I have two Heritage Roy Clark guitars, and am looking into replacing the original Schaller pickups with something else. I started looking for standard-spaced pickups, and then thought I should check the guitar, not assume the spacing. I was surprised to find the bridge pickup string spacing to be 53mm, i.e. "F-spaced". Can anyone else verify the bridge pickup string spacing on this guitar model?
Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
- Thread starter bhr
- Start date
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
A friend here just bought himself a new Heritage "Les Paul" for his birthday. Beautiful guitar. The pickups it came with are Duncan 59's.
All I was saying is that Duncan's standard humbucker polepiece spacing, which is the same as Gibson's standard polepiece spacing, should be fine on a Heritage.
Especially now that Heritage uses Duncan pickups.
A friend here just bought himself a new Heritage "Les Paul" for his birthday. Beautiful guitar. The pickups it came with are Duncan 59's.
All I was saying is that Duncan's standard humbucker polepiece spacing, which is the same as Gibson's standard polepiece spacing, should be fine on a Heritage.
Especially now that Heritage uses Duncan pickups.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
Gibson-esque string spacing has been wide spaced for decades – since the “Nashville” bridge came about IIRC. Yes, in an ideal world, Gibsons should have F spaced bridge pickups. But in reality, it doesn’t really matter. Normal spacing works just fine (though it doesn’t look very neat).
Gibson-esque string spacing has been wide spaced for decades – since the “Nashville” bridge came about IIRC. Yes, in an ideal world, Gibsons should have F spaced bridge pickups. But in reality, it doesn’t really matter. Normal spacing works just fine (though it doesn’t look very neat).
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
It's been a long time since I've had a guitar with Schaller humbuckers.
If the Duncan mounting rings line up perfectly with the Schallers everything should be fine. Don't know if the four mounting screws are in exactly the same place or not.
Schallers are German and measurements are in millimeters. Duncan and Gibson are USA and measured in inches or parts of an inch.
Also the Schallers use four ht. adjustment screws and the Duncans use two. So the mounting rings will likely not be interchangeable.
It's been a long time since I've had a guitar with Schaller humbuckers.
If the Duncan mounting rings line up perfectly with the Schallers everything should be fine. Don't know if the four mounting screws are in exactly the same place or not.
Schallers are German and measurements are in millimeters. Duncan and Gibson are USA and measured in inches or parts of an inch.
Also the Schallers use four ht. adjustment screws and the Duncans use two. So the mounting rings will likely not be interchangeable.
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Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=53&v=9mURVofPTnY&feature=emb_logo
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=53&v=9mURVofPTnY&feature=emb_logo
DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
He’s talking about pole spacing. Not the mounting ring.
All humbuckers these days use metric measurements for pole spacing, i.e. Fender spaced pickups are 53mm. Gibson is 50mm.
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He’s talking about pole spacing. Not the mounting ring.
All humbuckers these days use metric measurements for pole spacing, i.e. Fender spaced pickups are 53mm. Gibson is 50mm.
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Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
If he goes with Duncans he'll likely not be able to re-use his Schaller mounting rings.
If he goes with Duncans he'll likely not be able to re-use his Schaller mounting rings.
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
The Schaller system is way better anyway. Same with Carvin pickups.
I don’t know why everyone doesn’t go to three mounting screws. You can angle the pickup, and it doesn’t wobble in the ring.
I used to be a Schaller dealer. They make good pickups. Very DiMarzio influenced.
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The Schaller system is way better anyway. Same with Carvin pickups.
I don’t know why everyone doesn’t go to three mounting screws. You can angle the pickup, and it doesn’t wobble in the ring.
I used to be a Schaller dealer. They make good pickups. Very DiMarzio influenced.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
This video compares Seth Lovers and Schallers in a Heritage jazz body guitar. The differences are pretty clear.
I liked the Seth Lovers better because I tend to like a warm but clear and spacious clean sound.
The Schallers sound hotter, denser and fuller. A lot of players would prefer that sound.
This video compares Seth Lovers and Schallers in a Heritage jazz body guitar. The differences are pretty clear.
I liked the Seth Lovers better because I tend to like a warm but clear and spacious clean sound.
The Schallers sound hotter, denser and fuller. A lot of players would prefer that sound.
DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
Depends on the model. Schaller make PAF style pickups, and hot DiMarzio type pickups.
This video is like comparing a Duncan Pearly Gates to a Distortion.
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Depends on the model. Schaller make PAF style pickups, and hot DiMarzio type pickups.
This video is like comparing a Duncan Pearly Gates to a Distortion.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Lewguitar
New member
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
In this case I assumed that the Schaller set is the original set and the Seth Lovers are replacements.
He compares the sound of the Schallers to Duncan 59's.
I doubt Heritage would put hot Dimarzio style Schaller humbuckers in a jazz guitar like that...but who knows?
In this case I assumed that the Schaller set is the original set and the Seth Lovers are replacements.
He compares the sound of the Schallers to Duncan 59's.
I doubt Heritage would put hot Dimarzio style Schaller humbuckers in a jazz guitar like that...but who knows?
Re: Bridge pickup string spacing on Heritage Roy Clark guitar
Below are my replies and comments to all of the information everyone has provided above. Thank you to everyone for your input.
The reason I am asking for confirmation of the string/pole spacing is because finding 53mm bridge string spacing on the guitar was very unexpected. I thought perhaps someone else with the same model of guitar had already been through this and could provide some reassurance. I measured the pole pieces and the string spacing on the guitar, then compared it with uninstalled pickups from Duncan and DiMarzio, both standard and f-spaced. It was obvious that the bridge pickups are f-spaced. I didn't expect a company that has Gibson as its historical beginnings to use this type of spacing, but in the comments above someone mentioned that Gibson has been doing that also. Lesson for me: Always measure string spacing before ordering pickups. It's like the dagnabit need to determine if a bolt is SAE or metric, and having to maintain two sets of tools because of the different standards.
The pickups are definitely Schaller. I know because I took them off of the guitars and looked at the back of the pickups. The guitars were manufactured in 1993 and 1996, and I think Heritage switched to Duncan around 2005 or 2006. The guitars are currently 100% original equipment.
Someone made a good point about the mounting rings not necessarily fitting a replacement pickup. I'll have to do some measurements on that topic. I would really rather not have to drill holes, especially if they are right next to the old holes. If the existing rings don't fit, maybe I'll make my own from maple, dye them, and use the existing mounting holes.
I really like the Heritage Roy Clark guitar, and the Scaller pickups sound very good. No complaints. I can get an amazingly wide range of sounds from the guitars. But there are times when I can hear things with the pickups that aren't quite what I would like to hear - the pickups are sometimes muddy and mushy. It's subtle, the type of thing I can only hear when I am playing a guitar, not when I'm listening to someone else. So I want to try some other pickups. I can always reinstall the original pickups. I would like to try Seth Lover pickups, but something in me resists it because of the exorbitant price - $260 for two pickups with gold covers. So, I think I will first try DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups. The reason I bought a second guitar of the same model was to be able to try different sets of string and compare them. That should work equally well for pickups.
Below are my replies and comments to all of the information everyone has provided above. Thank you to everyone for your input.
The reason I am asking for confirmation of the string/pole spacing is because finding 53mm bridge string spacing on the guitar was very unexpected. I thought perhaps someone else with the same model of guitar had already been through this and could provide some reassurance. I measured the pole pieces and the string spacing on the guitar, then compared it with uninstalled pickups from Duncan and DiMarzio, both standard and f-spaced. It was obvious that the bridge pickups are f-spaced. I didn't expect a company that has Gibson as its historical beginnings to use this type of spacing, but in the comments above someone mentioned that Gibson has been doing that also. Lesson for me: Always measure string spacing before ordering pickups. It's like the dagnabit need to determine if a bolt is SAE or metric, and having to maintain two sets of tools because of the different standards.
The pickups are definitely Schaller. I know because I took them off of the guitars and looked at the back of the pickups. The guitars were manufactured in 1993 and 1996, and I think Heritage switched to Duncan around 2005 or 2006. The guitars are currently 100% original equipment.
Someone made a good point about the mounting rings not necessarily fitting a replacement pickup. I'll have to do some measurements on that topic. I would really rather not have to drill holes, especially if they are right next to the old holes. If the existing rings don't fit, maybe I'll make my own from maple, dye them, and use the existing mounting holes.
I really like the Heritage Roy Clark guitar, and the Scaller pickups sound very good. No complaints. I can get an amazingly wide range of sounds from the guitars. But there are times when I can hear things with the pickups that aren't quite what I would like to hear - the pickups are sometimes muddy and mushy. It's subtle, the type of thing I can only hear when I am playing a guitar, not when I'm listening to someone else. So I want to try some other pickups. I can always reinstall the original pickups. I would like to try Seth Lover pickups, but something in me resists it because of the exorbitant price - $260 for two pickups with gold covers. So, I think I will first try DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups. The reason I bought a second guitar of the same model was to be able to try different sets of string and compare them. That should work equally well for pickups.