Re: Clean Sounds Of TEXAS HOTS,,,can't find any clips,,,
I have Texas Hot Antiquitys in a couple of my ash-bodied G&L Legacys, and I really like this pickup. I don't have any of the Surfers to compare them too.
And so you know, I play in a G/B/K/D cover band doing material from the '50s to current stuff--classic rock, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass...whatever. I use Mesa amps, and probably play with a lot less distortion, less often, than a lot of guys. My Number One is a G&L Legacy, and I also use G&L Comanches, S-500s, Legacy Specials, Les Pauls and 335s. On a four-hour gig, about 70% of my songs will be done with the Legacy. On the G&L guitars, I usually use Fender Super Bullet 9-42 strings.
For the most part, I'm happy with the stock pickups which are either flat-magnet Duncan SSL-2 or the G&L CLF-100s--they spec and sound about the same. The Texas Hots are a change of pace from the stock set, a little darker, a more complex mid-range. They are easy to fall in love with if you want a thicker tone from your Strat. The CLF-100s and SSL-2s are closer to the Surfers--bright, poppy, traditional Strat pickups. BTW, I'm using the TH standard in the neck, RW/RP in the middle and the Custom Bridge.
There are times when I've thought that the TH neck pickup is the best sounding Strat pickup I've ever heard. Rich and full--almost like comparing a P-90 to a Strat pickup. The Custom bridge pickup is powerful, and works really well with the G&L PTB tone controls. And I actually wind up using the middle pickup alone on these guitars much more than I normally do.
As for the in-between positions, well, I LIVE in position 2--the bridge and middle. My favorite Strat tone since the first Eric Clapton solo album. Even though the Antiquitys are darker than my stock pickups, there's still quack--it's just different. Sweeter, smoother--not as much top-end bite.
So if I'm playing Nile Rodgers and Chic, or Buddy Holly, or Clapton--I'm going to stick to the guitars with the stock pickups. If I'm going for an SRV vibe, or just harder rock/blues in general, the Antiquitys work really well.
And one other tidbit about the TH Antiquitys--I've been known to occasionally use Fender Stainless Bullets, and those strings work really well with these pickups. The stainless strings have kind of an upper mid-range bite, and a warm round lower mid as well--they just seem to compliment each other. And it probably won't come as a surprise, but I really like the pure nickel Original Bullets too. I think some pickups have definite string preferences, but these pickups seems to sound great no matter what string I use.
Am I going to replace the pickups on all my Legacys with TH Antiquitys? No. But I do enjoy having them in a couple of my guitars as an option for when I want something different.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
Bill
