SD Broadcaster...to bright?

[gtrman3]

First time poster:

I have two teles. One has a SD five-two in the bridge with a stock neck PU, the other has a SD Broadcaster in the bridge with a STR-1 neck PU.

I use a Dr Z Stangray.

Without changing amp settings, the first tele (with the 5-2) sounds well balance between bridge and neck pickups. The second tele (with the broadcaster)...the broadcaster is SO bright, I have to cut back on treble (on the amp) to get it to sound decent....but when I do, the neck pickup sounds too muffled. I even changed the wiring to remove the tone control from the neck PU...no change.

I'm two seconds away from selling the Broadcaster PU and getting another 5-2.

Any comments?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

Welcome to the forum.

The short answer is that the Broadcaster style pickup SHOULD be brighter than the Five-Two. In fact, your observation pretty much demonstrates the reason for the existence of these two distinct pickup designs.

I write as a "blackguard" enthusiast. To my ears, a "proper" Telecaster should have the capability to do that "icepick in the forehead" thing. (So much treble that it hurts!) My usual references points for what a T should sound like are Roy Buchanan, James Burton and Keith Richards. Other forum members will probably add to this list with additional opinions.

Assuming that you play through a valve amplifier, try cranking the amp to a fairly high level and then tame things by operating the volume and tone pots to taste. If your T with the Broadcaster PU has a .001uF treble bypass cap on the volume pot, remove it.

 

[Curly]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

the Broadcaster can sound bright in ash bodies, that's part of the nature of Alnico 5, however, it's also wound fairly fat in tone too

the 5/2 sounds balanced because it was made to sound balanced

so yes, if you set up your amp for the 5/2, you'd need to compensate for the Broadcaster

you haven't mentioned your exact tele, or the amp you have, but there are some things you can do

• balance the pickup heights
• adjust the amp, as you mentioned
• experiment with cap values
• use your tone control -- teles require a little more work!

the STR-1 is great with the Broadcaster, but I find I have to crank the tone knob all the way up when I switch to that position to get it to sound right

 

[bluesbend]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

As Funkfingers pointed out, the Broadcaster p'up should sound bright. I just roll the tone knob back on mine to take the sharp edge off when I need to.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

Great to read you Curly!



I agree.

A Broadcaster should be bright and wild!

GTRMAN3, if you cannot live with it, consider a JD, basically Duncan's a2 Broadcaster. It has also #43 wire, and is wound to ~7.80K or so. This is what I have and I love it. More than Duncan's B-Caster, Fralin Blues Special, and some others. The other tele lead I adore is Hamel's STD-B (his a3 Broadcaster version).

B

 

[AniML]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

I recently finished an alder Tele build with a Broadcaster / SM-1 mini with 300K pots and a .022pf cap

It is a great setup that can go from chicken pickin to jazzy to absolute filth and pretty much anything in between.

I now understand why Page so often used Teles in the studio

 

[gtrman3]

Re: SD Broadcaster...to bright?

The tele with the 5-2 is a MIM Nashville tele with a rosewood neck. I don't know what kind of body.

The second is a MIM standard, maple neck. Musicians fiend says it's an alder body.

Both have had their bridges replaces with ash trays, and compensated brass saddles.

As I said, I play a Dr Z Stangary amp. (If you have to classify, put it in a pre top boost AC30 category)

http://www.drzamps.com/stangray.html

For some time now, I had been using the Broadcaster equipped tele with the Stangray. But just yesterday morning, I adjusted the tone controls and used the 5-2 equipped tele. It was fantastic!!! So much so that I put the Broadcaster (pickup) up for sale on the Dr Z forum. sold it within a few hours. Ordered another 5-2 for the second tele. I was thinking I wouldn't want both tele's to have the same pickup...but the tone I had yesterday made me thing otherwise. Different necks, so that will make a little difference.

But I was tired/frustrated at not being able to use the neck pickup on the broadcaster tele. Sounded like I was in a closet.