dimarzio twang king vs true velvet bridge pickups?

[gimmieinfo]

Anyone tried both? I have a TK and am considering trying the TV on their return policy. The TK appears to be 43 gauge wire (8.07k DCR) vs the TV which seems to be 42 gauge (7.4k DCR) because the TK has a higher output so the wire gauge seems to be the likely reason when considering the fact both are A5 true single coils yet the TV is a higher output with lower DCR. The reason i ask is i never met a 43 gauge pickup i liked, so while the 2 seems close enough that they shouldn't sound different enough to make it worth doing a swap, if the TV is 43 then maybe it IS worth it considering i never seem to like 43 gauge pickups. I find the TK too compressed and dark without the liveliness of 42 gauge winds like i always seem to notice with 43 gauge winds. And yes, i realize i'm generalizing and there are probably winds of every type that sound different than the average but lets not get into that please.

So i'd like to hear both from anyone who's tried both and whether the TV sounds clearer and livelier, and from those who wanna comment on the gauge and if they think the TV may in fact be 42 and likely to sound more natural and uncompressed. The tone chart suggests the TV is more middy and less bright, but a pickup can be that yet still be more dynamic and natural sounding than a brighter one.

[Masta' C]

Did you ever try the True Velvet Tele bridge?

I was recently in the same boat trying to decide between the two. From examples and reports I could find online, the Twang King bridge seems bright with an extra helping of "twang", as its name implies. In contrast, the TV seems to have a very similar character overall, with plenty of that vintage style "twang", but with a little more punch and girth. Neither seem overly compressed from the examples I listened to. Just very good single coil sounds from each.

Just curious if you got to compare them both? I haven't played either in person myself, but I did order a TV set for my Meteora-style build. Very excited!

[gimmieinfo]

Yeah, i returned it in exchange for the velvet and i liked it a lot better but i still wasn't happy. I think i just don't want A5 in this tele, but IMO the TV is a better sounding pickup. I have no doubt from the specs that the TK is 43 gauge and the TV 42 which makes for the typical broadcaster type pickup but a bit less DCR. I went back to my fender 62 custom thats A2. It tames the top which this tele really needed. Not sure i would put A5 in any tele's bridge unless it was a dark sounding one or i was using a modern type or OD like a modded masrhall or such. But as A5 bridge pickups go it sounded good. Not necassarily anything special but it is what it is.

[Masta' C]

Awesome and good to know! Thanks for the reply!

[ItsaBass]

First of all, no, the Twang King does not have more "output" than the True Velvet T. They're about the same in overall output...but their tonal balance is different.

The Twang King has higher resistance; that is all. Resistance is not output.

The True Velvet actually has a more heavily wound coil (in terms of numbers of winds), even though it has lower resistance. This has to be because, as you suspect, the Twang King uses thinner wire.

The Twang King is a "lighter" flat poled Tele sound. It's not as gutsy in the midrange, but it's more bright.

It's a bit strange, because the T.K. uses both a thinner wire and a lower wind. Normally, you use a thinner wire with the purpose of fitting more of it on a bobbin. In this case, my guess is that they chose this atypical combination in order to manipulate the coil dimensions – which do have an effect on how a pickup sounds. The smaller wire with fewer turns results in a narrower coil. This isn't by accident; an electronics engineer knows exactly how coil dimensions affect frequency response, and they manipulate their materials to get to their design goal.

The True Velvet T (the "True Velvet" is a Strat pickup) is a weightier sound, more "growly" and less "stingy."

Both have brash, aggressive classic flat poled Tele sounds, and are very versatile. The difference is where the frequency emphasis lies....and its not really that big of a difference. Both are bright...but T.V.T. is a bit "meaner."

Both are sounds that you might have got in a real old flat poled Tele or Esquire. Those original pickups were all over the place.

Go for the True Velvet if you want more midrange and a warmer top end than what you have now.

You're generally chalking things up to wire gauge, magnet type, and resistance, when they really have little to do with the tonal characteristics you're talking about. Don't judge certain wire gauges, magnets, etc. based on your experiences with a pickup or two. Pickups are far more than the sums of their parts. If you know what you're doing, you can likely make use of most of the common pickup magnets and wire types to get a very wide variety of tonal results. Case in point, these two pickups, very carefully designed to use certain materials in a certain way, to get two different sounds, within the same form factor. They aren't not to your liking because of the A5 magnets, or the 43 gauge wire on one of them. They're not to your liking because your tonal goal is not the same as the people who designed the pickups. You can get an A5 pickup to have a warmer top end...but these two pickups don't, because they weren't designed to.

[Masta' C]

Pretty much confirms what I suspected about the sonic difference between the two.

I went ahead and ordered a True Velvet T, as I believe that will get me where I want to go. It'll be matched with a True Velvet "Strat" pickup in the neck

Thank you, guys!