HB-1's in a '98 Bluesbird.

[coastie99]

Since I will very shortly have two Bluesbirds in my stewardship, I've been thinking that one should be made "different".

My nephew has a pair of HB-1's that he removed from his '76 SF4.

Not hard to guess the rest is it !!

Has anybody ever done this ? I'd sure like to hear about it if you have.

 

[hansmoust]

Since I will very shortly have two Bluesbirds in my stewardship, I've been thinking that one should be made "different".

My nephew has a pair of HB-1's that he removed from his '76 SF4.

Not hard to guess the rest is it !!

Has anybody ever done this ? I'd sure like to hear about it if you have.

Hello coastie,

Haven't done it but I have had several maple capped Nightbirds from around 1990 that came stock with HB-1 humbuckers and they sounded fabulous.

They also had a coil-tap, which works very well with the HB-1. Even though the Nightbirds had an ebony fingerboard I don't think that the result on a late '90s Bluesbird should be all that different.

It's an easy mod that doesn't require any permanent modification to the guitar, so why wouldn't you try it!

On a side note, what did your nephew put in his Starfire?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[kakerlak]

Honestly,
These Bluesbirds would have been more appealing to me in the first place if Guild had used HB-1s in them... I don't see any reason why they wouldn't sound great, either!

I am curious about the swapability, though. I know that Guild HB-1s are wider in the dimension that's parallel to the strings' path than Gibson humbuckers. That having been said, I can also imagine that Guild factory would have had templates on hand already for routing holes for HB-1s and may not have seen a need to make new, smaller ones for the BBs and S-100 reissues that had Duncans instead. If I remember correctly, the rings for the BBs had a two-screw adjust on the bass side and the Seymour Duncan pickups had an adapter plate on the height-adjust foot.


You might PM Murkat, who had athread about one in the FS section a while back. To summarize, he found the adjust feet to be too large on the HB-1s to drop in, but later ended up installing them in the BB. Thread did not mention how he got around the issue, but I'd guess by filing down the feet of the HB-1s...

If there is a conflict w/ the route, he should be a good source of advice, since he clearly solved it. I suppose he could also advise you on how it sounded, but I'm not sure there should be much doubt in that department...

 

[hansmoust]

I am curious about the swapability, though. I know that Guild HB-1s are wider in the dimension that's parallel to the strings' path than Gibson humbuckers. That having been said, I can also imagine that Guild factory would have had templates on hand already for routing holes for HB-1s and may not have seen a need to make new, smaller ones for the BBs and S-100 reissues that had Duncans instead. If I remember correctly, the rings for the BBs had a two-screw adjust on the bass side and the Seymour Duncan pickups had an adapter plate on the height-adjust foot.

Hello kakerlak,

If we're talking about a Bluesbird from the second half of the '90s up till the end of production in Westerly, there will be no problem mounting the HB-1 humbuckers. Mounting rings and body routings will accept these pickups without any alterations.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Thunderface]

I thought it might help if we could see your two Bluesbirds again.

So are you thinking of throwing the HB-1s into the flamed one or the quilted one?

 

[bluesypicky]

Honestly,
These Bluesbirds would have been more appealing to me in the first place if Guild had used HB-1s in them... ...

Hi Kakerlak,
If there is anyone here that doesn't need any more convincing on the coolness of the HB1's, that would be me, on another hand (and since I own both) I must say the Duncans on the reissue are screaming hot pup's, my take would be that Guild wanted to offer a guitar with an "actualized" sound, to compete with the axes that delivered the big 90's sounds... and they did just that.

So Coastie, I couldn't encourage you more in your project.... slap these HB1's on the flamed one (for some reason it's got a more "vintage looks" to me, so that's the one I would pick for them), and I guarantee you'll have the best of both worlds, from the 70's growl to the 00's screams!!! :mrgreen:

 

[coastie99]

Since I will very shortly have two Bluesbirds in my stewardship, I've been thinking that one should be made "different".

My nephew has a pair of HB-1's that he removed from his '76 SF4.

Not hard to guess the rest is it !!

Has anybody ever done this ? I'd sure like to hear about it if you have.

Hello coastie,

Haven't done it but I have had several maple capped Nightbirds from around 1990 that came stock with HB-1 humbuckers and they sounded fabulous.

They also had a coil-tap, which works very well with the HB-1. Even though the Nightbirds had an ebony fingerboard I don't think that the result on a late '90s Bluesbird should be all that different.

It's an easy mod that doesn't require any permanent modification to the guitar, so why wouldn't you try it!

On a side note, what did your nephew put in his Starfire?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Thank you Hans for the valuable info.

The nephew put a set of Bare Knuckles Mississippi Queens in his SF ...... HB-sized P/90's. I haven't listened to it extensively, but it does sound just fabulous plugged into my 1482.

But, the guitar doesn't quite make "the sound" that he's looking for. Personally, I'd like to get hold of it and molest the tone caps. But, nephew really wants an EL84-based amp; he's hoping that this combo might yield the sound that he's looking for.

So, guess who the mug is who's been coerced into building a sort-of-Vox AC30 ??

 

[coastie99]

Honestly,
These Bluesbirds would have been more appealing to me in the first place if Guild had used HB-1s in them... I don't see any reason why they wouldn't sound great, either!

I am curious about the swapability, though. I know that Guild HB-1s are wider in the dimension that's parallel to the strings' path than Gibson humbuckers. That having been said, I can also imagine that Guild factory would have had templates on hand already for routing holes for HB-1s and may not have seen a need to make new, smaller ones for the BBs and S-100 reissues that had Duncans instead. If I remember correctly, the rings for the BBs had a two-screw adjust on the bass side and the Seymour Duncan pickups had an adapter plate on the height-adjust foot.


You might PM Murkat, who had athread about one in the FS section a while back. To summarize, he found the adjust feet to be too large on the HB-1s to drop in, but later ended up installing them in the BB. Thread did not mention how he got around the issue, but I'd guess by filing down the feet of the HB-1s...

If there is a conflict w/ the route, he should be a good source of advice, since he clearly solved it. I suppose he could also advise you on how it sounded, but I'm not sure there should be much doubt in that department...

Many thanks for the input K. Looks like Hans has cleared everything up.

 

[coastie99]

Hey T and Pascal.

HB-1's will go into the tiger-flamed BB. I agree that that seems the more "right" choice.

 

[coastie99]

WHOOPEE !!

Just received the OK from the nephew.

He's going to be so pissed-off if this combination yields his sought-after-sound; he's a lefty !!

 

[Thunderface]

You know what this means then, don't you? You'll just have to keep them both, now. Nice problem to have.

 

[coastie99]

Here ya go, all done ...................



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[dapmdave]

Looks like some knobs crossed over, too. Nice job, man.

But that quilted 'burst takes my breath away every time I see it.

Dave

 

[bluesypicky]

OHHHHHHH OUI!!!!!
That bird looks even sexier now...... make it scream Gary! 8)

 

[Thunderface]

Coastie,

Now you gotta do with BP did and make two versions of "Going Down," one with the quilty Bluesbird and one with your "new" HB-1 equipped Bluesbird so we can hear the difference. Or you can just ship both to Pascal and have him do it. :wink: Of course, since I'm the one suggesting it, I guess that means that I'll have to pay for shipping and insurnance -- both ways -- plus performance fees for Pascal, right? Whoa, in my excitement over the possibilities, maybe I typed before I thought.

 

[coastie99]

Coastie,

Now you gotta do with BP did and make two versions of "Going Down," one with the quilty Bluesbird and one with your "new" HB-1 equipped Bluesbird so we can hear the difference. Or you can just ship both to Pascal and have him do it. :wink: Of course, since I'm the one suggesting it, I guess that means that I'll have to pay for shipping and insurnance -- both ways -- plus performance fees for Pascal, right? Whoa, in my excitement over the possibilities, maybe I typed before I thought.

Actually T, I'd thought of something along those lines. Find someone here who's Ewetube-savvy and plays guitar, and do a comparo. Chances of finding anybody who's up to BP's level of performance are pretty slender though !!

 

[Thunderface]

[quote="coastie99]Actually T, I'd thought of something along those lines. Find someone here who's Ewetube-savvy and plays guitar, and do a comparo. Chances of finding anybody who's up to BP's level of performance are pretty slender though !![/quote]

+1 on that, not just on the playing but on the camera presence and recording skills. BP has the chops, the equipment and the skills to make it all work.

 

[coastie99]

+1 on that, not just on the playing but on the camera presence and recording skills. BP has the chops, the equipment and the skills to make it all work.

Well, I have a nice repertoire of blues faces but sadly that's the only arena in which I'm ever likely to approach BP's level of expertise !

The thought did occur to me this morning that maybe I shouldn't have a BB-type control set-up in this thing. Looked up an S-100 wiring diagram, and decided to follow that.

Both have 500K volume pots. but the S-100 has 250K tone pots. vs the BB's 500's Changed that.

S-100 has .01mf bridge tone cap. vs BB .02mf. and .047mf neck tone cap. vs BB .02mf. Changed that. ( Interesting that Guild didn't follow customary HB practice and fit .047mf caps. )

While I was molesting things, I put in CTS pots. Original pots. are coded 98-WD500

Those changes will make only a very subtle difference, but what I have now is a chambered-body, maple-capped, circa '70's S-100BBCSB

It must, at least, be unique !!

 

[coastie99]

And, my final modification. Kluson tuners by TonePros.

Much nicer, to my way of thinking, than large lumps of chrome.

 

[cjd-player]

Definitely looks more like a Les Paul with the Klusons.

That's a beautiful guitar, Gary.