I would love some help

[DerAlte]

Hello everybody!

I'm in the middle of building my very own telecaster, but one thing remains.. The pickups.

It's a telecaster plus inspired guitar, which means it has a body of ash and a maple neck and fretboard. It's also outfitted with an American standard hardtail stratocaster bridge, which means i have room for a "true" humbucker in the bridge position.

I have a good idea of what i want in the neck position, but i don't know what to put in the bridge position and therefore i'm asking you guys for help!

The sound i'm looking for is very much like the one of Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead. It has to be full and organic yet at the same time be able to scream and have a decent clean sound with enough treble to keep it from getting muddy.

Jonny Greenwood plays a telecaster plus with a lace sensor red/red dually in the bridge, but i don't want to be a complete copycat + Lace Sensors are practically impossible to obtain where i live and therefore i am considering something else.

You can hear the cleans of the red/red dually very easily in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5uy-waJONA
The clean sound, that you hear from the bridge position here are to me more than perfect for what i'm going to use this guitar for and they are a great example of what i'm looking for.

As for distorted tones, this is what i have in mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qJ99cLy6M
Jonny Greenwood is the guy with the sunburst tele to the far right, and he's the one playing the lead guitar. That guitar is absolutely screaming and greatly demonstrates the distorted tone i'm going for. Part of the screaming sound is also due to the fact, that he uses a solid state amp for his distorted tones, but i also got a different solid state amp for that very purpose.

Another example of his distorted tone can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-w2wgceXUE (from 2:42 - 3:28)

I am certainly not sure about which pickup to choose.. I am pretty sure i want it to be a bare knuckle pickup though, since they're absolutely incredible.

I would love to hear what you guys think and i hope i have given you a picture of what i like

Best regards, John!

P.S. I apologize in advance for inevitable grammatical and spelling errors.. English is not my native language.

[littleredguitars2]

hmm theres definitely quite a few options. and while i can't really pinpoint one for you, all i can say is dont overlook the humbucker-sized p90's. those are amazing.

[DerAlte]

What about a nailbomb?
It seems like the cleans sound really great!
Does anyone have any experience with how it handles "non metal" gain? And does it have the right amount of treble to truly scream?

[Dave Sloven]

I would go for a Stockholm over a Nailbomb, having owned both.

[DerAlte]

It sounds great, but do you think it will be able to achieve the same sounds?

Jonny Greenwood does use a humbucker after all.

[Dave Sloven]

Even though the Stockholm is a single coil, it has more balls than the Nailbomb.  The output of mine is higher than my Nailbomb, and it has less of a specific peak in terms of its frequency range, with a much greater range and I think is a safer bet with your guitar. I have one in an SG and littleredguitars2 has one in a Strat, and it sounds great in both. Both are guitars that can be a bit finicky with humbuckers.  I'm not sure if that is a problem with Teles. What are you using for a neck pickup?

[DerAlte]

I was thinking of a black dog for the neck.

But how about the stockholm. Is it also able to get that 90's grunge sound? Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins etc.

Also do you perhaps think a black dog in the bridge will get me the sound that i'm looking for?

[Kiichi]

I was thinking of a black dog for the neck.

But how about the stockholm. Is it also able to get that 90's grunge sound? Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins etc.

Also do you perhaps think a black dog in the bridge will get me the sound that i'm looking for?

The Stockholm certainly is a nasty beast. I got it in a LP and it is wonderful there, LPs and P90s just go together so well. Then again P90s seem in general less picky to me than HBs.
Let me say though, that for the styles you are looking at the Stockholm could perhaps be one step too far. While I can easily take mine down to Blink 182 or lower for what you seem to be after the Supermassive might be a better call. It is in essense a Stockholm taken a step back. Little less agression, low end and hotness, thus lending itself perhaps a bit better to the styles you mention. Yes it is listed as a P90 only but BKP are known to be willing to make it HSP90 too if you ask them nicely (I got a Supermassive neck in that format).

The SM is still on the modern side in voicing though, so if you would care for something a bit more vintage the Mississippi Queen is not far off either. Insanely versatile thing that. Canīt really say it is less agressive than the SM since it is agressive in a different way, that vintage way, which you might very much appreciate. Certainly would be again less fat and bassy, but not thin, these P90s pack balls. So that might be an option too.

Depends a lot on how fat and modern you would like to go, but I can certainly see you being happy with a P90. Those things can roar and scream on another level, are more open than HBs, have a certain agressiveness, lovely attack and bottom end definition. Roll the volume and / or tone back and they can sing so beautifully...really an underestimated type of PU. I am so glad to see more people here picking them up. Sometimes it is a hard sell initially, but once you go there...

[DerAlte]

Well i do have a weakness for bands such as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, who both use P90's.

You've definitely peaked my interest for the P90's but i'm just not quite sure yet. How are their sustain?

If you're interested, the specification for the red/red dually are:
Resistance: 30.5k
Peak frequency: 1450
Inductance: 14.8 henries

[DerAlte]

Here are some other examples of the distortion i'm going for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee0IzagDfsw (from 2:20)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUaasUSp2g0 (1:17)

As you can hear these examples feature a more nasty and dirty guitar sound and even som pinch harmonics, but they are still played by Jonny Greenwood on the same guitar with the same amp and pedal setup.

Would i be able to get tones like that from a P90, and if so, which one would be best?

And by the way thank you so much for the help guys! You're awesome!

[littleredguitars2]

you could definitely get a sound like that from a p90. listen to the clips provided if you havent already. i feel like you'd enjoy the mississippi queen p90. the stockholm may be a little bit TOO much for you but it could still work.

have you given bare knuckles a direct email? ben and tim have helped me greatly in the past and they know these pickups better than anyone. just tell them what you're looking for and use it for reference at least.

[DerAlte]

Wow! That sounds great! I think i'll write them then  :D

[littleredguitars2]

good luck!

[Dave Sloven]

If you're interested, the specification for the red/red dually are:
Resistance: 30.5k
Peak frequency: 1450
Inductance: 14.8 henries

I was very surprised by the resistance figure (is this something to do with how the coils are wired to one another?) so I looked around on the net and found this:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/299115-confused-about-lace-sensor-dually-red-red.html

Seems like the guy had the same issue as you.  There was not much by way of replies, but basically the perceived output seems to be around the same as an Aftermath or a Rebel Yell, not twice as hot as that.  It does suggest though that the Stockholm might be around the same output.  If you are interested in P-90s a Stockholm in the bridge and a Supermassive (obviously in HSP-90 form) in the neck is reputed to be a good combination if you want to be sure of good cleans.  Not sure how a Stockholm or Supermassive would sit with a Black Dog, although there are plenty of Teles out there with fat humbuckers in the neck and regular Tele pickups in the bridge and those seem to work.