Good bye Piledriver?

[dsguitar1]

Hey,

I have had my Piledriver set in my alder body maple neck tele for some years now, but changing my humbuckers in my les pauls has  put me off a little.

I was using hot pups in my les pauls for years, you know the main hot standards Duncan JB, Gibson 500T, EMG 81 ect..... so when it cam eto putting together a tele I went for a hot pup and after hearing good things about Bare Knuckle Pickups went and got a set of Piledrivers and loved them!!!

So about 2 years ago now I got the chance to play a 59 les paul copy with P.A.F repros and loved the tone of the thing so much I went from hot buckers to vintage P.A.F types and put them in all my les pauls and V's again I went for the standard pups Duncan 59's, Gibson classic 57's and my favorite of the lot Bare Knuckle Mules. Since the change of pickups in my les pauls from compressed to open I find playing the piledriver set in my tele to be a little full on.

So here is what I want....... a tele pup/set that is more open sounding than the piledriver but not shrill !!! I play with a lot of gain but like the gain to come from the amp not the pickup now since changing to P.A.F types. I was thinking maybe 'BG Flat 50s'???

It would be nice if I can get the twang honky tonk woman sound when the amp is slightly breaking up and then get some really screaming singing warm tones when I turn the amps gain up and turn on the overdrive.

I still think the Piledriver is great just want something a little more open sounding now as thats what im used to. Want to put an Esquire together as well so this pup may go in that.

One last thing, what value pots and caps do you piledriver set guys use in your guitars?

[Telerocker]

Flat 50's are very good, not too bright. Alternatives for what you're looking for are Brown Sugars and the Boss.

[gwEm]

Flat 50's are very good, not too bright. Alternatives for what you're looking for are Brown Sugars and the Boss.

The Boss still has a "hot" feeling without so much twang, its a good pickup, but not sure its right for this job myself. All the others suggested so far would be grand though I think. My favourite is the Flat 52, I also like the Brown Sugar.

[Telerocker]

Flat 50's are very good, not too bright. Alternatives for what you're looking for are Brown Sugars and the Boss.

The Boss still has a "hot" feeling without so much twang, its a good pickup, but not sure its right for this job myself. All the others suggested so far would be grand though I think. My favourite is the Flat 52, I also like the Brown Sugar.

Correct, more midrange and less topend than the Brown Sugars. Now he has something to choose. I like the Flat 52's too. They seem like the perfect balance for a fifties style-teletone.

[BigB]

The flat 50s are probably a good candidate but I've not tried them (the "new" ones I mean). The flat 52s are IMHO the Tele cousins of Mules : classic vintage tone with a twist (the neck is a bit on the stratty side, but still a Tele neck), bright yet warm, well balanced (no ice-pick on the bridge, no mud on the neck), open sounding, great lush 3D clean tones, great bluesy crunch, great overdrive and take sh!tload of gain for breakfast. Forum's wisdom is that you can't go wrong with Mules on a LP, and as far as I'm concerned it holds for Flast52s on Tel too.

[AndyR]

I too think the Flat 52s are possibly the way to go. I have two sets of the "old" Flat 50s, which I understand are the current 52s (that is right, isn't it chaps?).

I agree, they feel to me like the tele version of the Mules.

Another option, from my experience, might be Yardbirds. They don't sound so "Honky Tonk Women" as the Flat 52s, but I find I prefer their behaviour with more gain, they're less, er, "hairy" and would give more of what I'd describe as "screaming singing warm tones" - on the other hand we've got tone controls etc on our amps, so I guess I could tame the BGs nearer to that (but I just pick up the other guitar instead!)

[Telerocker]

I have two sets of the "old" Flat 50s, which I understand are the current 52s (that is right, isn't it chaps?).

Bull's Eye!