Need a Nice, Bright, but Warm Humbucker

[Butch Snyder]

I'm looking for a good, bright, but warm humbucker for the neck position for one of my Telecasters. Needs to be good with 250k pots. I was initially thinking SH-1. Oh, also need s nickel or chrome cover. It will look like the pic. BTW, I do have a 2-conductor SH-1n. It's got double-black bobbins. Wonder if I could get a nickel cover. If I did, I wonder how easy or difficult it would be to install the cover over my existing pickup. I've heard all kinds of stories.

[CK71]

I like the pearly gates neck for warm tones like you describe. I have used both the 59n and pgn in the same same telecaster. Both did great with 250k pots. I preferred the eq balance of brightness and warmth in the pg and that it is less mid scooped than the 59.

[Butch Snyder]

I like the pearly gates neck for warm tones like you describe. I have used both the 59n and pgn in the same same telecaster. Both did great with 250k pots. I preferred the eq balance of brightness and warmth in the pg and that it is less mid scooped than the 59.

I actually have a 59 and Pearly Gates. I pretty much agree with what you're saying.

[Butch Snyder]

Oh, forgot to mention; I'm using a Duncan APTL-1 in the bridge position.

[Masta' C]

I think CK71 nailed it with the PGn

[Butch Snyder]

I think I'll just use my PGn. Out of the three I own, 59, A2Pn, & PGn, it has the most desirable EQ.

[Rex_Rocker]

I think you can install a cover fairly easily. Just use double sided tape on the slug bobbin, then clamp the cover on as tight as you can without actually damaging the pickup or denting the cover, and then solder the bottom to the baseplate. Should be good enough if you're not doing high-gain.

However, if you want to do it right and have it work as well as it can for high-gain applications, you're gonna have to re pot the pickup after the cover is on.

But based on the style of guitar and the pickups you're considering, I think you'll be fine with just the doublesided tape, and soldering the cover that you put on tight.

[Butch Snyder]

Appreciate all the comments. This project ended up going off the rails. I installed the PGn in the neck position. It sounded fine. Then, I started thinking about alternate wirings. I looked through my parts drawer for any super switches. I found a couple double-wafer switches. Then I found a Jerry Donahue wiring assembly I had bought some time ago.

I decided to remove the Alnico 2 Pro Tele bridge pickup and replace it with one of the Duncan JD pickups I have. I found one of my Duncan Alnico 2 Pro Strat pickups. I ended up turning that Tele into a Jerry Donahue Tele. So, I get the nice warm humbucker tone and the standard Strat tone. Thanks again for the help. I think I'll sit on this one for awhile.

[misterwhizzy]

In case you still care, you can buy humbucker covers from StewMac. Here's a link for convenience.

[JB6464]

I would put a Phat Cat P90 in the neck.

[Clint 55]

^ 2nd. Warm, bright, and suits a tele.

[Rex_Rocker]

Love the Phat Cat!

[GuitarDoc]

The Pearly and a JD sounds like a great combination for your Tele.

[Butch Snyder]

The Pearly and a JD sounds like a great combination for your Tele.

I have another JD pickup lying around. I might install the combo in another Tele. I would use the JD Telecaster wiring for that combo. That way, one of the tones is the neck humbucker with no tone control.

[GuitarDoc]

+1