The new Fender Brad Paisley ESQUIRE w/Duncan Secret Agent neck pickup
- Thread starter Lewguitar
- Start date
Lewguitar
New member
I have the Secret Agent in my '54 Esquire, which is a real '54. It's original but it's been refinished and refretted several times. I had it refinished and restored and it looks "right" again.
In my old Esquire the Secret Agent sounds very much like Brad's does in this demo. Bright and strong.
However, my bridge pickup doesn't sound like the bridge pickup in Brad's Esquire. It's weaker and not as snarly and aggressive.
It's the original '54 flat pole and measures around 6.1K. Doesn't sound as bright and aggressive as Brad's. I wish it sounded more like the pickup in Roy Buchanan's '53 Tele Nancy. But it doesn't.
With the Secret Agent the balance is very good.
I've had a few neck pickups in my Esquire.
A Tele ala Strat from the Duncan Custom Shop.
A Fralin Blues Special.
An old Duncan STR-1 Vintage Tele neck.
I liked them all.
But the Blues Special was a little too smooth and Secret Agent is a little more crisp and twangy than I'm used to.
It's going to stay in there though.
No more searching for the perfect neck pickup.
I'm done!
In my old Esquire the Secret Agent sounds very much like Brad's does in this demo. Bright and strong.
However, my bridge pickup doesn't sound like the bridge pickup in Brad's Esquire. It's weaker and not as snarly and aggressive.
It's the original '54 flat pole and measures around 6.1K. Doesn't sound as bright and aggressive as Brad's. I wish it sounded more like the pickup in Roy Buchanan's '53 Tele Nancy. But it doesn't.
With the Secret Agent the balance is very good.
I've had a few neck pickups in my Esquire.
A Tele ala Strat from the Duncan Custom Shop.
A Fralin Blues Special.
An old Duncan STR-1 Vintage Tele neck.
I liked them all.
But the Blues Special was a little too smooth and Secret Agent is a little more crisp and twangy than I'm used to.
It's going to stay in there though.
No more searching for the perfect neck pickup.
I'm done!
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So what do you think would get you closer to his bridge pickup sound? Is that a sound you are going for, anyway?
Lewguitar
New member
1. Be Brad paisley
2. Play through a Fender Vibro King. I had one. Got tired of it's grindy groinky tone. It's a Bruce Zinky design I think.
3. Use a hotter bridge pickup in my Esquire. Mine is the original from 1954 and it measures 6.1K and I believe is alnico 5. If Brad is using the Duncan La Brea pickup, that one is Alnico 4 and wound to over 7K. Really, I do prefer a hotter bridge pickup than the 6.1K original in my '54 Esquire.
Lewguitar
New member
I think the JD tele pickup sounded awesome!! best of all- from the SD sound clips.
I like it too. I have the Custom Shop version of the JD in my Tele Custom, with an Antiquity Strat pickup for the neck pickup.
Lewguitar
New member
The Secret Agent is not reverse polarity with the 66 year old bridge pickup in my '54 Esquire. So when the neck and bridge pickups are combined they are not humcancelling.
I have a Custom Shop Hot For Tele and a Custom Shop Jerry Donahue also. The Secret Agent is reverse polarity with those two.
I have a Custom Shop Hot For Tele and a Custom Shop Jerry Donahue also. The Secret Agent is reverse polarity with those two.
Lewguitar
New member
It does. And that's pretty much what it sounds like in my Esquire. It sounds really good and I'm done with searching for a better neck pickup for that guitar.
Artie
Peaveyologist
Hey Lew. What's the difference between the CS JD and the production model?
I wonder if this BP Tele has the pickups in phase and hum-cancelling.
Lewguitar
New member
Artie, I think the stock Hot For Tele is alnico 5. My Custom Shop version is alnico 2. It's tapped and one output is "vintage" and the full output is pretty thick and hot. It's a terrific pickup and I ordered it back when Mj was winding everything. I spoke with her on the phone and I'm pretty sure she wound it. Now they call it something else. '53 Hot or '53 Tapped or some name like that.
Lewguitar
New member
I thought you were asking about the Hot For Tele.
I do have a Custom Shop JD tho. To me it's just a little more airy or spaceous sounding than the production JD. More transparent. It's thick and dense but more three demensional than the production JD.
I wonder what is different about the CS version. Do you know?
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