2005 Hollowbody II Piezo

[tcaron20]

I have a HBII 20th Anniversary piezo with the original McCarty arch top pups.
They are not the best for rock and overdrive.
Would the new 58/15’s be a better option for that? I love the guitar’s piezo sound and use it mostly for that.

Thanks!

 

[EdSevered]

I know it's a pain to post pics here ... but, still "no pics"?

 

[RickP]

I have a HBII 20th Anniversary piezo with the original McCarty arch top pups.
They are not the best for rock and overdrive.
Would the new 58/15’s be a better option for that? I love the guitar’s piezo sound and use it mostly for that.

Thanks!

The Archtop pickups can be a little dark compared to others, but I’ve found I can EQ the amp decently for that. The problem comes when you plug in something like a 594 at the same settings... not so good. I like the Archtops, actually, they just don’t play well with others. I’m going to swap them out for a PAF style pickup, which will match the 58/15LT pickups in my 594 HBII better. They work great for rock, blues, r&b, and pop styles.

 

[Going Modal]

I would say that yes, the 58/15 pickups would likely be much-better suited to the rock overdrive that you're looking for.

If those original pickups are McCarty based (and I think they are?) then they're probably already very much in the ballpark for rock 'n' roll--however they had/have a tendency to be a little dark/murky at times. (I don't intend to disparage them; I've actually come to really like the original McCarty pickups in a couple of my guitars.) But the 58/15 for sure are a much more-refined evolution of that whole late-50's/PAF thing; and I think they're something that you might like if you don't like the McCarty's.