hi, i have a squier thinline protone 97, made in korea.
i dont know if anyone has one these guitars, but they are great.
its one of the best tellys ive ever played. fender dropped this line, because they ruined their sales, because the
protones were so well made. they play like a dream. everyone that plays my guitars is just wondering why
a squier plays so well.
the guitar stock pickups are okay but not great.the neck pup is a bit useless in comparison to the bridge pickup.
they measure 7 kOhm's both. i like the bridge a lot, its got a real nice, singing tone and good attack.
also not too much twang. its a good balance of tone and twang, but could sound a bit better.
i swapped out the pickups for a dimarzio twang king and a dimarzio pre b1 but im not really satisfied with it.
i think the stock pickups are better sounding for my demands, as the dimarzios.
the twang king sounds too thin and too trebly, also it's too twangy. its good for clean parts, but with more overdrive and effects it gets really muddy and is miss midrange. the stock pickup is better.
the pre b1 sounds good, but destroys too much of the guitars character. even if turned down, i still feel like playing like some kind of les paul, tonewise. and it dosent have these singing highs that i love. i love singing 3D highs.
the stock pickup is much better for singing leads or licks, the pre b1 lacks here a lot and doesnt cut through the mix as good as the stock. both dimarzios lacked in kind of attack.
so i think i will send the pickups back. im dont feel that it could sound better at the moment, but ive heared about bare knuckels that they are really good. also ive never tryed boutique pups. maybe you have some suggestions, here are my demands:
a full, warum and bodied sound, not too much twang, but still enough. should be a good mix of both worlds ( i play a lot with the tone and volume knobs...) think the twang king had too much twang for my ears. i play most cleanish to a soft stoner rock overdrive, but it should growl and sound clear in overdrive and have enough mids and highs. i love a strong attack on my guitars and a cutting sound...the dimarzios had not enough attack.
when you think of stoner, it should also not be too much, im into a heavy but more clean sound. its a good mix (think them crooked vultures/qotsa)
the bridge should be singing. also it should be ready to be overloaded with fuzz pedals and so on... i use effects a lot.
by the way, the amp is a matamp gt1. the music is some kind of "wolfmother meets queens of the stone age and psychedelic and surf rock" stuff. people say we sound a lot like queens of the stone age. the tele tone of them crooked vultures is also awesome. i dont know any other pickups as the stock ones and the dimarzios, so i have no comparison and im walkin in the dust...
maybe you can help me,
EL34
