Pickup question?

[ShaunzNoiz]

I'm looking for a full, fat, warm sounding Anderson humbucker for the neck possition of my Hollow Drop Top Classic. The pickup has to split well; well enough to replace my single coil that is in the neck possition right now, and allow me to not miss it! I do a lot of jazz in my bands, and I need help because I don't want to bring a fat archtop to the gigs if I can get that same fat, warm PAF sound out of the Anderson. Any suggestions?

[ShaunzNoiz]

I don't know! Apparently a lot of guys have done it. They send the instrument back to Tom and the guys and have it done. I don't know how dangerous it is, but even my local dealer says that plenty of guys come in, fall in love with the instrument, buy it, and then wish they had gotten one with a humbucker in the neck. I thought it was crazy also, but my local dealer told me that Anderson does that type of work all the time, and they all turn out perfect! Who better to do the mod than Anderson guitars!!!

[John C]

Originally posted by tombo
So, yer gonna....like.......route that perfectly good Hollow DT for a humbucker:eek: :confused:

tombo,

If ShaunzNoiz has a DT Classic, shouldn't it alread be routed H-S-H under the pickguard? It seems like the photos I've seen of Classic and DT Classic bodies show them routed that way.

John C.

[John Price]

What pickup is in the guitar now?
Have you thought about a stacked humbucker?
Maybe try the SD2 or SD2+ This allows you to get both the humbucking sounds plus the single coil sounds by getting it tapped! And you wouldn't have to route anything out if it needs to be!

Hope this helps
John.....

[ShaunzNoiz]

Thanks guys. I may pull the pickguard off and take a look under there to see what is going on. I just assumed that the body was cut s/s/h, but I don't know. I picked the guitar up used from a collector that never played it(what a shame), and if I were to order one, I would get a h/s/h setup. I still hear a slight difference in the stacked humbucking single coils. Maybe I will try one of those. Any impressions on the sonic differences between the H1-, H1, and H1+ in the neck possition? The guitar has an H2+ in the bridge. The local dealer in my area that sells Andersons tells me that he rarely gets anyone that purchases this guitar with a humbucker in the neck, so he never stocks them, thus, I've never heard or played one in this particular model. I have played the Cobras, and they sound great. I thought about just ordering one( Drop Top Classic) with the h/s/h setup, but I'd hate to do that and not like the guitar.

[pluto]

John C is right (at least I think he is!)-the drop top classic should already be routed in the HSH configuration. I had the folks at Anderson replace the single coil sized SA1R on my neck for a humbucker (H1-). All I needed was of course a different pickguard, but otherwise no unnecessary routing whatsoever!

[pluto]

Oh yeah, as far as which pickups, I'm by far not an expert but I can say that I really like the H1- as a perfect balance with the H2+ in the bridge. That combination is a winner and I currently have it in two of my Andersons. However, for a warmer, smoother like tone, the HO1- is my favorite. It's somewhat low output compared to other neck position pickups I've used, but I really like it for more jazz like tones. It just doesn't balance as well with the H2+ because the H2+ is just so much hotter imho.

[tom]

all pickguard guitars are routed to accept hsh. for split tones i always like the h series better than the ho series.

[ShaunzNoiz]

Thanks, Tom. By the way, what do you suggest for my application? You're the master!