OK, I've had the Yardbirds for several years. They went into a black Fender Japan Custom Tele with rosewood board. It's been one of my favourite BKP sets, but I haven't used the guitar a great deal since, oooh, several years ago!
Just before Christmas, I got myself a new tele - a 60s Fender Baja in Sonic Blue with rosewood board. This is a wildly vibrant and bright guitar. I tried a spare set of Blackguards in it (my 50s Baja has Blackguards) - but that didn't really work for me, it was all getting too hairy for what I want!
And then I had a brainwave. The 60s Baja is crying out for the Yardbirds. I reasoned they would fatten it up slightly, but not as much as the Blackguards.
And the Fender Japan Custom, like some other Fender Japan guitars I have, is quite a mellow sounding instrument, almost dull. So, how about if I go for Country Boys in that one to brighten it up slightly?
It's all done. And it's fabulous.
The 60s Baja with the Yardbirds is slightly more muscular. I've lowered the pickups more than it'll take, just to get the teles closer to each other. It sounds gorgeous. With the pups closer to the strings, it was giving SGs with humbuckers a serious run for their money - as it is now, it's doing Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin I & II period Jimmy Page very nicely. I absolutely LOVE the Yardbirds pickups.
The Country Boys are exactly what I wanted in the Custom. They've got slightly less oink than the Yardbirds, and suddenly this guitar has more character than it had before. It was always a good recording guitar with the Yardbirds in, but it was a bit, I dunno, "generic" sounding. When I picked it up to play, it never inspired stuff - if I already had a song to play it was great and reliable. Now, with more "twang" it's suggesting stuff to me on its own.
I can see why they're called Country Boys (both the song and the implication), but they do the blues and rock and pop that I want too. Don't be fooled by the name - they're a really nice tele pickup that you can do whatever you want with, amp and fingers will take them plenty dirty (they do the same Led Zeppelin stuff very convincingly).
But what they've done for me is resurrect a slightly dull sounding telecaster. Suddenly I've got two "new" teles that are a joy to plug in and start spanking.
