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I recently bought a '94 Golden Eagle (GE) in excellent condition, but think the floating pickup could sound better. I'm using D'Addario Chromes that I bought from Rich Severson.
It appears that the GE floating pickup simply plugs into the pickguard, but I could be wrong. If it's a plug-in, it would be nice to try a different Heritage floating pickup and perhaps find an improved tone - it's the high E that I don't like and I'd like the overall tone to be more Gibson jazz-box like. I've raised the action to increase the distance between the pickup and the high E and that helped. I'd like this guitar to sound like Rich's GE with a floating pickup, but it doesn't. I know he's EQing his tone using a Quilter Mach 2, and maybe that's the secret of his jazz tone.
I called the Heritage factory a few minutes ago and got an answering machine. They have a contact form that no longer works and I'm wondering whether their customer service is inactive.
Has anyone been along this road recently?
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10-04-2022 03:25 PM
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I would get a bartolini. I have this one on my Heritage Johnny Smith and possibly the best pickup I have heard, certainly as good as they get.
Jazz Guitar Humbucker - 5J - Bartolini Pickups & Electronics
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Congratulations on your new-to-you Heritage Golden Eagle!
I own a '93 Golden Eagle and many years ago, replaced the Heritage #3 floating pickup with a Kent Armstrong 12-Pole floating pickup. The sound is warmer and more balanced string to string than the original. I've never tried a Bartolini but have never read a bad review of them.
Here's where you can order a KA pickup if interested.
ac accessories
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I've just looked up images of Heritage Golden Eagles with floating pickups. I strongly suspect that the pickup has a tab that is affixed to the underside of the pickguard, either with glue/epoxy or a screw. I'm not aware of any "plug-in" system for floating pickups. One of the downsides to floating pickups is a lack of industry standardisation for sizing and mounting.
Originally Posted by Byrdman
The Bartolini pickup that Mark linked is a fine pickup, but it attaches directly to the neck rather than the pickguard. You might not want to drill holes in your guitar's neck before looking at other options.
I don't know what pickup you currently have on yours but photos of similar guitars suggests a typical Kent Armstrong looking pickup. You might try a custom Kent Armstrong humbucker or something by Pete Biltoft (aka Vintage Vibe Guitars), a popular pickup maker here on the forum.
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The Heritage floating pickup on my '94 GE is held in place by two 3"-long brass pins that fit snugly into a 1/4"-thick block of maple under the pickguard. About 5/8" of the brass pins go into the maple block. The remaining lengths of the pins go through holes in the end of pickup cover and are glued in place inside the cover on each side of the small humbucker. The pickup lead is routed through a hole in the center of the maple block and over to the volume pot. Once the end of the lead is unsoldered from the pot, the floating pickup can be disconnected from the pickguard by simply pulling it off - no glue or screws, just the two snugly fit brass pins.
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I love the elegant design of the pickup connection to the pickguard.
Do yourself a favor. Send the entire pickguard/pickup assembly to Kent Armstrong. It most likely will come apart at the rca connector. He will build one of his magical pickups into your existing structure. It will look stock, but that’s where it ends.. When you get it back, you will be blown away by the full, crisp and LOUD sound.
Call Kent. He is a very helpful guy.
Joe D
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Kent Armstrong hand made 12 pole. I swapped one in on my Heritage JS and it was wonderful. It clipped onto the neck. I like that idea of sending the whole unit to Kent, including the guard. I know he has a way of installing his into the original Heritage pickup cover. But then of course then you can’t easily adjust the poles on the guitar unless you drill 12 little holes in the cover, so I just went with the standard KA mount. I would try to preserve the original assembly as much as possible in case you ever need to sell the guitar.
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Kent does a superb job at a decent price.
I have not had any problem with the stock Floating #3. It is a warm, not hot, pickup and has a thinner tone (no mud).
Rob Doolittle builds custom pickups that mount on the the pickguard and is now the director of repairs at Heritage. He has made pickups for many years and works out of his basement shop. He's brilliant. He made a single coil pickup that replaced a Floating #3 on a Heritage. I'm a fan of that.
Kalamazoo Guitar Company – Passion Drives Us, Music Fuels Us
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This is how my Heritage Johnny Smith is set up and frankly I like the way the Bartolini looks it sits very nice and tight, looka right and sound is fantastic.
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I’ve posted on this before, swapping pickups is the most frustrating thing about gear adjustments for me, because after listening to the new one, I can’t remember how the previous one sounded a day or so ago (unless extreme).
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Like this: Originally Posted by Byrdman
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Exactly!
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Martygrass, with your permission, I can show what the underside of the pickup will look like after Kent Armstrong does the conversion. I have a nice picture of the pickup on your guitar. You bless, I post.
JD
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+1 for sending the whole pickup/pickguard assembly to Kent Armstrong to wind a new PAF in the existing structure. He also swapped the 250 pots out for 500’s. Price was very reasonable and the tone was significantly improved… added a wonderful acoustic dimension.
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Thanks for the advice, guys. My Heritage GE pickguard is on its way to Kent in Vermont for a floating pickup swap. I also picked up a Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 Combo 8 amp that arrived yesterday.
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You need to post a picture of this guitar! We love to see them! Originally Posted by Byrdman
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mclaughlin sound here
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