Epiphone Gone Twangy?

[cmac]

Hello! I recently picked up this pretty sweet Epiphone Wilshire Reissue, and its a nice lil guitar. Feels like a slick mix of a Tele and SG, but the pickups are not so sweet to my ear.

Any ideas/recommendations for any good pickups to cover the range of twangy classics, with enough grit to get into some fuzzed out tweed tones Neil Young style?

Price range anywhere from $50 - $120 per pickup, or any budget steals if you know some! Neck and bridge pups please!

[Mincer]

I'd think a basic 59 set would do the trick. It can do twang and fuzz, too.

[GuitarDoc]

I've got a Wilshire just like yours. Great guitar. Yeah, it is a little Tele-ish, but way more toward an SG IMO. I really love how it feels and plays but I, like you, felt the need to change the pups right after playing it for the first few times. I tried several pups that sounded good.
The Distortion works great in that guitar but it isn't even close to a Tele twang.
The Custom 5 (or Custom 8) also is a really terrific and versatile pup in that guitar. Closer to Tele, but still not twangy enough to pull off any real twang.
A P-90 in a humbucker size really sounds great (I tried the GFS Mean 90, but their Dream 90 would have a bit more twang to it).
But my all-time favorite pup for what you want is the StagMag with a coil split. I can't remember if there is enough thickness to fit a push/pull pot in there but a mini toggle in place of the neck (or bridge) tone pot works great.

When the StagMag is in full series humbucker mode it is like a Strat on steroids and will do some twang but will also do fuzz and OD with some serious good tone. When it is split it is a true single coil pup (not at all like one coil of a split regular humbucker) where the pole pieces are the magnets. It's not a direct replacement for a real Tele guitar, but it comes close enough to put a big smile on your face with the twang coming out your ears. It will do twangy classics and some great Neil Young tones as well (might have to turn the treble down a bit).

[Lewguitar]

I like Mincer's suggestion of 59's.

Not very expensive, similar to 50's Gibson pafs, fairly bright and if you get them without covers they're easy to swap magnets in should you want to experiment with refining and finding your own tone.

If you're into coil splitting or parallel wiring they're available with 4 conductor cable too.

You'd have to add a switch or two though. I wouldn't bother but some guys think it's worthwhile.

I think magnet swapping, on the other hand, is very worthwhile although the 59's sound fine as is.

[cmac]

Thanks for all the replies so far! I like the quirky nature of the stagmag, seems like a fun bridge pickup.

Has anyone ever had any experience with a hilotron? I’m a sucker for weird pickups and wonder how it’d sound in the neck of a solid body.

[beaubrummels]

I had a 6119 with hilotrons for a while. In general, Gretsch single coils have more bottom end thump and treble than their filtertrons, but also pickup hum, being single coils. DeArmonds are a better choice for Gretsch single coil sounds. They sound so good IÂ’m willing to deal with any hum or get a noise gate or hum filter.

[cmac]

From what I’ve read so far, I might try a Hilortron paired with a StagMag! If I end up putting these in, I’ll post some pictures or sound samples!

any other suggestions?

[JOLLY]

From what I’ve read so far, I might try a Hilortron paired with a StagMag! If I end up putting these in, I’ll post some pictures or sound samples!

any other suggestions?

Dimarzio EJ Custom?

[Lewguitar]

Dimarzio EJ Custom?

Have you heard this pickup John? I have not. But EJ is one of my favorites. (Even though he's a Dimarzio guy!) What guitar does he use it in? 335?

[JB_From_Hell]

This is gonna sound weird, but the Dimebucker is pretty twangy. Tried them in several guitars way back, and it kind of sounded like a Tele doubling everything.

[Mincer]

This is gonna sound weird, but the Dimebucker is pretty twangy. Tried them in several guitars way back, and it kind of sounded like a Tele doubling everything.

No, I get that...it is, because of all the high end. It wasn't really made to play clean, but when you do, it is pretty twangy. Not what most people who play with a lot of gain would think.

[freefrog]

This is gonna sound weird, but the Dimebucker is pretty twangy. Tried them in several guitars way back, and it kind of sounded like a Tele doubling everything.

Like Mincer, I don't find it weird. The Dimebucker wired in parallel is clearly Fender sounding. In series, it's thicker, of course, but it still has a focused resonant peak which makes it somehow single coilish... :-)

Hello! I recently picked up this pretty sweet Epiphone Wilshire Reissue, and its a nice lil guitar. Feels like a slick mix of a Tele and SG, but the pickups are not so sweet to my ear.

Any ideas/recommendations for any good pickups to cover the range of twangy classics, with enough grit to get into some fuzzed out tweed tones Neil Young style?

Price range anywhere from $50 - $120 per pickup, or any budget steals if you know some! Neck and bridge pups please!

Hello,

I've no objections against what fellow members said but if you want a Neil Young vibe, it could be interesting to consider what he has in his Old Black: Firebird bridge PU, P90 in the neck slot...

So, personally, maybe I'd try something like a Phat Cat in neck position and a SM1 next to the bridge, in a custom made pickup frame - or with some slices of black plastic closing the gap between mini-HB and larger HB frame...

It won't change a Wilshire in a LP but would certainly make it closer to Neil's guitar...

... and having already mounted a bridge SM1 in a Wilshire 66 RI (the model with stock mini-HB's), I can testify that it sounds good... as well as versatile: tone pot full up = single coilish brightness. Lowered tone pot = thicker sound, closer to a SG with full sized HB's. :-)

I find your depiction spot on, BTW: to me, Wilshire's are indeed a kind of hybrid between Tele and SG. They are also light, comfortable and fun to play... and built in a better way than many Gibson looking Epi's, for a cheaper price. Great axes IOW.

Good luck in your pickups quest anyway!

[beaubrummels]

From what I’ve read so far, I might try a Hilortron paired with a StagMag! If I end up putting these in, I’ll post some pictures or sound samples!

any other suggestions?

Stag Mag will fit, but I don't know if Hilotrons fit in a standard humbucker route.