Need a pickup for my Telecaster

[Splendid]

Hi,

I have a Fender American Standard with rosewood fretboard. I play with a VOX AC30, and I am looking for a nice clean sound, and also the possibility to use a distortion and get a radiohead the bends kind of sound. I use a Maxon tubescreamer for a bit of overdrive, a ProCo Rat2 for high gain, and a Keeley compressor, among other pedals.

I listened to some clips and the Yardbirds have a great clean tone on the the neck, and I was wondering what  to use on the bridge. Balde uploaded a clip with a YB on the neck and a The Boss on the bridge. Clean sounds great, but I am not sure if I will get the sound that I am looking for when distorted.

Tim recommended the Piledrivers for the bridge, but I am wondering if that would be too much gain. I am not looking for a heavy metal sound.

What do you guys recommend? Shall I keep a Yardbird on the neck? What should I use on the bridge? Yardbirds also? The Boss? Piledrivers? Any other ideas? Help!!!

[AndyR]

As I read the first paragraph, I was thinking Yardbirds, all the way, neck and bridge.

The neck is just sublime, and I find the bridge really usable for clean and dirty. I've got Blackguard Flat 50 sets in two other teles, and I use them for clean-raunchy blues-rock stuff, but my Yardbird tele is really really versatile. After playing the BGs for a while, it doesn't sound so "commanding", but when I get back into it, it fits into almost any style I attempt.

I am tempted to try a Yardbird neck and BG 50 bridge combination, I suspect that for me it would be ideal, but I've not got round to it.

I can't really comment on Piledriver - I'm interested in them but not heard/played them. Recently I've been reading that they might be a touch compressed in comparison to other BKP tele pickups... otherwise my impression has been "more oink, but roll back the guitar volume a touch, and you've got near to classic tele"...

BUT! If Tim recommends one for the bridge, it would be a brave man who diseregards his advice :lol:

Welcome to the forum! :)

[thisisnickpaige]

Well seeing as i use an american Tele (custom made), through an ac30 and adore the ProCo Rat2 and Radiohead, let me tell you what i've found. I got a blackguard flat50 and it was nice but still planky, very amazing but personally not what i was goin for ya know? It hit the nail on the head enough id want to get another tele just to keep this sound but personally im thinkin piledriver. And from what ive heard they can go from finger picking and playing soft jazz to jangly indie rock to warm spaced out tones to playing the deepest darkest metal. And Tim said else where on a post " they definitely are tele pickups, but they can get hairy " or something along those lines. Another words looks like you and me both are getting piledrivers 0=) For neck id get the yardbird neck, everyone on this site guess nutty over the YB neck for a tele, so general consensus is that yardbird is the neck to get and for us the pile driver is the bridge? =) lol just an idea. and GET A 4 WAY SWITCH! quick and easy mod, yet so effective, so awesome, such a good position/ sound out of that extra guy. Order one when you order your pickups =) I did and im so glad and surprised at how cool that extra in series position is =)