Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

M

MusicAng3l

New member
Hi guys,

I´m planing to buy a Chapman Ml3 Pro modern, because i love modern Tele´s and she feel´s great, but the Pickups are a little bit too much of everything for me. She only sounds good when down tuned.

So my Question is:
Which Pickup´s can you recommend for a all Mahagoni humbucker tele with a carved top (no maple!), Mahagony neck and ebony fretboard? 24 frets I believe the Neck is a Set neck or Neck through definitely no Bolt on.

I mostly play something between Bluesrock and 80s Hair metal... But i need good clean/split sounds too. With the band we play some Funk(ish) intros in the songs, so they need to sound good.

The Amp doesn´t matter because i play a Line6 Helix.


What else can I say..
I have a Ibanez AZ with the Hyperion Pickups which are like the Pegasus/Sentinent set. In the Music that i play, they work great with the AZ but i want something differnt in the Tele.
From the Sounds on Youtube, i like the Custom 5, the SH14, Pearly Gates, Alnico 2 Pro... JB a little bit.
But i dont know which works the best in this Guitar.

Greetings
 
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Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

The guitar will vary of course, but I've always liked JB's in solid mahogany. custom 5's get a lot of love, but they sounded too scooped for me in my PRS Standard back in the day.

Neck PG or 59 would be great, a PG set might be nice too, but lower output than the others you've mentioned.
Alnico 2 pro may be too much mids.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

@Big Mike Blues Are the Custom 5´s and the JB´s good for Bluesrock stuff and how are the Cleans/splits?

The Difference between the two is that the Custom 5 has a tighter Low end but is more scooped than the JB?
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Welcome to the forum!

To suggest something that corrects any issues with the guitar, we'd need to know what those are. Too bright? Too loud? The pickups you mentioned are all over the map in EQ and output. And while an all-mahogany guitar might suggest a particular EQ, you don't have the guitar yet so it is difficult to say what the issues of the guitar might be.
As with any guitar, I suggest living with the stock pickups for a few weeks at least to figure out where the guitar is, and where you might want it to be.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

If you have a Helix, then I would wait and match an amp/effect to suit the guitar, something low gain, before spending on new pickups.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Thanks @Mincer! =)

I know i have that guitar yet, but i want to Buy the Pickups at the same day. The few ones which i tested are too lifeless for me in the Clean sound and too thin in the Gain at Standard tuning.. Its better when its get´s dropped tuned.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

I like the PATB-1b better than the Custom 5. But a lot of people can't get over the looks, and it is a hair larger/squarer corners than usual, so tight pickup routes can require a bit of filing. Has singing harmonics somewhat like JB, but without the upper mid spike. Rhythm sounds are more like a Custom 5, but higher output without losing the smooth high end.

Perpetual Burn/Sentient, maybe? Pegasus/Perpetual Burn are like underwound JBs as I understand it. More open, less upper mid focus, and tighter lower mids. More actual high end, rather than upper mid bump.

Another option might be a split or parallel mode on the humbuckers, to give you thinner tones. Or PRS-style switching (not necessarily in this order), where you have Bridge humbucker, Bridge & Neck split to outer coils, Bridge & Neck humbuckers together, Bridge & Neck split to inner coils, and Neck humbucker. The splits are great for tele/strat-ish sounds.

JB/Jazz is a standard in teles, maple, alder & mahogany guitars. If the guitar is really mid-focused, the JB may be too much. '59/Custom Hybrid might a nice option, especially if it needs a bit brighter a pickup than a JB.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

The Pegasus/Sentient set is basically the Hyperion Set which I have in my AZ. I like these but I want something different.

I want to do something like the Suhr/Prs wiring.

How is the Sound of the 59/Custom Hybrid compared to the others?
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

So basically this guitar should be very similar to an SG, sound-wise. Is it 25 inch scale? I feel like Chappers probably likes short scale, so maybe it's not. I'll just assume it's SG-like and go from there. I tried 4-5 sets in my SG, and I liked Whole Lotta Humbuckers best. 59s were pretty good, and Seths were decent. The stock 57 classics were hot garbage compared to the others I tried. If the WLHs aren't hot enough for your needs then I'd vote 59n & 59/Custom hybrid bridge for a little extra kick.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

It has a normal Strat/Tele Style scale.

Can the 59/Custom or the Whole lotta be Metalized ala 80's?
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

I play everything from weird jazzy stuff to blues to modern metal. The HFS/Vintage Bass set in two of my PRS guitars covers all those, and splits very well.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

I have an EMG 60 bridge in my Godin Exit 22 with mahogany body (EMG S in neck and middle) but bolted maple neck/fretboard. I can play everything with that set, from blues to '80s hard rock no problem, the clean is also really good on neck/middle/bridge and the set is very well balanced tone/volume wise. This is my go-to guitar for the kind of music you are playing. You just need an humbucker/single-coil adapter for the neck.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Sooo... After some research and YouTube videos. I'm torn between the 59/Custom Hybrid, Custom 5 or Custom.

In the neck, I think I go with with the 59 or jazz because the sentient is basically the Hyperion neck.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

I'd go 59 over jazz...but that's my take.
The Custom Hybrid or regular custom would be fantastic. If you go C5 to try it, if you don't like it you can always swap magnet to make it a Custom later. (Switch the A5 to ceramic).
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

MusicAng3l said:
Sooo... After some research and YouTube videos. I'm torn between the 59/Custom Hybrid, Custom 5 or Custom.

In the neck, I think I go with with the 59 or jazz because the sentient is basically the Hyperion neck.
Click to expand...

Well, the Custom 5 is the most scooped of the 3. The Custom, to me, seems like the most compressed, while the Hybrid has some mids and is the least compressed feeling/sounding.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Thanks for your Answers.
@Mincer can you describe how they compare to a Pegasus which I Know?
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Hmm, I only have limited exposure to the Pegasus, which is more modern sounding to me. The Pegasus, however, sounds better to me at more gain ranges, where the Custom 5 & Custom are pretty much exclusively pickups you'd want to use with at least some distortion.
 
Re: Pickups for all Mahagony Humbucker tele?

Last night, I played a little bit with my AZ and the Hyperion / Pegasus/sentient set. What I want from the Pickups in the new guitar is that they sound a little bit more Vintage. Output could be the same or less than the Pegasus.
I like the smooth Highs from the Pegasus and Sentinet, but I want a little less, I found the Pegasus a little bit bright.

I want that the Bass is tight enough for Palm muting stuff. Not slayer type of palm mutes, the Palm mutes are like Mötley Crüe.

My Playing is between ZZ Top, AC/DC, Clutch and Mötley Crüe, Poison, Dokken.


In my Helix I play mostly the Friedman Be 100 which is basically a hot rodded Jcm800.

I really can't decide between the Pickups. I think the Custom 5 is too scooped which heared in the Youtube comparisons.

Is there a Pickup for that what I'm searching for?

The Youtube Demo's of the Saturday night special's are awesome, but I think they are too flubby for that Palm muting stuff?
 
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