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Topic: Asher Electro Hawaiian Junior Upgrade Question. |
Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2008 9:53 am |
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First I'd love to be able to afford a Harper Series II. But since I can't, I had an idea to go with the Electro Hawaiian Junior and up grade the Pots, Switch and install Seymour Duncan 59's.
I've talked to Steinar about this, but wanted other opinions also. Maybe some of you have done something similar to a Lap Steel.
I did this to an Epiphone Dot Neck with fantastic results. It turned out to be as good as my Gibson ES335.
What are your thoughts on this? The only thing that bothers me about this guitar is it's not a string through.
Thanks, Denny |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 27 Jan 2008 11:17 am
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I've only played one for a short while at Gryphon in Palo Alto, but I was favorably impressed with the existing electronics. You might want to see if the sound you're looking for is already in the instrument before spending money to upgrade.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jan 2008 12:31 pm
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| Brad Bechtel wrote: |
| You might want to see if the sound you're looking for is already in the instrument before spending money to upgrade. |
Yep, that's pretty much my advice too. I did find though, that replacing the pots and cap with higher grade stuff improved the tone by 'opening up' the tone with more air and presence. I also found that it helped preserve the treble when turning down the volume,- I use the volume pot all the time to adjust the overdrive, so I'm really picky about that..
I used this Electronic Upgrade Kit from Specialty Guitars, same as I used on my Epiphone Les Paul with great success.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 8:10 am
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The letters "BH" (Ben Harper?) are engraved in the baseplate, and there's also a sticker saying "Neck/Bridge pickups BHC". That's all there is, and I suppose it's Asher's own design but produced in China.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Terry VunCannon
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 9:28 am
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| I have a Asher EHJR & switched the pups to Duncan Phat Cats & just love the sound...I had heard the Phat Cats in a friends guitar & thought that I would like the sound.......TV |
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 11:37 am
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| Mark Mansueto wrote: |
I've never used Phat Cats but those are a P90 style pickup, right? If so then you're really going for a different sound than what a humbucker produces. Dennis is proposing switching to an SD-59 which is another HB. If the Asher pup is high quality he may not gain anything. The spec's would give a clue where the pup is in the tonal and gain spectrum.
Is the Asher pickup a 2 or 4 wire design? |
The Junior has two Humbucker's. Your right about the quality of the pickup's that come in the Junior may be a good quality. I'd go with changing the pots and switch first as Steinar suggested. That may be All it needs. I'm a big fan of the Seymour Duncan 59's. If I don't think the Junior's pickups are great, I'd try the 59's. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 11:38 am
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I have had the PhatCat in three different lap steels,- an early Lap King Bel Aire, my current Lap King Rodeo, and in the neck position of the Asher Junior. The thing that amazes me with these pickups is how they sound totally different in all three guitars - they don't have a strong personality of their own but transfer the acoustic properties of the guitar like no other pickup I've tried - which is how a good pickup is supposed to work, IMO.
At the moment I have a Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge position of the Junior, but will replace it with a PhatCat as soon as I can.
The output of the PhatCat is pretty much the same as a vintage style humbucker, so it's got more 'juice' than most regular P90s. The metal housing also makes it more quiet than a regular P90.
The Junior pickups are darker sounding than the Duncans I replaced them with, while the output was more or less the same. They have two wires, not four. They're not bad pickups at all, and I probably wouldn't have spent money on replacing them if I hadn't received "an offer I couldn't refuse".....
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Darrell Urbien
From:
Echo Park, California
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 2:32 pm
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| Are the pickups in the MIC ones identical to the USA ones? |
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Kevin Greenberg
From:
Lakewood, CA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 10:35 pm Asher electro hawaiian upgrade.
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Dennis, I would just upgrade the pickups and electronics. I'm not trying to knock Asher's steels, but I've played the Ben Harper steel, and although it looks fabulous, it needed an upgrade in pickups as well. Next time your money is burning a hole in your pocket, and you want THE tone to have, find yourself a nice OLD lap steel.  |
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Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2008 6:27 am
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| How do you guys feel about String through vrs stop tail? |
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Kevin Greenberg
From:
Lakewood, CA
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Posted 30 Jan 2008 11:05 am harper steel
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Mark, I didn't upgrade it. I just plugged it in, played it, and put it back on the wall after I noticed I didn't like the sound. And the OVER $2000 price tag!  Sterile and generic is all I can say. Maybe it was the older Harper model. Looked the same though. Like a Les Paul lap steel with mini-buckers i think. I have a VERY biased opinion though, because I compare everything to my old Ric steel.
Dennis, String through is great if you can find a good steel with that feature, but in my opinion, plenty of tailpiece steels sound great as well.
I ask myself: If you can't just plug it straight into an amp and be happy, are you really getting the sound you're after? |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jan 2008 11:43 am Re: harper steel
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| Kevin Greenberg wrote: |
I have a VERY biased opinion though, because I compare everything to my old Ric steel.
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I think most Asher models are aimed more at folk/blues/rock players. I used to own a custom Electro Hawaiian that originally came with a horseshoe pickup at the bridge (I was the second owner, so the 'shoe wasn't my choice) - I didn't like the sound of the original pickup at all and Asher made me a new P90 style pickup that matched the neck pickup better.
I loved the sound of that lap steel, it's all over my CD, but I can see how that sound may not work for someone looking for a typical "vintage lap steel" tone.
The new Ben Harper models, the limited run "Les Paul" models, comes equipped with Seymour Duncan '59 humbuckers,- again a choice that's obviously more aimed at the folk/blues/rock player than the 'traditional' player.
I haven't heard the models with the mini humbuckers that seems to be standard on the Electro Hawaiian models these days, so I can't comment on those...
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Kevin Greenberg
From:
Lakewood, CA
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Posted 30 Jan 2008 12:21 pm Re: harper steel
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Steinar has a good point. I look for the "old" sound. But i have also found that old steels make "new" sounds better than the new ones!  |
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