Hi fatcuffy. Nice to hear from you. Glad you found the video helpful. Are you thinking to get this guitar? I see HB still have it on sale BUT they still haven't switched the pickup fitted yet. I did suggest they did but I see they now make another similar kind of guitar called the Hybrid Steel NT. Maybe that's better: looks a bit like a Taylor Hybrid. Actually, with the humbucker in the Nashville Steel is a really nice playing guitar: great intonation and fingerboard with a good tonal range AND it's really "pretty". I made the humbucker mod for a guitarist in France. We found that the inside top-to-bottom depth in his guitar was less than mine so it didn't immediately fit so I've been working on a flexible system should anyone want to try the mod. All the best, Rob
Sr you are a genius, you triple the value of the guitar, one day every guitar will equipped with a piezo pick up, is the only way to get the best hi fi sound possible 👏👏👏👏, all my guitars are piezo equipped
I suggested this change to Thomann after posting the video. They say they are revising the specs and will consider a humbucker. Doesn't look as pretty maybe but that's just window dressing as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoy the guitar when it arrives. Rob
I actually liked your first ‘mix’ position - it gave a nice acoustic style sound which I wouldn’t be ashamed to play with. However - I’m now considering a soundhole -mounting humbucker and an updated preamp for my Crafter FX-550, as I do find the piezo pickups to be a touch on the ‘bright’ side.
Hi Rebecca, nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment on the mix on the HB Nashville Steel. So much of the output sound is a complex of the piezo, the preamp, the amp/PA system and of course personal preference. For example, I have a lovely Dowina acoustic steel guitar which only has a piezo pickup system but an L R Baggs Stage Element preamp. This just sounds so good whatever. But I note today that this system costs more £200 UK. I have a Fishman I-sys system in another guitar, which is OK and a few Belcat's I've installed in other guitars but these are really bright. Are you thinking of something like the ARTEC AGE. MG preamp as a system for blending the two pickups? Then you'll probably should put on a set of steel strings rather than phosphor bronze strings because these will be needed for an electromagnetic pickup. May look into this myself. Let me know how you get on with this project. All the best Rob
Hi LightWing Studios. It's a pretty easy fix. The guitar is hollow body. First unscrew and take out the preamp. Assuming you've already replaced the lipstick pickup with a coil splitting coil humbucker as I did, then unplug the humbucker pickup wire from the preamp, Cut the wire at a suitable pace and expose the colored wires. A guide to the wiring should have come with the humbucker you bought? Select the right color wires for double coil or single coil output and then solder them onto the correct tags on the toggle switch. Then wire up the toggle switch output to a new little jack plug. Before plugging it back into the preamp check the resistances on the toggle switch. With the switch in humbucker mode the resistance should be~ 2x that of the single coil mode. If yes, then great and you can plug the pickup into the preamp, replace the preamp and you're away! If not just check your wiring onto the microtoggle. I hope this is clear. If not let me know. Hope it works out for you. All the best Rob
Me too: thank you for sharing! :-) Question: couldn't the weak signal of the lipstick (or a single coil of the humbucker) be due to too much action (too great a distance from the strings)? (I seem to remember that the strength of magnetic fields diminishes with the third power of the distance.) Not at all meant to belittle your work, but just as a reminder to us all: There are several types and models of pick-ups available, so everybody could fit "any" string instrument with any of these. For example: I could add a clip-on piëzo pick-up to my acoustic 12-string western guitar with lipstick magnetic pick-up, or a sound-hole magnetic pick-up to my 12-string western with bridge piëzo pick-up. Or any other set-up. I could use two inputs on a PA mixer, or I could feed these two signals to a small battery-powered mixer on me, then transmit the blended signal to the PA mixer. (These things I mention can be bought from China for cheap, but there may well be better stuff.) Sidebar: don't forget that any effect pedals are indifferent to the source of their input signal. I have tried the output of piëzo pick-ups of nylon-string instruments as input for multi-effect pedals. My little ukulele surely felt adult! :-)
HI chrislaaman7532, nice to hear from you and thanks for your very thoughtful comments and ideas. First of all you're right about the field diminishing with the distance from the strings but, at least on my copy of the Nashville Steel, distance form the strings was not the issue. Yes, so I did adjust the pickup up towards the strings but it didn't solve the problem. Moreover with a single coil pickup the signal was as you'd expect very bright with the preamp slider set all the way to that pickup. So, the difference in tone was not so much different from the piezo pickup itself. That's why I tried a humbucker which gave a thicker/mellower, jazzy sound. And that's what made the big difference. Also, I used a humbucker wired to allow coil splitting, and I put in a little toggle switch in the upper bout so I can switch to a single coil if necessary. What that does it to allow one to switch from "jazzier" to brighter toes without having to look down or adjust the slider in the preamp control. I really like this guitar now and I play it a lot because it also has great intonation.I did suggest that Harley Benton have a look at their manufacturer (I think the same one who make Crafter guitars) to make a version with a humbucker (but not yet). But not so long after they did start selling a version of the Hybrid Steel GR and NT. This has a different pickup (but looks single coil again or is it a stacked humbucker?) and clearly a different set of controls on the top upper bout. This is looking a bit like a Taylor Tz5 but the Taylor has an acoustic body sensor (piezo?) and not just one but 2 humbuckers ( bridge and neck and they look like stacked humbuckers). It also has three control knobs so I guess you can blend all three pickups. Yes, I agree with you again about the big choice in pickups and amplification systems and of course effect boxes/pedals. I take an interest in pickups because I think there's a lot of "hokey pokey" going on around these components. So, one of the experiments I've done was to make a prototype guitar in which I could rapidly switch and compare different electromagnetic picks in the same body, same strings, same wiring. My Quick Change Pickup Guitar also allowed for coil splitting/cancelling switching. You might be interested in the two UA-cam videos I made on this system. ua-cam.com/video/uQZRwUX-DNI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/ZRpcdD01cIo/v-deo.html Anyway, it was really good to hear from you so thanks and all the best Rob
Hi, the guitar weighs 2.6 kg. Pretty light..it's completely hollow of course. I'm liking this guitar more and more especially since I put the humbucker in.... the tonal range is so much better. Also the neck and fingerboard are really nice (for my hands anyway). All the best Rob
hello Rob, as a senior rock and roler like yourself,seeing your video could not have been more fortuitous, I hve just ordered one of these for myself as a Christmas present. Would you be so kind as to supply a link for the pickup from Ebay, and advice on the wiring. Many many thanks. Wif Rees
HI Wilf, nice to hear from me and well done for ordering the guitar. A nice Christmas present indeed! So I can give you the things to search for on Ebay: For the pickup search for “Dual Coil Hot Rail Small Guitar Humbucker Pickup Sets for ST Strat Guitar UK" The seller is music_kingdomuk and the cost is £9.16 with free and fast delivery. You can see I didn't spend a lot as it was a bit of an experiment and in any case I'm not into paying a lot for pickups. But if you wanted you could always pay a lot more for a brand equivalent. But, hey the one I bought works just fine. And I have another one in the Quick Change Pickup prototype guitar I made a couple of years ago. I made a UA-cam vid about that in which I compare 6 different types of pickup. You'll have seen form the video that I also put in a lttle microtoggle switch so I could split the coils. If you want to try this too then search Ebay for "AC 125V 6A 2 position 3 pin SPST ON-ON Micro Mini Toggle Switch". Today, I can see several suppliers today. I bought 5 for £4.85. OK, as to the wiring, I'll send you a diagram and some more details about the modification if you send me an email with your email address (roblynnrob@gmail.com). If you watch through my video about this modification you'll see it's not like simply switching pickups in a Tele or a Strat. You'll have to make an "cunning" adapter to attach the humbucker to the body. Finally, I did let Harley Benton know about this modification and how it makes the guitar much better (in my view, anyway). They said they were interested and would look into it with the manufacturer but I see that they're still selling the version with the lipstick pickup. Maybe they've altered the electronic balance in the preamp that's installed. But that still wouldn't get the humbucker tone though. Ok hope to hear from you and hope the above helps. All the very best senior rock and roller Rob! Actually more a folk rock kind a person.
Thanks and very good. I am also interested in this guitar. It would be interesting to know how you did this replacement, which microphones you used and the difficulties you encountered.
Hi Angelo, nice to hear from you and thanks for the question. The way I did the replacement is pretty much shown in the video. It wasn't as straight forward as replacing a pickup in a strat or a tele. It was a bit fiddly. The main reason is that the mounting screws on the humbucker were the very standard Stratocaster distance of 78 mm whilst in the lipstick pickup that Harley Benton uses (at least on mine) the distance was 72 mm. Also the lipstick pickup was mounted on a square U shaped bracket which meant that it reached deeper into the guitar and the screws and spring used to mount the pickup through the back of the guitar would have been in any case too short the reach the humbucker pickup. So, here's the thing. I had to make an adapter bracket. I didn't want to drill more holes into the back of the guitar or use different mounting screws. I wanted to be able to put the guitar back to its original condition if the mod made no difference or I wanted to sell it. So I made a new mounting by cutting out and bending a strip of 3mm thick brass Then I used a thread cutter to cut threads into the mounting bracket for the original mounting screws on the guitar on one side and the mounting screws for the humbucker pickup on the other side. This allowed me to compensate for the different mounting widths of the two pickups. You could use a piece of hard wood I guess to make a block instead of the brass section I made but you'd still have to cut the threads into the wood. Then I mounted the pickup into the guitar from the opening made by taking out the preamp and securing it into the guitar using the original screws through the back of the guitar. The preamp has labelled sockets for two 2.5 mm jackplugs: 1 for the bridge piezo and the other for the electro-magnetic pickup. So you'll have to fit a 2.5 mm jackplug to the humbucker wire. The humbucker I bought had the facility to spit the coils which I thought might be interesting to try, so I wired up a microswitch which allows the sound from one coil to to be used rather than two. I did send my video to the Harley Benton team. They replied to say that the idea was interesting and they were going to investigate it with the factory where the guitar is made. I haven't heard anything more from them but I note they are still selling the version with the lipstick pup. Maybe the next production run ? Who knows. Maybe what they like is the way the guitar looks with the lipstick pup in place but I actually quite like the look mine has now and of course you could use all kind of fancy twin blade humbuckers made primarily for Strats and Teles. I hope this answers your questions. Sorry if it's a bit of a long explanation!! Thanks again for contacting me and let me know how you get on if you get the guitar and try the mod. It has made a bit difference to the guitar in my opinion. All the best Rob
Awesome modification! I am really considering on purchasing this Guitar and I would like to do the same mod! I understood the procedure on how to remove the Lipstick pick up but my main concern is the electric part of the project. I found a few decent Single coil sized Humbuckers at a low price. Some of them got 3, 4 or even 5 thin wires inside of the pickups main cable How many of those thin wires do I need to add a 2.5 jack to it? I've never done anything like this before so any guidance is appreciated! Thank you so much
Hi Achilleas, nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment. So, about humbucker wiring. This can be a bit confusing. There's a very nice web site called Humbucker Soup which has more than anyone would ever need to know about humbuckers and wiring etc. Here's just one of the articles that might help. humbuckersoup.com/ask-hbs-split-humbucker-north-coil-setup/ This will show you the basic wiring of a 5 wire humbucker and the colours are pretty standard I think. Buy a 5 wire one, OK? So forgive me if this is a bit simple but I have to work it out myself everytime! So the simplest humbucker has just three wires. One is ground, the second is hot and a third wire is shield to ground. In this type of humbucker the wiring is in series so that the current generated in the first coil is added to the second coil though the polarity is reversed to cut out the hum. If you buy one like this all you need to do is to solder the the hot wire to the tip of the little jack plug to and solder the ground and shield wires to the sleeve of the plug. That should work fine. When the humbucker arrives you should get a wiring diagram showing hot, ground and shield whatever the colour of the wiring. A 5 wire humbucker allows you to do a lot of things but mainly to split the coils. This allows you to use only one of the coils which will give a brighter sound but obviously could be susceptible to hum. In this type of humbucker the two coils are referred to as south and north. so the ground of the south coil is usually twisted together with the shield (bare) wire and those are wired to ground in the rest of your system (or the sleeve of the little jack plug). The hot lead of the South coil is then twisted together with the ground of the north coil. And the hot wire from the North coil will then be soldered onto the tip of the jack plug. This is converting the humbucker into more or less the three wire humbucker. However to split the coils you can use a simple 6 pin micro toggle switch (google to see) wired in such a way that in one switch setting both coils are engaged and in the other setting only one coil is active. This what I have in my Nashville Steel. I installed the toggle switch in the upper part of the small bout of the guitar. So with one coil you are back to the original arrangement but with a good humbucker I think the output is still stronger than the original lipstick pickup. In doing this kind of stuff I find it really helpful (essential really) to have a small multimeter with which you can test wiring, the resistance of the pickups and all sorts of stuff. Also, if you don't have one, a good soldering iron kit with fine tips for the soldering iron is essential. All these things are so cheap these days. So good luck with this and don't hesitate to get back to me if you need more help/explanation. By the way I didn't buy an expensive hot rail humbucker at all...there is quite a lot of boloney talked about different brands (in my humble opinion). All the very best Rob PS, I did write to Harley Benton to suggest they make at least a version with a coil-splitting humbucker.. They said they said they'd look into it but its still the same version I see. One comment on my channel suggested that it was about the cosmetic look of the guitar. Does mine look bad ? Looks more interesting I think? Certainly sounds a heck of a lot better. I think the factory that makes then also makes the Crafter hybrid guitar.
@@robrobson7101 sorry it took so long to reply In my opinion the "single coil" humbucker sounds and looks alot better than the Lipstick pick up. Never liked Lipstick pick ups anyway too clingy and too shiny for my taste Harley Benton should definitely take your advise on the subject...
I believe the lipstick pickup is only for distortion during a solo. And you have obviously made it more than that. And if you look at the Taylor the lipstick pickup is in the middle instead of up by the neck
Hi Didymostruespeak. Nice to hear from you. Yep, you're right about the Taylor but I think it also has a humbucker fitted just underneath the bodyend of the finger board. As to your point about distortion I'm not sure about that. If you want to drive distortion then wouldn't you choose a humbucker in the first place and I don't know if you've ever tried this but boy you can certainly drive distortion from just the piezo pick up because coming from the preamp it has a higher output voltage to the amp. I noted that Harley Benton have just launched a new Hybrid Steel guitar. It doesn't look like they have a lipstick pickup in this and also they are not using the same preamp system (which was a system put in the Crafter hybrid guitars) . I have a feeling this new guitar may have a much better balance between the piezo and electromagnetic pickups. Take a look and let me know what you think. Again, I really appreciate getting your comment. All the best Rob
Hi there, good to hear from you and thanks for your question. I can send you a schematic if you mail me at roblynnrob1@gmail.com. The electronics is quite easy but switching the pickups is not so straightforward. The mounting of the original lipstick pickup is pretty poor really and involves two long screws from the back. So the pickup is pretty loose. I made a humbucker pickup assembly for a guy in France and we discovered that the internal distance between the face and back of his guitar was different from mine. Also the lipstick mounting screws are spaced apart differently compared to the standard Strat screw pickup mounting holes for the hot rail pickup so I had to make an adapter. Anyway I can tell you a bit more if you mail me. However, the guitar is really nice with the humbucker in and it plays like a hollow body jazz guitar when set fully to the humbucker. I play this guitar a lot these days as the fretboard and intonation is just perfect. I wouldn't have kept the guitar had I not replaced the pickup. Harley Benton should sell a variant. I did suggest they did but they obviously didn't take up the idea. All the best, Rob
Hi Rob I really appreciated that you had to the idea of replacing the single coil, but most important that you shaped and succeed it. I plan to purchase this guitar to play on jam sessions. In these sessions either I usuallye come either with a classical, a folk or an electric guitar. Because I often can transport only one guitar, I have to decide every time with one of these three I will choose. From the moment I will have the hybrid one, I will be able to have two of the three in one 😄 I had also read the evaluations that going from piezo to pickup sound, volumes were very different. I would really like to have these same improve on guitar I will purchase as the one you have build. I am a little bit in DIY, but not enough to make this adapter bracket from metal sheet, or even from wood as you advise it. At least I don't have enough time for it. Coud you consider to build this adapter + pickup and sell it to me? Your price would be mine.. Thank you ever for your reply. Best regards Guillaume
HI Guillaumebuzzard. Thanks for your feedback on the video and my mod on this guitar. I could do this for you if you really wanted but how would we get in contact? Maybe you know a local lutherist who might be able to do it for you? It's not so hard really. And then there is a choice of which humbucker to use and whether you want split coil (which I fitted on mine with a microswitch in the upper bout). As you know you can pay almost anything for any type of pickup but in my humble experience it doesn't make a huge difference...So, I bought the cheapest narrow humbucker I could find on Ebay. So, with bits and pieces I already had it cost me very little. The brass bit was cut from a brass door finger plate which was just waiting for a project of some kind. . But it works fine especially compared to the really poor lipstick that was originally installed. Also I think Harley Benton has a new hybrid guitar. Take a look at the Hybrid Steel NT. It's more expensive but looks like it has something like a Telecaster neck pickup installed which would/should give a lot more output. There's only one way to find out I guess. But I did write to Harley Benton about the guitar I had and told them about the poor sound balance. They said they'd look into it. Maybe the Hybrid Steel NT is the result of a rethink. Hmmm , it also and looks much more like a Taylor hybrid. Let me know what you think. All the very best Rob
@@robrobson7101 Hi Rob, thank you for your fast and complete reply. I have been observing the HB hybrid steel NT very closely for a few days: all massive, its sound must be better defined, which counts. But at now I only want to make economic expenses, when I will find a second hand one at a very good price I will purchase it. Now I have possibility to purchase a custom line nashville steel à 150 EUR. Also one positive point that custom line nashville steel has on hybrid steel nt is the equalizer. When piezo sounds are too harshy, decreasing the treble volumes usually solves efficiently. To come back our topic, about the luthier option, I think this a valid one, to which I had not thought about. In the other hand probably luthier will want to sell me a more qualitative pickup, with his fair margin, but after watching your video I have no doubt that your cheap humbecker option both solves the volume gap problem between piezo and pickup, and improve sounds quality with humbecker being more mellow. For the coil splitting I have almost never heard about it, what does it bring? I just read some information about it but I am not sure to understand it, or that I would need it. If you accepted to do this piece we could simply communicate by anyway, email first but also maybe whatsapp, phone if necessary. when ready I would pay by TT I think, then you would send it. By the way I live in France, where do you live? Best regards Guillaume
@@guillaumebuizard Hi Guillaume. I can understand the cost issue. I would guess the HB's new hybrid will have a tone control but it may not have an in built tuner. Coil splitting takes out one of the coils so you lose the humbucking effect, just about halve the pickup resistance and get the brighter sound of a single pickup as much as you would have in a telecaster pickup for example. But in fact it has only a marginal effect in my modification. I have to say I really like the brighter sound of single coil pickups. So, let me have a look at what pickups are available and If you are still interested then I'll make you a modification kit at set up cost only. I'll get back to you. Time for bed here. All the best Rob I live in England.
Hi again (from a rainy English morning). Ok is this a good plan? You buy the Nashville Steel and when you have it you can check the installation of its lipstick pickup is as mine was. If so, I'll make you a humbucker modification "kit". I also don't want paying for it. The cost is very little anyway and will be a pleasure to mske it for you as a gift to a fellow guitarist. Let me know when you have the guitar by email at r.robson1@btopenworld.com. Will that be OK? All the best Rob
@@robrobson7101 Hi Rob, Your proposition is so kind, I alsmost have no word 😀. I have opened the purchase of the guitar, seller is on holidays and I should have receive it in the end of next week. As you advised, I will check the configuration and let you know by email. All the best until then. Guillaume
Hi again Cube Talk, send me an email to roblynnrob1@gmail.com and I'll send you some more info about the humbucker I used for this modification. Since that video I've made an improved mounting for my guitar and another one which I made for a guy in France which revealed that the bodies of these guitars differ. I will reply and thanks for your interest. All the best Rob
Great review but I would like to know the price also rather than have to go looking..but your humbucker idea might also not need a new mount with a dog ear P90 also perhaps..perhaps not ..I haven't looked as you have..but I like your reviews and playing skills..I wish I lived nearby for lessons. Chao mate.
HI Colmwatulike, good to hear from you. Sorry not to have replied earlier. The dual hotrail humbucker cost me about £12 (UK). I bought it through EBay. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on pickups. It has a resistance of ~9.2 Kohms ohms and half that of course when coil split. Maybe going up a tad to 11Kohms would be better still, I don't know. A nice guy who lives in France asked me if I'd make him a humbucker pickup replacement for his Nashville Steel guitar. Well, we're still having a bit of fun as I made a mahogany mount for mine and thought that all guitars are made on cnc machines these days so would be virtually identical. In the case of this guitar it's very clearly not the case. The thickness of the top on my guitar is ~5mm and it turns out the pickup and mount I made for him doesn't fit because the top on his Nashville Steel is 1.7cm thick. That's an amazing difference and there are some other differences too. So he's going to have to rout or chisel out around and underneath the pickup hole so that the pickup will fit. Good thught a bout the p90 but I had a look and it couldn't be screwed screwed to the top as the string height above the top is too low. And anyway, most p90s have an impedence not so much different to the lipstick so I think so there would still be that really poor balance between the electromagnetic and piezo pickups/ That would take us back to the poor original design and specs of the guitar. Of course any pickup you like could be used to replace the lipstick but the pickup hole would have to be cut and the pickup mounted from underneath the top. All good fun!!! All the best and hope you have a good 2023 Rob
Excellent review and demo. Seriously considering buying one of these and I believe the humbucker swap is a brilliant idea. Curious as to how well the guitar was set up on delivery. Intonation, action, etc. Thanks my friend.
Hi Russ, very nice to hear from you and glad you liked the video. This is a nice guitar especially considering the price point. It's generally nicely made and the only thing I had to do was a little work on the nut to lower the action at a few of the first few frets as the strings were a bit out of tune as supplied. This is not unusual with new guitars of course. It's always worth getting a nut file but using it with care. Having fixed that, the intonation was perfectly fine and the action at the 12th fret was fine for me too. Another one might be different of course. I did send the humbucker mod video to Thomann who replied saying they would talk to the factory making this model. I see the current batch on sale still has the lipstick pickup so no change there or no alternative model produced. But you might like to contact them to see if in the future they are going to make a humbucker model especially with an effective coil split switch because then with the right coil split wiring the tone should match the lipstick pickup. Maybe they like to lipstick pickup for cosmetic reasons? As an alternative to replacing the pickup I was considering using a resistance bridge to lower the relative input from the piezo but then you wouldn't have the humbucker tone and output. See what they say and by all means refer to my video if it would help. Let me know if you talk to Thomann. I'd be interested to know what they say. So far I don't know anyone else who has done this mod. All the very best Rob
@@robrobson7101 Thanks so much for responding. Making a decision soon. I'm 100 percent certain that the lipstick pickup is all about aesthetics (and affordability) over function. The Nashville seems to be an homage to the Taylor TZ5 which features a similar (but more high end) pickup. I'll keep you posted my friend and thanks again! PS-Thinking of using a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker.
The TZ5 is a very nice instrument. In fact it has three pickups. You can see a bridge pickup which I think is a stacked humbucker. There's also another stacked humbucker under the end of the fretboard. There's also a piezo or condenser type sounding board puckup too. So there's quite a lot of blending you can do. About putting in a Seymour Duncan instead of the lipstick..try it and see. Should be better than the one I put in but you know I'm not convinced that these "higher end" pickups are really worth it. I feel that one pays a lot for a brand and much of the sound is string/ player/ preamp/ amp and speaker dependent. All the best again Rob
Unfortunately, this guitar sounds like a tin can, no matter what you've done to it. The sound I'm hearing is not a mix of the 2 tones but like 2 different sounds played at the same time. Perhaps HB will try with a better preamp on its next iteration, but this in no way can compare to the likes of Godin A6. I'm saying that as I compare the nylon version to the Godin Multiac, and it's really you get what you pay for: Godin costs more than 5, 6 times, and the sound is appropriately that much better. But I'm okay with the nylon HB to lounge around with. This steel one, I shall pass. Perhaps, just perhaps, it may sound better with nylon strings, if you want to try that.
Hi Thach, thanks very much for listening and commenting on the video. Badially I agree with you...the question I started asking about this guitar was " jack of all trades or master of none"? I think the latter's about right. I bought it in order to busk without having to carry two guitars about and switch them around (and leave one at risk of being nicked (oh yes!)). But you can't beat the combination of a nice electroacoustic AND a nice solid body guitar (e.g. a Strat-type for me). I've not played the Godin or the Taylor hybrids and I'm sure they'd be better (have to hope so anyway!) so your thoughts on this are really useful. Another comment I had recently was about hybrid guitars made by Crafter. They look identical to the Nashville Steel so I'm pretty sure they must be made in the same Korean factory. Incidentally, they cost about 3 times more. Crafter make (or made) two versions (the SA (lipstick) and SAT (humbucker). You mention the preamp on the HB version. Again this looks exactly the same as the one in the Crafters except that it says that it has an L-R Baggs Element piezo pickup and a Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup. I'll bet the Nashville Steel doesn't. So a side by side comparison would be interesting. The guy who sent me comments said he had used the Crafter SAT in many gigs and really liked it. But still, I think this guitar is not going to be the jack of all trades. Of course, in my video I was recording the guitar directly into the DAW so I have to say that It does sound better through an acoustic guitar amp and using the tone sliders on the preamp to modify the sound. I made a video of this too playing various styles. It's here: ua-cam.com/video/KEAkJzkZ-s8/v-deo.html. Still I don't think you're going to be convinced enough to get one. Have been looking at the HB Nylon one myself but actually I have full body electro-acoustic classical guitar which is just beautiful and more so when amplified. I really appreciate your comments. All the best Rob
What a gent. Very informative video, thank you.
Hi fatcuffy. Nice to hear from you. Glad you found the video helpful. Are you thinking to get this guitar? I see HB still have it on sale BUT they still haven't switched the pickup fitted yet. I did suggest they did but I see they now make another similar kind of guitar called the Hybrid Steel NT. Maybe that's better: looks a bit like a Taylor Hybrid. Actually, with the humbucker in the Nashville Steel is a really nice playing guitar: great intonation and fingerboard with a good tonal range AND it's really "pretty". I made the humbucker mod for a guitarist in France. We found that the inside top-to-bottom depth in his guitar was less than mine so it didn't immediately fit so I've been working on a flexible system should anyone want to try the mod.
All the best, Rob
Sr you are a genius, you triple the value of the guitar, one day every guitar will equipped with a piezo pick up, is the only way to get the best hi fi sound possible 👏👏👏👏, all my guitars are piezo equipped
Hey Rob, perfect timing! I‘ve ordered mine a few weeks ago and was thinking if i could fit a Humbucker :)
Cheers!
I suggested this change to Thomann after posting the video. They say they are revising the specs and will consider a humbucker. Doesn't look as pretty maybe but that's just window dressing as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoy the guitar when it arrives.
Rob
I actually liked your first ‘mix’ position - it gave a nice acoustic style sound which I wouldn’t be ashamed to play with. However - I’m now considering a soundhole -mounting humbucker and an updated preamp for my Crafter FX-550, as I do find the piezo pickups to be a touch on the ‘bright’ side.
Hi Rebecca, nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment on the mix on the HB Nashville Steel. So much of the output sound is a complex of the piezo, the preamp, the amp/PA system and of course personal preference. For example, I have a lovely Dowina acoustic steel guitar which only has a piezo pickup system but an L R Baggs Stage Element preamp. This just sounds so good whatever. But I note today that this system costs more £200 UK. I have a Fishman I-sys system in another guitar, which is OK and a few Belcat's I've installed in other guitars but these are really bright. Are you thinking of something like the ARTEC AGE. MG preamp as a system for blending the two pickups? Then you'll probably should put on a set of steel strings rather than phosphor bronze strings because these will be needed for an electromagnetic pickup. May look into this myself. Let me know how you get on with this project.
All the best
Rob
Fabulous...can you explain how you actually got the Mini Toggle switch into the body?
Hi LightWing Studios.
It's a pretty easy fix. The guitar is hollow body. First unscrew and take out the preamp. Assuming you've already replaced the lipstick pickup with a coil splitting coil humbucker as I did, then unplug the humbucker pickup wire from the preamp, Cut the wire at a suitable pace and expose the colored wires. A guide to the wiring should have come with the humbucker you bought? Select the right color wires for double coil or single coil output and then solder them onto the correct tags on the toggle switch. Then wire up the toggle switch output to a new little jack plug. Before plugging it back into the preamp check the resistances on the toggle switch. With the switch in humbucker mode the resistance should be~ 2x that of the single coil mode. If yes, then great and you can plug the pickup into the preamp, replace the preamp and you're away! If not just check your wiring onto the microtoggle. I hope this is clear. If not let me know. Hope it works out for you.
All the best
Rob
Me too: thank you for sharing! :-)
Question: couldn't the weak signal of the lipstick (or a single coil of the humbucker) be due to too much action (too great a distance from the strings)? (I seem to remember that the strength of magnetic fields diminishes with the third power of the distance.)
Not at all meant to belittle your work, but just as a reminder to us all:
There are several types and models of pick-ups available, so everybody could fit "any" string instrument with any of these. For example: I could add a clip-on piëzo pick-up to my acoustic 12-string western guitar with lipstick magnetic pick-up, or a sound-hole magnetic pick-up to my 12-string western with bridge piëzo pick-up. Or any other set-up. I could use two inputs on a PA mixer, or I could feed these two signals to a small battery-powered mixer on me, then transmit the blended signal to the PA mixer.
(These things I mention can be bought from China for cheap, but there may well be better stuff.)
Sidebar: don't forget that any effect pedals are indifferent to the source of their input signal. I have tried the output of piëzo pick-ups of nylon-string instruments as input for multi-effect pedals. My little ukulele surely felt adult! :-)
HI chrislaaman7532, nice to hear from you and thanks for your very thoughtful comments and ideas. First of all you're right about the field diminishing with the distance from the strings but, at least on my copy of the Nashville Steel, distance form the strings was not the issue. Yes, so I did adjust the pickup up towards the strings but it didn't solve the problem. Moreover with a single coil pickup the signal was as you'd expect very bright with the preamp slider set all the way to that pickup. So, the difference in tone was not so much different from the piezo pickup itself. That's why I tried a humbucker which gave a thicker/mellower, jazzy sound. And that's what made the big difference. Also, I used a humbucker wired to allow coil splitting, and I put in a little toggle switch in the upper bout so I can switch to a single coil if necessary. What that does it to allow one to switch from "jazzier" to brighter toes without having to look down or adjust the slider in the preamp control. I really like this guitar now and I play it a lot because it also has great intonation.I did suggest that Harley Benton have a look at their manufacturer (I think the same one who make Crafter guitars) to make a version with a humbucker (but not yet). But not so long after they did start selling a version of the Hybrid Steel GR and NT. This has a different pickup (but looks single coil again or is it a stacked humbucker?) and clearly a different set of controls on the top upper bout. This is looking a bit like a Taylor Tz5 but the Taylor has an acoustic body sensor (piezo?) and not just one but 2 humbuckers ( bridge and neck and they look like stacked humbuckers). It also has three control knobs so I guess you can blend all three pickups.
Yes, I agree with you again about the big choice in pickups and amplification systems and of course effect boxes/pedals. I take an interest in pickups because I think there's a lot of "hokey pokey" going on around these components. So, one of the experiments I've done was to make a prototype guitar in which I could rapidly switch and compare different electromagnetic picks in the same body, same strings, same wiring. My Quick Change Pickup Guitar also allowed for coil splitting/cancelling switching. You might be interested in the two UA-cam videos I made on this system.
ua-cam.com/video/uQZRwUX-DNI/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/ZRpcdD01cIo/v-deo.html
Anyway, it was really good to hear from you so thanks and all the best
Rob
@@robrobson7101 You must be even more thoughtful than I. :-)
I'll add your two videos to my "watch later" list.
Hello, first of all, thank you for your video.
Could you tell me how much the guitar weight approximately?
Hi, the guitar weighs 2.6 kg. Pretty light..it's completely hollow of course. I'm liking this guitar more and more especially since I put the humbucker in.... the tonal range is so much better. Also the neck and fingerboard are really nice (for my hands anyway). All the best
Rob
Thanks, maybe I'll get one!@@robrobson7101
hello Rob, as a senior rock and roler like yourself,seeing your video could not have been more fortuitous, I hve just ordered one of these for myself as a Christmas present. Would you be so kind as to supply a link for the pickup from Ebay, and advice on the wiring. Many many thanks. Wif Rees
HI Wilf, nice to hear from me and well done for ordering the guitar. A nice Christmas present indeed! So I can give you the things to search for on Ebay:
For the pickup search for “Dual Coil Hot Rail Small Guitar Humbucker Pickup Sets for ST Strat Guitar UK" The seller is music_kingdomuk and the cost is £9.16 with free and fast delivery. You can see I didn't spend a lot as it was a bit of an experiment and in any case I'm not into paying a lot for pickups. But if you wanted you could always pay a lot more for a brand equivalent. But, hey the one I bought works just fine. And I have another one in the Quick Change Pickup prototype guitar I made a couple of years ago. I made a UA-cam vid about that in which I compare 6 different types of pickup.
You'll have seen form the video that I also put in a lttle microtoggle switch so I could split the coils. If you want to try this too then search Ebay for "AC 125V 6A 2 position 3 pin SPST ON-ON Micro Mini Toggle Switch". Today, I can see several suppliers today. I bought 5 for £4.85.
OK, as to the wiring, I'll send you a diagram and some more details about the modification if you send me an email with your email address (roblynnrob@gmail.com). If you watch through my video about this modification you'll see it's not like simply switching pickups in a Tele or a Strat. You'll have to make an "cunning" adapter to attach the humbucker to the body.
Finally, I did let Harley Benton know about this modification and how it makes the guitar much better (in my view, anyway). They said they were interested and would look into it with the manufacturer but I see that they're still selling the version with the lipstick pickup. Maybe they've altered the electronic balance in the preamp that's installed. But that still wouldn't get the humbucker tone though.
Ok hope to hear from you and hope the above helps.
All the very best
senior rock and roller Rob!
Actually more a folk rock kind a person.
Excellent.
Thanks and very good. I am also interested in this guitar. It would be interesting to know how you did this replacement, which microphones you used and the difficulties you encountered.
Hi Angelo, nice to hear from you and thanks for the question. The way I did the replacement is pretty much shown in the video. It wasn't as straight forward as replacing a pickup in a strat or a tele. It was a bit fiddly. The main reason is that the mounting screws on the humbucker were the very standard Stratocaster distance of 78 mm whilst in the lipstick pickup that Harley Benton uses (at least on mine) the distance was 72 mm. Also the lipstick pickup was mounted on a square U shaped bracket which meant that it reached deeper into the guitar and the screws and spring used to mount the pickup through the back of the guitar would have been in any case too short the reach the humbucker pickup.
So, here's the thing. I had to make an adapter bracket. I didn't want to drill more holes into the back of the guitar or use different mounting screws. I wanted to be able to put the guitar back to its original condition if the mod made no difference or I wanted to sell it. So I made a new mounting by cutting out and bending a strip of 3mm thick brass Then I used a thread cutter to cut threads into the mounting bracket for the original mounting screws on the guitar on one side and the mounting screws for the humbucker pickup on the other side. This allowed me to compensate for the different mounting widths of the two pickups. You could use a piece of hard wood I guess to make a block instead of the brass section I made but you'd still have to cut the threads into the wood. Then I mounted the pickup into the guitar from the opening made by taking out the preamp and securing it into the guitar using the original screws through the back of the guitar.
The preamp has labelled sockets for two 2.5 mm jackplugs: 1 for the bridge piezo and the other for the electro-magnetic pickup. So you'll have to fit a 2.5 mm jackplug to the humbucker wire. The humbucker I bought had the facility to spit the coils which I thought might be interesting to try, so I wired up a microswitch which allows the sound from one coil to to be used rather than two.
I did send my video to the Harley Benton team. They replied to say that the idea was interesting and they were going to investigate it with the factory where the guitar is made. I haven't heard anything more from them but I note they are still selling the version with the lipstick pup. Maybe the next production run ? Who knows. Maybe what they like is the way the guitar looks with the lipstick pup in place but I actually quite like the look mine has now and of course you could use all kind of fancy twin blade humbuckers made primarily for Strats and Teles.
I hope this answers your questions. Sorry if it's a bit of a long explanation!!
Thanks again for contacting me and let me know how you get on if you get the guitar and try the mod. It has made a bit difference to the guitar in my opinion.
All the best
Rob
Awesome modification!
I am really considering on purchasing this Guitar and I would like to do the same mod!
I understood the procedure on how to remove the Lipstick pick up but my main concern is the electric part of the project.
I found a few decent Single coil sized Humbuckers at a low price.
Some of them got 3, 4 or even 5 thin wires inside of the pickups main cable
How many of those thin wires do I need to add a 2.5 jack to it?
I've never done anything like this before so any guidance is appreciated!
Thank you so much
Hi Achilleas, nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment. So, about humbucker wiring. This can be a bit confusing. There's a very nice web site called Humbucker Soup which has more than anyone would ever need to know about humbuckers and wiring etc. Here's just one of the articles that might help. humbuckersoup.com/ask-hbs-split-humbucker-north-coil-setup/
This will show you the basic wiring of a 5 wire humbucker and the colours are pretty standard I think. Buy a 5 wire one, OK?
So forgive me if this is a bit simple but I have to work it out myself everytime!
So the simplest humbucker has just three wires. One is ground, the second is hot and a third wire is shield to ground. In this type of humbucker the wiring is in series so that the current generated in the first coil is added to the second coil though the polarity is reversed to cut out the hum. If you buy one like this all you need to do is to solder the the hot wire to the tip of the little jack plug to and solder the ground and shield wires to the sleeve of the plug. That should work fine. When the humbucker arrives you should get a wiring diagram showing hot, ground and shield whatever the colour of the wiring.
A 5 wire humbucker allows you to do a lot of things but mainly to split the coils. This allows you to use only one of the coils which will give a brighter sound but obviously could be susceptible to hum. In this type of humbucker the two coils are referred to as south and north. so the ground of the south coil is usually twisted together with the shield (bare) wire and those are wired to ground in the rest of your system (or the sleeve of the little jack plug). The hot lead of the South coil is then twisted together with the ground of the north coil. And the hot wire from the North coil will then be soldered onto the tip of the jack plug. This is converting the humbucker into more or less the three wire humbucker.
However to split the coils you can use a simple 6 pin micro toggle switch (google to see) wired in such a way that in one switch setting both coils are engaged and in the other setting only one coil is active. This what I have in my Nashville Steel. I installed the toggle switch in the upper part of the small bout of the guitar. So with one coil you are back to the original arrangement but with a good humbucker I think the output is still stronger than the original lipstick pickup.
In doing this kind of stuff I find it really helpful (essential really) to have a small multimeter with which you can test wiring, the resistance of the pickups and all sorts of stuff. Also, if you don't have one, a good soldering iron kit with fine tips for the soldering iron is essential. All these things are so cheap these days.
So good luck with this and don't hesitate to get back to me if you need more help/explanation. By the way I didn't buy an expensive hot rail humbucker at all...there is quite a lot of boloney talked about different brands (in my humble opinion).
All the very best
Rob
PS, I did write to Harley Benton to suggest they make at least a version with a coil-splitting humbucker.. They said they said they'd look into it but its still the same version I see. One comment on my channel suggested that it was about the cosmetic look of the guitar. Does mine look bad ? Looks more interesting I think? Certainly sounds a heck of a lot better. I think the factory that makes then also makes the Crafter hybrid guitar.
@@robrobson7101 Thank you so much for your time!
@@robrobson7101 sorry it took so long to reply
In my opinion the "single coil" humbucker sounds and looks alot better than the Lipstick pick up.
Never liked Lipstick pick ups anyway too clingy and too shiny for my taste
Harley Benton should definitely take your advise on the subject...
I believe the lipstick pickup is only for distortion during a solo. And you have obviously made it more than that. And if you look at the Taylor the lipstick pickup is in the middle instead of up by the neck
Hi Didymostruespeak. Nice to hear from you. Yep, you're right about the Taylor but I think it also has a humbucker fitted just underneath the bodyend of the finger board. As to your point about distortion I'm not sure about that. If you want to drive distortion then wouldn't you choose a humbucker in the first place and I don't know if you've ever tried this but boy you can certainly drive distortion from just the piezo pick up because coming from the preamp it has a higher output voltage to the amp. I noted that Harley Benton have just launched a new Hybrid Steel guitar. It doesn't look like they have a lipstick pickup in this and also they are not using the same preamp system (which was a system put in the Crafter hybrid guitars) . I have a feeling this new guitar may have a much better balance between the piezo and electromagnetic pickups. Take a look and let me know what you think. Again, I really appreciate getting your comment.
All the best
Rob
Do you have the schematic for wiring this in?
Hi there, good to hear from you and thanks for your question. I can send you a schematic if you mail me at roblynnrob1@gmail.com. The electronics is quite easy but switching the pickups is not so straightforward. The mounting of the original lipstick pickup is pretty poor really and involves two long screws from the back. So the pickup is pretty loose. I made a humbucker pickup assembly for a guy in France and we discovered that the internal distance between the face and back of his guitar was different from mine. Also the lipstick mounting screws are spaced apart differently compared to the standard Strat screw pickup mounting holes for the hot rail pickup so I had to make an adapter. Anyway I can tell you a bit more if you mail me. However, the guitar is really nice with the humbucker in and it plays like a hollow body jazz guitar when set fully to the humbucker. I play this guitar a lot these days as the fretboard and intonation is just perfect. I wouldn't have kept the guitar had I not replaced the pickup. Harley Benton should sell a variant. I did suggest they did but they obviously didn't take up the idea. All the best, Rob
Hi Rob
I really appreciated that you had to the idea of replacing the single coil, but most important that you shaped and succeed it.
I plan to purchase this guitar to play on jam sessions. In these sessions either I usuallye come either with a classical, a folk or an electric guitar. Because I often can transport only one guitar, I have to decide every time with one of these three I will choose. From the moment I will have the hybrid one, I will be able to have two of the three in one 😄
I had also read the evaluations that going from piezo to pickup sound, volumes were very different.
I would really like to have these same improve on guitar I will purchase as the one you have build.
I am a little bit in DIY, but not enough to make this adapter bracket from metal sheet, or even from wood as you advise it. At least I don't have enough time for it.
Coud you consider to build this adapter + pickup and sell it to me? Your price would be mine..
Thank you ever for your reply.
Best regards
Guillaume
HI Guillaumebuzzard. Thanks for your feedback on the video and my mod on this guitar. I could do this for you if you really wanted but how would we get in contact? Maybe you know a local lutherist who might be able to do it for you? It's not so hard really. And then there is a choice of which humbucker to use and whether you want split coil (which I fitted on mine with a microswitch in the upper bout). As you know you can pay almost anything for any type of pickup but in my humble experience it doesn't make a huge difference...So, I bought the cheapest narrow humbucker I could find on Ebay. So, with bits and pieces I already had it cost me very little. The brass bit was cut from a brass door finger plate which was just waiting for a project of some kind. . But it works fine especially compared to the really poor lipstick that was originally installed. Also I think Harley Benton has a new hybrid guitar. Take a look at the Hybrid Steel NT. It's more expensive but looks like it has something like a Telecaster neck pickup installed which would/should give a lot more output. There's only one way to find out I guess. But I did write to Harley Benton about the guitar I had and told them about the poor sound balance. They said they'd look into it. Maybe the Hybrid Steel NT is the result of a rethink. Hmmm , it also and looks much more like a Taylor hybrid. Let me know what you think.
All the very best
Rob
@@robrobson7101 Hi Rob, thank you for your fast and complete reply.
I have been observing the HB hybrid steel NT very closely for a few days: all massive, its sound must be better defined, which counts. But at now I only want to make economic expenses, when I will find a second hand one at a very good price I will purchase it. Now I have possibility to purchase a custom line nashville steel à 150 EUR.
Also one positive point that custom line nashville steel has on hybrid steel nt is the equalizer. When piezo sounds are too harshy, decreasing the treble volumes usually solves efficiently.
To come back our topic, about the luthier option, I think this a valid one, to which I had not thought about.
In the other hand probably luthier will want to sell me a more qualitative pickup, with his fair margin, but after watching your video I have no doubt that your cheap humbecker option both solves the volume gap problem between piezo and pickup, and improve sounds quality with humbecker being more mellow.
For the coil splitting I have almost never heard about it, what does it bring? I just read some information about it but I am not sure to understand it, or that I would need it.
If you accepted to do this piece we could simply communicate by anyway, email first but also maybe whatsapp, phone if necessary. when ready I would pay by TT I think, then you would send it.
By the way I live in France, where do you live?
Best regards
Guillaume
@@guillaumebuizard Hi Guillaume. I can understand the cost issue. I would guess the HB's new hybrid will have a tone control but it may not have an in built tuner. Coil splitting takes out one of the coils so you lose the humbucking effect, just about halve the pickup resistance and get the brighter sound of a single pickup as much as you would have in a telecaster pickup for example. But in fact it has only a marginal effect in my modification. I have to say I really like the brighter sound of single coil pickups. So, let me have a look at what pickups are available and If you are still interested then I'll make you a modification kit at set up cost only. I'll get back to you. Time for bed here.
All the best
Rob
I live in England.
Hi again (from a rainy English morning). Ok is this a good plan? You buy the Nashville Steel and when you have it you can check the installation of its lipstick pickup is as mine was. If so, I'll make you a humbucker modification "kit". I also don't want paying for it. The cost is very little anyway and will be a pleasure to mske it for you as a gift to a fellow guitarist. Let me know when you have the guitar by email at r.robson1@btopenworld.com. Will that be OK?
All the best
Rob
@@robrobson7101 Hi Rob, Your proposition is so kind, I alsmost have no word 😀.
I have opened the purchase of the guitar, seller is on holidays and I should have receive it in the end of next week.
As you advised, I will check the configuration and let you know by email.
All the best until then.
Guillaume
Very very important your video..Can you give me a link..i want pay this piezo...thank you...thank you...
Hi Cube Talk, not quite sure what you are asking? When you say piezo, did you mean the humbucker I put in to replace the lipstick pickup at the neck?
Yes
Hi again Cube Talk, send me an email to roblynnrob1@gmail.com and I'll send you some more info about the humbucker I used for this modification. Since that video I've made an improved mounting for my guitar and another one which I made for a guy in France which revealed that the bodies of these guitars differ. I will reply and thanks for your interest. All the best
Rob
Great review but I would like to know the price also rather than have to go looking..but your humbucker idea might also not need a new mount with a dog ear P90 also perhaps..perhaps not ..I haven't looked as you have..but I like your reviews and playing skills..I wish I lived nearby for lessons. Chao mate.
HI Colmwatulike, good to hear from you. Sorry not to have replied earlier. The dual hotrail humbucker cost me about £12 (UK). I bought it through EBay. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on pickups. It has a resistance of ~9.2 Kohms ohms and half that of course when coil split. Maybe going up a tad to 11Kohms would be better still, I don't know.
A nice guy who lives in France asked me if I'd make him a humbucker pickup replacement for his Nashville Steel guitar. Well, we're still having a bit of fun as I made a mahogany mount for mine and thought that all guitars are made on cnc machines these days so would be virtually identical. In the case of this guitar it's very clearly not the case. The thickness of the top on my guitar is ~5mm and it turns out the pickup and mount I made for him doesn't fit because the top on his Nashville Steel is 1.7cm thick. That's an amazing difference and there are some other differences too. So he's going to have to rout or chisel out around and underneath the pickup hole so that the pickup will fit. Good thught a bout the p90 but I had a look and it couldn't be screwed screwed to the top as the string height above the top is too low. And anyway, most p90s have an impedence not so much different to the lipstick so I think so there would still be that really poor balance between the electromagnetic and piezo pickups/ That would take us back to the poor original design and specs of the guitar. Of course any pickup you like could be used to replace the lipstick but the pickup hole would have to be cut and the pickup mounted from underneath the top.
All good fun!!!
All the best and hope you have a good 2023
Rob
Hi best of luck with thomann.I hope you heat back.
I hope so too
Excellent review and demo. Seriously considering buying one of these and I believe the humbucker swap is a brilliant idea. Curious as to how well the guitar was set up on delivery. Intonation, action, etc. Thanks my friend.
Hi Russ, very nice to hear from you and glad you liked the video. This is a nice guitar especially considering the price point. It's generally nicely made and the only thing I had to do was a little work on the nut to lower the action at a few of the first few frets as the strings were a bit out of tune as supplied. This is not unusual with new guitars of course. It's always worth getting a nut file but using it with care. Having fixed that, the intonation was perfectly fine and the action at the 12th fret was fine for me too. Another one might be different of course.
I did send the humbucker mod video to Thomann who replied saying they would talk to the factory making this model. I see the current batch on sale still has the lipstick pickup so no change there or no alternative model produced. But you might like to contact them to see if in the future they are going to make a humbucker model especially with an effective coil split switch because then with the right coil split wiring the tone should match the lipstick pickup. Maybe they like to lipstick pickup for cosmetic reasons? As an alternative to replacing the pickup I was considering using a resistance bridge to lower the relative input from the piezo but then you wouldn't have the humbucker tone and output. See what they say and by all means refer to my video if it would help. Let me know if you talk to Thomann. I'd be interested to know what they say.
So far I don't know anyone else who has done this mod.
All the very best
Rob
@@robrobson7101 Thanks so much for responding. Making a decision soon. I'm 100 percent certain that the lipstick pickup is all about aesthetics (and affordability) over function. The Nashville seems to be an homage to the Taylor TZ5 which features a similar (but more high end) pickup. I'll keep you posted my friend and thanks again! PS-Thinking of using a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker.
Hi again Russ. I've played a TZ5. It has three pickups actually. There's a bridge humbucker you can see but there's a neck
@@robrobson7101 Agreed.
The TZ5 is a very nice instrument. In fact it has three pickups. You can see a bridge pickup which I think is a stacked humbucker. There's also another stacked humbucker under the end of the fretboard. There's also a piezo or condenser type sounding board puckup too. So there's quite a lot of blending you can do. About putting in a Seymour Duncan instead of the lipstick..try it and see. Should be better than the one I put in but you know I'm not convinced that these "higher end" pickups are really worth it. I feel that one pays a lot for a brand and much of the sound is string/ player/ preamp/ amp and speaker dependent.
All the best again
Rob
Unfortunately, this guitar sounds like a tin can, no matter what you've done to it. The sound I'm hearing is not a mix of the 2 tones but like 2 different sounds played at the same time. Perhaps HB will try with a better preamp on its next iteration, but this in no way can compare to the likes of Godin A6. I'm saying that as I compare the nylon version to the Godin Multiac, and it's really you get what you pay for: Godin costs more than 5, 6 times, and the sound is appropriately that much better. But I'm okay with the nylon HB to lounge around with. This steel one, I shall pass. Perhaps, just perhaps, it may sound better with nylon strings, if you want to try that.
Hi Thach, thanks very much for listening and commenting on the video. Badially I agree with you...the question I started asking about this guitar was " jack of all trades or master of none"? I think the latter's about right. I bought it in order to busk without having to carry two guitars about and switch them around (and leave one at risk of being nicked (oh yes!)). But you can't beat the combination of a nice electroacoustic AND a nice solid body guitar (e.g. a Strat-type for me). I've not played the Godin or the Taylor hybrids and I'm sure they'd be better (have to hope so anyway!) so your thoughts on this are really useful. Another comment I had recently was about hybrid guitars made by Crafter. They look identical to the Nashville Steel so I'm pretty sure they must be made in the same Korean factory. Incidentally, they cost about 3 times more. Crafter make (or made) two versions (the SA (lipstick) and SAT (humbucker). You mention the preamp on the HB version. Again this looks exactly the same as the one in the Crafters except that it says that it has an L-R Baggs Element piezo pickup and a Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup. I'll bet the Nashville Steel doesn't. So a side by side comparison would be interesting. The guy who sent me comments said he had used the Crafter SAT in many gigs and really liked it. But still, I think this guitar is not going to be the jack of all trades. Of course, in my video I was recording the guitar directly into the DAW so I have to say that It does sound better through an acoustic guitar amp and using the tone sliders on the preamp to modify the sound. I made a video of this too playing various styles. It's here: ua-cam.com/video/KEAkJzkZ-s8/v-deo.html. Still I don't think you're going to be convinced enough to get one. Have been looking at the HB Nylon one myself but actually I have full body electro-acoustic classical guitar which is just beautiful and more so when amplified.
I really appreciate your comments.
All the best
Rob
"strings & things" 😂😂😂😂😂 cringe