best pickups for a semi-hollow

[vtpcnk]

any suggestions for the right pickups for a es 335 kind of semi-hollow guitar?

i have seymour duncan 59s in mind.

would appreciate some choice though.

 

[jimh]

Cant go wrong witha Duncan 59, i have one in the neck of my Les Paul.  Great pickup.

My personal faves (at the moment) are the BareKnuckle PG Blues (Peter Green) set......  they are deliberately wired for that Out Of Phase "Fleetwood Mac -Need your love so bad" sound.

A lot of the guys on here are raving about Rio Grande's, and they seem to be winning the pickup war for just about every music style going, on this forum.

Really depends on what sound/style you want to achieve?  What amp are you playing through?

 

[vtpcnk]

have a pro junior and a gibson ga-5 - tube amps both.

but i am a huge huge huge fan of peter green. so i'll definitely look at the bare knuckles.

any specific rio grandes for a semi-hollow?

 

[jimh]

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZH-pgblues.html
They are hand made in the UK, so they'll be pricey, if you are in the US.  They are pricey here in the UK too, fer chrissakes.

I've never used Rio's so I wont comment, But Jack the Hack has a set in his hollow Warmoth L5. 
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2669.0

Jack, you there?

 

[Caisa]

Got some Harmonic Design Z-90's for my hollowed Tele and they are awsome! There is a vid @ youtube where someone play a 335 with this kind of PU!

 

[RockStarNick]

Whatever you pick, make sure it compliments the tone of your guitar.

I had an ES135 that was VERY midrangey and honky acoustically.  So, pickups that had alot of midrange just sucked in that guitar.  But, I finally found some low powered, scooped mid pickups that sounded amazing.

59's in a hollowbody would work very well, because they don't have a ton of midrange.  A set of Duncan Jazz buckers would probably work even better and give more treble and less bass. but even less mids.

a 59 in the bridge and a jazz in the neck would rule.

 

[jimh]

Whatever you pick, make sure it compliments the tone of your guitar.

I had an ES135 that was VERY midrangey and honky acoustically.  So, pickups that had alot of midrange just sucked in that guitar.  But, I finally found some low powered, scooped mid pickups that sounded amazing.

59's in a hollowbody would work very well, because they don't have a ton of midrange.  A set of Duncan Jazz buckers would probably work even better and give more treble and less bass. but even less mids.

a 59 in the bridge and a jazz in the neck would rule.

+1
A mate of mine has a 59/Jazz combo and it is way nice......Les Paul though...

 

[vtpcnk]

a 59 and a jazz - yea that's an idea. thanks.

 

[vtpcnk]

with sd 59 there's a neck and a bridge version as your probably know.

so the 59 as per your suggestion would be the one caliberated for the bridge?

 

[taez555]

Since I know absolutely nothing about pickups for this type of guitar, I must pass along a suggestion from Paul Languedoc, builder of the fine instruments played by the band Phish, specifically Trey, whom if I was building a semi hollow, or hollow guitar would take advise from on building......

http://www.languedocguitars.com/faq/

Straight from his FAQ about what pickups he puts in all his guitars and why.

"Why do you use the pickups you use?
Pickups are like microphones. They can't make sound, only pick up what's there, get it? The Seymour Duncan PAF '59s are copies of the classic Les Paul humbuckers, nicely made, with alnico magnets and not too much wire, so they're fairly low impedance, and they just seem to work well with my guitars. I modify them slightly so that in single-coil mode with both pickups on they are hum-canceling, and I also pot them. And yes, they are the same pickups in Trey's guitars. If someone had a strong preference for something else I'd be glad to accommodate."

 

[RockStarNick]

with sd 59 there's a neck and a bridge version as your probably know.

so the 59 as per your suggestion would be the one caliberated for the bridge?

Yes, the 59 in the bridge, Jazz in the neck. 

 

[PylonRacer]

59 in the bridge & Jazz neck would be a great combo.  Seth Lovers would be great too!

 

[Kublai]

I have a very cheap copy of a 335 and I put Gibson '57 Classics in it. I think it sounds great.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

I have an SD C5/Jazz in my hollow strat, but it's definitely not a 335 alike

 

[vtpcnk]

any opinion on sd phat cats?

hamer uses them in one model of their newport series i think.

 

[imminentG]

I vote Fralins

custom wound? I'm down

I'd go for a PAF in the neck and a high output in the bridge, and those things get up to like lol 14k

 

[bpmorton777]

Are those 59's wax potted? Their website says "vintage correct" which Im assuming means they dont wax pot these. Too bad if so, anyone know any different?

Brian

 

[dbw]

SD '59 is wax potted.

 

[Mor Paul]

Seth Lovers are not wax potted, and they are also PAF-type from SD.

 

[ocguy106]

Since I know absolutely nothing about pickups for this type of guitar, I must pass along a suggestion from Paul Languedoc, builder of the fine instruments played by the band Phish, specifically Trey, whom if I was building a semi hollow, or hollow guitar would take advise from on building......

http://www.languedocguitars.com/faq/

Straight from his FAQ about what pickups he puts in all his guitars and why.

"Why do you use the pickups you use?
Pickups are like microphones. They can't make sound, only pick up what's there, get it? The Seymour Duncan PAF '59s are copies of the classic Les Paul humbuckers, nicely made, with alnico magnets and not too much wire, so they're fairly low impedance, and they just seem to work well with my guitars. I modify them slightly so that in single-coil mode with both pickups on they are hum-canceling, and I also pot them. And yes, they are the same pickups in Trey's guitars. If someone had a strong preference for something else I'd be glad to accommodate."

After reading this I would assume they ARE NOT potted....other then this referance though I don't know much about them