Pickups for Flying V

[Fiesta Red]

Hello,

I have a Gibson Flying V that needs new pickups. Love the Schenker sound, but also love the cleaner blues stuff that a good sounding V can do (Albert King). Which would be more versatile -- Seth Lovers or 59s? Which would be more 'classic'? Anyone have a V with these pickups?

Thanks in advance!
-Mark

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Phat Cats.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

A Seth or a 59 is a iller pup, both good at vintage style humbucking tones. For the Schenker stuff you might want to look at a Custom Custom...maybe a CC in the bridge and a Seth at the neck...killer combo, lots of good tones!!!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Hello,

I have a Gibson Flying V that needs new pickups. Love the Schenker sound, but also love the cleaner blues stuff that a good sounding V can do (Albert King). Which would be more versatile -- Seth Lovers or 59s? Which would be more 'classic'? Anyone have a V with these pickups?

Thanks in advance!
-Mark

Tough choice because both are favorites of mine! Albert King used a '58 Flying V for his most classic recordings. Probably those were alnico 2 pafs.

For that reason, I think I'd go with the alnico 2 Seths or Antiquitys but the alnico 5 59's would be great too.

Have you heard the CD Albert did with SRV? He's playing his Erlewine Flying V with early 70's alnico 5 Gibson humbuckers. Sounds great too!

I love the tone of a good Flying V...wish I could play one sitting down!

Lew

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

I believe Schenker used a Custom and a '59 in his Gibson Vs (before he sold them on ebay :smack: ), though on the classic 70s UFO stuff I would guess he had the stock Gibson buckers. Those old Gibsons would have been alnico 5 and very similar to '59s.

Without actually having played one I would guess that a V is not a million miles acoustically from an SG, and a set of '59s would sound great and also be very versatile.

Seth Lovers and '59s both meet your criteria of "versatile" and "classic". The Seths have more midrange and a softer bass, the '59s are brighter on top with a stronger bass, hence less noticable midrange. I would be inclined to go '59s in a V, but I love Seths too.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Regarding Flying V's and SG's, the V has a thicker and beefier tone IMO. The body is a little thicker and heavier. But you're right Simon and I do think of them as being a little similar...especially if both are made of Honduras Mahogany. Of course some V's are made of Limba...renamed Korina by Gibson.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

I'd say a CC will give you a good Schenker tone. Warm ,Fat with lots of
Mids. For Alberts tone I'm thinking something w/t a A5 mag to get his
almost shrill tone. I have a 59er in my 335 and I can nail Freddie Kings
tone. The styles are different But in a Vee I think a 59er would yield
A killer Albert King tone.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Albert got a great tone but most of us would not be happy playing through his choice of amplification. He played through an old 200 or 300 watt solid state Acoustic brand amp with two 15" speakers and a tweeter horn...though the tweeter was blown and disconnected most of the time. He also used the built in fuzz in the amp for a slightly overdriven tone. Just another example of: it's not the gear...it's the player.

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

I love the tone of a good Flying V...wish I could play one sitting down!

Lew

You can play it sitting down if you hold it like a classical guitar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

You can play it sitting down if you hold it like a classical guitar.

Yeah I guess. They're more fun to play standing up.

I love Explorers too. Another great one to play standing up but not so great sitting down.

Lew

 

[Wattage]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

I'd say Alnico2's, I have my best luck with Schenker tones using those. Plus they sound great for Blues use. I haven't used Seth so I can't really comment on those. The 59's have a little more bass than Michael uses to my ears. Michael lives in the mids and I find A2 mag pups definitely do the trick, if you want Hot Rod Michael get a CC but then you will be out of the Albert King range.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Thanks for all your replies! I went with the set of 59s and I couldn't be happier. I just got the guitar back today. The clean sounds are great -- they get me where I want to be. I also installed pull-pot coil taps on the two volume knobs, so I have a huge array of tones. I'm still working with the highly distorted sounds a little more -- definitely need some knob fiddling on the pedals. One of the most interesting sounds is the distorted tapped neck pickup -- very hollow and almost 'flutey' sounding. It's really cool.

-Mark

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Flying V

Thanks for all your replies! I went with the set of 59s and I couldn't be happier. I just got the guitar back today. The clean sounds are great -- they get me where I want to be. I also installed pull-pot coil taps on the two volume knobs, so I have a huge array of tones. I'm still working with the highly distorted sounds a little more -- definitely need some knob fiddling on the pedals. One of the most interesting sounds is the distorted tapped neck pickup -- very hollow and almost 'flutey' sounding. It's really cool.

-Mark

Gotta love those 59's! Good choice. Lew