Surfliner Deluxe pickup swap

[GGJaguar]

I had put my Surfliner Deluxe into the “sell” pile, but I absolutely love the neck profile and, of course, I like that it has an offset body. The two Aerosonic single coil pickups are useable though a bit generic, but the one thing that ruins it for me is the HB-2 bridge pickup. With its thick, dark midrange, the HB-2 doesn’t match well with the Aerosonics for my playing needs. I gave the Surfliner Deluxe one last play and realized how much I enjoy playing it. So in a last ditch attempt to make it a keeper I performed a pickup transplant.



Here’s a before photo showing its original state.

 

[GGJaguar]

The pickup routing on the Deluxe is the same as on the standard Surfliner and the Surfliner HH. It has the route for the rocker switches on those models. It makes sense and saves money. It’s sprayed with shielding paint. All three pickups are made in Korea by BHK.



The control cavity is pretty simple with a 5-way blade switch, a pair of 500K ohm pots and an output jack. The cavity is sprayed with shielding paint and the pots are grounded to the treble-side bridge post.



The vibrato cavity is even simpler.

 

[GGJaguar]

The tailpiece design is pretty much a clone of Fender’s floating vibrato, but without the vibrato lock.



The Fender unit will not fit because it needs an additional route for the vibrato lock.

 

[GGJaguar]

I chose the GFS Surf 90 for the bridge position. Based on the reviews I’ve read it had what I was looking for – chime with plenty of bite. I figured for $36 I could take a flyer on it and it paid off handsomely. It was a drop-in fit and didn’t require any modifications other than soldering it in. The reviews were accurate with respect to its tone and I’m quite happy with it. I think it leans more towards a Fender Jaguar pickup than a DeArmond Dynasonic. And, you know… I’m all about the Jaguar. The added bonus is that it visually matches the Aerodyne neck and middle pickups. Woo hoo!



The only downside is the sound of the Middle+Bridge combination. It’s thin with a substantial volume drop. So, be aware if you use that pickup combination often. I don’t use the “in between” combinations ever (which is why I have so few 3-pickup guitars) so it’s not a deal breaker for me. Still, if you get or already have a Surfliner Deluxe and you want something with more zing and sting than the HB-2 can offer, I heartily recommend the GFS Surf 90. If you can solder it’s an easy installation and looks like a factory pickup.

 

[chazmo]

Nice work, GG!!! Looks great and I'm glad the sound is keeping you on board wit it!

 

[Walter Broes]

So the bridge and middle pickups are out of phase now...is the Surf90 a two-wire pickup, or does it have a separate ground?

 

[GGJaguar]

Let me double check...

 

[GGJaguar]

So the bridge and middle pickups are out of phase now...is the Surf90 a two-wire pickup, or does it have a separate ground?

It's 3 wire - 1 hot, 1 ground and 1 cable shield ground.

 

[GAD]

That pickup looks great in there! Really works well with the existing single coils.

 

[Walter Broes]

It's 3 wire - 1 hot, 1 ground and 1 cable shield ground.

In that case, there's a good chance that the shield is connected to the baseplate/cover and the coil itself isn't.
If that's the case, you can just flip the coil wire connections in your guitar and be in phase.

And if you ever want a humbucker size pickup that doesn't just look like the mighty DeArmond 2000 pickup, but sounds like it too, check this out : Gabojo pickups

 

[GAD]

In that case, there's a good chance that the shield is connected to the baseplate/cover and the coil itself isn't.
If that's the case, you can just flip the coil wire connections in your guitar and be in phase.

And if you ever want a humbucker size pickup that doesn't just look like the mighy DeArmond 2000 pickup, but sounds like it too, check this out : Gabojo pickups

Whoa - that's cool!

 

[Walter Broes]

it is, isn't it?

 

[GGJaguar]

Those Gabojo pickups look fantastic! Expensive, though. I think the Surf 90 better matches the budget status of the Surfliner. The Gabojos would for X-500s.

 

[Walter Broes]

They might be a bit upmarket for a Surfliner, but I don't think 240€ for a pair is expensive at all for such a specialized, complicated pickup

 

[GGJaguar]

They might be a bit upmarket for a Surfliner, but I don't think 240€ for a pair is expensive at all for such a specialized, complicated pickup

Oh, I thought it was 240 euros for each pickup (480 per pair).

 

[hearth_man]

Looks better than factory, great pickup choice. I'll tell you I was surprised with these Surfliners. They are actual nice playing and sounding guitars. I didn't expect that. I picked up the standard model for my son to give it a whirl and was impressed. I had just sold a Fender Performers series strat, this is an American made strat that sells for about 3x the price of the Surfliner, and it did not play or sound near as nice as the Surfliner. The strat had the honeyburst finish and looked great but take if off the wall and it was no contest. Thumbs up for Guild.

 

[HeyMikey]

And if you ever want a humbucker size pickup that doesn't just look like the mighty DeArmond 2000 pickup, but sounds like it too, check this out : Gabojo pickups

Please do tell more about these pickups!

 

[Walter Broes]

Ha! I wish I could! I still don't own one - the specs look extremely close to the real thing though!

 

[chazmo]

Just out of curiosity, which of the Gabojo pickups are you guys referring to as potentially similar to the DeArmond 2000?

 

[Jeff Haddad]

Greg, great work and pictures of your process - thanks for sharing!