Lambertones Crema for SE Hollowbody II Piezo? Any other HB?s

[T_K]

Hi,

I recently got SE Hollowbody II Piezo, which I know I am loving the feel of it. At the same time, I’m wondering whether there are any good humbucker I can install.

I saw few people trying Lambertones Crema, if you have installed it, how do you like it?
Also, has anyone tried any other pickups?

Any suggestions helps, thank you so much!

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Well, I'm one that thinks the 58/15S sounds perfectly fine in the Hollowbody application. Also in the S2 McCarty 594 Thinline application . I'm sure the Creamas will sound good, and diffferent... But better ?

YouTube guy Darrell Braun did a "flyoff" between a SE Hollowbody II Piezo, and a Core Custom 24 with US made 85/15 s ... Different pickups , but the SE Hollowbody with the stock 58/15S more than held its own against the far more expensive CU 24 . Check that out to see if you think spending the $$$ is worth it

There was another flyoff (I think Ish Guitars) where Lambertone Cremas' were directly compared to Core 58/15LT's ... and wow ... I'd say if someone had an S2 McCarty DC , and wanted to close the gap between the S2 and Core ... the answer is Cremas ...

BUT the 58/15S sounds like a different animal in the Hollowbody. One of the few cases where the S pickup does not cry out for replacement ... IMHO ...

But the Cremas are nice. But I came away thinking that both the Crema and the 58/15 LT were a little bright for my tastes ...

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

So I went back to check ... and it is ishGutars that does the 58/15 LT vs Crema in a Cu 24 Sem-Hollow ...

The "disservice" is that the guy , although well intending, puts too much "distance" between the two pickups in trying to make a comparison. Audio "memory" is super unreliable. One almost has to make instantaneous Bang/Bang comparisons between samples. Here the guy runs through a full set of pickup sounds from "A" and then several samples later ... Does the same for "B" making direct comparison impossible

The good news, you cant really go wrong with either. What I got out of it, was if I wanted a set of Core 58/15LT's which are not for sale ... Buy the Creama's which are (and probably cheaper)

But ... in your Hollowbody ... You will convince yourself after spending say $350 for the Crema's that they are better... but in a blind test ?

I'd save the $350 for the next acquisition, the Hollowbody "Backup" because they are so cool ,you need two ...

 

[aphantomvaper]

I can concur. The HB II Piezoelectric sounds great with the 58/15s. My S2 594 seems to want a pickup change, but I think the 58/15s sound ok.

Just "ok" mind you...the HB II sounds so much better even though they are the same pickup!

 

[NBW]

I was trying to get more jazz box tones out of the SE Hollowbody II, I went with Manlius low turn pafs, I think they’re called 59lts. They sound great. They weren’t as expensive as my favorite BK Stormy Mondays.

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

I can concur. The HB II Piezoelectric sounds great with the 58/15s. My S2 594 seems to want a pickup change, but I think the 58/15s sound ok.

Just "ok" mind you...the HB II sounds so much better even though they are the same pickup!

A pickup winder guy said in a post somewhere (Vaughn Skow, VS Pickups) that the difference in PAF pickups, being Alnico 2 vs Alnico 5, the 2's being most mellow and lower output .... That the 2's sounded better in guitars "with less wood" . That is thinlines and hollow bodies . That the Alnico 5's (higher output, more "modern" ) sound better in big 'ol chunky gurls ... Like the S2 DC / SC

As construction of PRS pickups are "state secrets" ... maybe that is what we are hearing here. How to account for different pickup performance of the same pickup ... in different applications ...

BTW ... There is a YouTube guy that does a comparo of the 58/15 S vs LT in a S2 McCarty ...and unlike the Phil Mc Knight test ... the "S" versions do quite right ...

When I cop my S2 DC 594 .... at some point, I'd be tempted to slip Cremas in it ... because of the Ish comparo. And how much the Cremas sounded like the 58/15LT ...

But my HB does not need 'em ...

 

[Roving_Drummer]

I thought I needed new pick pickups in my SE HBII piezo. They sounded great to me thru my Katana amp. Then I started practicing with a friend who is a seriously good guitar player. His ibanez semi hollow guitar thru a Roland blues cube sounded so much better than my rig. I started messing with amp settings and nothing. His guitar sounded way better than mine. Then we switched guitars for a couple songs. My guitar(that he was playing thru my amp) sounded WAY better than his rig with me playing it.

That is all I have on this subject.

 

[T_K]

But ... in your Hollowbody ... You will convince yourself after spending say $350 for the Crema's that they are better... but in a blind test ?

I'd save the $350 for the next acquisition, the Hollowbody "Backup" because they are so cool ,you need two ...

Fair argument, maybe what I need is a Hollowbody Backups
And as aphantomvapor said, mag + piezo sounds really good.

All the advices are really helpful, I think I will dig into 58/15s a bit more. At the same time, I think will still be searching for some humbuckers replacement as it’s fun thinking about it, right?

Thank you all for all the great advices!