Question for SH-11 owners

S

Suchapinch

New member
Hi Ya'll
I bought a Hagstrom Viking reissue and found that it was a bit brighter than I expected. The stock pickups were low output, flat sounding and didn't help the sterile sound of the guitar. After talking to a customer service rep at SD, I settled on the sh-11 for the bridge to warm up the guitar, cut some of the highs and increase the output. I also installed a pull pot to split the coils. Success!
I don't get a really clean sound from the bridge and the neck pickup was still the same low output design from hagstrom, so I acquired and installed a hagstrom 58 humbucker from a hagstrom swede (alnico V) in the neck (it was cheap).
whew!
Everything is so much better, it's more of a rock guitar now and I like the way the alnico V tightens up the bass in the neck. But, the n/b pu sounds are completely dissimilar, complementary, but dissimilar.
So, here's my question. Is there a neck pickup that would match the midragey sound of the sh-11 while retaining the tight bass of an aV pickup?
Sorry for the long explanation. Thanks
 
Re: Question for SH-11 owners

Welcome to the forum. I had a SH-11 in one of my les paul type guitar a while ago. I found that after trying the 59 neck, it was a little 2 dark for my taste. The kind folks around here recommend that I try the Pearly Gates, and it hit the spot. It was just the right amount of midrange, but with enough clarity to cut through the mix, something important for a neck pickup in my opinion.

Others will surely have different recommendations, but I can suggest the Pearly Gates with confidence.
 
Re: Question for SH-11 owners

phil_104 said:
Welcome to the forum. I had a SH-11 in one of my les paul type guitar a while ago. I found that after trying the 59 neck, it was a little 2 dark for my taste.
Click to expand...

+1. The CC is kind of dark & has that funky A2 tone that I don't like (I know, some guys love it). I'd try an inbetween magnet, like an A4 in the CC, to bridge the gap better (give more treble, but keep some mids). And the C8 (CC with an A8) has some hard core fans. Try a couple magnets before you drop the cash on a new PU, that you may not like any better than the CC. Buying new PU's for a better tone can be like chasing your tail. Best not to do that until you've tried a couple low cost options first.
 
Re: Question for SH-11 owners

Thanks for the suggestions.
I listened to the PG on the SD site and it sounds like the most trebley HB PU that SD makes.
I guess that I should have stressed that I find the Viking too bright and that is what prompted me to change the stock pickup to the SH-11.
Also, I found that friends' Les Pauls and 335s had more output and sustain than this guitar, stock, although it rings beautifully unplugged. So, I'm fairly happy with the SH-11 other than there's no real clean sound, but I can live with that as a trade off to cut some highs.
So, the focus is on a neck pickup that gives me a clean sound while retaining the A2 type sound. I was thinking Seth Lover, but I don't think I could live with such a soft low end.

Any other suggestion?
 
Re: Question for SH-11 owners

Pinch,

Welcome to the Forum. I'm using an SH-11 (CC) in the bridge of my SG/LP reissue. Sounds great. I've got a Seth in the neck and it works well with the CC. Another good choice would be a Jazz.

Good luck,

Jeff
 
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