close if I sell!

IbanezAS100 · #8 08-07-2010, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by praesentire

From what I've heard on Youtube and etc., I'm jonesing for Gibson '57 Classic. I heard that StewMac's Golden Age Humbuckers also provides nice warm mellow tone. I'm curious about Bare Knuckle Pickups' Stormy Monday but I haven't found a single example of one in a hollow-body playing chord-melody or something.

Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays are absolutely fantastic pickups.I replaced the stock ones on an AGS83 along with new pots/caps and it's made a big difference, esp for clarity and warmth. And they do a wonderful jazz tone, even with a thinline semi-plus if you go for the split option, you get very convincing single coil sounds.

57 classics also get my vote, I've just bought an AF125 that the previous owner souped up and they sound great. Not sure I would have done that myself as the Super 58s are very nice sounding pickups, but hey...

praesentire · #9 08-07-2010, 09:50 AM

Interesting article about polepiece spread for 43mm or wider nut.

Reference: MEGATRON'S PICKUP GUIDE - Technical Support - Ibanez Forum

Quote:

Standard and F-Spacing: Aftermarket humbuckers are sold in two sizes, Standard and F-Spaced (or Trembucker by Seymour Duncan). Fenders have a wider string spacing than Gibsons, so when luthiers started putting Gibson built humbuckers in Strat-style guitars, they noticed that the wider spaced strings were not lining up with narrowly placed pole pieces of the pickups. As a result, the pole pieces would have difficulty sensing some strings, which could create an imbalance of output among the strings. As a result, pickup manufacturers started making humbuckers for Fender and Floyd Rose spacing (both are the same), and called them "F-Spaced" pickups. The Gibson spacing became "Standard" spacing. For 43 mm nut widths and wider, an F-spaced humbucker is also recommended in the neck. Most guitars with Floyd-type trems have a 43 mm nut width.

Gibson '57 Classic has 49.2mm spread
StewMac Golden Age Humbuckers (including Parsons Street) have 50mm spread
BKP Stormy Monday can be ordered in both 50mm and 53mm spread

EDIT: BKP website's FAQ recommends standard (50mm) spacing on the neck position regardless. Best to just take the scale out and measure.

jeffstritt · #10 08-07-2010, 10:38 AM

This may seem like a boring suggestion, but just the basic Seymour Duncan '59s sound great!

Anandbhat · #11 08-07-2010, 10:49 AM

++ for the 59 classics.My Gibson ES 339 came with them.Love the sound and sustain.

rcishere · #12 08-07-2010, 11:28 PM

I use Charlie Christians (HCC) built by Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe Guitars on my AK95. The more I play them the more I love them. They are very vintage jazz sounding, very clean and crisp. They are about half the price of the Lollars and CC from Britain. Pete is a great to deal with as well.

I've posted some demos of these in another thread.

But here it is again in case you can't find it. One's played through a Traynor YCV40WR and the other's played through a Fender Blues Jr. I can't praise these pups enough.

YouTube - ‪Roger Chong - Lately (Cover).wmv‬&lrm;
YouTube - ‪Roger Chong - U Smile (Cover).wmv‬&lrm;

Anandbhat · #13 08-08-2010, 07:10 AM

Nice playing,Roger.
I kind of like the sound better through the Traynor.The Blues Jr. sounds thinner.

rcishere · #14 08-08-2010, 05:09 PM

Thanks Anandbhat. And I agree, the traynor does sound warmer. Then again, it is 40 watts plus the 60 watts from the cabinet it was was connected to, comparing to a mere 15 watts for the Blues Jr. I've just replaced the speaker for the Blues Jr. to a Eminence Cannabis Rex yesterday and it already sound a lot warmer. Much more low end and the high sounds sweet. I'm still waiting on my BillM mods, so the Blues Jr is going to get even better.

mongrel · #15 08-08-2010, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcishere

I use Charlie Christians (HCC) built by Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe Guitars on my AK95. The more I play them the more I love them. They are very vintage jazz sounding, very clean and crisp. They are about half the price of the Lollars and CC from Britain. Pete is a great to deal with as well.

I've posted some demos of these in another thread.

But here it is again in case you can't find it. One's played through a Traynor YCV40WR and the other's played through a Fender Blues Jr. I can't praise these pups enough.

YouTube - ‪Roger Chong - Lately (Cover).wmv‬&lrm;
YouTube - ‪Roger Chong - U Smile (Cover).wmv‬&lrm;

Nice demos. It looks like you recorded some other YouTube demos with that guitar when it had the factory humbuckers. The HCC tone is way better. How did Pete make them-- how many winds and what magnets do you have installed?

rcishere · #16 08-08-2010, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anandbhat

Ibanez Artcore AS73.
Replaced neck PU with Lollar Charlie Christian.Along with my polytone it get's as close to the Jim Hall sound as it gets.
Not sure I would do it over if I wanted to use the Ibanez for anything other than jazz!
Let's see,$350.00 for the guitar,69.00 for the case,165.00 for the Lollar,about $150.00 for expert set up,polishing frets,etc.
It sure adds up.Doubt I'll get anything close if I sell!

Anandbhat, how are the Lollar CC's? I saw a bunch of Tim Lerch videos and they sounded sweet, so were the Daniel Slaman videos. But they were just a bit too expensive for me. So I opted for the Vintage Vibe ones.

Mongrel, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to the technical stuff so I don't know how many winds. I'm sure Pete would be happy and quick to answer it if you email him. But I have the alnico v magnets in my pickups. Pete shipped an extra set of alnico 2 magnets for me which I haven't tried yet.

Anandbhat · #17 08-09-2010, 10:31 AM

The Lollars sound great.If I was to find a fault I'd say they are extremely sensitive since they seem to pick up even the smallest buzz if the action is low ( which I do have my AS 73 set to).

Meggy · #18 08-09-2010, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by praesentire

From what I've heard on Youtube and etc., I'm jonesing for Gibson '57 Classic. I heard that StewMac's Golden Age Humbuckers also provides nice warm mellow tone. I'm curious about Bare Knuckle Pickups' Stormy Monday but I haven't found a single example of one in a hollow-body playing chord-melody or something.

A friend of mine has bought a matched pair of Stormy Mondays for his jazz guitar - I am going to help him with the wiring etc and fitting new pots/caps to the guitar. I'll let you know what our impressions are, but I do hear great things about these UK pickups!

paynow · #19 08-09-2010, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anandbhat

Ibanez Artcore AS73.
Replaced neck PU with Lollar Charlie Christian.Along with my polytone it get's as close to the Jim Hall sound as it gets.
Not sure I would do it over if I wanted to use the Ibanez for anything other than jazz!
Let's see,$350.00 for the guitar,69.00 for the case,165.00 for the Lollar,about $150.00 for expert set up,polishing frets,etc.
It sure adds up.Doubt I'll get anything close if I sell!

Great info. I may give this a try on mine.