Fender Blacktop Tele

[jcf327]

Hey folks,

Just a quick question on a pickup change I've been thinking about for a while. I have a Fender Blacktop Tele with rosewood neck. I do a lot of playing with it, and recently I've put in drop C for metal. Metal is my main style, but I do other rock playing, as well as jazz and blues. I've been wondering about switching into a JB/Jazz, JB/'59, JB/'59 Custom, or a Custom/'59 setup. Any thoughts on what might give me the best tone?

[dvadneau]

Re: Fender Blacktop Tele

I don't play drop tuning, so most of this is regurgitated from what I've read from previous posts, but the JB is probably not the pickup you want. The JB doesn't have a solid low end and drop tuning will not make things better.

I've heard good things about the Custom holding the low end for drop tuning, and iirc the Custom 8 is also a good option. The Custom 8 is a Custom with an Alnico 8 swapped in place of the ceramic magnet. Or if you have a Custom Custom or Custom 5 - all the same wind with a different magnet. The Custom 8 is not a production pickup, so you'd have to buy an Alnico 8 magnet. You might be able to order a shop floor custom (a special order production pickup - not a Custom Shop one, which is considerably more expensive).

The Duncan Distortion might be a good choice. It'll definitely do metal, but it can do more as well.

The 59 is probably a good choice for what you want out of the neck.

Hopefully someone with more experience with drop tuning will pipe up as well.

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: Fender Blacktop Tele

I personally don't like the '59 and don't see it as a metal pickup. However I think one of the guys in LoG plays '59s. The Jazz actually would be more suited for shredding some metal. If you're not a shredder then you might like either the Distortion or Invader. Also the JB is very full-spectrum with warm-ish mids and bright, so it's not really a great metal pickup. It's more for rock, IMO. I'd go with some PAF style pickups like the Pearly Gates/A2Pro or Distortion/Invader for the high-output route.