Pickups for a Squier Esprit

[Mojoe01]

Hey guys, I picked up a Squier Esprit about a year and a half ago to have as a backup to my Les Paul, and also to use as an experimental guitar to practice refinishing, etc. I've stripped it down, repainted it, and am now ready to start reassembling it from the ground up. I'm not sure which pickups would work best with this kind of guitar, however. The guitar is a chambered mahogany body, as opposed to the LP's solid mahogany with maple cap and I'm not sure how that will change the tone. I know the maple cap brightens things up, but doesn't chambering also add to the treble? I'm looking for a smooth clean tone, something that would start with a Beatles kind of tone at the clean end (something that sounds good with just the slightest amount of dirt, think "I Want You (She's So Heavy)") and really won't need to get any gainier than some ZZ Top crunch. I was originally thinking an APH-2 in the neck and either a '59 or Pearly Gates in the bridge (the obvious choice for a Billy Gibbons tone), but I don't know how these will sound in this kind of body. What recommendations would you guys have for a late 60's style clean/crunch in this kind of body?

 

[Mojoe01]

Re: Pickups for a Squier Esprit

I guess I should rephrase this a bit: my real question is how the chambered body affects the tone of the wood, followed by the question of whether I should shoot for alnico II or alnico V magnets with it.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickups for a Squier Esprit

The chambering will definately affect the tone, if done properly. It'll emphasize the high mids and make the top end sweeter.

For the tones you described, I'd step away from PAF type pickups and look into TV Jones' offerings. A TV'tron in the neck and a TV'tron Plus for the bridge would work very well for you. It'll make your guitar sound Gretschy, but hey, a Gretsch worked for Harrison and it's working for the Rev nowadays.

 

[Mojoe01]

Re: Pickups for a Squier Esprit

Yeah, I've heard that the way it's chambered definitely factors a lot into the tone. Given the fact that this is a Squier, I'm going to assume it isn't exactly a state of the art chambering job.
That's not a bad idea about the 'tron pickups, I hadn't even considered those. Are there any complications that come along with wiring a humbucker like that? I only have experience with PAF style.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickups for a Squier Esprit

i wired mine up 50's style in my Epi Sheraton. Pretty much like you'd wire a PAF.