Fender Esquire GT Pickup

[Leegjones]

I recently acquired a Fender Esquire GT. I like it because it's very light, simple, and easy to play. However, it only has one pickup, a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge position, which I find really harsh and overly bright. I know nothing about pickups, but I'd like to know if it's possible to swap the pickup out with something warmer and mellower, and if so what do you recommend?

Thanks

Lee Jones
Falls Church, VA

 

[deltarider99]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Hey Lee,

I have a similar guitar...the Fender Toronado GT. The stock pickup it came with was an SH-14 Custom 5, which was decent for blues/hard rock, but not aggressive enough for my playing style. I decided to replace that with an SH-5 Duncan Custom, which has great warmth and balance, but still was aggressive enough for my tastes.

The SH-14 may work out for you, if you're looking for something mellower. Check my Soundclick page for clips of both in the Toronado (SH-5 Bridge and SH-14 Bridge). The Pearly Gates may work as well.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=653085

 

[Leegjones]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Deltarider:

Thanks. I listened to your clips, and they're quite good. But being an old fart, I play a much cleaner sound, so I'm looking for something with less of an edge. But I appreciate the lead. I'll check out the pickups you suggested further to see if they can produce a less aggressive sound through an undistorted amp.

LGJ

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

I think the Seth Lover is about as warm as you can get in the bridge. It's nowhere near the output level of the Invader, which should help if you find the Invader is pushing the amp too hard. To be fair I don't think you find the Invader too bright, its probably just pushing the amp too hard and you're hearing more distortion on the high end than you want. Check out the sound clips on the main site, they've worked well for me in the past.

 

[Artie]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Hey Lee; This is a little out of left field, but I just acquired an Invader myself, recently. I'm definitely not a metal player at all. What I found is that the Invader takes on a whole new personality if wired in parallel or split. Cleans up beautifully. You might want to try that before springing for something new. Parallel is real simple if you are doing it semi-permanently, rather than running it to a switch.

Just do green, white and bare to ground - red and black to hot.

Just a thought.

 

[Leegjones]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Artie:

Thanks, that sounds a lot more affordable than a new pickup, so I'll give it a try.

I've been poking around and see that the SH-11 Custom Custom is also supposed to be warm, etc.

Anyone able to give an A/B on SH-11 Custom and the SH-8 Invader?

LGJ

 

[aloha]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

I would try Artie's suggestion on this one. Parallel tends to sound a lot different than normal. It will only take you a couple of minutes with an iron.

Z

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

I wouldn't personally recommend the Custom Custom. I find it has a ton of mids, and sounds nice under higher gain, but the lack of bass makes it sound thin and weak while clean. Although it has a smooth high end, it definitely lacks bass, which can also make it sound bright.

 

[Leegjones]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Good to know. Thanks.

LGJ

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Fender Esquire GT Pickup

Keep in mind that the guitar I had the Custom Custom in was an SG, which also lacked in bass. Now that I think about it, if your Esquire sounds anything like my Telecaster (lots of bass) it just might work. Again, listen to some of the sound clips on the main site and let us know what you think.

+1 to Artie, you might as well try it in parallel first since you already have that pickup.