Question about STL-3T - tapped Tele Quarter Pound Bridge

[ToneFiddler]

Ok thanks, i will try my luck

 

[ToneFiddler]

Slight change of plans: Went with the regular STL-3 (No Tab), because it's more readily available.
Installed it today and so far i really like it
It's got that growl i was hoping for. had a stock fender, STL-1 Vintage '54 and ST-52 fiveTwo in there before.
they all get that nasty upper mid heavy sound if i turn up the gain which really bothers me while playing. keeps me fighting the guitar. They're all good 'til low gain crunch levels. I don't think it's the brightness that bothers me with them. It's just a high mid heavy sound with a lot of brightness and no balls? turning on the Tone knob doesn't do it for me either.
Now the quarter pound (i guess) really shifts a lot of those mids downwards which i seem to like. The added low end also helps to make it sound bigger.
Still there is some tele in there. if you lower the bridge some more you get more of it.

i think i am always afraid of these higher output PUs because my experience with Humbuckers i don'T tend to like those hotter thicker/fatter Pickups, and of course the misbalance between tele neck and bridge just got worse, but that's another story.

So far i really like it. time will tell...

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, the higher output single coils are always a compromise to me. One sound gets better then it tanks the other sound. You just have to decide what is more important. High output pickups (singles or humbuckers) aren't versatile, but they do one thing really well.

 

[ToneFiddler]

so far it's not really a compromise sound wise, other than the output difference between neck and bridge.
I use 500k pots and it's bright enough. I don't really care what it sounds like clean. i would use the neck for that.
For vintage sounds i have another tele...

just have to get used to the look of those strange big pole pieces...
i am already used to the look of rails.

i was really afraid of that 17k wind. but i would say it's less compressed than the duncan custom wind or Pegasus.
for now nothings bothering me, so i can concentrated on playing and writing stuff

 

[ItsaBass]

so far it's not really a compromise sound wise, other than the output difference between neck and bridge.
I use 500k pots and it's bright enough. I don't really care what it sounds like clean. i would use the neck for that.
For vintage sounds i have another tele...

just have to get used to the look of those strange big pole pieces...
i am already used to the look of rails.

i was really afraid of that 17k wind. but i would say it's less compressed than the duncan custom wind or Pegasus.
for now nothings bothering me, so i can concentrated on playing and writing stuff

You have to keep in mind that only when the same wire has been used on both pickups can DCR be used to directly compare how much wire length is inside of each. If the Tele 1/4 Lb. uses thinner wire than the Strat 1/4 Lb., then even if they did have the same exact number of turns, the Tele would have more resistance.

Resistance in and of itself does have an affect on tone, but not an a major way like most people view it. It's more of a flavoring than the actual meat and potatoes of a pickup's tone. The inductance number is a better spec to look at, as it gives you an idea of the number of turns on the coil combined with the strength of the magnet...but very few makers publish that info. So we're usually stuck with knowing DCR alone, and sometimes the magnet type, which isn't that helpful without knowing the wire used...which usually isn't published...and magnets of one type are not all made equally.

The information I would most like to have about every pickup is the number of winds and the actual measured strength of the magnets. But publishing that is giving away 90 percent of your invention.

Bottom line, the specs we can get our hands on only tell us so much. In the end, we have to try a pickup to "know" what it sounds like.

 

[ToneFiddler]

You have to keep in mind that only when the same wire has been used on both pickups can DCR be used to directly compare how much wire length is inside of each. If the Tele 1/4 Lb. uses thinner wire than the Strat 1/4 Lb., then even if they did have the same exact number of turns, the Tele would have more resistance.

yes i know,

Resistance in and of itself does have an affect on tone, but not an a major way like most people view it. It's more of a flavoring than the actual meat and potatoes of a pickup's tone.

yes i read that AWG 43 and AWG 44 with the same turncount sound different, by how much i have no clue, but that'S when you raise doubt's easily

The inductance number is a better spec to look at, as it gives you an idea of the number of turns on the coil combined with the strength of the magnet...but very few makers publish that info. So we're usually stuck with knowing DCR alone, and sometimes the magnet type, which isn't that helpful without knowing the wire used...which usually isn't published...and magnets of one type are not all made equally.

The information I would most like to have about every pickup is the number of winds and the actual measured strength of the magnets. But publishing that is giving away 90 percent of your invention.

Bottom line, the specs we can get our hands on only tell us so much. In the end, we have to try a pickup to "know" what it sounds like.

Yes, i am glad that i didn't let the specs and strange look ruin this purchase for me and went out to buy it and actually try it. never really considered this PU. also read some not too pleasant reviews (muddy etc.)
The duncan soundclips really helped. it really sounds bold and harsh in those but compared to the clips of the pickups i know, it went in the right direction, not the overly middy smooth sound from the lil 59, which i was not a fan of or the rather (to my ears) thin/narrow/warm sounding '54 dirty clips.

 

[ToneFiddler]

...and the quarter pound is out againo
it was the right direction but i think it overshoot my goal.
there is still some things i really like about it, but in the end it was too much compression and the mids are a bit too congested which turns me off in the long run.
i think i like some compression, but this was too much for me.
i'll give it another chance in a brighter and colder sounding tele, if one of my builds will turn out that way, so i won't sell it right away.

 

[elelpe]

...and the quarter pound is out againo
it was the right direction but i think it overshoot my goal.

Sounds familiar. I did have similar goal as yours. Went with QP and ended up with Pre B-1. Still has it and won't get rid of it.

 

[ToneFiddler]

just checked the product page of the pre b1.

seems similiar to the duncan hot for tele.

 

[elelpe]

They're similar in term of having higher output than ordinary Tele pickup. But Pre B-1 has more low end while Hot for Tele has more high end.

 

[PFDarkside]

Reading the description, is the Pre-B1 kind of what a “Custom for Tele” might be?

 

[ToneFiddler]

i fear those pickups will be too mid heavy and compressed for my liking.
the BKP bareknuckle piledriver has less DCR and probably the same wire gauge and that one is not my cup of tea also.
i think i will like the meat and balls the higher wind gives, but normally this comes with the forward/thick mids...

 

[Artie]

Where are you guys finding the "Pre B1" info? I've never heard of that, and can't seem to find the page.

 

[ToneFiddler]

it's a dimarzio

 

[jeremy]

14k, a5 rods, probably #43 wire. cool pup though i havent heard one in a while

 

[ToneFiddler]

because i liked what the thicker rods of the QP did, but felt is was a lil bit too congested, i went with a super paul bunyan with 2 taps.
read some good stuff about the paul bunyan on here.
now i have the maximal hotness i want, but can dial it one or 2 steps back if i like (to normal Paul Bunyan level and 8K).

i am sure the SD custom shop could have fixed me up with something similiar, but duncan custom shop stuff is a lil steep here in Europe and easily a half year waiting time.


finally i found a tele pickup that holds up for heavier stuff!

for vintage/classic stuff, my Jerry donahue is still going strong

 

[jeremy]

so how are you wiring up all the taps?

 

[ToneFiddler]

rotary switch with 3 positions (and 4 poles).
i also use one pole for different highpass/series caps for the neck. from no cap, 10n and 6.8n. those values are not final yet, though.