A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

[O)))]

I'm thinking about picking up a MIM tele from a local shop. I play in Dropped A with a Big Muff, so I need a pickup that can retain clarity while at the same time not sounding too thin.

I use a Duncan Custom in my strat, and it works great for that kind of thing. So, I need a similar sounding pickup that will fit a tele.

Perhaps the Quarter pound lead is the way to go?

 

[B2D]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

That pickup sounds like it'd be a good place to start. I plugged the info you gave as best I could into the Tone Wizard and it did suggest a QP lead for the bridge.

If you like your Custom, I'd say use it in the Tele but I realize that routing out your guitar for a brudge humbucker and changing the bridge plate is probably going to be more of an operation than you'd want to do right now.

Go for the QP Lead. If it doesn't work out, there's always Duncan's exchange policy.

Welcome to the board, btw. Nice screen name. Shall I call you "Mr. O" or just "Sunn."

 

[O)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Welcome to the board, btw. Nice screen name. Shall I call you "Mr. O" or just "Sunn."

Call me O))), since we're just typing here. It's verbal communication that would be tricky. :scratchch

 

[astrozombie]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

The hot rails has always done it for me. it can get dark though.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

I tune my Esquire to D and the Hot Tapped is plenty clear for me when driven.

 

[sosomething]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

I'd stick with a true single coil tele-style pickup, whichever way you go. Teles love massive fuzz and thunder. I don't know why, but they do.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

I'm thinking about picking up a MIM tele from a local shop. I play in Dropped A with a Big Muff, so I need a pickup that can retain clarity while at the same time not sounding too thin.

I use a Duncan Custom in my strat, and it works great for that kind of thing. So, I need a similar sounding pickup that will fit a tele.

Perhaps the Quarter pound lead is the way to go?

hahaha . The Avatar, SunnO)))..good one!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Drop "A"! really! Do you use heavy strings? That would help maintain some tension and give you a bit more punch and clarity.
Maybe even a baritone guitar would be a good option due to the long scale.
Anyway in a stock tele - a qp is plenty fat and enough top to cut- but noisy for heavy distortion. I would recommend the rails.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Well, this is just weird. I have a tele QP and I have been known to drop A once in a while, works just fine. It's one of my favorite pickups, the PITA is getting a neck pickup that mates well enough.

 

[O)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Drop "A"! really! Do you use heavy strings?

Oh, yes. .13-.70s. The .70 is an actual bass string.

The low A is great for doing drone power chords, but I have to stick to the lighter, higher-pitched strings for anything more complicated. Otherwise it sounds lifeless

So, using this tuning and setup, I can go from a Sunn O))) type tone to an early Sabbath type tone, just by using different strings , and maybe turning a knob or two on the muff.

 

[sosomething]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

.70 is incredibly heavy even for a low A.

I think you could get comparable "normal tuning" tension from a .58 or .60.

But... if you're playing stuff like Sunn O))), then I suppose a specialized setup like that would work. Anything more strenuous - even like Earth or Ufomammut - would probably benefit from something a little more versatile...

 

[B2D]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Oh, yes. .13-.70s. The .70 is an actual bass string.

The low A is great for doing drone power chords, but I have to stick to the lighter, higher-pitched strings for anything more complicated. Otherwise it sounds lifeless

So, using this tuning and setup, I can go from a Sunn O))) type tone to an early Sabbath type tone, just by using different strings , and maybe turning a knob or two on the muff.

I'll be honest... from the given screen name and the description style I thought for a very brief moment you might actually be one of the guys from Sunn O))) who was outfitting a Tele.

 

[O)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

.70 is incredibly heavy even for a low A.

I think you could get comparable "normal tuning" tension from a .58 or .60.

Actually, that .70 is a bit smaller than what basses usually use for the same A, and they use a longer scale. It has a normal amount of tension. I was surprised it wasn't too loose!

I'll be honest... from the given screen name and the description style I thought for a very brief moment you might actually be one of the guys from Sunn O))) who was outfitting a Tele.

If I had their money, I 'd just buy one of every pickup SD makes and have my roadie test them out an a custom shop tele.

I actually ended up putting the MIM tele on layaway. I was trying to decide on that or making a Frankenstein Jazzmaster, and the tele won.

It's a great guitar. One thing one has to look out for on bolt-necks is a loose neck pocket. This thing is airtight. Another thing I like about it is the tone control makes a very noticeable difference in the level of treble. On a lot of guitars the difference is almost negligible.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

UFOMAMMUT!!!

Yeah dude, .070 is way big, I do a drop from standard C with 13-56 and that's close to being right on my tele, I could stand maybe a .060. Make sure you intonate and adjust your truss rod accordingly.

One more thing about this pickup, with a neck hot rail and a .22 cap with the tone rolled down together sounds very, very, very heavy.

 

[O)))]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

It's set up properly--maybe I just have a preference for tighter bass strings, but it just doesn't feel like there's a great deal of tension. I remember reading an old guitar player magazine; it recommended a .65 for a B, so I thought a .70 made sense for A.

EDIT: I also read in another Guitar Player issue about someone who used a .70 for B. It was some guy In a nu metal band who dressed funny and said he liked pain.

 

[sosomething]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

It's set up properly--maybe I just have a preference for tighter bass strings, but it just doesn't feel like there's a great deal of tension. I remember reading an old guitar player magazine; it recommended a .65 for a B, so I thought a .70 made sense for A.

EDIT: I also read in another Guitar Player issue about someone who used a .70 for B. It was some guy In a nu metal band who dressed funny and said he liked pain.

Hey, if it works, it works.

 

[bluesbend]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

Consider a STL-2.

 

[jeremy]

Re: A good tele pickup for fuzzy, down-tuned stuff?

i use a 54 or 56 with my 11 set in std tuning so i dont think a 70 is that out of line for someone tuned down that low