Nov 5, 2018 - VINTAGE 1975 MAXON Japan U1000 PAF clone Humbucker Guitar Pickup 7.75K - $71.00. Vintage 1975 Maxon made in Japan U1000 PAF.
Hi thereThis is my first post to the forum and I'm looking for some advice if possible.I bought a Greco 175 copy a couple of months ago and I'm very happy with it, it's an extremely well made guitar and it has really nice woody tone unplugged. To my ears, it has the quintessential es 175 sound. I recently had the frets recrowned and had it set up with flatwounds. It now plays beautifully.
The problem is the stock pickups, which sound honky, the bottom end is very muddy and there isn't a nice seperation between the notes, especially when playing chords on the lower strings. I'd like to replace the stock pickups with something better. Having done some research, the choices are myriad to say the least! To be honest, I don't really have a clue as to what type of magnets should be used or whether cloth braiding is better, I just want a nice warm sound with clarity and sparkle. I have had a look at some pickups and I have narrowed it down to four choices:Option 1 - Gibson 57 ClassicsPros: Price is reasonable, you know what you're getting and the quality should be there. Maybe one of the most authentic mass produced PAF reproductions.Cons: Not sure if they will really be the most appropriate choice for a hollowbody guitar, maybe too hot.Option 2 - Seymour Duncan SH1Pros: My guitar tech recommended these, and again you know what you're getting with Seymour Duncan.
I have used other Seymour Duncans and they did exactly what I wanted, even though the results weren't spectacular. Reasonably priced.Cons: May not be the most exciting option.Option 3 - Creamery Hollowbody PickupsPros: I have been in touch with Jamie, who makes these and he has been extremely helpful so far. I think he really cares about the end result.
He recommended low out pickups and he seems to know his stuff. Glowing reviews.Cons: As they are built to order, I might have to wait a month, not the end of the world I suppose. As his pickups are handwound, am I right in thinking that they are not true PAF reproductions?Option 4 - P90sPros: I am veering towards this option, even though it could be problematic. I love Wes' early recordings where he was using P90s with that bell like tone and clarity.
I think they sound amazing to my ears. (Of course it helps that Wes was a genius.)Cons: As I want dog ear covers, I will need the casing to cover the routing on the original humbuckers. I know Jason Lollar makes these and I hear his P90s are very good. Could be expensive.If anyone could offer me any advice, that would be great!Last edited by Iced Tea; at 10:50 AM. Another place I'd suggest would be Vintage Vibe Guitars pickups, made by Pete Biltoft. Pete Biltoft builds some of the best pickups around. When you call he answers his own phone.
Pete will communicate with you until he is dead certain what you want, then he can deliver it, in custom pickups that can be had in any form factor you are looking for. When I got my Vintage Vibe pickups they were so good I sold all my electrics except the guitar that has them. Pete's pickups offer interchangeable magnets - they can be changed in a few seconds and Pete offers Alnico 2, 3 and 5, and ceramic magnets. Pete's prices are somewhat less than other boutique pickup makers too. I'm going through same thing I got a '99 175 in a trade and the acoustic sound is good, but plugged in so-so. The person said the pickups were original, but he had pulled them and put gold covers on and something just isn't right. So in my checking multiple times I've received the same recommendation.Seymour Duncan pickups for price and sound.
The choices are 59, Seth Lover, Pearly Gates. The 59 is inexpensive PAF like pickup, had one in a tele and it sounded good there. Seth Lover is a bit more expensive is closer to the original PAF and is the pickup used by other guitar makers. Last was the Pearly Gates it has a sound of its own the samples I heard not sure how good a Jazz pickup it would be. So I'm leaning towards the SD Seth Lover.
One more that gets recommended a lot around here is the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary it is a good sound, reasonably price pickup.I was thinking of a P90 but going with a humbucker sized one to avoid routing in case I want to go back. I listened to a lot of samples both regular and hum-canceling models. Non of the inexpensive one cut it for me. The two I like was for the regular was the Lollar it had a bit Jazzier tone to me than others. For hum-canceling the Fralin sounded best.One last comment that will probably upset the gear fans, but I did hear it from a couple source.
No need to spend a lot on humbucker pickups the regular bands sound the as-good and cost a lot less. The higher boutique pickups there is minimal if any difference in sound, but drastic difference in price. That is part of the reason for a humbucker I be sticking with Duncan.
The only exception to that I heard in my listening was with P90's the low end pickup didn't sound as good. Before I put in new pickups I would try lowering the existing pickups further from the strings. That can often accomplish a whole lot in terms of note separation.I agree. Try lowering the pickups, especially on the bass side, and then raising the pole pieces towards the strings.
This should give a much more detailed sound, though with less volume. It won't cost anything to try.Some Greco pickups, depending on the vintage, sound great, with real transparency. I know it's not the same guitar, but the Greco pickups on my Super real 335 clone make 57 Classics sound muddy and dull by comparison. I never liked the classic 57s, have replaced them in every guitar they showed up in, most recently my L5, which sounded a bit thin and trebly. (They sounded woofy in my 335, go figure.) After some research, I decided on a High Wind Lollar Imperial - the higher winding knocks off some of the treble, an idea I read and which was confirmed by Mr.
Lollar when I spoke with him. It worked.I don't know if that is helpful, you may have other issues. Soloway suggested, playing with pickup height is the easiest and often most profound thing you can do, regardless of the pickup. The process is fun, though, and you usually won't lose much money, if you have to flip your failures on eBay, if you buy good stuff to start with.I have a Burstbucker 2 I'm going to put in the L5 when I get around to it, only because I'm picky and the plating on the Imperial is wearing off, so I'm getting a new cover put on. That should be interesting.
Originally Posted by yebdoxThey sounded woofy in my 335, go figure.So what did you put in your 335 or did you not change pickups at all?I put van Zandt trubuckers in several years back, recently swapped the bridge for a 4 lead Burstbucker 2, with push pull pots for coil tap and series/ parallel. Still not happy with the neck Van Zandt, (though it sounds good split) but it's great for Peter Green tones now, and the Burstbucker livened things up a bit, but is grainy past 8 or 9. Might try a Lollar or WCR crossroads in the neck next, but wiring on 335s is a pain, so maybe I will have a tech do it.
Try setting the pole pieces like in the diagram below. This scheme was suggested in the 'Guitar Electronics for Musicians' book by Donald Brosnac. I do this with all my humbuckers and it adds more detail and clarity to the sound. I actually set the pickups pretty close to the strings too. Just as side note I have a '77 Greco Les Paul which was equipped with Maxon U-1000 humbuckers and they are the most amazing PAF-style pickup I ever laid my ears on.
Loads of chime and clarity. They have Alnico 8 magnets and were unpotted (before I wax potted them). They currently reside in a Flying V with out-of-phase and 1/2-out-phase reverse options plus a switchable LC network to roll off some midrange. Hard to find but they are great humbuckers. I also like Toneriders - they're cheap and they make a few models but the Alnico II Classics are a good buy and the neck has great clarity. I'm also using some of their Generators in a semi-hollow and they're hotter but still retain a clear and nuanced top end.
Ok so I installed the Toneriders yesterday and they sound great, they did pretty much what I expected. They have removed some of the distortion and flabbiness around the bottom end and took off some of the brightness. The neck pickup sounds warmer, fuller and more transparent.
Tone-wise I guess it has a flutey quality to it. The bridge pickup's output is lower though than the neck pickup. I will have to see if I can adjust the height of the pickup and the pole pieces to get it right.I will see if I can post a video up when I get a chance. Try setting the pole pieces like in the diagram below. This scheme was suggested in the 'Guitar Electronics for Musicians' book by Donald Brosnac. I do this with all my humbuckers and it adds more detail and clarity to the sound.
I actually set the pickups pretty close to the strings too. Just as side note I have a '77 Greco Les Paul which was equipped with Maxon U-1000 humbuckers and they are the most amazing PAF-style pickup I ever laid my ears on. Loads of chime and clarity.
They have Alnico 8 magnets and were unpotted (before I wax potted them). They currently reside in a Flying V with out-of-phase and 1/2-out-phase reverse options plus a switchable LC network to roll off some midrange. Hard to find but they are great humbuckers. I also like Toneriders - they're cheap and they make a few models but the Alnico II Classics are a good buy and the neck has great clarity. I'm also using some of their Generators in a semi-hollow and they're hotter but still retain a clear and nuanced top end.Pardon my ignorance here but in your diagram do these represent the neck side placement or both neck and bridge poles? I too have one of these great Greco ES175 copies (FA67-85S 1988).
I have the Lindy Fralin 'true' p-90s in a humbucker enclosure, not the aforementioned p-92 hum cancelling style. (which are also very popular but sound a little different it seems)I think he still makes these even though they were taken off the website for a bit.You can get them wound differently by asking Lindy. His starting point is closer to a traditional low powered wind which is good for jazz and blues but I think many of the less expensive, widely available p-90s today are generally hotter and some people expect those sounds nowadays when they think of p-90. Many jazzers will be happy for the difference though.
Lower output p-90s are a bit more flexible while higher output ones definitely have their own vibe.I had a Bernie Marsden PRS (a les paul style guitar with only a thin veneer maple top), very pretty guitar and an excellent value. But 'boomy' in the bass registers with the stock pickups.
I put in the Lindy Fralins as they were the most highly rated of the humbucker sized p-90s and they did the trick. I was looking to go a little way toward getting into that old Burrell / Green territory when playing clean on the neck pickup.
They got as close as could be expected in a solid body guitar.Eventually sold the guitar and now those very expensive pickups are sitting in a drawer waiting for a more worthy instrument. They will probably wait a while.But I think that was an excellent change because the guitar was too heavy in the bass frequencies (for my goals). P-90s are more 'honky' or should we say 'mid focused' which can be cool.
It is like you hear more of the 'fundamental' and less of the overtones. This can sit nicely in a mix and is a hard sound to recreate with other pickups by just adjusting the EQ and amp settings.
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(I say this having spent a lot of time trying to do so.)I think Duncan SH-1s are great and will give you a fuller sound in bass frequencies as well a thicker high end. The mids will be less pronounced and the guitar will sound more powerful. In a bassy guitar they might accentuate the negative. In a mid focused, 'closed sounding' guitar, they might bring it to life.I have always wanted to put Seth Lovers or Antiquities into a guitar. I am attracted by the idea of weaker humbuckers which aren't too bright.
I have always hesitated worrying about the usual brightness of weaker humbuckers but lots of people love them.In the end, I would ask myself 'What does this guitar sound like now?' And 'What direction do I want to nudge it toward'.I know people who hated Seth Lovers in their Pauls and loved them in their 335s. I know a fellow who had Duncan 59s in one of his Pauls and it was killer and he had the same pickup in another identical model Paul and they just had to go.For me, in a 175 which may already be a little dark and have a pretty complex tone, I'd love to go for a p-90 or low powered humbucker.
(Fralin even makes a humbucker called 'a Big Single' with a single coil vibe too) In a Paul a SH-1 usually beats the boutique offerings especially in the bridge. Of course, I grew up listening to that sound.But it is 'horses for courses'. I happen to like that p-90 sound in many ES 175s and there are plenty of ways to get it that which are reversible.Last edited by mateo2006; at 04:24 AM.Reason: grammar.
Great PAF sounds from these modified Vintage Maxons. The previous owner(who is a pickup maker, Don Mare Pickups) modified these with sand cast Alnico 5 magnets at an attempt to replicate a Dry Z pickup as you will see on the original description of the guitar I purchased that these came out of. Very smooth and articulate vintage humbuckersThis item is sold As-DescribedThis item is sold As-Described and cannot be returned unless it arrives in a condition different from how it was described or photographed. Items must be returned in original, as-shipped condition with all original packaging.Product Specs Condition: Brand Model Categories Year. QuickShipper Accepted Payment Methods. PayPalShipping PolicyShips from Portland, OR, United States to:Continental U.S.€9.43 EURI will ship with tracking to the listed regions.
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