Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

[dead_phish21]

Hey guys, Im in search of the best Humbucker for my American Tele's Bridge. I currently have the SD59 in the neck and really love it, thanks to all of your suggestions. Now I want to match it in the bridge.
Im really going for that indie sound, coldplays guitar stuff is a good example. They use alot of thinline teles, but also jaguars and jazzmasters. I LOVE Fender guitars through fender amps. I just bought a blackface deluxe reverb and its perfect for all that I need. SO I really don't want to loose any of that fender tone, I guess thats my main concern with the humbucker. But on the same token I don't do much chicken picken, or any country, ect... so the really thin, ice pick, single coil sound im getting has got to go. I do love that it cuts though any mix though.
I play alot of single note stuff, two strings, three strings, and try to stick with mainly the 4 higher strings.
Great cleans is my main concern, I really like my dirt pedals for grit. To help any more, the body is alder, the neck is maple. The list of music that I don't enjoy playing is way shorter so Ill just say I don't play any metal or country.
Other guitarist I love currently are John Mayer, David Gillmore, and Tim Reynolds, also coldplay. I know those are mainly strats but what can I say.
Any humbucker input would be greatly appreciated. And sorry this post is so long.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Well, the obvious suggestion is the '59b. That will have a scooped tone with perhaps more highs than is needed. A Seth Lover may just be the ticket. Vintage tones and a thicker A2 mag

 

[dead_phish21]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

cool. Now how does the a2 and a5 magnets compare? Are the 2s usually warmer with less output? Ive not researched the seth Lovers too far, but am still entertaining the customs, pearly gates, antiquity, even possibly the Jerry D. but most likely not another single coil.
Anyone else +1 for the Seth Lover?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

An a2 has lower output, and the focus is more on the mids, with the treble and bass a little more rolled off. For a Tele (which is longer scale and pretty biting tone-wise) this is a really good thing. I have put an A2 into my '59b and feel its better than with the A5 (its in an Epi dot....335 copy).

The A2 has a warm growl to it, and would be great for blues or classic rock type leads/rhythms. The good thing about the Seth is that it was produced with the help of the man himself. Its a really great version of what would have been put in guitars back in the '50's.

If you really want to go all out, then go for an Antiquity bridge H/B. Thats like taking a PAF out of a '50's Gibson and putting it in your guitar.

This is a link to a vid of antiquities in an Edwards LP copy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEqD-ZKSOZM

 

[dead_phish21]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Thanks for the video man, that does sound pretty great. But to me its very les paul sounding. Which is awesome and has its place, but I can't imagine the wood and wiring could play that much of a role as apposed to the pickups themselves. Could it? I wonder what H/Bs go into a strat with the two single coils in the neck and middle and a H/B in the bridge. Or the out put of the Fender humbuckers that they put in the thinlines. But it seems that no one likes the Fender humbuckers for one reason or another. So what is the best SD replacement for the bridge humbucker in a tele thinline? Or what is the best Strat bridge humbucker. Sorry to anyone who is annoyed yet. I just don't want my tele to loose any of its Fender mojo. THanks

 

[Despair]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

No element can really be dismissed. A lot of people pick 1 element as most important. May be to them, but overall? Guitar materials, construction, bridge, pickups, electronics all have an impact. What matters most is highly debatable and depends on context and the player.

Fender makes some good humbuckers these days, apparently Eddie Van Halen went with in-house pickups for his new Wolfgang model. Not cheap, though, even if you get them without the guitar.

There are lots of great humbuckers, it really depends on what you are trying to get out of the guitar. If you want something that sounds like a tele bridge pickup or a strat single coil, you are not likely to have much luck...

By the way, if all you want to do is cure the excess highs on the unwound strings, you might check out a Five-Two for tele. A5 under the wound strings for snap and twangy growl, A2 under the high strings for smoother high end. A2 is great for curing ice pick, and this way you don't lose the twang on the bass notes.

'59, PATB-3 Blues Saraceno and Pearly Gates are all pretty popular in strats. Fender uses a Pearly Gates Plus (overwound plus A5) in a number of their models, too.

PATB-3 is like an overwound '59 that managed to keep the high end. Back the volume pot off to 85% or so and it's very difficult to tell from a '59. Ridiculously responsive.

A '59 set is a very safe bet, though.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Thanks for the video man, that does sound pretty great. But to me its very les paul sounding. Which is awesome and has its place, but I can't imagine the wood and wiring could play that much of a role as apposed to the pickups themselves. Could it? I wonder what H/Bs go into a strat with the two single coils in the neck and middle and a H/B in the bridge. Or the out put of the Fender humbuckers that they put in the thinlines. But it seems that no one likes the Fender humbuckers for one reason or another. So what is the best SD replacement for the bridge humbucker in a tele thinline? Or what is the best Strat bridge humbucker. Sorry to anyone who is annoyed yet. I just don't want my tele to loose any of its Fender mojo. THanks

I think the Fender wide-range H/B was also designed by Seth Lover after he moved to fender. They sound ok.....Fender produces them still, or there's a 3+3 offset pup that Duncan does. Not sure if its production or custom though

A tele will still sound like itself with a PAF type H/B in there....just fatter. The construction and hardware makes it what it is, not the pup. You'd need to put a hot H/B in there before you lost the Tele vibe.

so: for H/b: '59 or Seth
singles: Jerry donahue, 5/2 bridge (both of these are fatter s/c tones)

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Plug it into an SLO-100 and you won't give a crap about pickups.

 

[dead_phish21]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Awesome, thanks. Yeah I don't want to just get rid of the ice pick, Id really love to make it thick, rich and full and add some sustain. A bigger sound that maintains crunch and bite without the mud. Your input sounds perfect. Although Im not familiar with the PATB-3.
Are the overwounds over the counter or does that have to be modded later? and Yes, Ridiculously responsive sounds like Heaven.

 

[Despair]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

I've seen complaints that the new Wide Range Humbucker isn't as good as the old, that it's only cosmetically similar. Substituted alnico for the CuNiFe magnets of the old, and blew some other construction details as well. Don't sound the same at all.

Overwound are typically custom shop (like the Brobucker). I was just using it as a point of comparison while mentioning the stock PATB-3. If you want something hot and thick, but still capable of vintage tones, the PATB-3 is terrific. Plenty of sweet treble, have never heard ice pick from one.

 

[dead_phish21]

Re: Tone dripping Tele Bridge Bucker

Anyone else? 59b vs PATB-3 vs Pearly Gates? Tone wise of course. To be honest the 59 I currently have in the neck has a ton of low end. I don't really need or want all that bass, I think Im muddying up my good friend the bass player more than anything with it. And the semarium cobalt single coil I have in the bridge is quite the opposite. I need something in between tone wise.
Opinions on these three bridge humbuckers? Thanks