Recommendation for a replacement bridge pickup in a Sheraton II for use in harder rock styles.

[C-Boy]

I finally picked myself up a brand new Sheraton and after playing with it for a while, I am really thinking of upgrading the pickups. I have read about the Classic 57 upgrades that everyone suggests but I play more hard rock and I was wondering if anyone has modded their Sheratons with a hotter output pickup. My main question would be, did it sound good or just horrible with this style guitar? My main guitar before the Sheraton was a 2002 SG Faded modded with a DiMarzio super distortion in the bridge and I loved the tone. I just can't stand the muddiness of the stock bridge pickup in it now. What are your suggestions for replacements?

[bigneil]

Hi, Welcome to the forum

 

The problem with pickup questions and/or recommendations is that everybody is going to have a different idea of what sounds good. One thing i will say though is that a semi hollow like the sheraton is far more likely to suffer from issues with feedback when large amounts of gain are used, and could be a problem if you are intending to play heavier rock styles on stage. Having said that, their are no rules and it might be worth trying out some sort of High output rock humbucker.

 

Although there are many complicated factors that work together to create the final sound of a pickup, we can make a few sweeping generalisations like the higher the dc resistance of the coil, the hotter it is likely to be, or that certain magnets will have certain sound characteristics.

 

If my memory serves me correctly the DiMarzio superdistortion is a pretty darn hot pickup with ceramic magnets. You could always look for a cheaper alternative to one of the big names like perhaps GFS pickups which consistently get great reviews and cost a lot less than big brands. Why not go onto their website and see if they have any hot ceramic magnet pickups.

 

There are other great brands selling for 1/4 the price of the big boys but none are coming to mind at the moment.

 

Another thing to perhaps try is the audio clips on the seymour duncan website and see what ones sound the best to your ears then copy down it's vital statistics as a rough guide to helping you choose.

 

Oh and another thing, the volume and tone pots and the quality of the wiring will also effect your sound. you may find that if you change all the electrics that the muddiness could be greatly improved.

[C-Boy]

bigneil,

 

Thanks for the welcome and valuable insight :)I think I will check out the Seymour Duncan website to get a better idea about which pickup will suit my needs. I've read a bit about the GFS pickups on this forum as well as on the Harmony-Central Electric Guitar forum, and I see a lot of people are happy with them. I may look into them more as well. The only thing that holds me back from taking the dive and buying a replacement right away is the thought of how "fun" it's going to be, fishing everything through those f-holes! haha Anyway, thanks again for the advice.

[bigneil]

yea, F hole fishing. you'll need string, a coat hanger, plenty of spare time, and most importantly ....PATIENCE !

 

I personally have not re-wired a semi myself, but i believe the best way is to tie a thread round the top of the pot before you drop it down into the body.

 

good luck.

[Birki]

The only thing that holds me back from taking the dive and buying a replacement right away is the thought of how "fun" it's going to be, fishing everything through those f-holes! haha

hi!

just did that, and it's easier than one might think of - but i am a patient boy (© fugazi).

however, i used very thin coax-wire (i work in a biomedical engineering department) with an internal teflon insulation for the wiring between the pots, the switch and the plug. there is several advantages in that:

- the signal is always shielded, especially since the "electronics compartment" by itself cannot be shielded in a semiacoustic.

- the number of wires is reduced since ground and signal are always combined in one cable

- there is virtually no possibility of forgetting the ground on one of the components

the drawback is that soldering preparations are a little bit more tedious since one has to prepare the shield separately before soldering. however, the result is a very solid and simple harness that can be easily inserted through the f-holes. if you use mini-pots ...

 

i did the soldering of the harness on a piece of cardboard, as recommended here quite often. inserting the plug - of which i was afraid of - was no problem. i used a piece of rather thick copper wire, bent a hook into that, and inserted the hook into the plug. i came in place, and after securing it with a nut, a little bit of more force caused the hook to get straightened.

the pots are a bigger problem. some peole incuding a youtube-video suggested aquarium tubing. I was unsuccesful with that. i used heat shrink tubing with 8 mm inner diameter, which is more flexible and thinner than aquarium tubing. after putting the heat shrink tubing over the pole of the pot (and part of the thread), i heated the end of the heat shrink tubing, and the resulting connection was sturdy enough to allow for the insertion of the pots into the holes, and placing the nuts was also easy. the volume pots and the switch can be inserted by hand.

yours

wolfi

good news - once you have inserted good quality components, replacing the pups is no problem

[C-Boy]

hi!

just did that, and it's easier than one might think of - but i am a patient boy (© fugazi).

however, i used very thin coax-wire (i work in a biomedical engineering department) with an internal teflon insulation for the wiring between the pots, the switch and the plug. there is several advantages in that:

- the signal is always shielded, especially since the "electronics compartment" by itself cannot be shielded in a semiacoustic.

- the number of wires is reduced since ground and signal are always combined in one cable

- there is virtually no possibility of forgetting the ground on one of the components

the drawback is that soldering preparations are a little bit more tedious since one has to prepare the shield separately before soldering. however, the result is a very solid and simple harness that can be easily inserted through the f-holes. if you use mini-pots ...

 

i did the soldering of the harness on a piece of cardboard, as recommended here quite often. inserting the plug - of which i was afraid of - was no problem. i used a piece of rather thick copper wire, bent a hook into that, and inserted the hook into the plug. i came in place, and after securing it with a nut, a little bit of more force caused the hook to get straightened.

the pots are a bigger problem. some peole incuding a youtube-video suggested aquarium tubing. I was unsuccesful with that. i used heat shrink tubing with 8 mm inner diameter, which is more flexible and thinner than aquarium tubing. after putting the heat shrink tubing over the pole of the pot (and part of the thread), i heated the end of the heat shrink tubing, and the resulting connection was sturdy enough to allow for the insertion of the pots into the holes, and placing the nuts was also easy. the volume pots and the switch can be inserted by hand.

yours

wolfi

good news - once you have inserted good quality components, replacing the pups is no problem

 

Birki,

 

Thanks for the reply and info! I realized I could do the "cheat" method to put a new pup in there. The stock pots/switch seem to be good enough to leave in there for now so I figure I'd save myself the trouble. I have a old Duncan JB laying around that I am going to cover with a Gibson gold cover to maintain the stock look. Waiting now for the cover to come in and then I'll be able to proceed. I can't wait. I love the playability of this guitar!