Telecaster HH pickups: chunky, defined high-gain bridge + liquid neck

[P-Ride]

Hey, I have a Mexican Telecaster HH (the spiritual successor to the Telecaster Blacktop) which I'm steadily upgrading (a Hipshot bridge just arrived), currently in double drop D, with EB Regular Slinkies.

I've played a Gibson Les Paul in double drop C with EB Beefy Slinkies for many years.

I love the Les Paul's chunk and the power of Drop C with beefy strings, but am really enjoying how bright, wild and snappy the Telecaster is.

It's difficult to identify how much of these two setups is the guitar itself, versus the string/tuning and pickups, but I may try tuning the Telecaster down to Drop C and (if successful) the Les Paul back up to Drop D/standard.

So, I'm looking to upgrade the Telecaster's 'Blacktop' pickups, which are decent, just not quite edgy enough. This telecaster has a coil-split, so I'll use that too.

We record with electronic beats for film soundtracks, mainly for extreme sports. I use a Peavey 6505+ in the studio and modelling at home.

I use a lot of palm-muting, string muting and harmonics. I'm a big fan of Adam Jones from Tool, but play to faster tempos (140-150) and with a slightly brighter tone. The rhythm work in Terror's 'Always the Hard Way' had a big influence on my style. My playing borders on DJent at times, in terms of rhythmic, tight playing, but I don't tune down quite that far.

Separately, I'm also big into post-rock like M83 and huge, reverb drenched soundscapes.

I also play lead work which sits somewhere between both styles.. rhythmic pulloffs, through to reverb/delay heavy saturated tones, rather akin to 80s action film soundtracks.

The common factor with each, is that I love really defined, powerful sounds. Good cleans are important also.

Bridge
Chunky bridge with plenty of upper mids to cut through mixes, tonnes of definition and harmonics.

Neck
I barely use neck, but am interested in what I could start doing there. I'm thinking liquid lead could be an area I'll enjoy, given my love of reverb-soaked lead?

I'm aware there's quite a few requirements here, but would be interested to hear what you guys suggest.

A pair which play nicely together and with coil-split options would be a bonus too.

Thanks

[Slartibartfarst42]

Not really my area of expertise I'm afraid but I'll pip in anyway as nobody else has so far.

Bridge

I'm tempted to suggest an A-Bomb here as the cleans are good and it has a LOT of aggressive upper mids. I would normally hesitate to suggest it in a guitar like a Tele but as you specifically want plenty upper mids and it's tuned down a bit, I suspect you will like its aggression and chunky sound. The other option would be a Juggernaut as most people seem to find it quite versatile and it clearly has a foot in the Djent camp.

Neck

If you want thick and fluid lead tones I'm inclined to suggest either an Emerald for a slightly more vintage flavour, a Cold Sweat for a slightly more modern flavour or a Juggernaut.

[P-Ride]

Thanks. I've checked reviews and they seem pretty mixed on the Nailbomb though?

Cold Sweat does sound nice in the neck!

I must admit, juggernaut is getting some great reviews for rhythm, fluid lead and cleans alike. Although it's meant to be mainly lower-mids; whereas I tend to like upper-mids.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Thanks. I've checked reviews and they seem pretty mixed on the Nailbomb though?

This may well be true and I wrote one of them but keep in mind that such aggressive upper mids will tend to divide opinion. I like having some aggressive upper mids as long as it's not overboard and in the guitar I had it in (maple neck-thru) it just totally dominated everything to the extent that everything sounded like aggressive and hairy 90s Metal. For an alnico pickup it was also surprisingly tight and I just don't need that. Such an aggressive and tight sound just isn't to everyone's taste and is quite limited in what it can achieve so my thinking has always been that it would be better suited to a guitar with a bit more bottom end to balance those upper mids, such as a Les Paul. Having said that, I've read reports of people liking the Nailbomb in alder guitars and of course, you deliberately want plenty upper mids so it fits well. When you described your bridge pickup as being a 'Chunky bridge with plenty of upper mids to cut through mixes, tonnes of definition and harmonics' it struck me straight away that this was an A-Bomb. If you'd like a toned down version of this, you might try a Rebel Yell but that's quite a bright pickup to put in alder.

[northlane.josh]

I reckon the a-bomb/cold sweat combo recommended here is bang on the money for what's being sought. You won't need a pickup with an outrageous upper midrange in that guitar. As suggested Rebel Yell could be a good fallback for the bridge, I think it should still work ok with that tuning and string gauge, shouldn't be overwhelmingly bright. Depends how aggressive you want to get, the nailbomb definitely has more hair (and teeth!)

[Dave Sloven]

I think the suggestion of A-bomb / Cold Sweat is a good one for this style.  You could also consider A-bomb / Rebel Yell.

[P-Ride]

Thanks guys.

I should mention, I have a Warpig (can't remember if it's A or C) in an Epiphone SG that was added maybe 7-8 years ago and am not a fan.

I find it too dark. My Gibson Les Paul's stock 490T has more of the upper bite and definition that I like.

Does that help?

Although I play heavy with a high-gain amp, I'm starting to wonder if the vintage hot range might be what I'm after.

String articulation and dynamics are really important to me.

Rebel Yell has caught my attention, as has the Black Dog.. How do they compare to the A Nailbomb?

[Slartibartfarst42]

I didn't like the 490R at all but I did like the 498T and that had a lovely balance of aggressive upper mids. It's probably blasphemy around here but I much preferred the 498T to the A-Bomb. The Rebel Yell is a bit like a toned down A-Bomb so not quite as extreme in the upper mids as the A-Bomb and brighter overall as well as a bit more open. As soon as I read that you might consider something from the vintage hot range, my first thought was a Black Dog as it takes gain like a trooper and thanks to the 42.5AWG wire, it retains articulation better than a traditional PAF.

[P-Ride]

I didn't like the 490R at all but I did like the 498T and that had a lovely balance of aggressive upper mids. It's probably blasphemy around here but I much preferred the 498T to the A-Bomb. The Rebel Yell is a bit like a toned down A-Bomb so not quite as extreme in the upper mids as the A-Bomb and brighter overall as well as a bit more open. As soon as I read that you might consider something from the vintage hot range, my first thought was a Black Dog as it takes gain like a trooper and thanks to the 42.5AWG wire, it retains articulation better than a traditional PAF.

Apologies, I meant the 490T, the bridge pickup! How different does the 498T sound, in comparison?

Hmm.. How would you compare the Black Dog against the others?

I am playing with a Peavey 6505+.. very high gain.

[Dave Sloven]

If you have a dark SG then an A-Bomb might work.  A C-Bomb would definitely work.

I had an A-Bomb in my SG and it was too strident, but that is a bright guitar.  I also have an A-Pig in another bright SG and that is great.

I would go by how your guitar sounds acoustically as a starting point

[Slartibartfarst42]

Black Dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaqEET376-I (music demo starts at about 1:45)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFdlGSLIj_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz8xGi4i7Z8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeYVtnMTjW8

[P-Ride]

Hmm.. the Abraxas is sounding really interesting.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Well that's a departure from what you were originally looking at! It's a fine pickup and very versatile but it certainly isn't the pickup I'd have thought of for what you said you were after.

[P-Ride]

Yeah, I like a lot of chug; but it sounds like with some of the higher output pickups, the chugging sounds compressed and lacks character. Does that make sense?

[Kiichi]

Yeah, I like a lot of chug; but it sounds like with some of the higher output pickups, the chugging sounds compressed and lacks character. Does that make sense?

Not quite sure what you mean here, but even chug is not quite chug often. For example my Stockholm and Rebel Yell. Had them both in the same axe, so I can somewhat compare it. The SH chug goes waaaaay deeper and has more low end agression. The RY is punching you in the chest like a kung fu master. Tight in a specific 80s inspired way, but unchained.
That is to stay in broader terms too.....I am mad I think.

Btw, when I started here the Emerald was considered perhaps the single best downtuned metal pickup....so....different kinds of chug.