Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

[Bludave]

Just installed these in my 57RI. Its a vintage white guitar so I put a new Tortise guard and Trem cover on it and the complete set of Texas Hots with Cream knobs and a swith tip. It looks great!!

I plugged into a Marshall 900 50W Combo and a 68 Super Reverb.

The Neck PUP: is exatly what I was after... Very Hendrixie if you will. It nails The wind Cries Mary sound. It does not have that real bright sparkle that many neck pups do. Much more middle out of it.

Middle: RWRP did not seem to cancel as much hum as I had expected, but I am thoroughly happy with the way it sounds. I don't really use the middle PUp by itself much, but I think I will now. IMO the middle PUP always seemed to be to bright. With this is does not have the high end of the previous PUPs I had in this guitar (Fender Tex Mex).

Bridge: When I unwrapped it and read the DC reading written on the paper I thought it was going to be way to hot...... I was wrong it blends perfectly witht the other two. The High end on this PUP is not harsh at all... Very bright but not harsh. It sound reall sweet thru the Fender and just screams thru the Marshall.

Positions 2 and 4: Position 2 nails the "Wonderful tonight type of sound or even the Sultans of Swing. Very Chimey yet not Bright. Position 4 is quite warm sounding and can really cover a lot of ground. Overall I am very pleased with the tones I am getting with this set of PUPS. I have only had about an hour on them so far, but I anticipate they will remain in this guitar for quite some time. I should also mention that this guitar has a RW neck on it. It was changed a while back and it adds to some of the warmth I am getting out of this guitar. I would recommend these PUPs for a nice Bluesy type of tone. Exactly what I was after. Some of the Highs that I was used to are gone, but in a very good Way!

 

[Curly]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Dave,
I'm a little surprised you haven't had a set of Antiquities earlier!

yup, vintage tone, nice and warm and smooth, without the really bright highs, so a very good blues pickup.

I agree - the notch tones are great, and even the mid is fine.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Great review Dave. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. BTW, incidently, I Installed an RW/RP and Custom bridge to give me a full set of Texas Hots this weekend as well. You give me something to compare to.

I haven't had much chance to play mine very much yet. I probably won't get to review them until next week. But, I will say my initial impressions are that custom bridge pup definitley is no wimpy pickup. It has plenty of beef and certainly is not too bright.

Bludave, do you shield your strats with copper foil?

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

I put a Texas Hot neck and Custom bridge in my Hotrodded American Series Texas Special Strat. I kept the stock RWRP middle Texas Spl pickup, and it sounds great with the Ants -- in phase and hum-canceling. I almost pulled the neck pickup out, because it was too weak in the low end, but I finally raised the bass side to about the same height as the treble side and it sounds perfect. I like the neck pickup better than an SSL-1 neck, and I really like the Ant I Custom bridge, even better than a Twangbanger.

 

[Twitch]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Have a picture of that guitar w/ the tortoise pickguard? I love the white/tortoise combos.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Dave,
I'm a little surprised you haven't had a set of Antiquities earlier!

yup, vintage tone, nice and warm and smooth, without the really bright highs, so a very good blues pickup.

I agree - the notch tones are great, and even the mid is fine.

Curly..... you are so right.... I should have had a set of Ants a long time ago. For the most part I am pretty happy with the tone I get. My main guitar is an EC Strat that I bought new in'88 and quite honestly it is one of my best sounding guitars. I have been afraid that I would not like the sound.. so now I know I can get what I want.

G.T. I installed these on a Warmoth Tortoise guard which was shielded but I did not shield the cavity. Prior to me making the switch I had a set of Fender Tex Mex PUPS in it and aside from the minor 60 cycle hum the guitar was dead quiet. What I am slightly concerened with is the RWRP middle did not seem to cancel as much hum as the TEX MEX PUPS did. This is not a problem the amount of hum is minimal and I expected some. Maybe I wired it wrong but I doubt it the guitar smokes now!:fingersx:

 

[Bludave]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Have a picture of that guitar w/ the tortoise pickguard? I love the white/tortoise combos.

Not yet... but I will soon. As you can tell I don't know how to post pics, but I will try!!:crazy:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Just installed these in my 57RI. Its a vintage white guitar so I put a new Tortise guard and Trem cover on it and the complete set of Texas Hots with Cream knobs and a swith tip. It looks great!!

I plugged into a Marshall 900 50W Combo and a 68 Super Reverb.

The Neck PUP: is exatly what I was after... Very Hendrixie if you will. It nails The wind Cries Mary sound. It does not have that real bright sparkle that many neck pups do. Much more middle out of it.

Middle: RWRP did not seem to cancel as much hum as I had expected, but I am thoroughly happy with the way it sounds. I don't really use the middle PUp by itself much, but I think I will now. IMO the middle PUP always seemed to be to bright. With this is does not have the high end of the previous PUPs I had in this guitar (Fender Tex Mex).

Bridge: When I unwrapped it and read the DC reading written on the paper I thought it was going to be way to hot...... I was wrong it blends perfectly witht the other two. The High end on this PUP is not harsh at all... Very bright but not harsh. It sound reall sweet thru the Fender and just screams thru the Marshall.

Positions 2 and 4: Position 2 nails the "Wonderful tonight type of sound or even the Sultans of Swing. Very Chimey yet not Bright. Position 4 is quite warm sounding and can really cover a lot of ground. Overall I am very pleased with the tones I am getting with this set of PUPS. I have only had about an hour on them so far, but I anticipate they will remain in this guitar for quite some time. I should also mention that this guitar has a RW neck on it. It was changed a while back and it adds to some of the warmth I am getting out of this guitar. I would recommend these PUPs for a nice Bluesy type of tone. Exactly what I was after. Some of the Highs that I was used to are gone, but in a very good Way!

I have a complete set in my 1999 American Deluxe strat and they are perfect...This is a brighter guitar and the Texas Hots worked out perfectly in that guitar....The Antiquity Single coils are excellent pickups...I use the Surfers also..

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Curly..... you are so right.... I should have had a set of Ants a long time ago. For the most part I am pretty happy with the tone I get. My main guitar is an EC Strat that I bought new in'88 and quite honestly it is one of my best sounding guitars. I have been afraid that I would not like the sound.. so now I know I can get what I want.

G.T. I installed these on a Warmoth Tortoise guard which was shielded but I did not shield the cavity. Prior to me making the switch I had a set of Fender Tex Mex PUPS in it and aside from the minor 60 cycle hum the guitar was dead quiet. What I am slightly concerened with is the RWRP middle did not seem to cancel as much hum as the TEX MEX PUPS did. This is not a problem the amount of hum is minimal and I expected some. Maybe I wired it wrong but I doubt it the guitar smokes now!:fingersx:

Bludave, the reason I asked about the shielding is I didn't have it on my JV strat but used the copper foil when I installed these pickups. Now, my guitar is much quieter than before, but it's also much darker sounding. My guitar was kinda on the dark side already with the A5 Tex Mex's. I say that it's my guitar that is sounding really dark, but I'm trying to determine if it's the guitar or the amp. When I use my DS-1 and have the tone control dimed, the brightness of my strat is perfect. Just the way I like it. And that's with the treble and presence knobs both dimed.

I've heard that shield can temper the highs, but how much I'm not sure. My Reverend Hellhound must simply be a dark amp. Overall, I am really digging these new Texas Hot pups.

 

[Curly]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

Now, my guitar is much quieter than before, but it's also much darker sounding.

I quit shielding my guitars for that reason - cuts highs

 

[Bludave]

Re: Texas Hots. Quick Reveiw!

OK I used this guitar last night at my rehearsal and the tones were quite impressive. A different set up at rehearsal. I use a '67 Deluxe Reverb and TS9 modded by StratDeluxer. At first I thought the guitar sounded a little bright, but I have the amp elevated about 4 ft. off the floor and I was standing right in front of it. I had the volume on the amp set at between 4 and 5.5, the Treble at 6 to 7 and the bass at 6. All the tones you want from a Stratocaster were there. Quite Warm and essentially vintage sounding. The neck position had some wonderful woody tones and positon 4 had this slight bite to it that really got my attention, the middle position was also crisp yet not harsh and position 2 gave me exactly what I wanted. The Bridge PUP just screams thru this little Amp. When I kicked in the TS9 it added just the right amount of grit without being to harsh. These PUPS Have wonderful sustain and clarity at the same time. Don't waste to much time order your today!!