Pickup Advice for Tele and SG

[keywork87]

I already sent the email, just waiting for a response. In the mean time, I thought it would be interesting to hear what you guys thought, especially since I haven't read much on this p/u combination.

Fender Aerodyne Telecaster from the early 2000s. Basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Telecaster in the bridge, P90 in the neck.

Starting with the neck, this is my first P90 ever and I don't love it. I don't have anything to compare it to, so I don't know if its just the pickup I don't like, or if its all P90s I don't like. I've had a couple people tell me the P90 on this guitar in particular is garbage, but had another tell me that it still has typical P90 qualities and I may just not be compatible with this type of pup. They suggested having a P90 sized HB made or installing a minibucker. I'm really at a loss with this one.

The bridge isn't near as bad. Pretty aggressive for the heavier stuff. It isn't in dire need of replacement, but I was curious if someone would say "oh if you get X in the neck, then Y is a great bridge to compliment it".

As far as tone, what I said in the email is that I wanted a Mid2000s pop-punk-rock-Paramore-FallOut Boy kind of sound when the knobs are dimed and the gain is turned up a bit. The Alt Rock clip on the BG pickups is a decent representation. I'd like to then roll the knobs back a bit and get a warm, slightly OD twang out of it. Like an overdriven Brad Paisley sound.


The next, probably less interesting tone hunt is for my Gibson SG Special. All Mahogany with RW board. I know there have been a thousand of these threads, but here we are. It had the Gibson 490T/R set initially. The Bridge was trash, the neck was actually pretty decent. Ended up swapping for a Duncan Custom 5 and i think a '59. Or maybe a Jazz. I can't remember. The bridge was an improvement, but I went ahead and installed an A8 magnet after hearing how great it is in an SG. I preferred the A5 myself, and I'm gonna try it again and see how we mesh. The neck...I actually prefer the rounder, fatter sound I got from the Gibson pup. So for a while it may be the Custom 5 with a 490R and we'll see how those work.

Like the Tele, I still want the same kind of pop-punk-rock sound when turned all the way up and then a more vintage Eagles/Zep overdriven on the other end, which may just be a matter of dialing back the gain a little. A long time ago, Ben suggested Emeralds, so I wanted to see if he still felt the same way after I tweaked the tone profile I was after a little bit.

Anyways, I would love to hear what any of you think. I tend to obsess over this stuff, so anything you can offer is always welcome.

[Dave Sloven]

I've had a few pickups in SGs, these are the ones I think worked well:

Warpig
Miracle Man
Cold Sweat
Stockholm P-90

I'm not confident that an Emerald would sound good.  Both the Emerald and Rebel Yell I've heard lack bottom end, which is fine in a heavier guitar but SGs really need a bit more bottom end.

I have always been interested to hear what an Impulse would sound like in an SG.  They sound great in Les Pauls. In general I think the Impulse is a pretty forgiving pickup regarding what you put them in.  You can buy them with covers.

I haven't tried the Silo or Ragnarok.  I suspect the Ragnarok would be fine.

Any P-90 usually sounds good in SGs for whatever reason.  It is humbuckers that are difficult.

Look for a pickup with flat or scooped mids relative to the bass.

I don't know which P-90 to suggest for the Telecaster but the Blue Note neck is very nice if you want something more vintage.

[keywork87]

I'm not confident that an Emerald would sound good.  Both the Emerald and Rebel Yell I've heard lack bottom end, which is fine in a heavier guitar but SGs really need a bit more bottom end.

I last asked Ben about this 6 years ago. He seemed confident in the Emeralds, but my skepticism kept me from pulling the trigger. I just didnt know anything about A4 mags and couldnt find enough information or videos or sound clips to get a good idea of what to expect. Recently I came across the Duncan Saturday Night Specials, which use A4 magnets. The demo video is of course played by a pro who can make a broomstick sound good, but that video was the first time I'd really heard what an A4 could sound like. I know generally A4's tend to be a bit flat, which probably wouldn't add much to the bass of the SG and wouldn't really tame the mids either. But damn if those SNS's didnt sound great to my ears.

PS: Are you the former Agent Orange? I've followed you on this forum for years. Like a forum celebrity I guess. Thanks for responding.

[keywork87]

I just realized only the Emerald neck is an A4. I feel kinda dumb now.

Anyways, Ben responded. Still suggested the Emeralds for the SG. Flat 50 and Blue Note for the Tele. The Flat 50 is one that was recently brought to my attention and I think we could potentially get along great. I'm not familiar at all with the Blue Note so I'll probably read up on it a bit first.

[Dave Sloven]

Yes, same person.  The neck is A4, the bridge is A5.

I put the Emerald set in a friend's Les Paul Studio.  It's one of those awful chambered ones from the early '90s.  He keeps complaining that it lacks balls. I did have it adjusted very high and it sounded good through my Peavey 6534+ (with Orange PPC412 cab) and then he let the other guitarist in his band fiddle with it and he moved the bridge pickup down ... also he is playing through a Laney Lionheart and matching cab.

Someone who used to be on here with a Rebel Yell in an SG had a similar experience.  The Rebel Yell bridge is quite similar to the Emerald bridge.  She said that it was thin sounding in her SG.

The neck pickup was amazing, I thought.

Personally I would consider Emerald neck with a Cold Sweat or VHII bridge to be a safer combo.  In my experience SGs are middy and lack bottom end. 

Ben's suggestion for the Tele sounds good to me.  SGs vary and can be very finicky to I tend to err on the side of caution with pickup suggestions for those.

[keywork87]

Yeah the SG has always given me problems. I do think the Emeralds are an oft overlooked pickup, which is easy when they have soooo many great options, and I'm 100% willing to at least try them so I can draw my own final conclusion. I may wait until a good deal on a used Emerald bridge pops up.

The Flat 50 for the Tele will hopefully happen soon. Like I said I'd like to know more about the Blue Note before I drop that cash on it. Im just not well versed in P90s at all.

[Dave Sloven]

If I had an Emerald bridge I would put it into something like an Explorer.  That seems to be the kind of guitar that works best with it.

[keywork87]

You may be right, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I pull the Nailbombs out of my Explorer

[Dave Sloven]

I had  the A-Bomb set in my Explorer.  It worked well there, even in C standard tuning