Author Topic: Stray Tabby has a new home (Read 13289 times)

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #45 on:** February 17, 2008, 06:06:16 PM »

Yeah - BKPs will sound awesome in it

I thought the Yardbirds or Bss would smooth out the edginess that the ash has, whilst the Brown Sugars may emphasize it..

So much experimentation to do :P

dave_mc · « **Reply #46 on:** February 17, 2008, 07:15:29 PM »

my take on duncans (the ones i've tried anyway) is that some are good ('59, ssl1 etc.), some are decent, some are average/mediocre, and some are not very good at all (e.g. invader/dimebucker, in my opinion of course). I certainly wouldn't say all suck, as that's just not true; but more often than not, there's a BKP (or other boutique pickup) which i'd prefer for the same tone. I certainly don't agree with blanket slagging, and there are doubtless people who don't like duncans because they chose a model that didn't suit them. But I'm still going to say my opinion, if i prefer something else. :)

my edwards, for example, does sound good with the duncans. Though i'd wager it'd sound even better with mules, for example (though granted some of that is that a JB just isn't a great pickup for a vintage LP sound, it's too hot).

My main beef, much like most US stuff, is that the prices are way too dear here. I don't mind getting them stock, but i wouldn't buy them (new) as aftermarket retrofits. That's my prerogative, of course, and everyone else can do as they please. :)

regarding those alnico II pro tele pickups, wouldn't they smooth out the sound of that tele already? i think i prefer a slightly edgier sound (i felt the same about the strat alnico II pros i tried). but they certainly aren't bad. :)

as always i'm willing to stand corrected. :lol:

sgmypod · « **Reply #47 on:** February 17, 2008, 07:15:35 PM »

ahh stop I wasn't thinkin of changing mine.....now you got me thinking

broken cord · « **Reply #48 on:** February 18, 2008, 01:25:48 AM »

Very nice score, that is a fine looking Feline. Best of luck with her.

prozacbear · « **Reply #49 on:** February 19, 2008, 09:50:18 AM »

As an experiment I put in a Piledriver set (which was sitting gathering dust in the cupboard). I would say the tone has not changed much but the quality of the tone has gone up about 10%.
This has encouraged me to get some dedicated BKP's for it I emailed Tim and he suggested a flat 50 Blackguard set. So I'm going for it, I put in the order for them last night, now I just have to wait.

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #50 on:** February 19, 2008, 11:02:26 AM »

Cool
Looking forward to hearing what you think of the Blackguards in there.

I am in a real "tele" mood of late - so simple and direct as a guitar

Get Tim to attach a separate earth wire to the cover of the neck pickup rather than having attached to the Earth wire from the pickup coil - this is required for the 4 way switching ( to stop the silver cover becoming "live" in position 4 and causing hum if you touch it)

prozacbear · « **Reply #51 on:** February 19, 2008, 04:00:18 PM »

Quote from: FELINEGUITARS

Get Tim to attach a separate earth wire to the cover of the neck pickup rather than having attached to the Earth wire from the pickup coil - this is required for the 4 way switching ( to stop the silver cover becoming "live" in position 4 and causing hum if you touch it)

Thanks for the info, Tim's on the case :D

Philly Q · « **Reply #52 on:** February 19, 2008, 04:59:16 PM »

Quote from: FELINEGUITARS

I am in a real "tele" mood of late - so simple and direct as a guitar

Me too. I decided at the weekend I was going to sell my Thinline, so I took out the 4-way switch (apologies to Mr 38th) and put back in the original pickups.

Then I realised it sounds beautiful. So that's another keeper.

38thBeatle · « **Reply #53 on:** February 19, 2008, 06:48:40 PM »

Are you going to put the 4-way back in though Philly, that is the question. Tele's have always been in the past, to me, "also rans" to the Strat at least until I acquired one. It all changed from that point and I would now put them on equal footing.Teles are good honest no nonsense tough and dependable. They also have a wider range of usable tones than a Strat in my view ( and I am courting controversy here I know) but I have reluctantly arrived at that conclusion after for years being a Strat fan. My "No 1" is my old Strat but the Tele has usurped my much loved Sonic Blue Strat.

Philly Q · « **Reply #54 on:** February 19, 2008, 07:39:28 PM »

Quote from: 38thBeatle

Are you going to put the 4-way back in though Philly, that is the question.

Sorry Steve, no I won't :oops:

. I agree it adds versatility, but I can't get over the fact that, to me, it sounds like a bad impression of a humbucker. Just as single-coil guys must lament what a poor substitute for a single-coil a split humbucker is (or maybe they don't, I could be totally off the mark there...). Basically I just don't like that 4th-position sound.

In any case, I now want my Thinline to be my "pretty" sounding Tele. I have no need at all for it to be able to rock out. The clean tones to be had from a Tele are just wonderful, especially in the neck and middle positions - a Strat doesn't even get close (IMO).

Another pickup change might be on the cards though.

And I have to confess - despite often defending stacked humbuckers on this forum - the bog-standard Fender single-coils trounce the DiMarzio Virtual T's I had in there before. Mind you, I found the same thing when I sold an American Standard a few years ago and put the stock pickups back, in place of some Joe Bardens. Still, I have a couple of other Teles to put together so there's plenty of room for different types of pickups.

ailean · « **Reply #55 on:** February 19, 2008, 08:02:09 PM »

We (well Sue actually) had 2 tele's and a strat, all fender, and frankly all disappointing.

The custom shop strat we just aquired came with BK IT's and it's sound makes the standard strat (US) sound like a cardboard box with elastic strapped across it. Ok I know comparing a standard with a custom shop is not an equal match, but I'm sure in my own (possibly delusional) mind that the pups are more then half of the difference.

Neither of the Tele's sounded as good as the Tabby with SD's in it, and the SD's don't sound as good as the BK's.

If I ever buy a Fender I'm taking the pups straight out and putting BK's in.

hamfist · « **Reply #56 on:** February 20, 2008, 07:59:03 AM »

in Fender's defence, I bought a lovely black USA std tele last year, and the standard pickups in that were fantastic.

Having said that, I tried a lot of teles, and Fender certainly puts a number of different pups in it's different models. For example, I didn't like the Highway one's pups at all - just a bit dead and not sparkly at all.
The std USA tele was the pick of the bunch (sticking with Fender) for me.

badgermark · « **Reply #57 on:** February 20, 2008, 08:11:39 AM »

I'm a big fan of Mexican teles. Just whap some BKPs in them and they are fine guitars. I actually refuse to spend all that much on a stock fender. They are planks of wood bolted together with strings, not crafted like a Gibson style guitar or a custom build. Why pay loads for a marginally better product?

ailean · « **Reply #58 on:** February 20, 2008, 01:24:17 PM »

Quote from: hamfist

in Fender's defence, I bought a lovely black USA std tele last year, and the standard pickups in that were fantastic.

Having said that, I tried a lot of teles, and Fender certainly puts a number of different pups in it's different models. For example, I didn't like the Highway one's pups at all - just a bit dead and not sparkly at all.
The std USA tele was the pick of the bunch (sticking with Fender) for me.

I do sometimes wonder how much variation there is between the stock pickups even when comparing like with like.

Mr Ed · « **Reply #59 on:** February 20, 2008, 09:03:26 PM »

That finish is stunning, credit to them Felines.