2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

[dr0]

I am reposting this thread, my previous thread asking for some advice turned into an insult contest between several posters over something personal, and was locked by the mods, before I could even reply.
Let's try to keep it positive, gents.

1. Thank you to those who posted on topic on the previous thread!

2. I am talking about the Texas Special TELE pickups, which I neglected to mention in the previous thread. I assume that the Strat versions are similar, but in terms of what I"m looking for it's to go in a TELE so, only need two, prefer Tele-style so i don't have to rout the body or get a new pickguard.

3. What do you like about them? they are pleasantly hot. They overdrive my amps a nice amount in clean mode, give a little bit more crunch without becoming muddy or dark. Maybe not quite the chiming-bell tone of the Fender 50's Tele pickup I have in another guitar. With a low-setting overdrive pedal the really get into a nice singing lead tone, again clear and crisp, with a small amount of dirt. With a big overdrive they come alive and can do high-gain tricks like harmonic feedback. So, to me they are quite nice. In general I'd guess they are sort of "medium hot". Nowhere near like a SD Super Distortion Humbucker. More gain than what's standard in Teles.

I understand that "Texas" means different things to different people, and so I got (from previous thead) that some other pickups with Texas in the name are quire different and optimized for other aspects of SRV's tone, like the chime. Or even other aspects of what people consider the Texas blues tone, which might include ZZ Top, Freddie King and others. Got it! So Im focused on the Fender Texas Specials as the starting point (cause i have them in a guitar and like them).

It's a useful tone.

4. Why not just buy the Fenders if you like them? Well, I like this place and would like to support the proprietor, for one thing. And for another he makes great pickups, and suspect he might have something different but close that I'd like.

Thanks!!

 

[AlexR]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

You might find the broadcaster set has the punch......although they are more vintage oriented.

A Jerry Donahue bridge might also work with an a2 pro neck.......but that again might be more 'hot twang' rather than the more barky nature of the typical TS.

 

[Mincer]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

I agree with the 'hot twang' of the Jerry Donahue. But it may be the most like a Texas Special, however. And it is a remarkable pickup, even if you aren't comparing it to something else. As far as the neck pickup goes...that's a harder choice. The Hot Tele is a good neck pickup, but it isn't really sizzly, and is just a hot version of a bassy sort of Tele neck pickup, which I never liked much, anyway.

 

[AlexR]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

Yeah.....tele neck pickups tend to be bassy due to the cover even without adding in extra turns.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

Jerry Donahue with a Fender twisted Tele neck

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

All that said, I think the OP would be happiest with a set of Fralin Blues Specials.

They’ll fit perfectly in a stock Tele with a stock pickguard.

The neck pickup is simply the best Tele neck pickup I’ve ever heard that’s stock Tele size, and it sounds a lot like a Strat pickup.

The bridge pickup is a little hotter than a stock Tele, and a little smoother. It’s great too.

If there was a “Texas Special” voiced Duncan set I liked better I’d recommend it.

But I can’t think of one.

Closest would be the Hot For Tele or QP set I guess.

 

[dr0]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

Thanks. A couple questions, has anyone played either (or both!) the Hot Tele and Quarter Pounder pickup sets. Which did you like more. (I spend 80% of my time on the neck pickup, which seems the be the harder one to find a good one of)

Second, when you look at the product catalog section of this site you see pickup specs laid out like this.

It appears that the "output" is described by the little green to red diagram. I guess some people like a pronounced "step" where the neck pickup is quieter, and flipping to the bridge is a volume boost as well as a tone change, especially on Teles.

If you wanted the two pickups to be roughly the same volume, I assume you'd want to find ones that the little green to red diagram is about the same.
Here is the one for the Jerry Donahue.



For instance, this looks like it would be the closest output match



Another Question:

What does the DCR mean? How is it significant, in terms of tone, volume or anything else.
Would it be important to get similar DCR settings between pickups?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

My favorite Tele neck pickup is a vintage style Strat pickup. That would require a new pickguard as well as possibly enlarging the neck pickup rout under the pickguard. I did that to my Tele Custom and I use a Jerry Donahue bridge pickup. It’s pretty much perfect.

I wish Duncan made a Tele neck pickup that sounds like a Strat pickup. The Custom Shop has the Tele ala Strat neck pickup and it’s good...but not as good as the Fralin Blues Special w/o a cover.

Between the Tele Hot set and QP set, I preferred the Tele Hot set but both are very good.

My favorite set using a Tele size neck pickup (and not a larger Strat neck pickup) remains the Fralin Blues Special set although the bridge BS has more output and a slightly smoother tone than most stock Tele pickups. Lindy’s thing is to eliminate “ice pick in the ear” edginess as much as possible and get a sweeter, rounder tone while retaining as much twang as possible.

With the Blues Specials in my Tele, and going through a TS808 into my little 20 watt Fenders (like my 5e3 Tweed Deluxe) I had a ball playing pretty authentic sounding Led Zeppelin I licks.

That Led Zeppelin I album featured Jimmy Page playing his Tele through a mystery amp that is thought to be a 50’s Supro.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

I agree with Lew on the Fralin Blues Special Tele neck pickup. I have one paired with a Duncan Broadcaster in my home-built Tele, wired to a 4-way switch. There's a Strattiness to the Blues Special and the Broadcaster is all growly Tele, plus I get the series sounds in position 4.

 

[dr0]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

Thanks gents!

Can either of you explain what DCR means?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

The DCR doesn't explain too much. If you know the wire gauge and magnet type, it is often possible to guess at the potential tones and outputs of two different pickups. DCR also doesn't account for wind patterns, wire types (e.g. formvar versus plain enamel), wire tension, baseplate, and other things. Even if you know the advertised gauge of wire, it is also possible they are using closer to say a #42.5 than the #42 they advertise at.

Why do we use DCR at all then? Because way back in the olden days, most pickups were wound with #42, so guaging a pickups output by DCR was more feasible. Then DiMarzio came along and said "Come and look at our Super Distortion with an insane 13.7k!" and people started to associate DCR with output.

But with all the different fancy ways to make a pickup have the volume or tone you want, it's a mostly useless number. I guess companies want to have a numerical value to a pickup. There are still uses to DCR though. If you have a pickup wound to 6.5k and want it a little hotter, you can ask them to overwind it to 7k. It's also a decent way to generalize about a pickup if you know what to look for. If you're in the market for a vintage humbucker and you see a pickup advertised as 11k, it probably won't fit the bill, but there are quite a few exceptions.

But the real problem with using DCR as a measurement is by the time you know enough about pickup construction to find a use for it, you have most definitely have found better ways to gauge a pickup.



I might make this my signature so people don't have to keep asking.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

Thanks gents!

Can either of you explain what DCR means?

DC Resistance. When you connect a multimeter to each end of the wire wrapped around the bobbin of a pickup you can measure how much resistance there is.

It’s a useful measurement if you’re comparing very similar pickups wound with the same wire.

For example, most neck pickups in a set will have a lower DCR than the bridge pickup.

A neck 59 might measure 7.5k and the bridge 59 8.1K.

Wound that way, the neck 59 pickup won’t overpower the bridge 59.

In old Gibson guitars from the 50’s and 60’s both pickups are identical and the neck pickup is usually louder than the bridge pickup.

Same thing with old Fender guitars.

I never liked that.

I’m glad modern pickup sets are calibrated for the neck and bridge position these days.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: 2nd Time The Charm: Seymour's version of the Texas Special

I always take two teles to gigs these days. One has fralin blues 5% bridge and 2%neck and the other has the fender broadcaster/twisted tele set. The fender broadcaster is an OEM pickup - essentially a flat pole texas special. I generally use a tweed deluxe or a tweed bassman style amp.
Anyway...both nice axes and the pickup sets are pretty comparable in terms of how they push my amp. They are both axes that fall into the "hotter than vintage" category but not by a whole bunch.
The difference between the two sets to me is that the fralins have more sweetness in the high end, somehow more note separation and the most important thing: the feel of the guitar when i play it. I think i remember Lew saying something similar a few years back that he could shape the note a lot more with his fingers. They are just forgiving enough, yet expressive enough. I really like them. However, the fralin equipped axe is a lot more lively, characterful and responsive than the fender even unplugged, so that might be a big factor.

This thread is interesting to me because I'd really like my fender axe to have as much life. richness and response of the fralin equipped partsocaster. I could just throw in another set of fralins, but diversity is always good. I have had excellent luck with Duncan humbuckers in heaps of axes over the years, and also strat pickups too. I did have a tele with a jerry donahue in the bridge and pearly gates in the neck which was pretty rad, but yeah...
I like this company and I like this forum and if someone from SD came along and said "Yep we do something comparable and just as cool , just as rich and just as expressive as the fralin blues", then i would probably buy them then and there. I just dont know what model would do that because i have not tried them all.