I just wanted to give some feedback regarding the change of pickups in my tele. I got a lot of useful info from some previous posts and so here is the payback.
I have a 2007 American deluxe tele, alder body, maple neck, SCN pickups and the s-1 switch. It's a great guitar but since my music tastes tend towards the heavier blues and rock I need a little more punch from the pickups.
I have put a SD Lil'59 in the bridge position and a SD quarter pounder for tele in the neck. I have kept the s-1switching and simply wired the new pickups in the same position as the old SCN's and have the ability to switch between parallel and series wiring. I also put a new tone pot with a push/pull to use as a coil tap on the Lil'59.
The results (and this involved taking the guitar apart three times in a week):
1. The bridge sounded great. It needed to be set quite high to get a warm tone out of it (at least 3/32'' as per SD recommendations).
2. The neck pup was a real problem. Very full and hot but not quite what I was expecting. Muddy is the best way to describe it. Very little treble and even with a massive slant (ie bass side low, treble high) it was difficult to balance the strings. This was more of a problem trying to get a clean tone from it, with distortion the muddiness was partially hidden. It also had so much bass that it was overpowering the bridge in the middle position.
3. I was then faced with the option of putting the original SCN neck pup in or trying something else. I took the cover off the QP (just snip the ground wire, lever the cover off and wrap and install again) and was blown away by the difference. It was even hotter than before but this time there was balance in tone with singing highs and the boominess/muddiness all gone. A bit like a supercharged standard tele neck. (It looks pretty wicked too). The balance between the bridge and the neck was better though it required the lowering of the neck even further than before.
4. The coil tap was a bit of a let-down. The bridge was weak and anemic so I put the original tone pot back in. Rebuild part 3.
5. The S-1 switch produces some real magic now. With the original SCN's in series the tone was very similar to the parallel connection just a little darker. With the covered QP it was unusable since it was too muddy. But with the uncovered QP it rocks. Rich warm with some crisp highs. You can smash aN AC/DC lick easily and with a push of the s-1 switch, shift back to parallel and the sound lightens up and thins out.
The outcome is 4 discernible tones. A warm neck which can do clean, even some good fingerpicking. A mid position that is warm with a a hint of the bridge highs and goes crazy with a push of the s-q switch and finally a bridge with punch and cutting highs but without that crazy treble of the SCN's. All positions (except for the series link) have a slight tele sound but the twang is definitely tamed. A very versatile guitar.
I hope this has been of some value.
I have a 2007 American deluxe tele, alder body, maple neck, SCN pickups and the s-1 switch. It's a great guitar but since my music tastes tend towards the heavier blues and rock I need a little more punch from the pickups.
I have put a SD Lil'59 in the bridge position and a SD quarter pounder for tele in the neck. I have kept the s-1switching and simply wired the new pickups in the same position as the old SCN's and have the ability to switch between parallel and series wiring. I also put a new tone pot with a push/pull to use as a coil tap on the Lil'59.
The results (and this involved taking the guitar apart three times in a week):
1. The bridge sounded great. It needed to be set quite high to get a warm tone out of it (at least 3/32'' as per SD recommendations).
2. The neck pup was a real problem. Very full and hot but not quite what I was expecting. Muddy is the best way to describe it. Very little treble and even with a massive slant (ie bass side low, treble high) it was difficult to balance the strings. This was more of a problem trying to get a clean tone from it, with distortion the muddiness was partially hidden. It also had so much bass that it was overpowering the bridge in the middle position.
3. I was then faced with the option of putting the original SCN neck pup in or trying something else. I took the cover off the QP (just snip the ground wire, lever the cover off and wrap and install again) and was blown away by the difference. It was even hotter than before but this time there was balance in tone with singing highs and the boominess/muddiness all gone. A bit like a supercharged standard tele neck. (It looks pretty wicked too). The balance between the bridge and the neck was better though it required the lowering of the neck even further than before.
4. The coil tap was a bit of a let-down. The bridge was weak and anemic so I put the original tone pot back in. Rebuild part 3.
5. The S-1 switch produces some real magic now. With the original SCN's in series the tone was very similar to the parallel connection just a little darker. With the covered QP it was unusable since it was too muddy. But with the uncovered QP it rocks. Rich warm with some crisp highs. You can smash aN AC/DC lick easily and with a push of the s-1 switch, shift back to parallel and the sound lightens up and thins out.
The outcome is 4 discernible tones. A warm neck which can do clean, even some good fingerpicking. A mid position that is warm with a a hint of the bridge highs and goes crazy with a push of the s-q switch and finally a bridge with punch and cutting highs but without that crazy treble of the SCN's. All positions (except for the series link) have a slight tele sound but the twang is definitely tamed. A very versatile guitar.
I hope this has been of some value.
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