Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

[powerwagonjohn]

I have a new Guild GSR Starfire VI with Seth Lovers in it and am pretty happy with them...But is there a SD pick up that is closer to the orig. Guild HB-1 as used in the 1970's? The SL are nice and clear but lack a little warmth or mids, I am not sure what is missing there. Currently I am backing off the vol. and tone but it doesn't quite get there. Thanks for any suggestions. John
PS: I am new here and this is my first post.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Welcome to the forum.

One thing that definitely is "missing" from the SD Seth Lover HBs is wax. Did the original Guild feature De Armond pickups?

 

[powerwagonjohn]

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

The Guilds from the early to mid 1960 did use the DeArmonds but most used a small humbucker up to approx. 1970 when they switched to the larger[then a std. humbucker] HB-1 which was also a humbucker and is known for it's clariety and harmonics. The larger 1970 and later Guild HB-1 are hard[re:expensive] to find and do not fit the std. humbucker footprint. This is why I was curious if there is a std. humbucker with the qualities of the orig. 1970's-1980's HB-1 pick ups. Thanks John

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Hey powerwagonjohn, welcome to the SDUGF. I'm not familiar with the HD-1 pickups, but I do know this: When FMIC purchased Guild, we made their humbucker pickups for the first year or so while they were tooling up. These were the pickups that had covers that look like this:

What we wound under the covers to capture as much of the original sound as possible, was very close to our SH-1 '59 Model. Ironically, when FMIC eventually took over production of this pickup, they called it the "SD-1" and everyone thought we were still making them -- but we weren't.

I hope that helps.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

I assume you mean HB-1 and not HD-1.

I hate to say it but the HB-1's have a tone and vibe all their own...the 59 is the closest thing Duncan makes right now and it's sort of close...closer than the Seth's will be but they are still not the same as old HB-1's.

 

[powerwagonjohn]

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

First off yes I meant the HB-1, that's what I get for typing with out my glasses. I appreciate the information and the insight from Eric on the SD-1 pick ups. I am sure there would be a lot of interest in a std. humbucker equivalent of the Guild HB-1 if available, but maybe not to be economically viable. I will give the SD's a try in my Les Paul and see how I like them. I would appreciate any other suggestions. Thanks for the welcome. John
By the way, the GSR Starfire is a great guitar as is.

 

[powerwagonjohn]

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Re: Seymour Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Sorry about that Evan, I really need to wear my glasses when I am on the computer. I will check out the SH-1 59 model as you suggest. Thanks John

 

[scarr]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

I've been reading a lot on the HB-1s, and how they supposedly have a unique "chime". How close are they to the '59s, exactly? Different enough that I should contact the Custom Shop if I want to try some out?

 

[powerwagonjohn]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

I haven't tried the 59's yet as I am still torn between them and the seth lovers in my Starfire. I really like the seths. Still not quite the same as the HB-1. The seth lovers seem more open. I wonder what is the differance in sound between the 59's and the seths? I am leaning towards the seths as I know what they sound like.
Thanks John

 

[powerwagonjohn]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

I ended up putting a pair of Seth Lovers in my 1991 Les Paul along with a pair of NOS Sprague Vitamin Q's. This has really made a huge difference in the sound and tone of my guitar. I can finally use the volume and tone knobs and I get a huge range of usable tones. This guitar went from just another Les Paul to something really special. I also notice there is quite the difference in sound between the solid body Les Paul and the semi-solid Guild GSR Starfire, more than I expected. Can you tell I am thrilled.
I play through a 1964 Fender Tremolux with 2 12" English Celestions or another cabinet with 2 12" Altec 417-8C speakers. I am really loving this set up.
Thanks all for the great pick ups and all useful information. John

 

[Stevie C]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

What type of alnico was used in the SD-1?

In what way does the SD-1 differ, compared with an SH-1 '59 pickup?

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Hi Stevie C. When Seymour Duncan did the SD-1, they were basically '59s. They used an Alnico 5 magnet and a very similar winding spec to the '59. The biggest difference was the bobbin material. We used a plastic with a different shrink rate than the polycarbonate we used on Seymour Duncan pickups so we could make the bobbins fit with the Guild-supplied covers and bottom plates.

 

[Stevie C]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Thanks very much for the info. Evan! Any idea if the SD-1 had more winds or less winds than the SH-1?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Seymore Duncan HD-1 Guild Pick ups

Having recently purchased a 1987 Guild X-170, I did some research on my instrument. This blog http://www.gad.net/Blog/2011/11/25/guild-full-sized-hb1-and-sd1-pickup-variations/ distills much Guild USA pickup information under one roof.