QP for tele:

Micah

Micah

New member
Anyone out there have any expirience with the Quarter Pounder model for Tele? What Im finding is that its really a pretty dark sounding pickup and I was hoping to get a little more of a bright edge in the top end so Ive been contemplating taking some turns of wire off of it. Im thinking the 17K wind is over compressing the tone and giving it this darker character. If I had the tap-able (4 conductor version) of this pickup I could use the shorter coil to test this theory out. But my version is the standard 2 conductor. The tapped mode reads 10K according to the SD chart. What Im wondering is if anyone has any expirience with this 4 conductor version and if they could tell me a bit about how the 10K setting affected the tone in comparison to the 17K setting. Im thinking I'll just take turns off and measure it untill I get to the desired DC Resistance reading. I just want to be sure about the DC Resistance to get the tone I want before I start taking them off because once I take the winds off, Im pretty sure I've made a decision I'll have to live with.... :scratchch
 
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Re: QP for tele:

Actually--I just looked @ the sheet again--looks like the tap brings the resistance to 8K-
 
Re: QP for tele:

I've toned down overly hot/muddy pickups by placing a capacitor between the hot lead and the selector switch...this will cut some of the lows (and the overall output) and is a LOT less invasive than removing turns fro a coil. I would suggest a 0.47uf or 0.68uf cap.
 
Re: QP for tele:

glassman said:
I've toned down overly hot/muddy pickups by placing a capacitor between the hot lead and the selector switch...this will cut some of the lows (and the overall output) and is a LOT less invasive than removing turns fro a coil. I would suggest a 0.47uf or 0.68uf cap.
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Really?? Very interesting... Might have to try that.
 
Re: QP for tele:

jeremy said:
try a 500k volume pot
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The thought crossed my mind but I wansnt sure how that would react with a true single could u know? It would definatly let a bit more output through tho and give it a touch more treble. Good Idea-I have one to put in already so I might throw that in tonight.
 
Re: QP for tele:

Anyone out there that has tried the tapped version of the Quarter Pounder?
 
Re: QP for tele:

The QP's are way too dark with 250k pots. They sound better with 500k pots but can be a little too bright. A pot somewhere around 375k would probably be perfect.
 
Re: QP for tele:

idsnowdog said:
The QP's are way too dark with 250k pots. They sound better with 500k pots but can be a little too bright. A pot somewhere around 375k would probably be perfect.
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Awesome! I might just give a 500K a shot because I have one laying around. I dont think Ive ever seen a pot advertised as 375 ohm.... Are we talking about a tolerance fluke here? I think the tolerance for guitar pots are about +/- 100 ohms; that what your talking about? Or can you buy them with that resistance?
 
Re: QP for tele:

I had a set and it was the best rhythm tone you could hope for. The high mids were lacking even through my EL84 powered Dr. Z Maz Jr. I think the 500k might very well fix that problem.

Luke
 
Re: QP for tele:

Luke Duke said:
I had a set and it was the best rhythm tone you could hope for. The high mids were lacking even through my EL84 powered Dr. Z Maz Jr. I think the 500k might very well fix that problem.

Luke
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Sweet--that actually puts it in perspective more than you think since Im playing through an AC30-- Thanks for the add Luke. Did you install the QP's with a 250K or did you do a 500? Did you change the tone pot as well??
 
Re: QP for tele:

I have a tapped set.

1) Use 500K pots, especially if you have an alder tele. In a swamp ash tele 500K might be a hair bright, might not. Depends on taste and the slab of wood. I run 500K in my ash tele and it sounds fine.

2) The tapped mode is a touch brighter, a bit less compressed. It's still not going to be as bright as a vintage wind with standard poles. The output might be closer to vintage spec, but the tone is still warmer. That said, with 500K pots I do find myself rolling back the tone knob a hair when using the QP lead in tapped mode.
 
Re: QP for tele:

MikeS said:
I have a tapped set.

1) Use 500K pots, especially if you have an alder tele. In a swamp ash tele 500K might be a hair bright, might not. Depends on taste and the slab of wood. I run 500K in my ash tele and it sounds fine.

2) The tapped mode is a touch brighter, a bit less compressed. It's still not going to be as bright as a vintage wind with standard poles. The output might be closer to vintage spec, but the tone is still warmer. That said, with 500K pots I do find myself rolling back the tone knob a hair when using the QP lead in tapped mode.
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Thanks Mike! Great info! My tele is actually one of the Lite Ash series which were made in Korea (pretty heavy body btw-im not sure where they got lite from!). Its got a Maple/Maple neck on it as well, so its really a pretty bright natured guitar. I really like the acoustic flavor of the guitar actually. So its good to hear that the 500K is best with the Ash as well. I might very well find what Im looking for in the 500K pot-I definatly think its worth checking out before I unwind this pickup! I can definatly work with the tone knob a bit to take out anything I dont need, but Im finding currently that with everything set to balls out, its still not balls-out enough. Thanks again!
 
Re: QP for tele:

A QP isn't balls-out enough? Can't say I've ever had that problem.

The only other mod I'd have for you is to try a fender 4-way switch. If a pair of QPs in series isn't balls-out enough then I wouldn't know what to tell you.
 
Re: QP for tele:

MikeS said:
A QP isn't balls-out enough? Can't say I've ever had that problem.

The only other mod I'd have for you is to try a fender 4-way switch. If a pair of QPs in series isn't balls-out enough then I wouldn't know what to tell you.
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I dont think I should say it isnt balls-out enough, I should probably say that there is that loss of treble response and edge. Thats what ales me about it right now--but the pot change might fix that for me tho. Since its a single coil I automaticaly assumed it was meant for a 250K pot. It took sombody suggesting it on here (Jeremy I believe) before I realized that an increase in top end and a touck more output might fix my issue.

BTW-I love your avatar ;) Cracks me up!
 
Re: QP for tele:

Micah said:
Sweet--that actually puts it in perspective more than you think since Im playing through an AC30-- Thanks for the add Luke. Did you install the QP's with a 250K or did you do a 500? Did you change the tone pot as well??
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I didn't change out any pots actually. My volume was the regular 250K and the tone knob uses the old Delta Tone where there's a detent at the wide open postion that supposedly takes it out of the circuit...but that still gave me the 250K volume, so that takes away some high end still.

Luke
 
Re: QP for tele:

Interesting--Well--I put the 500 K back in and wow! What a difference it made! It had more edge and a bit more output too. I measured the 250K that was in there and it turns out it was a bit on the low side of the tolerance-it was more like 220K.. That definatly wasnt helping anything. The 500K I put in there was about 470K. Anyway--it sounds tons better! Thanks to everyone that suggested it. I still think Im going to order one of Zhang's Paul Bunyan Tele Bridge pickups in a couple of weeks.
 
Re: QP for tele:

I'm so glad you started this thread. I've got a QP on order and it sounds like I need to get a 500k pot!
 
Re: QP for tele:

Good Idea 95strat! I think it made quite a bit of difference. Although, it would be nice if it had stagered poles especially for the D and G strings. To add punch and clarity to those 2 strings that the others seemed to have, but the neck contour scoops out of them.
 
Re: QP for tele:

95strat-did you get your QP in? What did you think and did you use the 500K?
 
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