Just when your mind's made up,,,, SD vs. Rio Grande,,or,,,?

[zozoe29]

,,,some poster comes along and rocks the boat (and THANK YOU!!),,, and although I know the sky's the limit & the choices unlimited, I was tipped off to look into Rio Grande pups, in particular, either a full set of Tallboy single coils, or either a Tallboy HB or a Muy Grande HB for the bridge. With the intention of having a push/pull to split the coils for either 1 or both HB coils on for the #2 position, which HB would a better blend with the middle Tallboy? Although I seek as vintage of a sound as possible, I can live with an 'ever so slightly' hotter output,, but not too much so as to sacrifice the vintage sound!!

FWIW, my original sound-search had led me to most likely a set of SD Surfers, with either the Custom Surfer or the Texas Hot in the bridge. I wasn't really able to settle on a suitable split-able SD HB, espec. w/o being able to hear all this stuff to know what would yield the best #2 sound.

Full set of Tallboys,,,or Halfbreed singles,?? or maybe even a Halfbreed SC & 2 Tallyboy's?? Ya see, I'm all over the place~~~ uggh

So, rock my boat some more, and suggestions are always welcome, but at this similar price range!!
Thanks!!
z

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Just when your mind's made up,,,, SD vs. Rio Grande,,or,,,?

The tall boys are Rios take on a 50s strat single... they are glassy and very chimey but i would say they are a bit darker than the surfers or texas hots. As a humbucker the tallboy sounds more like the SH2 jazz but its definitely a distant cousin. They are very open and uncompressed with a bright top end they have a touch of growl and mix texture to them. The bass is firm but not large.

The muy grande is a more modern take on a single. Its glassy but it doesnt have the same chime as a 50's strat single. The mids are muscular and push hard. If you dig in the pickup gets fat. As a humbucker its about as loud as a hot PAF (but doesnt sound like one in a good way) it chunks up nicely and gets pretty rude. They do make a half breed which is a model in between these 2 It sounds like your classic idea of a overwound vintage single coil.

If it was me I would go with my favorite vintage singles in the neck and mid... As much as I really dig the sound of Rios the Surfers or Texas hots are excellent pickups and i would have no qualms mixing them. I would use the surfers with a half breed bridge and then wire it up for your splits. This will give you some kick and grind without over powering your singles. They will balance perfectly.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Just when your mind's made up,,,, SD vs. Rio Grande,,or,,,?

^ good post with great descriptions.