Shaftesbury Barney Kessel - Pickup and pot recommendations

[Alan McKillop]

Hi all,
I have a Shaftesbury Barney Kessel guitar (MIJ) from 1970 and I want to replace the pickups as I feel they are very weak. I may also want to change the pots while it’s in for the work and I was looking for recommendations on both pickups and correct value pots. I don’t want to spend too much, so alternative brands of pickups are a consideration so any advice would be appreciated. BTW, I’m in the UK.

[Spook410]

Would spend the extra money on CTS pots and switchcraft switches and jacks. 500K, audio taper. Note diameter of shaft and size of hole before you're in final fit up. Sometimes hole needs to be reamed out just a bit.

You can't actually hear the difference between one type of cap and another in a guitar tone circuit application. Though some insist it matters and will argue on and on. Inexpensive ceramic caps are fine. That being said I use orange drop caps because they look cool. .022 uf works fine for me. You can get closer tolerances if you like but don't need to spend a lot.

Recommend looking into modern wiring, 60's wiring, and 50's wiring. Also treble bleed.

Hotter pickups are not my thing in an archtop. Prefer something like the Seymour Duncan 57. Unless you're looking for rockabilly.

Also be sure to look into the various techniques for doing pot replacements in an archtop. A few tricks go a long way in what kind be a frustrating job getting everything in place.

[Herbie]

Would spend the extra money on CTS pots and switchcraft switches and jacks. 500K, audio taper. Note diameter of shaft and size of hole before you're in final fit up. Sometimes hole needs to be reamed out just a bit.

You can't actually hear the difference between one type of cap and another in a guitar tone circuit application. Though some insist it matters and will argue on and on. Inexpensive ceramic caps are fine. That being said I use orange drop caps because they look cool. .022 uf works fine for me. You can get closer tolerances if you like but don't need to spend a lot.

Recommend looking into modern wiring, 60's wiring, and 50's wiring. Also treble bleed.

Hotter pickups are not my thing in an archtop. Prefer something like the Seymour Duncan 57. Unless you're looking for rockabilly.

Also be sure to look into the various techniques for doing pot replacements in an archtop. A few tricks go a long way in what kind be a frustrating job getting everything in place.

Hmm... Gibson has Classic 57 and Duncan has 59 model. I guess by "Seymour Duncan 57" You mean... both!
Seymour Duncan ’59 Model™ Pickup | Seymour Duncan

For the OP: Choose the SD 59 if You like bright "harder" touch and Classic 57 if You like more traditional sound.

I would search the used market for a pair of Seth Lovers. Or go cheaper and buy new Tonerider Alnico 2 Classic humbuckers. I have not played them but I had Tonerider's P90 Vintage set and they were surprising good.
Alnico 2 Classic
– Tonerider

[Spook410]

Hmm... Gibson has Classic 57 and Duncan has 59 model. I guess by "Seymour Duncan 57" You mean... both!
Seymour Duncan ’59 Model™ Pickup | Seymour Duncan

For the OP: Choose the SD 59 if You like bright "harder" touch and Classic 57 if You like more traditional sound.

I would search the used market for a pair of Seth Lovers. Or go cheaper and buy new Tonerider Alnico 2 Classic humbuckers. I have not played them but I had Tonerider's P90 Vintage set and they were surprising good.
Alnico 2 Classic
– Tonerider

Actually, regardless of what I typed, didn't really mean both. Meant Gibson 57's and Duncan 59's. Don't care for Duncan 59's and probably would not like the 'jazz' models. The alnico 2 Seth Lover (and probably Antiquities which I haven't tried) models would be my choice in the SD line.

[GuyBoden]

Alnico 2 magnets in a Humbucker can sound weak, that's their beauty.

In the UK, if you don't want to spent too much money on a 1959 type PAF humbucker, these Alegree Old Timers sound good.
(I'd get Alnico 4 neck pickup, maybe with aged nickel covers. It's strength is inbetween Alnico 2 and 5)
Old Timer '1959 PAF' humbuckers
– Alegree

EDIT: The Alegree P90's in a Humbucker case are a bargain and sound good too. (I've had a lot of these in standard P90 style.)
Old Timer 'Jazz Box' humbucker sized P90s
– Alegree

[Alan McKillop]

Thanks to everyone for your responses, it’s given me something to think about. I’m not technically qualified to do the works myself, so I’ll go to a luthier with the various recommendations and agree an action plan. Some independent research has resulted in SD Seth Lovers being very highly recommended pickups although a bit more expensive than I was initially going to spend, but if that is what I need to spend, so be it. ?

[garybaldy]

Hmm... Gibson has Classic 57 and Duncan has 59 model. I guess by "Seymour Duncan 57" You mean... both!
Seymour Duncan ’59 Model™ Pickup | Seymour Duncan

For the OP: Choose the SD 59 if You like bright "harder" touch and Classic 57 if You like more traditional sound.

I would search the used market for a pair of Seth Lovers. Or go cheaper and buy new Tonerider Alnico 2 Classic humbuckers. I have not played them but I had Tonerider's P90 Vintage set and they were surprising good.
Alnico 2 Classic
– Tonerider

I have the Tonerider A4s which are great pickups but I have them in a Les Paul style guitar by Fenix (Young Chang).
I thought I'd try these (very cheap) Warman 'Groove Babies' (A2s a la '57s?) in my Japanese 175 copy but haven't put them in yet. 60's tone Humbuckers: Golden Age vintage tone Alnico 2 Magnets - Warman Guitars