Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

D

Danielboom

New member
I am a newbie to Semi Hollow Bodies, can any old timers or knoweldgeable people please help me out. My guitar came with Piezo, and two Duncan "designed" humbuckers. I'd really Like to upgrade but don't want to swap 5x before I find suitable pu's. I play all blues, classic rock, some hard rock, country, and did I mention blues? Some of my favorite guitarists: Vaughn, BB King, Clapton, Page, Slash, A. Lee., Brian Setzer, G. Thourougood. I'm looking to replace both humbuckers, I've had a JB in the bridge of my previous guitar and loved it. So many pu's sound appealing when I read the descriptions but don't have the finances to experiment like I'd like to. If anybody has similar taste and/or has a semi hollowbody, Id REALLY REALLY appreciate any feedback and help. Thank you in advance!
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I'm not familiar with that particular guitar, and it's been a long time since I've had a semi-hollow. That said...

JB's upper mids and output often leads to feedback in a semi-hollow, but some people have had it work out.

PAF-likes or P-90s often work really well. Some people (QOTSA guitarist for example) have had good results with a Custom Custom, others can't stand it's mid-focus.

BB King, Clapton and Page can all be readily had from a '59 set. Or maybe a Brobucker (custom shop, rather pricy) bridge and '59 neck, if you want a higher output but still vintage toned bridge. A Screamin' Demon (rather misnamed pickup) might be another good option for a slightly hotter bridge that still sparkles.

Slash is APH-1 Alnico II Pros, or the newer APH-2 Slash set. Setzer of course is FilterTrons, I'd hit up TVJones for those, but they're not cheap. And Thorogood is P-90s.

Another option that covers a gamut of tones is a Pearly Gates set (Billy Gibbons signature pickups).

Fair odds the Duncan Designed are the overseas-made version of the '59 with maybe (overseas made again) Custom series bridge, so if you can tell us what you don't like about those, we can give a better idea what will fix them.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I have a thinline Tele that has a JazzN & 59B. I also have them coil tapped with a push/pull pot so it is very versatile. It sounds more like a 335 then a Tele and it has a lot of great tones in her!
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

Thank you for your feedback, I guess what I looking for in a pickup is clarity where you can hear the notes in a neck pickup. And a bridge that can emulate Clapton or Vaughn. It doesn't have to sound perfect, the cheap "Duncan designed" sound muddy and kind of what you'd expect from a cheap pickup. Any real Duncans I've ever had, "the jazz set", "the slash set in my Les Paul", and the invader in my Schecter all sound amazing and I'm very happy with any I've had so far.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I also would Like to coil tap the pups, but I keep getting told "hot" pups like even like the JB are to hot for a Hollow or even Semi-Hollowbody. I'm still kinda lost with some many choices, really appreciate everyones guidance thus far.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

If you want recent clapton or SRV, then a humbucker wont cut it. You can actually get moderately close by running a 'bucker in parallel. Its a s/c like tone, no hum, but isn't really as bold as a strat s/c. I think its more along the tone of the 2/4 position in a strat, but with a little more warmth. The best one I've heard is from a Jazz neck...they're pretty punchy full too and will give you some warm blues tones with drive too.

The only downside is that some have reported that they can be bland. I'm not sure what guitar this was in, but a semihollow tends to have more body to the tone anyhow so this -ve might be redundant.

edit - most clapton/SRV is on the neck or middle strat pup. In fact most pure blues is like that. Rock tends to be bridge as does blues/rock (think Gray Moore or ZZ Top)
 
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Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

blues in a semi?
you have plenty nice choices, but as a semi player (mostly) ill just give you my fave (and the one the i think fits the bill as far as covering all the artists you mentioned):
pearly gates set.

Also...make sure you have good quality pots, jacks, caps and switches in there when you do it cos changing pups in a semi is a time consuming process even when you do it right, so preferably do everything at once.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I play blues with semihollows too. If you want a very clear neck PU, go with one with an A5 magnet, like a '59N or JazzN. A2 magnet PU's have more texture and color, but don't have the clarity of A5's. I find PGN's to have quite a rounded high end, pretty warm in general, and not clear enough for my tastes; I think they need more treble. Some of us have the opposite problem with PGB's, they're pretty bright, and that may be what you want in the bridge.

From what you've said, I'd recommend a '59B or PGB in the bridge, and a '59N or JazzN in the neck. Lots of clarity and definition.

JB's were made for bright woods, and are hit or miss in warm woods and warm designs where they can develop unpleasant characteristics.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I think a Custom 5 in the bridge and a '59 in the neck would be a great set for what you're looking for. Keep in mind that in the USA, Duncan offers a 21 Day Exchange Policy, so if you don't like that set, you have three weeks to swap them out for another set. Just keep your receipt and don't trash the pickups.

Good luck!
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

I think maybe p90s will help you. I think they work fine in hollow body guitars, and are great for country, blues, classic rock and others.
I don´t know if SD p90 will help, but I´ve heard Kent Armstrong´s p90s are very good and got great reviews. One of those in the neck, or maybe a pair of them would work fine.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

GilmourD said:
After two years you never put new pickups in there? LOL

I'd put a '59/Custom hybrid in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck if you're sticking with Duncan.
Click to expand...

I actually sold it two weeks after this thread was started, just bought another this past Friday. The new one I got is also stock except planet waves locking timers.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

blueman335 said:
I play blues with semihollows too. If you want a very clear neck PU, go with one with an A5 magnet, like a '59N or JazzN. A2 magnet PU's have more texture and color, but don't have the clarity of A5's. I find PGN's to have quite a rounded high end, pretty warm in general, and not clear enough for my tastes; I think they need more treble. Some of us have the opposite problem with PGB's, they're pretty bright, and that may be what you want in the bridge.

From what you've said, I'd recommend a '59B or PGB in the bridge, and a '59N or JazzN in the neck. Lots of clarity and definition.

JB's were made for bright woods, and are hit or miss in warm woods and warm designs where they can develop unpleasant characteristics.
Click to expand...

I had a Lonestar Strat with a PG+ in the bridge, it friggin sang in a good tube amp. Unfortunately in this Economy I have to sell something to buy another.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

pg+ is different to a regular pg.
they are something specifically designed for solidbody strat type axes.
Pg's are really just a recreation of a particular set of 1959 pafs . Of course, the late 50s pafs came in many variations due to the nature of the way they were constructed (ie. different windings, magnets and spacers etc). So any paf style pickup will sound great in a semi. I just like pg's the best from what ive tried in mine and i think they will cover most of the characteristic sounds of the guitarists you listed.
people also rave about seths and antiquities, but those are not sets i can comment on having never tried them.
 
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Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

What amp are you using? Important factor you neglected to mention.
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

Danielboom said:
I am a newbie to Semi Hollow Bodies, can any old timers or knoweldgeable people please help me out. My guitar came with Piezo, and two Duncan "designed" humbuckers. I'd really Like to upgrade but don't want to swap 5x before I find suitable pu's. I play all blues, classic rock, some hard rock, country, and did I mention blues? Some of my favorite guitarists: Vaughn, BB King, Clapton, Page, Slash, A. Lee., Brian Setzer, G. Thourougood. I'm looking to replace both humbuckers, I've had a JB in the bridge of my previous guitar and loved it. So many pu's sound appealing when I read the descriptions but don't have the finances to experiment like I'd like to. If anybody has similar taste and/or has a semi hollowbody, Id REALLY REALLY appreciate any feedback and help. Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

I have just put in a 59 in the neck and a 59/Custom in the bridge of my Ibanez semi hollow and it sounds amazing

Also, i have it in C# standard and it sounds great. In standard tuning it sounds fantastic.

Ill load a pic later
 
Re: Recomended? pickups for Schecter C1 E/A Semi hollow Body? Please help.

Danielboom said:
Also I'm considering Orange amps, I love the clean sound I've heard thru them, I play at my church once in a while so I need a nice sounding clean amp that will compliment a Semi-Hollow (I currently use line-6 beacuse of their economical) Any other recomendations? Thanks
Click to expand...


For cleans i prefer Fender Vox or the Marshall Class 5

Orange has the nicest crunch for me personally

I have a Dark Terror and i love it

Tiny terror is a sweet amp too
 
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