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I've owned an Epiphone Broadway for a while and the neck pickup is very harsh on the treble side. I have tried adjusting multiple ways but is doesn't change much. Currently strung with Thomastik 12s. Great guitar and I have it set up for easy play that I enjoy.
Purchased for $600 used with case so not really sure how much money I want to invest. Any recommendations or what to try?
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01-23-2023 08:24 PM
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'57 classic
490r or 490t
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....though I think I would just swap both pickups and upgrade my pots, and pickup switch to CTS pots and a decent Gibson switch while I was at it. It will likely be worth it over Epiphone pickupgs if you like the guitar and plan on keeping it a long time. Electronics are the weak point in the Epi's I have had and I have had 4 or 5 different models. The guitars are extremely good bu the electronics for me were either mediocre or faulty at times. If you don't gig maybe the pots and switches are overkill but that's my moneymaker so it's cheap insurance.
Every time I hear a Seth Lover set, it sounds incredible. 57 classics (not the + model) or the 490 set. Duncan Jazz or '59 in the neck position and any number of sweet bridge pickups. I have a jazz in the neck and a '57 in the bridge of my semi hollow and really enjoy it. Happy hunting.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I sold a 2007 Gibson ES-175 that had wonderful pickups but the guitar bothered my shoulder. Any yet a 17" doesn't, go figure. Does anyone know what would have been installed it that?
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That guitar probably had the 57 Classics from factory
Originally Posted by Kevin Michael
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Pickups.... oh boy.... If I have learned one thing about pickups over the years, then it is that it's almost impossible to predict what a certain pickup will do in a specific guitar.... Originally Posted by Kevin Michael
That being said: I know the all maple Epiphone archtops to be quite bright and 'scooped' sounding guitars that benefit from pickups that don't have tons of highs and with a bit of a mid boost. I suspect a Classic 57 will be a good candidate. I would stay away from SD59s. Great pickups when you want to add air and sparkle to your heavy Les Paul but when I tried them out in my Epiphone Sheraton they enhanced the bright and scooped nature of that guitar. A pair of StewMac Golden Age humbuckers for half the price of the SD's was exactly what that guitar needed.
I recently built a Telecaster Thinline Deluxe with humbuckers from a cheap AliExpress kit with undoubtedly the cheapest MIC ceramic humbuckers on the market..... but they sounded great!! I have recently also used FLEOR Alnico pickups for my tele- and strat- partscasters. For only $15 per pickup they are perfect. Alnico sounds airier and brighter than ceramic pickups, inspite of the hype around it. I would be tempted to try the cheapest FLEOR ceramic humbuckers from AliExpress, they might be just what your Broadway needs.
These for example:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...d=XoG9lEAumJ7C
For $25 it's worth an experiment.
If it must be Alnico, then these for 5 bucks more:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...d=fax4ZIVqaEvV
I am done with expensive boutique pickups, these FLEORs do the job just as well and sometimes even better.
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I allways found the Broadway a suitable platform for a couple of staple Alnico V PU's in P90 format. Kind of an old style looking and sounding L5. But that is due to the luxury of having a couple of L5s on hand already. May be one day...
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I had a Stewart MacDonald "Golden Age" PAF in a box and popped it into my Broadway and WOW. It was wonderful. I kept it in. Very nice pickup.
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I played a friend's Epi Les Paul last year that had those and they sounded very nice. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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I don't see the StewMac Golden Age on their website anymore. It's discontinued? The have the (pricey) Parson's Street humbucker and the StewMac Humbucker. Is the latter the incarnation of the Golden Age?
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So how much work is it to go from HB to P90? If I could plop some in my broadway I'd be all set. Originally Posted by hotpepper01
I allways found the Broadway a suitable platform for a couple of staple Alnico V PU's in P90 format. Kind of an old style looking and sounding L5. But that is due to the luxury of having a couple of L5s on hand already. May be one day...
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Seth Lovers. I just bought a set to put in my Broadway
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My Tele came with a pair of inexpensive “builder” ceramic humbuckers, and they do sound remarkably good. The problem I had with them is that they exert a lot of string pull, so they do best when they’re well below the strings. Unfortunately, my Tele was routed for directly mounting the pickups to the bottom of the cavity. Mine (like all of the Chinese ceramic humbuckers I’ve seen) are very thick, and I couldn’t lower them enough. So I replaced them with Lace Alumibuckers. Originally Posted by Little Jay
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There are a bunch of P90 that are HB sized out there. Lyndy Fralin makes a few HB sized P90 options. … and so does most everyone else. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
The Staple thing is a little different.
From what I have been reading staples are Gib’s take on dynasonics. There are a few different dynasonic sized HBs out there.
Gabojo makes one that I have been told is very good. That is the one that is highest in my list of next PU purchases.
Mr.2000HB in Humbucker size for Hollow body Guitars - Gabojo
TVJones T-Armond has an HB sized option. I have three TVJones PU. I am extremely happy with two. The third is an excellent PU but I wanted to try something brighter and thinner and it is too bright and thin for me. A different guitar might have made it work.
Seymour Duncan makes a custom made HB sized PU. Due to the cost, and an shared experience from a forum member about dealing with SD custom stuff, that PU never made my list.
The only thing that has stop me from buying the Gabojo PU is the question, “do I really want to live with hum, in another guitar”? If I am using my computer, and my guitar it is a bit bothersome. I guess I could just buy a noise gate for that.
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I like Seth Lovers in guitars with maple necks, and find the Antiquities sound very similar to that combo when put in a guitar with a mahogany neck. Originally Posted by RyanM
I believe the Parson Street ones are their 'good' PAFs, so it may be just a name change (from the Golden Age), but I'm not 100% on that. Originally Posted by Little Jay
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A bunch of companies sell humbucker shaped P90s, or regular sized P90s in humbucker cases, so shouldn't be too tough. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
10 Humbucker-Sized P-90s You Should Try - Premier Guitar
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But what if the dogear staple look is half of the reason I want to switch?
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You probably need a couple of spacers that are a little larger than the P90 contour and to drill some holes for the screws and mount those P90s. Be aware, there is no way back without some cosmetic consequences.... Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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With a bit of luck the P90 cover will cover the humbucker cutout. You will have to enlarge the sides of the humbucker cutout (lengthen or widen it, depending on how you look at it) to accomodate for the P90, since those are longer. If the dogear covers are not large enough you can use oversized shims. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
Getting the right height for the P90 will be a bigger challenge. Too low is not a problem, then you can shim them. If they are too high it's more cumbersome, you will have to look for lower covers and bottom plates with longer 'arms', or carefully bend them to the right length (I did once brake off a leg trying to do that, so be careful....)
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Op, if all you want is a warmer sound with less treble, all you have to do is go to a 250k or even 100k volume pot depending on how warm you like it. It's that simple. However, switching pickups is always fun too. I'd want to switch out an Epi pup if that's what's in there.
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Depending on how much of a high cut you want, simply using a long standard (i.e. not low capacitance) cord from guitar to amp will tame highs and fatten the sound a bit. You can also use a higher value tone capacitor. In the good old days, manufacturers fitted really high caps (e.g. 0.1 microFarad), but today most guitars come with 0.022 or less. And they use lower values with humbuckers, so you may even have a smaller cap than 0.022 in there. Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith
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Where did you get that pick guard? If I order an L5 style pickguard will it fit the screws and pickups on the broadway?
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Yes, cable is an easy peasy way to dampen things. I prefer 22 or even 18 nf caps because they're creamy but plenty bassy if turned down low. I'm a fan of lowering the volume pot value because it uses resistance to dampen things which dampens the whole signal instead of only chopping highs. That way you can still get some nice spike and chime only it's much warmer and smokier instead of all thin with a 500k volume. It's a no brainer imo for jazz guitars but people won't have it. Has to be 500k. :P Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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I did that to a Godin Kingpin once - got an humbucker in a p90 format from The Creamery (UK). Sounded great, well worth it. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Epi Broadways come alive with a set of Seth Lovers. In addition to the stock pickups being bad, the stock wiring, pots, jack, cap, and switch these models come with are poor quality components. If I were upgrading pickups, I''d go all in and build or buy a complete new wiring harness. In my experience with multiple Korean and Chinese Broadways and several Emperors, they are really decent jazz guitars but they really benefit from some upgrades in the pickups and harness department.
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Dusty Baker
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