-
Lindy's p/ups are nice too. I had a set in my Lucille, and thought they sounded great. Rich full tone.
But, the advice given so far has been great. Follow it the best you can! I know though that pot and cap changes can be exhausting on a semi-hollow. Unless you have a removable cover plate on the rear?
Mud. ???? Amp, speaker, p/up adjustment, crappy cord, pot value, cap value. Keep searching. Fun fun fun. In my guitar, I also changed the bridge posts and that CLEANED up mud in the lower strings. funfunfun but not easy.
Try the simplest fixes first.
-
11-08-2012 12:46 AM
-
I've had a MIJ SA-2200 in the past. Absolutely perfect guitar. Still regret selling it. I had a late 1980s Gibson Es-335 Studio which was way more expensive then the Yamaha. I buy all my guitars used. The Gibson was a piece of crap, certainly for that money. I have a gloss black MIT SA-2100 now. Beautiful guitar, easy to play, sounds good. But there are a few details not perfect in the fit and finish. The Jap SA-2200 was perfect in every way.
The Yamaha has a fairly bright sound partly because of its "no load" tone pots. If you want a warmer sound just turn back the tone pots a little. What do i know after 33 years but i'll bet you'll like that extra bit of highs when you play in a full band with bass, drums and keyboards nicely filling up the midrange!
Just saw a nice SA-2200 on Marktplaats here in Holland, it went for around 900 euro. That's about half of what you pay for a used "real" Gibson ES-335. Easy choice for me. The Yammies are rare though.
-
If you find the SA's pickups too "muddy", here is something which costs next to nothing, is completely reversible and definitely worth a try:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/ti...g-neck-pickup/
N.
-
I remember reading an interview with LC where he said the way to pick out a 335 is to find one the plays the best and sounds the best *before* plugging it in. Look for the one with the most vibrant sustain. I don't necessarily agree with that in all instances, but you certainly can't argue with his tone!
-
This may be true. I have a mid-70's 335, it sounds great unplugged, very loud, and clear. Also there is a lot of hate for 70's Gibson stuff, this one is great. I don't think new or old matters, I'd just play a 335 first.
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
-
This is an almost year old thread that has been resurrected.
We don't know if the OP did change his pickups.
-
I played new and very old gibsons and I have a Yamaha SA 2200. I found a Gibson is not better nor much different than a the Yamaha.
About the sound :
It is not the pickup that makes it muddy, but the setup. Gibson can be muddy too.
If you compare those two, don't forget that the setup of a guitar makes a lot difference in tone. Especially the hight of each string to the pickup and the setting of each screws in the pickup change the sound. Also type of strings change the sound. And the correct neck bending and bridge hight, adapted correctly to the used strings.
So if the setup is not equal, the sound can be quite different.
The split picup can also be found on older gibsons.
About the feel :
There can be a difference in the neck thickness, type of frets and type of strings and again different setup. Strings can also be old, fret board can be dirty... All makes difference. So compare apples with apples.
Anyway,
If you have a bad tone with a 335 or a SA2200, there is something wrong with the guitar.
-
Hi guys,
just joined the forum today and i'm very interested in it because I was very tempted
in the past by a SA which is a beautiful piece of guitarmaking for an affordable price.
Each time I could grab one in a store I tried it and I had always the same feeling:
The fretboard seems far better finished than the Gibson's ( frets too high and end of frets scratching the fingers) , the frets of the SA are like a dream, it could be the perfect
axe until you start to play:just because the sound of a 335 is unique , and I dream of a 335 with Jumbo frets instead
of these high square horrible things. May be a 335 model exist also fitted with flat frets ? are you aware of this ?
Finally some years ago I fell for a 339, great sound coming from the Classic 57, and also from the design
of the guitar, try to play the 339 unplugged and you'll see that everything is already here : sustain
sweetness! quite close to the 335.
And the fretboard of the 339 is far smoother than 335 standard, with small frets and perfect binding.
If you try a 339,once you plug in even in a cheap amp ( amazing in a 100 euros Bugera)
you wont be able to give it back.
-
Anyone know what is the archtop in the left background starting at about 2:50? Originally Posted by BEACHBUM
-
A gibson ES 339 is between a les paul and a ES 335. It also sounds inbetween. It's a good guitar, but the Yamaha SA sounds much much closer to the ES 335. A good comparation video between different ES 335 models is this one. Do check it out.
-
Thank you for yor answer and the videos,
always fun to hear and see such beautiful "babies"
of course the body size of the SA is closer to the 335 so the sound is deeper than the 339
but it seems to me that the SA pick ups are a little bit more aggressive than the Classic 57
am i right ?
So the perfect axe could be the SA fitted with classic 57 ?
I repeat my question but I'm often disappointed when I try a 335 in a store because of the roughness of the frets
, does somebody know if a 335 model is fitted with small or flat frets ? or even with an ebony fretboard
more or like an SA2200.?
I guess all the 335 players have not an iron left hand ?
-
I would not change the pickups of the Yamaha. They sound slightly more agressive ? That can also be an advantage, depending on the song you are playing.
The pickups of the Yamaha are very good and can be split which is very usefull. If you want the sound just slightly less bright, just use your volume or tone pot. The Yamaha does not have a capacitor on the volume pot. I would add one for better regulations. It's cheap and effective.
The frets of the Yamaha are about 1mm. I have two more guitars. One jazz box with 1mm frets and one rock guitar JS2400 that has 1.3mm frets. It dont feel a difference in smoothness. So the hight doesn't matter that much. It's the shape that counts.
Ebony or Rosewood ? It doesn't really matter. The Yamaha SA has ebony, my jazz box and the JS have rosewood. I feel no difference. And I don't think it will effect the sound much. Rosewood looks good, but you have to oil it of course.
Mostly people really want a Gibson, just because it says Gibson. If you really want a Gibson, sell the Yamaha and buy a Gibson.
The frets on a new Gibson can feel unfinished. Try to find a second hand. Try it out before you buy.
But will you have a better guitar, a better sound or play better ? The answer is no.
My jazz box is a ES 176 copy, but no plywood is used. The top is solid spruce and the back mahogany. So it has the body of a Gibson L4. It sounds just like Wes his L5 when he played live.
Guitars are like women. "Cheap" can be great. But not everybody likes cheap.Last edited by koenibaby; 12-10-2013 at 10:25 AM.
-
Are you referring to Ibanez JS2400, the Satriani model? Originally Posted by koenibaby
It has rosewood fretboard, not ebony.
-
I've never played an SA2200, but I am getting ready to install a pair of Lindy Fralin P-92s in my 2005 Memphis ES-335 to clean up the sound. I'm not happy with the mud from the stock '57 Classics.
-
You are right Jazz_175. Good you mention it. The JS 2400 is rosewood. It does have the same grain structure as my jazz box, but the a dark colour like the Yamaha. Confusing....
I have adjusted it.
-
Actually my two favorites from this video were the Yamaha SA2200 and the blonde Gibson historic reissue (but frankly speaking, most the guitars sounded pretty similar) Originally Posted by koenibaby
-
I think I understand what you mean. The muddiness did drive me nuts with my otherwise beautiful and nice ES-137. Eventually I ripped out the 490/498 GIbson pickups and installed a pair of TV Jones Powertron and Powertron+ pickups. (Looks interesting on a Gibson guitar :-) … I like it) - soundwise I like it quite a bit better now. I think the powertrons are a good compromise between the Gibson and Gretsch "worlds". Originally Posted by zigzag
-
Replacing pickups in my Gibson 335 is also something I considered sometimes, but never did. Originally Posted by zigzag
If I decided to replace pickups I would still go with humbuckers.
However I would choose humbuckers with a better definition than '57 Classics, choosing among Fralin, Lollar or Bareknuckles or the well known Seth Lover by S. Duncan.
-
Other tone pot can change your sound. A 250kohm tone pot will let less treble through and gives it more mids, making it less muddy. Could be good for the bridge picup. But why do that ? You can lower the treble on your amp and open the mids more. If you put a 250kohm tonepot you lose the treble forever. The Yamaha has 300komh tone pots. It has been changed on my yamaha SA to 500kohm.
-
I love the Yamaha Semi's and Ibanez also for that matter.
I've found their fit and finish generally better than Gibson.
Fine, fine instruments...but...for me after multiple copies of 335'ish
guitars I've finally found the tone I was after and it's very much like
Adam Rogers'....it's a 335.
Not just any 335 as I've had several that did not do it for me.
This one is a 2008 "Fat Neck".
The 57 Classics sound clear and balanced and the larger neck is
very resonant. Love this guitar.
-
Good luck with the Gibson. The most important thing is : choose your love and love your choice.
Play with it and get to know your gear.
I would miss the single coil switching like in the Yamaha a lot. It's ideal to use it in rhythm parts. Sounds softer. For the solo switch quickly to the humbucker. It works really good and gives the guitar A LOT more variaty in sounds.
What also has A LOT of influence on the sound is the pick. It is a very important little simple cheap thing to change the sound of your guitar.
-
That's my point, Pepe, you never used the single coil. ... Try it. Use your gear.
To play live with many different kinds of jazz, it's is very usefull.
I didn't use it much at first, because I used a strat before, just like you. But then I spent time working with that because I can't switch guitar during a song and also I only want to use one guitar. I don't like switching guitars.
-
I love my Yamaha SA2200 except for one thing: The pick attack transient is way to "clicky" and for lead lines the highs are kind of shrill. Then I lowered both pups (they were too close to the strings), and most of the pick noise and shrill sound reduced noticeably. I still don't like the sound compared to my Epiphone Sheraton 2, which has a nice "gibsonish" mellow flavor. So I did a little research about the differences in the pickups. SA2200 has Alnico 5 pups, Sheraton 2 has Alnico 2 (a weaker magnet) I think that explains what a number of people on various blogs have complained about the Yamaha's tone. Alnico 5 is known for higher output and more brightness. Brightness becomes shrillness (well, it's hard to describe a sound isn't it?)
So here's a possible solution for anyone willing to do some work (maybe I'll do it!): Instead of replacing the pups in the Yamaha, it's easier to just replace the magnets in the pups. Remove the Alnico 5 magnet bar and slip in the alnico 2. Wala! Instant mellower pickup. Stew Mac has Alnico magnets for humbuckers for $11. I found a couple of videos on YouTube showing the procedure. Unsolder the pup's cover, loosen some screws, note the magnet polarity, slip out the old magnet and insert the new one. Tighten the screws, solder on the cover and done. It looks easy in the videos. Then if I don't like the new sound I can always go back to the old magnets. It looks to me like changing out the magnets is an easier and less expensive process than soldering in new pups. I measured the resistance of the Yamaha pups compared to the Sheraton pups and they are pretty close. I measured the inductance values too, and they are close (approx 30 Henry's per pup). Conclusion: Most of the difference is in the magnetic field strength.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos