So, I have some beautiful SE Singlecuts...

[Lewguitar]

And between my two CE22's ('95 and '97) and my CU22 ('95) I just don't play the SE Singlecuts anymore and I'm thinking of selling them.

But I put some pretty valuable pickups in the Singlecuts and don't have the original Korean humbuckers anymore.

One has Duncan Antiquitys, one has EVH Wolfgangs and one has some customized Duncan 59's.

Do you guys think I could sell them without the pickups?

Or do you think I should sell them with the pickups and ask for more?

Here's a pic. The blue CU22 in back had the EVH Wolfgangs in it at the time the photo was taken, but I put those in one of the sunburst SE's in front and then sold the CU22 last week.

https://imgur.com/fqCSvTC

 

[Mr bean]

The upgraded pickups might help you sell the guitars but you may have to take a bit of a loss.
Imo

 

[Lewguitar]

The upgraded pickups might help you sell the guitars but you may have to take a bit of a loss.
Imo

I know! I didn't want to take a beating on this.

I'd like to keep the pickups and use them again someday.

Especially the Antiquitys.

Maybe I'll look for some used, decent, cheap pickups to put in there.

 

[Mr bean]

I know! I didn't want to take a beating on this.

I'd like to keep the pickups and use them again someday.

Especially the Antiquitys.

Maybe I'll look for some used, decent, cheap pickups to put in there.

Good idea.
Keep your favourites and/or the most expensive pickups.
Replace them with average value pickups.
The used market is pretty good if you’re patient and ready to pounce.

 

[Lewguitar]

Good idea.
Keep your favourites and/or the most expensive pickups.
Replace them with average value pickups.
The used market is pretty good if you’re patient and ready to pounce.

I'm ready to pounce!

Some cheap SE humbuckers or something...

 

[Mr bean]

I'm ready to pounce!

Some cheap SE humbuckers or something...

As long as they are at least as good as the originals. (?)

 

[AP515]

I've bought and sold unloaded SE's before. You have to drop the price enough that they buyer will feel they got a fair deal after they have to buy the pickups, but many times they have a set of pickups they want to put in it anyway, so there is a market for them.

 

[Birdsofprey]

I pm’d you Lew, plenty of SE pickups hanging out around my house looking for trouble lol.

 

[Lewguitar]

I pm’d you Lew, plenty of SE pickups hanging out around my house looking for trouble lol.

Thanks Ken. Looks like we have a deal!

 

[The Bird]

That cherry burst with the double cream pickups is the sexiest SE I’ve probably ever seen. Are they the 59s?

 

[Lewguitar]

That cherry burst with the double cream pickups is the sexiest SE I’ve probably ever seen. Are they the 59s?

Thanks! Yeah it's a pretty one. Looks like a 59 Les Paul.

Those are some double cream Duncan Antiquitys. I removed the covers and underneath were double cream coils.

Gibson used to do that sometimes so Seymour Duncan does it too.

Sometimes they're zebra. Or one zebra and one cream. Usually they're black like most pafs.

I also have a set of double cream Seth Lovers.

Saving them for the right guitar.

 

[Prina]

Just curious... How much of a difference in tone did you notice when you took the covers off the various Duncan pups?

Thanks

 

[Lewguitar]

Just curious... How much of a difference in tone did you notice when you took the covers off the various Duncan pups?

Thanks

Not much. I think with the covers off humbuckers have slightly more presence. A slightly more aggressive sound.

But it's extremely subtle.

If you think about it, rockers tend to like the covers off and jazz guys tend to like them on.

With the covers on I think I hear a slightly more polite sound.

With the covers on the magnetic field is slightly affected and the slug coil is under the metal cover.

 

[Prina]

Good to know as I'm thinking about putting covers on an SE245, that they wouldn't lose much of the presence that they already don't have much of, though dropping them a lot helped significantly.

 

[Lewguitar]

Good to know as I'm thinking about putting covers on an SE245, that they wouldn't lose much of the presence that they already don't have much of, though dropping them a lot helped significantly.

There are "Raw Nickel" covers available that are unplated. Those supposedly interfere less with the magnetic field and give a little more of the sound of having no cover. They're not shiny though. They're most appropriate for an old guitar where the metal has gotten dull or one that has been reliced.

 

[Lewguitar]

That cherry burst with the double cream pickups is the sexiest SE I’ve probably ever seen. Are they the 59s?

I've always loved Clapton's playing with the Bluesbreakers and Cream. He was the first guy I saw with the covers removed from his humbuckers and he had a set of double cream coils on his Les Paul. So did Jeff Beck.

DiMarzio managed to trademark double cream coils on a paf type pickup even though they copied that look from old Gibson pafs.

So Duncan can't sell them without covers.

Duncan can make double cream coils but they have to sell them under a nickel cover.

Then the buyer can remove the cover, which is what I did.

https://imgur.com/Aw7gkPg

 

[garrett]

As someone who has upgraded pickups in many less-expensive guitars, I can guarantee you will take a hit on resale. They do add some amount of value, but your price won't be equal to the cost of a typical used SE + the cost of a used set of Duncans or whatever.

I have a set of the 2-wire G&B pickups that came out of an SE Singlecut from that era. I've been meaning to post them on Reverb, but never seem to get around to it. Let me know if you're interested.

 

[RickP]

Yep, do some deals on replacements and keep the SDs. I just ordered a set from the Duncan Custom Shop I’m going to try in my white HB-S. You sure wouldn’t recoup that in an SE sale!

 

[The Bird]

Thanks! Yeah it's a pretty one. Looks like a 59 Les Paul.

Those are some double cream Duncan Antiquitys. I removed the covers and underneath were double cream coils.

Gibson used to do that sometimes so Seymour Duncan does it too.

Sometimes they're zebra. Or one zebra and one cream. Usually they're black like most pafs.

I also have a set of double cream Seth Lovers.

Saving them for the right guitar.

Oh man, I used to have a set of Antiquities in an ES-355 but I never took the covers off. If I’d known they were double creams I would’ve kept them!

And what, Dimarzio has a patent on double creams? How on earth is that possible? That’s just dumb. But I guess that explains why you never see them.

 

[Lewguitar]

Oh man, I used to have a set of Antiquities in an ES-355 but I never took the covers off. If I’d known they were double whites I would’ve kept them!

You can sometimes tell the color of the coil even if it's covered by unscrewing one brass screw of each coil on the bottom of the pickup.

Sometimes you can see in the hole or there will be a trace of plastic on the screw itself and you can tell if you have two black coils, two cream coils or a set of zebra coils.