The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Please disregard this post.

    I appreciate those that took the time to answer but this is clearly a lousy question, so I've tossed it.

    Sorry for the confusion.
    Attached Images Attached Images Carparelli Tashka Leon (335-esque) pup upgrade-s899009428828122901_p7_i1_w2560-jpg 
    Last edited by DQW; 08-01-2017 at 05:46 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    I'm just looking for opinions on the pickups
    Well, if you first tell us what music you'd like to play with, then we might be able to take an educated guess.

    Well...?

  4. #3

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    Jeez, what a question...
    Besides the aforementioned query about what you like to play, there's also:

    Do you want something darker or brighter than what's in there now?

    Are you looking for a classic PAF humbucker tone, or something more HiFi?

    Are you wishing to emulate the sound of a specific 335 player?

    Specifics are hugely important to avoid just getting useless noise as responses. Asking a bunch of guitar players what "the best humbucker" is...well, you're just asking for trouble...

  5. #4
    Perhaps this just isn't a useful question... i'll buy that. You should feel free to downvote it. :)

    What I was looking for is people's thoughts on what was in their particular 335's and why they like them. I'm not looking to sound like anyone in particular and will need to shape the tone to be "my own" but I was hoping that others had taken a bit of a journey with their 335's and could share.

    e.g. "I have stock Classic '57s in mine and have never looked back" or "I swapped out for a couple of Seymour <insert model here> and found they gave me a rounder tone with 500k pots and a 0.47 cap than did the stock pups", "I threw in a super 58 on the neck but found it darker than my <blah blah> so I decided against it", etc...

    I'd be looking for more of a PAF but there are a ton of possibilities there so personal stories would be keen. What's in there now is a bit bright but I don't know what's in there now so that probably doesn't help much. The one thing I've definitely decided is that I won't add a coil split in this one; it's just not me.

    But to your points, I certainly don't just want people telling me what "the best" pickups are... really more geared toward people that have tried different things with their 335's, where they ended up and why.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    What I was looking for is people's thoughts on what was in their particular 335's and why they like them
    If you don't start by giving at least baseline, fx. what p'ups are actually in the guitar and what exactly is that you don't like about it and would like your instrument to sound, no answer will be of any help for anybody.

    If you ask me, I'd say that the meaning of simply asking for opinions on what other people use is to find the ones that will enforce your already made opinion, aka confirmation bias.

    For the record, I have two 335, one 339 and one L5 copies, which I use in different musical contexts, and all host different p'up sets, chosen in conjuction of the particular tone-footprint of each one and the different music they all perform their "best".

    My #1, an all-maple 335 copy hosts an Electric City Pickup Freedom set, my #2, a maple-bodied, mahogany neck 335 copy hosts a Seymour Duncan Antiquity set, my 339 copy hosts an A3/A2-modded Seymour Duncan '59 set, and last but not least, my all-maple L5 copy hosts a Seymour Duncan APH-1 set aka Alnico II Pro set.

    I hope this post won't be just another exercise in futility.

    HTH,
    Last edited by LtKojak; 08-01-2017 at 05:35 PM.

  7. #6
    Yup, that's quite fair. I've updated the original post to warn others to stay away. I very much appreciate your response, however.

  8. #7

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    I hate to say it DQW your knee-jerk reaction to very valid questions isn't necessary. Get back in here and help the guys out. We see this type of thread so many times. If the OP does not describe what types of music he intends to play and where it's like throwing darts blindfolded answering... For real.

    So get back in here and help the brothers out.


    Big

    me my standard answer would be Duncan Seth Lovers, preferably 4 wires hooked to push pull pots or the Duncan Triple Play switches built right into the pickup surrounds.

  9. #8
    I'm really not trying to be an ass... I think I made a mistake in asking. I can't help the way people want because I'm looking to be influenced in different directions.

    But from the answers I'm getting - and I think they're valid - that's just not reasonable.

    If this has been asked many different times then I should be hunting through the forum far more than I have. That seems to be a far more respectful and useful use of everyone's time.

    Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

  10. #9

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    Well now, you don't need to give up THAT easy!

    There are LOT'S of great aftermarket PAF's out there, if the 'PAF profile' is what you're looking for. Duncan Antiquity, Fralin Unbucker, Lollar Imperial, WCR (various), '57 Classic, etc. are all very nice and all of which I've had in one guitar or another. My own favorites for semi-hollows are WCR Darkburst, which I have now in a couple guitars including a Yamaha SA2000 which is a very respectable 335-type guitar. To me the hardest thing in finding a good PAF for a semi-hollow is that most sound samples and 'shootout' type comparisons available tend to focus on the pups overdriven tone, and I play clean 95% of the time.

    Duncan also manufactures Benedetto's pups and I have the B-6 in a couple hollowbodies and love them. I find them more "hifi" than most of the PAF-types that I've tried which tend to have some variation of a midrange bump to them. I like the B-6's in my hollowbody "jazz" guitars, but prefer the WCR's in my semi-hollows, but that's just my preference. For me the WCR Darkburst have the "midrange bump" in just the right place -for me.

    I hope this helps. I think I understand now what you are looking for in terms of other peoples experience and what led them where, and why.

  11. #10
    That's what I'm looking for! Thank you so much. The Darkburst is new to me so I'll need to do some more research on it; certainly sourcing them locally isn't going to be possible. The Bendetto's might be more available and, if I had to jump on something (and I don't ) I'd probably just grab a neck pup and see what happens.

    Would you be able to tell me a bit more about your Lollar experience? I was looking into those a while back but forgot about them. You didn't say much about them so I assume you dumped them fairly quickly.

    I agree about the shootout thing. The internet is an invaluable resource, but for this sort of thing I don't find it all that useful; personal experiences and stories are far better, so I very much appreciate you spending the time.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    personal experiences and stories are far better, so I very much appreciate you spending the time.
    Dear DQW: the bad news I have for you is the following simple fact of life, that I can tell you because I've been moonlighting as a guitar tech for over fifteen years and that's a constant that I experience time and time again.

    The exact same p'up set could work wonderfully in one instrument and suck donkey balls in another. That's just the nature of the beast, and no amount of money thrown at it would do anything to change that.

    You're welcome.
    Last edited by LtKojak; 08-03-2017 at 11:17 AM.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    Would you be able to tell me a bit more about your Lollar experience? I was looking into those a while back but forgot about them. You didn't say much about them so I assume you dumped them fairly quickly.
    That's more or less correct. This pickup stuff is soooo subjective, but my experience with the Lollar Imperials was that they sounded nice, in the PAF world they weren't as warm as some and had good clarity, but they didn't wow me. They sounded very good, but seemed 'polite' somehow, like, there was nothing wrong with them, but nothing magic either. The WCR Darkbursts WERE magic for me in that they sounded great, but there was something special to them that made me want to play them. It's hard to explain, and EVERYONE'S mileage will vary on the particulars of this, but there was a quality to the sound that 'hooked' me somehow, like they was something extra there that I wanted more of and wanted to explore. It's almost like a sort of 'charm' that arrests you when a pickup does 'that' for you. Almost impossible to explain and 100% subjective; what does that for one person isn't going to be the same for someone else.

    To me the sonic profile of a given pickup in a given guitar has three different possibilities for the player; they are 'neutral' (meaning nothing wrong), 'negative' (meaning there's some quality in there that is a bit irritating or 'off'), or 'positive' (meaning that not only is there nothing wrong, but there is something extra, something special that gives you a joy or pleasure you didn't expect).

    Any help?

  14. #13
    Absolutely. This really is what I was looking for. You've given your impressions and your experiences of how different pickups worked for you in your 335s. This gives me a lot to work with and directions to explore.

    I very much value the fact that you've tried a lot and you've made your decisions after real practical experience.

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  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    Absolutely. This really is what I was looking for. You've given your impressions and your experiences of how different pickups worked for you in your 335s. This gives me a lot to work with and directions to explore.

    I very much value the fact that you've tried a lot and you've made your decisions after real practical experience.

    Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
    I'm talking about literally several hundreds experiences if I count my customers' as well.

  16. #15
    Got a sweet deal on these today. I just need to rewire them, throw some molex connectors on 'em and try them out.

    Thanks for all the suggestions; this is gonna be fun.

    Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

  17. #16

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    And so the big trial and error begins! Enjoy the ride, it's fun (but also tiring and frustrating sometimes). Antiquities have good specs on paper, put them in and see how they sound in your guitar. With a bit of luck your quest will end there already.

    Little personal experience from my side: I have an Epiphone Sheraton II (early 90ies, Samick?). This is an all maple instrument, though the centre block looks like a mahogany-like wood (meranti perhaps?). Somebody had already changed the neck pickup (or maybe just removed the cover) and it was microphonic and I reeked a chance for improvement!

    I tried some SD SH-59s that were pretty expensive back then (2001). Great pickups to let a heavy Les Paul breath and get some air, but big mistake in the maple Sheraton! Way too scooped, anemic highs, no mids.... out they went! Had some cheap StewMac Golden Age buckers laying around. Bingo! A more powerful more mid-heavy pickup was exactly what that guitar needed!

    So I can subscribe LtKojak's experience that what works in one guitar, may sound off in the other (although his way of saying it was much more poetic).
    Last edited by Little Jay; 08-20-2017 at 06:17 AM.

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Little Jay
    I can subscribe LtKojak's experience that what works in one guitar, may sound off in the other (although his way of saying it was much more poetic).
    I've been called many things in my relatively long life, but being poetic, that's a first.

    Thank you for your kind words, Little Jay. You certainly made my sunday morning a better one!

    Yours very truly,

  19. #18
    I think the Antiquities are the ones!

    In summary, I tried the stock pickups (of course), and they were adequate but not exciting. I also threw in the pickups from my Ibanez AG75 (Classic Elites, I think they're called), and I liked the neck pickup better than the stock neck but it was still pretty flat sounding. I then tossed in the pickups from my Taylor T3 but they were just god awful. They sound great in my T3 but garbage in the Carparelli. They had a weird wobble sound, it was muffled, too bassy (that wasn't fixable by trimming things up) and, well... just garbage. I also tossed in my Seth Lovers and they were good, no question, but they sound better in my Ibanez; if I had bought another set of Seths and dropped them into the Carparelli, I'd probably just end up playing my Ibanez instead

    (Fortunately, trying them all out has been quite easy... bless be to the Molex connector!)

    But... the Antiquity pickups, wow! They've got a nice sparkle to them, if you roll them off, they're warm and round, and if you roll them up they've got a nice set of mids but the bass doesn't overpower. The response is fantastic; it's easy to get what I want out of them (even with my crap-to-marginally-meager skill).

    A couple of people suggested them (Rhythmisking and LtKojak), so when I saw them come up on the used market for $180 Canadian for the pair, I jumped hard. I couldn't be happier! Not only that, they look amazing... love the aged look in this guitar.

    As much as this thread looked like it was going to be a total disaster (based on my vague and difficult delivery), it has been a rousing success! I wouldn't have sought out the Antiquity pups if it weren't for the suggestions.

    Thanks to all!

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by DQW
    (Fortunately, trying them all out has been quite easy... bless be to the Molex connector!)
    Can you post a pic of the connector or part numbers of the connectors you used? Are they 2 pin unshielded types?

    I've used these 2 conductor 22 ga JST type in the past and for tests (or permanent for unshielded wire pups) they are light, inexpensive and a solid connection. I use them not only for pups but for battery and any low voltage DC projects.

    Carparelli Tashka Leon (335-esque) pup upgrade-red_black_connector_s-jpg