Pickup Suggestions For Blonde 89 Emperor

[Boze]

Any humbucker suggestions for this MIK Emperor?




I have a Korean Zephyr Regent that I adore since putting a Seth Lover in it on the advice of you guys. Just got home with this Emperor today, put some Thomastik Swing 11s on it and didn't trim them because I already suspect this Epi needs a similar upgrade. The Emperor neck humbucker sounds unclear in a similar budget hardware way to the stock pickup on the Zephyr if I recall correctly.

I've read some threads and wonder if the move is to stick with a Seth pair or try another SD humbucker or something from another make. Appreciate any suggestions.

Update: I'd been calling the Zephyr a Triumph by mistake

[AllanAllen]

I had a Seth lover and it never sounded good to me. Ended up routing the top for some dogear p90s. Now I’m happy.

you can see the existing crack on the lower bass bout. Made it easy for me to go for surgery.

[Jimmy Smith]

If you want a ratty pickup and like the Seth Lover then get the SD Antiquity. Similar to the Seth but ratty and more vintage. Also feel free to choose the neck or bridge model to put in the neck slot depending on how hot you want it.

[va3ux]

That's a Zephyr Regent in your 6th picture, not a Triumph Regent. I think any of the usual suspects will work well in the Emperor : Gibson 57 Classic, Gibson Burst Bucker, SD 59, SD Seth Lover, Stewmac Parsons St...

[ThatRhythmMan]

I would say go with a Gibson pickup. The 57 Classic is simply a superb archtop humbucker. If you want to try something with a P90 angle, the humbucker sized Gibson P94 is also a really nice pickup.


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[Boze]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Sorry, I meant Zephyr. Tired today and I did own a Triumph Regent years ago like the guy from Hot Club of Cowtown has. Gotta get my models right now that I own two Epiphones!

Not looking for a P90 for the Emperor though they do look nice. The SD 59 or Gibson Classic 57 sound like good options.

I don't want an antiqued pickup specifically and the stock ones aged poorly with no real charm to the patina if you can even call it that. I just know I won't use the bridge one so it needn't be fancy

[ThatRhythmMan]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Sorry, I meant Zephyr. Tired today and I did own a Triumph Regent years ago like the guy from Hot Club of Cowtown has. Gotta get my models right now that I own two Epiphones!

Not looking for a P90 for the Emperor though they do look nice. The SD 59 or Gibson Classic 57 sound like good options.

I don't want an antiqued pickup specifically and the stock ones aged poorly with no real charm to the patina if you can even call it that. I just know I won't use the bridge one so it needn't be fancy

57 Classics have sounded great in any guitar I’ve heard them in. You could possibly tease something slightly better out with some boutique humbuckers, but the return for cost will be very small.


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[andrew]

Figured I'd post this here. This is my blonde '89 Emperor that I have modified to be more like a Harmony H-62/Espanada. Since it's a cross between an Emperor and an Espanada, I call it the Empanada (I recently had a custom truss rod cover made to make it official).

[Jimmy Smith]

I don't want an antiqued pickup specifically.

Oh, I thought you said you wanted the new neck pup to match the look of the existing bridge pup.

Anyways, do you want the new pup to have more body than the Seth, or about the same? That could help narrow it down. I found the Seth chirpy for jazz, I prefer more body for a jazz tone. But it's a good sound for guys who go for that.

I just know I won't use the bridge one so it needn't be fancy.

Then why spend money on a bridge pickup? When I had a jazz box, I had the stock pos bridge pickup disconnected and I removed the magnet from it so it wouldn't exert any string pull on the strings. I only had it there for the look. Then I put in an aftermarket neck hum only. You could replace the cover with a new one if you wanted to get rid of the ratty look.

[Boze]

do you want the new pup to have more body than the Seth, or about the same? That could help narrow it down. I found the Seth chirpy for jazz, I prefer more body for a jazz tone. But it's a good sound for guys who go for that.

More body sounds appealing to me: the slightly slimmer Emperor already sounds thinner than the Zephyr. I have very little experience with pickups, jazz humbucker or otherwise, having come from a background of mostly gypsy guitars.

Do you like @ThatRhythmHack's suggestion of a Classic 57? The name certainly seems promising: when I first started listening to and playing jazz guitar I only went from Charlie Christian to Wes and his contemporaries and never listened to anything newer than early Barney Kessel or Jimmy Bruno. I dislike the rubbery tone of John Pizzarelli, for example. Wes' Round Midnight is an example of a satisfying tone. I don't like the scooped sound of Fender amps for jazz and I don't like Wes' baritone tone if that helps.

I like this idea if nutting the bridge pickup and replacing just the cover to match. I'd swear the bridge pickup knobs are affecting the neck tone even with the switch on neck only. The 57 set isn't too expensive though so I'd be open to upgrading both just to respect the instrument and not hobble it unnecessarily.

57 Classics have sounded great in any guitar I’ve heard them in. You could possibly tease something slightly better out with some boutique humbuckers, but the return for cost will be very small.

I like this suggestion a lot and wondered if you liked the idea of an underwound 57 for the neck? The Emperor has way less room from the top to the strings compared to the Zephyr and it looks kinda weird having the stock neck pickup backed up almost into the bracket. The underwound 7.2k seems like more of a mellow jazz solution that wouldn't need to be so far from the strings to sound tender and in this description from the Gibson site it says it has wax in it to avoid microphonic feedback. I don't know that expression but if you told me that one of the things I disliked about the stock pickups was microphonic feedback I'd believe you.



Thanks again guys, I appreciate the insight.

[Ukena]

Figured I'd post this here. This is my blonde '89 Emperor that I have modified to be more like a Harmony H-62/Espanada. Since it's a cross between an Emperor and an Espanada, I call it the Empanada (I recently had a custom truss rod cover made to make it official).

"Empanada." Excellent!

[garybaldy]

Any humbucker suggestions for this MIK Emperor?




I have a Korean Zephyr Regent that I adore since putting a Seth Lover in it on the advice of you guys. Just got home with this Emperor today, put some Thomastik Swing 11s on it and didn't trim them because I already suspect this Epi needs a similar upgrade. The Emperor neck humbucker sounds unclear in a similar budget hardware way to the stock pickup on the Triumph if I recall correctly.

I've been playing the Zephyr finger style of late and keep the Lover humbucker quite far (5-6mm or so) from the strings for whatever that's worth. I appreciate the feathery attack from my half-assed finger style and enjoy a balanced, tender tone that isn't cutting.

Been using the Clarity amp on the HX Stomp for a gig rig as well as an Ampeg J12 and a flight of Roland Cubes at home.

I have no plans to use the bridge pickup and, while I love the Lover humbucker, it would look odd with one shiny and one ratty pickup.

I've read some threads and wonder if the move is to stick with a Seth pair or try another SD humbucker or something from another make. Appreciate any suggestions.

Update: I'd been calling the Zephyr a Triumph by mistake

Is that the guitar that is known as the pre Joe Pass?

[AllanAllen]

when I first started listening to and playing jazz guitar I only went from Charlie Christian to Wes and his contemporaries and never listened to anything newer than early Barney Kessel or Jimmy Bruno. I dislike the rubbery tone of John Pizzarelli, for example. Wes' Round Midnight is an example of a satisfying tone. I don't like the scooped sound of Fender amps for jazz and I don't like Wes' baritone tone if that helps.

Sounds like you prefer the sound of single coil pickups.

[omphalopsychos]

Another vote for Gibson 57 classic. I think they’re very hard to beat in an archtop.

[Boze]

Sounds like you prefer the sound of single coil pickups.

I might have agreed with you before the Zephyr adventure and I do like a nice P90. I traded a P90 Loar plus some cash for this Emperor and I have an old ES125, though it needs some P90/pot repair too.

I know Charlie didn't use a humbucker, I was just saying my jazz guitar listening only ranges from the godfather to 60s-era players and I never listened to or bonded with a more modern jazz guitar sound.

Nice looking dog ear setup on that jazz box!

[wintermoon]

Just be careful, the suggestions in this thread may not work as well for sunburst guitars

[Boze]

I went with the underwound 57 from Sam Ash with a 15% off coupon code. Thanks again for the thoughtful gear advice. I'll check back when it's installed, which hopefully won't be as humbling and bumbling as the Seth install

[va3ux]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Sorry, I meant Zephyr. Tired today and I did own a Triumph Regent years ago like the guy from Hot Club of Cowtown has. Gotta get my models right now that I own two Epiphones!

Not looking for a P90 for the Emperor though they do look nice. The SD 59 or Gibson Classic 57 sound like good options.

I don't want an antiqued pickup specifically and the stock ones aged poorly with no real charm to the patina if you can even call it that. I just know I won't use the bridge one so it needn't be fancy

I too have a Zephyr Regent; 1998 vintage. It's a great guitar. I also have an Emperor like yours although mine was made a few years later than yours and it has the Joe Pass name added to it. I forgot to mention the Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF is another candidate.

[va3ux]

Is that the guitar that is known as the pre Joe Pass?

Yes, that's it. Essentially identical to the Joe Pass version. They were all made by Samick back then.

[Herbie]

More body sounds appealing to me
…
The underwound 7.2k seems like more of a mellow jazz solution that wouldn't need to be so far from the strings to sound tender and in this description from the Gibson site it says it has wax in it to avoid.

Hmm… without never playing with it 7,2k pickup sounds more like brighter and less-bodied than ’mellow’. Based on mere numbers the normal ca. 8k Classics would have some mellowness and body.

But I am interested in the underwound Classic 57s too, so I stay tuned!

[Boze]

Hmm… without never playing with it 7,2k pickup sounds more like brighter and less-bodied than ’mellow’. Based on mere numbers the normal ca. 8k Classics would have some mellowness and body.

But I am interested in the underwound Classic 57s too, so I stay tuned!

Oops, maybe the underwound was a mistake by me then. I was noticing that I keep the Zephyr's Lover humbucker fairly far from the strings and since the Emperor has a lot less height from pickup bracket to strings I guessed that an underwound 57 wouldn't have to be backed off so much.

I replaced the bridge with a cheap compensated Amazon special, added a bit of neck relief, and removed the original pickguard, which has a crack that was buzzing. I appreciate the limited/laminate acoustic tone more now and still don't care for those pickups.

Also the bridge pickup isn't really screwed into the bracket apparently (I can lift it up to the strings with my fingers) so I put a little bit of putty next to it to stop the rattling.

[Herbie]

Oops, maybe the underwound was a mistake by me then. I was noticing that I keep the Zephyr's Lover humbucker fairly far from the strings and since the Emperor has a lot less height from pickup bracket to strings I guessed that an underwound 57 wouldn't have to be backed off so much.
(...)

You can't say about doing a mistake before You have heard it!

Sorry but a bit stupid question: why do You keep the pickup fairly far from the strings in Your Zephyr?

When You want to update the pickups You should first check the rest of the electronics. Pots and caps and wiring.

The pots should be 500 kOhm with humbuckers and the cap according Your taste. Usually 0.022uF. And if You like classic sounds You might like the "'50s wiring" best.

These parts are cheap. If You can solder, do it Yourself. If You can't, ask Your tech to do it.

Good luck!

[lawson-stone]

I might have agreed with you before the Zephyr adventure and I do like a nice P90. I traded a P90 Loar plus some cash for this Emperor and I have an old ES125, though it needs some P90/pot repair too.

I know Charlie didn't use a humbucker, I was just saying my jazz guitar listening only ranges from the godfather to 60s-era players and I never listened to or bonded with a more modern jazz guitar sound.

Nice looking dog ear setup on that jazz box!

I put a StewMac Parsons Street humbucker in the neck slot of my MiK Broadway and love it. Then I put a Seymour Duncan PhatCat (?) --the P90 in the Humbucker form factor--in my Zephyr Regent (identical to yours). I love that too.

[diamondjazzy]

I like the GFS Lil Killers, but not the hottest version. Aside from that, I really like a DiMarzio SDS-1 in the bridge of my Strats.

[Boze]

I put a StewMac Parsons Street humbucker in the neck slot of my MiK Broadway and love it. Then I put a Seymour Duncan PhatCat (?) --the P90 in the Humbucker form factor--in my Zephyr Regent (identical to yours). I love that too.

The phat cat sounds like a cool idea for the Zephyr. The 57 Classic arrived today and I was thinking about putting that in the Emperor and using the underwound 57 in the Zephyr instead of the Seth Lover I have in there now. The Emperor has less low end acoustically and I wondered if the underwound 57 might better fit the bassier Zephyr. I'm not entirely clear on the merits of an underwound humbucker but I listened to some YouTube examples and liked what I heard.