Hello Everyone, I haven't posted in here in a very long time.
Long story short, I acquired one of these:
It's a really nice guitar, but in desperate need of some upgrades. It has an alder body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard, and I'll be playing it through a Blackstar Series 1 100 6L6, going through a Mesa Recto 2x12 w/ V30s. I'm not tuning down stupidly low (but might do sometimes just for teh lulz [nothing below low G]), I got a baritone because after playing bass for so long, guitars feel like toys to me. This guitar is going to be mostly in drop C.
My original plan was to ditch the single coils and just go H/H, but I've somewhat fallen in love with that tele neck position. The middle single however, does nothing for me, and get's in the way of my picking, so I've decided to go for a nice chrome covered H/S set up. Then I'll wire in a push/pull coilsplit on the tone pot, just to split the bridge with, and replace the 5-way with a 3-way.
Firstly, the neck. I'm a total single coil n00b, I come from a pretty metal background, I've only really used humbuckers before, so really don't know what to look for with single coils. I guess I'd be going for something along the lines of whats already there, but 'more' sounding, if that makes sense. Something tighter, less muddy, a bit fatter, and with a lot more clarity. My initial thoughts were a Piledriver. I want some power, but not too much, however, it needs to be able to stand up to the bridge humbucker. I want to retain a level of 'organic-ness' in this guitar so I'm wanting to not go straight for the super high output pickups, which is why I'm unsure of the Piledriver. Plus, I don't need to drive an amp really, I have all the gain I need from my Blackstar & pedals. I looked at a Boss, it having roughly the same DC, but the EQ curve puts me off (I like mids). I mainly use the neck for cleans and leads, but nothing super-duper high gain (think Oceansize/Karnivool type stuff, heavy but organic), although, I'd quite like the ability to get up to that level and play a bit of metal every now and then. Will the Piledriver fit my needs? Does it work well in Alder? Will it work well with the extended scale length? Again, I'm really not sure what to look for with single coils, so any and all help is appreciated here.
Next, the bridge. Like I said, I want to stray away from the super high output pickups for once, but I still want a fair bit of output, again think Karnivool/Oceansize kind of stuff. The contenders are, I suppose, anything from the Vintage Hot section, but I'm also looking at a Holydiver and a Rebel Yell. I've heard really good things about Black Dogs in baritone guitars, but not sure if it's going to be the right fit for an alder Tele. I'm mainly looking for versatility in the bridge pickup, it's going to be my go to pickup for most things, so I need a good balance of everything. I want a really solid rhythm tone, tight low end, nice crunchy mids, and not abrasive highs, but won't get 'boomy' down low, especially on the extended scale. Also, something with a lot of clarity and note definition, down low and up high, and it needs to split very well. I'll most likely be using it split as much as in full humbucker mode. Maybe something like a lower output Nailbomb? But I only say that because I've heard it's so versatile. There's so many to choose from, I really don't know, so again any and all help is appreciated.
I've probably forgotten to mention something, even though I've typed up a huge wall of text. I'm just looking to be pointed in the right direction, please help :)
