Cheaper alternative to Lollar Imperial High Wind?

Scott Ziehr

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I love the sound in this video but I'm not gonna buy pickups worth more than I paid for my SE. Is there a cheaper alternative that gets me close to this?

 
Scott,

Yes, check out Seymour Duncan's SH-1n '59 (neck) and Saturday Night Special (bridge). Alternately, for a slightly hotter wound bridge, try the SH-4b. The Lollar High Wind Imperial (IMHO) sounds a bit too bright and hot, the above config is more like the Low Wind and somewhere between the Imperial (regular) and high wind.

About $110 and $125 for both together. There are several YT vids that describe both, if not together...
 
Thanks. It's pretty frustrating sorting out the various options by trying to listen to YouTube vids.
 
Thanks. It's pretty frustrating sorting out the various options by trying to listen to YouTube vids.

There are a couple good ones regards Seymour Duncans...here's a couple that piqued my interest, though didn't lead to a pickup swap...the guitarist works for Seymour Duncan...Doug Rappaport. The pickup combo is good for classic 70's arena rock, blues, some jazz, Southern rock.

Here's a '59 neck...


This video showcases both bridge and neck SNS...


You could also check out a Pearly Gates bridge as well.


If your appreciation for Dad rock is anything like mine, I think these are good approximations of what we both like...
 
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I was originally considering the SH-11 Custom Custom with a 59 neck. In several YouTube videos the SH-11 sounds lacking in the bottom end. Not sure if that's how it is or just poor audio in the videos.
 
My interests are primarily 70s-80s rock, mainly ZZ Top, Van Halen, early Sammy Hagar, ACDC, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent etc.
 
My interests are primarily 70s-80s rock, mainly ZZ Top, Van Halen, early Sammy Hagar, ACDC, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent etc.

Either the Saturday Night Special (bridge) or Pearly Gates (bridge) will be in the ballpark. The SH-1n '59 (neck) seems balanced and has enough range for all of the bands mentioned, the choice might be between the SNS and PG. The SNS is not as hot wound as the PG. When installed, pickup height will also be a factor.
 
At the moment I'm leaning towards a combo of the jb and the 59. But then I plug in and the stock pickups don't sound too bad. How much difference will I find if I do the swap? I worry about dropping the cash and not finding enough difference to pay off. One more question, how would the SH-2N Jazz neck compare? I only asked because I can get it with the JB at a good price as a set. Sorry for all the questions!
 
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I decided to go ahead and replace the stock pickups. Stratosphere parts had some new takeoffs from a Fender FMT Tele for $159. Except it's a Pearly Gates Plus for the bridge, slightly hotter than the originals. Along with a 59 neck.
 
An SE what? Which model?

The stock SE245 pickups can play in the same sonic territory for very little $$. There are several models from the Guitar Fetish site that will also be in this territory for very litttle money. Otherwise, you can also find used Gibson BurstBucker 3s that are also well made.
 
I decided to go ahead and replace the stock pickups. Stratosphere parts had some new takeoffs from a Fender FMT Tele for $159. Except it's a Pearly Gates Plus for the bridge, slightly hotter than the originals. Along with a 59 neck.

Excellent choice. I hope you like it. Please report back with your thoughts on them once you get a chance to fully test them out.
 
An SE what? Which model?

The stock SE245 pickups can play in the same sonic territory for very little $$. There are several models from the Guitar Fetish site that will also be in this territory for very litttle money. Otherwise, you can also find used Gibson BurstBucker 3s that are also well made.

2009 Singlecut
 
Guitar Madness on eBay has awesome choices that are patterned after popular pickup models.

I have tried the GM Dirty Digits bridge which was patterned after Gibson Dirty Fingers. It is phenomenal! My demo:

The guitar also had a GM P90 on the bridge which was also great! A demo of both in a semi full production:

The owner is very knowledgeable and will give you suggestions on what tone you want. He also has GM 59'ers which are repro PAFs. His pickups are very affordable!

I was also given the opportunity to demo a pickup wounded by a US based brothers outfit - Woodworks pickups. This model is called the Damask Metal bridge humbucker. Comes in covered and not. My demo and store links in the description:
 
The best prices I've seen are at least $150 and up for both, where should I be looking for those prices?

Sweetwater.com, $109 for the '59; $125 for the SNS. You'd likely spend about $250 altogether, compared to the Lollars from their website, which would be about $420 plus shipping.

EDIT: I see you've already ordered the pickups. Best wishes!
 
LOL....I was wondering who would be willing then so cheap. Stratosphere buys new guitars and parts them out. I also found this one and almost bought it instead.

https://stratosphereparts.com/pearl...s-pots-knobs-switch-coil-tap-custom-fmt-tele/

When I previously did some research myself, Reverb and eBay were asking almost new prices for the ones I mentioned before, if not full price. Seems that there were not a lot of SD's out there that weren't matched to guitars already.

And TBH, buying cheap will not necessarily provide you with good results, unless you're looking to get played. And yes, you will.

I've always been of the school that unless you're planning on marrying, don't expect to get the milk for free. Same applies to buying cheap. You get what you pay for.
 
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