Tele bridge pickup for darker sound

[Peter Krasov]

Hi there!

I need a tele bridge pickup for darker, but still vintage sounds. Which one will be better? I'm trying to choose between Piledriver and PAF-style humbucker.

[BigB]

Hi there!

I need a tele bridge pickup for darker, but still vintage sounds. Which one will be better? I'm trying to choose between Piledriver and PAF-style humbucker.

Didn't tried it myself, but from reports and clips I don't think the Piledriver really qualifies for the "vintage" bit. Also and FWIW,  "darker Tele bridge" looks like an oxymoron to me :mrgreen:

Now there's a very simple way to get darker tones from a Tele bridge : roll off the trebles with the tone pot. Another possibly worthwhile trick is the 4-way switch - position 1 (neck+bridge series) is darker and fatter, and very different from the standard n+b parallel position.

My 2 cents...

[Peter Krasov]

Thanks BigB!

[BigB]

Thanks BigB!

Not sure I deserve it - my answer really wasn't that helpful  :? Hope someone else will come with something better...

[Ratrod]

If it's a good Tele pickup, it should respond well to the tone knob.

Some Tele pickups are like cartoon versions of what a Tele should sound like and can be quite piercing in the treble. Sometimes so much the tone knob won't do much good.

In that case you need an upgrade. I won't recommend anything yet. Too little info.

[BigB]

If it's a good Tele pickup, it should respond well to the tone knob.

Then the BGF50s is a good Tele pickup, CQFD

Some Tele pickups are like cartoon versions of what a Tele should sound like and can be quite piercing in the treble. Sometimes so much the tone knob won't do much good.

Kind of reminds me of the stock cr@ps that were on my '62RI... Add "muddy as sewer" for the neck and you're spot on  :(

I know I shouldn't care, but I don't even want to try&sell them on evilbay - some clueless newbie might buy them, then pity the poor guy.

@ Peter:
Agree with Ratrod : you don't give enough informations on what you have (guitar and how it sounds - plugged and unplugged), what you don't like with it exactly, and what your looking for (tone, style, etc).

My first answer was half-joke, but it's a fact that (now that I have great vintage-sounding pups on my Tele) when I want a darker sound, I just roll off the tone pot and get exactly what you asked for : a "darker, but still vintage (Tele bridge) sound".  Now is it even close to what you mean by "darker but still vintage", I just can't tell...

[Peter Krasov]

@ Peter:
Agree with Ratrod : you don't give enough informations on what you have (guitar and how it sounds - plugged and unplugged), what you don't like with it exactly, and what your looking for (tone, style, etc).

My first answer was half-joke, but it's a fact that (now that I have great vintage-sounding pups on my Tele) when I want a darker sound, I just roll off the tone pot and get exactly what you asked for : a "darker, but still vintage (Tele bridge) sound".  Now is it even close to what you mean by "darker but still vintage", I just can't tell...

Yeah, you're right, I've given no info.

Well, it's a Japanese alder tele with maple+rosewood neck. I has 'woody' sound when unplugged. It's difficult to say about the character of plugged sound, because the guitar has cheap and poor-sounding pickups in it.

I need the sound that lies somewhere between P90, tele single and PAF humbucker. I've managed  to get the closest sound from DiMarzios Virtual Hot T and Virtual Solo. But I don't like the stacks. In fact I want less trebles, more bass and low-mids and increased output (in comparison to traditional tele pickup).

I play rock, garage rock or power pop styles. All my guitars are tuned a step lower.

Thanks.

[Ratrod]

I'm thinking Piledriver.

[AndyR]

Yep, I'm thinking Piledriver too (but only based on what I've read on here, never tried one myself...)

At the start, I was thinking Blackguard Flat 50 might not be a bad move, especially if you go for a 4-way switch... but with your last post, I think I'm with Ratrod on this one :D

[BigB]

Well, it's a Japanese alder tele with maple+rosewood neck. I has 'woody' sound when unplugged. It's difficult to say about the character of plugged sound, because the guitar has cheap and poor-sounding pickups in it.

I need the sound that lies somewhere between P90, tele single and PAF humbucker.  I've managed  to get the closest sound from DiMarzios Virtual Hot T and Virtual Solo. But I don't like the stacks. In fact I want less trebles, more bass and low-mids and increased output (in comparison to traditional tele pickup).

Hmm... Kinda reminds me what I get from the additional position on the 4-way switch. It's "both pups, series", which is part of the humbucker spec (2 coils series), but it's not quite a 'bucker tone, because here we have coils that are differently voiced and more distant from each other.

With the BGF50s, the resulting tone is indeed darker (less trebles and some comb filter effect in the mids) and fattier (more lows, more overall output level), resulting in a tone that really  "lies somewhere between P90, tele single and PAF humbucker".

So it somehow seems to fit your bill - and the good news is that you get this tone as a bonus to the standard vintage Tele tones. OTHO, you only have one fatter tone - not a fatter bridge + a distinct fatter neck, so I can't tell if such a solution would work for you - nor even if you'd like that tone.

I don't have any even half-decent recording gear yet so I didn't post any clip, but if you're not in a hurry I could eventually try to borrow some stuff from a friend to record a quick demo of the different tones I can get with this setup. Now don't expect anything until next week... So let me know.


Can't comment on the Piledriver - at least not from direct experience. General consensus is that it has a more modern edge, and Tim kind of implied I'd rather avoid it if I was after that OneTrueVintageTeleTwang(tm) tone - but since going for a PAF was one of your options I guess you don't care that much, so well, why not ? At least there are a couple PD clips around. And it might work better with downtuned guitar, don't know...

Also, since you seem ok to do some rerouting for a PAF,  you could as well think about a MQ (PAF-sized P90-like) ?

My 2 cents...

[Peter Krasov]

Thank you all gentlemen!

So it somehow seems to fit your bill - and the good news is that you get this tone as a bonus to the standard vintage Tele tones. OTHO, you only have one fatter tone - not a fatter bridge + a distinct fatter neck, so I can't tell if such a solution would work for you - nor even if you'd like that tone.

I don't have any even half-decent recording gear yet so I didn't post any clip, but if you're not in a hurry I could eventually try to borrow some stuff from a friend to record a quick demo of the different tones I can get with this setup. Now don't expect anything until next week... So let me know.


Also, since you seem ok to do some rerouting for a PAF,  you could as well think about a MQ (PAF-sized P90-like) ?

My 2 cents...

I've got Blackguards with 4-position switch in my Squier Classic Vibe Tele - right the combo you're talking about.  Thank you very much, but there's no need in demo, as far as I'm familiar with blackguards.

The sound of two pickups in series is fatter and darker indeed, but in this case I need darkness and fatness in bridge position only.

I've decided to act that way: first I'm trying Piledriver, and then (if I don't get desired sound) - Stormy Monday or maybe Mississipi Queen. Hope that will work.

[BigB]

Thank you all gentlemen!

I've got Blackguards with 4-position switch in my Squier Classic Vibe Tele - right the combo you're talking about.  Thank you very much, but there's no need in demo, as far as I'm familiar with blackguards.

Ahem.. You could have told us sooner, don't you ?  Now I feel kinda stupid  :?

Anyway... Please tell us about the Piledriver.

[Peter Krasov]

We've been talking about BGs right here :) http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=20608.msg277669#msg277669

Sure, I will tell about this Piledriver bridge as soon as I get it (in a week).

[AndyR]

:lol:

I saw that other thread after I'd posted my reply - and I suddenly realised that you knew exactly what the BGs would do :lol:

[BigB]

We've been talking about BGs right here :) http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=20608.msg277669#msg277669

Great, go on, make me feel even more stupid  :oops:

Oh, well, I guess I just need some more brain cells  :lol: