randythoades Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Morning good people of GC, I am about to start a new home built project, a thinline tele / strat type esquire with just a volume, no tone (single pickup). I have one Esquire strat/tele already (but solid body) with a vintage broadcaster type pickup from Oil City, which I like very much for rockabilly and country type. I am looking to do something slightly different to my normal role to cover artists such as Status Quo, Georgia Satellites, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, George Thorogood, more of the blues boogie/southern rock/country end of rock etc so wonder what pickup would be suitable for this? I could just use a similar pickup to my other one and just crank the gain but can't see the point of having one exactly the same. So I am thinking something with a little less treble and a little more mids and touch more grunt but still a bit of snap. Cost isn't really an issue as just a single pickup, but don't want anything fizzy, high gain or too modern or too high an output. And I can wire with a 250k or 500k pot as suitable. Anything that someone has used successfully and can suggest? There are so many versions available it is hard to know where to start outside my normal comfort zone. I am happy to spend the time and watch you tube, but difficult to compare with different players, amps and setups, so a starting point would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 DiMarzio Area T Hot. Very much a P90 in a Tele, bridge pickup housing. Humbucking too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 30 minutes ago, ezbass said: DiMarzio Area T Hot. Very much a P90 in a Tele, bridge pickup housing. Humbucking too. Cool, thanks, I will check them out. That sounds good actually, I have a p90 in a les paul junior clone and like it a lot, but need something a bit more lightweight in my older years! I was thinking about putting in a p90, but I like the look of the traditional tele bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 On the subject of Dimarzio, anyone any experience of the Fast Track or Chopper? They sound good on paper but all the videos i found were either too much gain or just straight clean and I want that crunchy side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 31 minutes ago, randythoades said: ... and I want that crunchy side. I'm not sure how a p/u, on its own, can produce anything but a 'clean' sound. I can understand high output, and differing tone, but there's nothing in a p/u that can do anything but capture the string. Any grit, or crunch, or whatever must surely come from the pre-amp or pedals..? Am I wrong..? Have I always just been lucky..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 45 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: I'm not sure how a p/u, on its own, can produce anything but a 'clean' sound. I can understand high output, and differing tone, but there's nothing in a p/u that can do anything but capture the string. Any grit, or crunch, or whatever must surely come from the pre-amp or pedals..? Am I wrong..? Have I always just been lucky..? You are completely correct of course, maybe my wording isn't right, but I essentially want to leave my amp settings closely matched and just change guitars to get that extra bit of grunt, I just want a slightly fatter, raunchier tone out of the tele straight out of the gate which I think is mainly the pickup and the winding. I have used some varied strat pickups and got wildly different results with similar amp settings: the SD hot rails sounded like fizz, Texas Specials just lacked any sort of sizzle with a bit of drive (to my ears), and settled on some Tonerider City Limits. When I started putting higher gain into the equation they gave almost the opposite results. The videos I had found online for Dimarzio in particuler were either dead clean and sounding the same, or they were high gain and not suitable for what I wanted. Maybe you are right in that I just need to change amp settings and leave the pickup alone!! But I need one in any case, so I thought it prudent to find one more suitable to my needs. Otherwise, why do we all spend thousands changing the pickup in our precision basses to get different results?? I have more experience in changing pickups on my basses rather than guitar and there are a HUGE amount of options out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 4 hours ago, ezbass said: DiMarzio Area T Hot. Very much a P90 in a Tele, bridge pickup housing. Humbucking too. Been looking at videos on you tube for this Area T and I very much like both the normal and hot versions, the normal being a little more sedate and the hot version a little bit more raw and angry sounding in the same guitar. Exactly what I am looking for. Think i will go with one of those anbd see how things go! Much appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 On 03/03/2023 at 12:55, randythoades said: You are completely correct of course, maybe my wording isn't right, but I essentially want to leave my amp settings closely matched and just change guitars to get that extra bit of grunt, I just want a slightly fatter, raunchier tone out of the tele straight out of the gate which I think is mainly the pickup and the winding. I have used some varied strat pickups and got wildly different results with similar amp settings: the SD hot rails sounded like fizz, Texas Specials just lacked any sort of sizzle with a bit of drive (to my ears), and settled on some Tonerider City Limits. When I started putting higher gain into the equation they gave almost the opposite results. The videos I had found online for Dimarzio in particuler were either dead clean and sounding the same, or they were high gain and not suitable for what I wanted. Maybe you are right in that I just need to change amp settings and leave the pickup alone!! But I need one in any case, so I thought it prudent to find one more suitable to my needs. Otherwise, why do we all spend thousands changing the pickup in our precision basses to get different results?? I have more experience in changing pickups on my basses rather than guitar and there are a HUGE amount of options out there. The MXR Custom Shop Micro Amp with the tone controls might help with swapping guitars and adding volume/ character? Great pedal Otherwise, huge fan of Fralin pups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted March 13, 2023 Author Share Posted March 13, 2023 On 10/03/2023 at 18:59, Chiliwailer said: The MXR Custom Shop Micro Amp with the tone controls might help with swapping guitars and adding volume/ character? Great pedal Otherwise, huge fan of Fralin pups. That is a very good point. I am not really a fan of pedals, I like just setting my amp and using the volume the alter things, but my drummer (who is also a guitarist) suggested just using a preamp/boost with tone controlsto change the character without using a tubescreamer etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
