Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

[ThereItGoes]

Hi, this is my first post so I'll quickly introduce myself; I'm basically a 18 year old french guy who loves alternative rock and metal.

I play on a Fender Custom Telecaster FMT HH (http://www.thomann.de/fr/fender_custom_telecaster_fmt_hh_crt.htm) through a Vox VT40+ (http://www.thomann.de/fr/vox_vt40.htm). My guitar has a mahogany body with a curved flamed maple top , a rosewood fretboard and a 25.5" set mahogany neck. It is thin and light.

My problem is that even though I like the way it looks I'm a bit disapointed with the sound of the guitar, so I was thinking about changing the bridge pickup (that means I didn't sleep well for over 2 weeks because I can't decide).
Currently it has a 59 in the neck and a Pearly Gates (A2 magnet) in the bridge and I'm not happy with it, I found it too thin, too shrill, too bright (its killing my ears when I play), not thick enough.

I listen mostly to rock like Billy Talent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNhPb_BPfLA), Bloody Mammals (http://bloodymammals.bandcamp.com/track/this-neighbourhood-is-cursed), Code Orange Kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpVa-x7YndY), Birds In Row (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ZQoVFm3lc), The Killing Tree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw3MwCWeOQQ), The Boring (http://theboring.bandcamp.com/track/their-reign) and Rise Against (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIP4Q_L5iCM). :headbang:

What I want is a pickup with a bigger output that will tame the shrillness of the guitar and add thickness, basically I want to get close to the sound of RISE AGAINST (Heavens Knows, Paper Wings, Prayer of the refugee, Dead Ringer), and if possible being able to play the bands I've listed before (but major tone seeked is rise against).

I've already been looking for some pickup that I could put in:
- SH4 JB -> Some people put this pup in this guitar but I've never heard it for the stuff I play, I know the guitarist of Rise Against use it but he plays a LP so maybe it won't do it for me. It seems to be a bright pickup so...
- SH5 Custom -> seems to have a good agressive sound but ceramic might be too shrill
- SH6 Distortion -> Basically a JB with ceramic so it might be WAY too bright
- SH14 Custom 5 -> Seems like a good one but It might be too bright.
- SH11 Custom Custom -> Seems to be good to tame a bright guitar (A2 magnet) but It also seems to have no bass, would it be aggressive enough for the stuff I play ?
- SH15 Alternative 8 -> don't know **** about it
- SH8 Invader -> Like the sh11, seems to be good to tame a bright guitar but I don't much about it.
- SH16 59/Custom Hybrid -> Don't know much about this one either.
I'm not familiar with Dimarzios...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsxi9nZf6ks&list=UUb02R51tRIlWfKvqcx1bqTQ&index=3
Same guitar, rise against song, but I think it isn't thick enough and with a lot of EQ tweak mine sound more shrill and even less thick. :/

So can someone give me an advise to help me choose a good pickup for this guitar ? Or should I look for another amp ? Do more EQ ?
Also does someone has an advise for a little ?5w? Tube Amp, to play in my room, with a high gain marshall jcm 900 kinda tone ?

Thank you for reading this huge text

 

[Dahla]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

I have a mahogany tele too (the telebration model) and I put a JB in there with a 250k pot. It's perfect! It's THE rock sound IMO.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Welcome to the forum.

Reexamine the specifications of your guitar. The bridge/Treble pickup is a Pearly Gates Plus. This design is specially made by Seymour Duncan for Fender. The coil winding is "hotter" than a regular production Pearly Gates and the bar magnet is Alnico V.

An electric guitar assembled from the materials that went into your Fender should not sound particularly shrill. I find myself wondering two things:
1) What string gauges are you using.
2) Have you tried your guitar through an all-valve amplifier at gig volume?

In short, I am suggesting that a digital modelling amplifier, operated at bedroom sound pressure level, cannot possibly do justice to your guitar.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

I have a mahogany tele too (the telebration model) and I put a JB in there with a 250k pot. It's perfect! It's THE rock sound IMO.

I too have a custom made mahogany tele with humbuckers and today I put a Antiquity JB in it and it f-ing rocks !

 

[DreX]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

I have three of those FMT HH Teles, it's my favorite HH solid body form factor. I'm going to put P-Rails w/ triple shots in one as soon as I find time, hopefully tonight. An issue I found with all three is an absurdly tall nut. Make sure the height of the but on your guitar isn't ridiculous. If putting a capo on the first fret makes the guitar suddenly a lot more playable, the nut is probably too high. Once the nut is set right, with the flat neck radius and Tele-like weighting, it's a very good feeling guitar.

For as much as I like these guitars, the thin, mahogany body has been a challenge acoustically. My best luck has been standard Pearly Gates, bridge and neck. It gives it a clean, clear, yet ballsy tone that seems to work well for nearly everything, so I'd recommend that, even for high gain applications. The '59 it came with, as did your guitar, was a bit on the bright sound, but had a beautiful tone anyway. Another has DM Air Norton's, too hot and dark, and the high gain tone is boring as hell, but makes the guitar sound sort of hollow body when clean. The third guitar, which is about to receive P Rails, has DM EJ Customs, which I believe would sound killer in a Semi Hollow body, as I feel the lean heavily on the acoustic attributes of whatever guitar they're in, are too bright for the FMT HH.

In summary I think you have to go medium output of one sort or another with this guitar, and rely more on the pickup to do the talking. There's not enough je ne sais quoi to the body tone to support a more extreme pickup. I haven't tried a lot of humbuckers in general, though, so then best I can advise is to go medium output.

 

[chadd]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

In your video, it's really hard to hear your guitar apart from the track, but what I hear doesn't really sound all that far out of line. You should easily be able to compensate for your tone being a little bright by adjusting the presets on your amp. While the VT40 isn't my favorite amp, some of the youtube videos make it appear reasonably versatile for an amp of that type. Before changing anything on the guitar, I would look into editing the presets on the amp to get you closer to the tone you want. A 250k volume pot would darken up your tone across the board and is probably the first thing to swap out.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Like others have said, I can't separate in my head the sound of your guitar from the sound of the song, so that complicates things a bit.

That out of the way I also have absolutely no experience in the type of music you play. So, my advice is like a blind man recommending a GPS service... Theoretically there's some ancillary differentiation but it kind of misses the mark.

So, being completely ignorant of anything that might be relevant to your question let me recommend the jb8. A8 is like having a boost/compressor on constantly, and the wind is like playing with an always-on solo eq. The A8 also has an ultra-tight, ceramic sounding low end. If you don't like upper mids you'll hate it but if you want an almost "plays itself" kind of output then A8 is worth considering.

 

[ThereItGoes]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Thank for the replies !
Sorry I was sure it was a regular pearly gates ^^" my bad
So I should try a JB with 250k pots or swap pearly gates plus magnet to an A2, or try a 250k pots on my PGP ? ... Or change my amp xD (still looking for a good one)

Any other suggestions ?

PS : I use ernie balls regular slinky 10-46

 

[ThereItGoes]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Also (before i go to school) how do I know what kind of pots I have currently in my guitar (250k or 500k)? And is it hard to change them (I don't have a soldering iron) ?

Thanks.

 

[chadd]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

You should be able to read some of the markings on the back of the pot and that will help you figure out what they are. I couldn't even find that info on the Fender website. Without a soldering iron, you can't change the pots or pickups. The easiest solution would probably be an EQ pedal, in combination with setting your amp up differently. If I were making the changes myself, I would try the 250k pot first, then change the pickup if that didn't work well enough.

 

[ThereItGoes]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Yeah I think I'm gonna try a 250k (or 300k ?) pot then change for a JB if it doesn't work well enough.
Thank for the replies !

If someone have another suggestion

 

[ThereItGoes]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

SOOOOOOO I still haven't decide for a new pickup but it's probably gonna be a JB or a custom sh-5 'cause i've been doing some adjustment on my pearly gates height and pole pieces height and it really tame A LOT of the shrill sounding highs I was complaining about so I just need more power now, I think a JB or the sh5 will both do the job pretty good.

 

[Dahla]

Re: Need pickup advise for Custom Telecaster FMT HH

Or Seymour Duncan's pickup booster pedal.