Favorite Options for HH Guitars?

[davegardner0]

I've been playing my Telecaster Custom HH for a while now, and while I love the guitar I think the tone is a little generic. What I have in there are some Alnico 2, wax potted PAF clones from a small pickup builder called Genesis pickups. I'd say they're VERY similar to Gibson 57 classic pickups.

The thing is, I already have a really nice SG and LP with paf-style pickups. Since this guitar is a 25.5" scale and thus already diverging from the standard/classic PAF tone, I want to make it have its own voice. I'd say my only real rule/requirement is that I like pickups that can do a good distorted and a good clean tone.

I wouldn't say I'm an expert at the current pickup market though (way too many choices), so I'm wondering, what are some "different" options for the standard humbucker pickup rout? One I found so far is the Lace Sensor Alumitone pickup. Those could definitely be cool, as I gravitate towards "clear" sounding pickups (G&L MFD, etc.). What else is out there though? Suggestions welcome!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

EMG 57/66. 
Despite what folks harp about re: active pickups, these really can do a wide range of vintage to high gain applications very well.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Lollar’s Lollar’Tron pickups come in a standard humbucker form factor and are a very tasty sonic (and visual) departure from the PAF offerings. I had a set in my ES-137 for a while and got some audio of them clean and dirty:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/vb-tunes/sets/gibson-es-137-with-lollartron-pickups[/soundcloud]

The pickups are no longer in that guitar, I ultimately replaced them with a set of SD Seth Lovers because I discovered I DID want standard PAF tone in that guitar. They have however found a very happy home in my Thinline Tele. I haven’t recorded them in there yet...

 

[Rick]

A nice combo for country music is a jazz in the neck and duncan distortion in the bridge.  Have a switch for splitting the pickups, and another switch for putting them in series.  You can go in a lot of directions with this setup.

 

[rgand]

Lollar’s Lollar’Tron pickups come in a standard humbucker form factor and are a very tasty sonic (and visual) departure from the PAF offerings. I had a set in my ES-137 for a while and got some audio of them clean and dirty:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/vb-tunes/sets/gibson-es-137-with-lollartron-pickups[/soundcloud]

The pickups are no longer in that guitar, I ultimately replaced them with a set of SD Seth Lovers because I discovered I DID want standard PAF tone in that guitar. They have however found a very happy home in my Thinline Tele. I haven’t recorded them in there yet...

These sound really good.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

These sound really good.

I was similarly on the prowl for something “different” when I landed on them, that’s what made me think of them in this context. I really like them a lot and they definitely have a distinct character all their own.

 

[Cagey]

What were you using to "dirty" them up?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That was a Line 6 Helix Fender Deluxe Reverb with a Klon in front, and spring reverb from an external Malekko Spring Chicken pedal.

 

[davegardner0]

Lollar’s Lollar’Tron pickups come in a standard humbucker form factor and are a very tasty sonic (and visual) departure from the PAF offerings. I had a set in my ES-137 for a while and got some audio of them clean and dirty:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/vb-tunes/sets/gibson-es-137-with-lollartron-pickups[/soundcloud]

The pickups are no longer in that guitar, I ultimately replaced them with a set of SD Seth Lovers because I discovered I DID want standard PAF tone in that guitar. They have however found a very happy home in my Thinline Tele. I haven’t recorded them in there yet...

Wow these are really cool! They sound great, and I agree the visual change is neat too. How would you compare the tone to a PAF? (just because that's a "standard" tone I'm familiar with).

I've seen 'tron used to describe pickups before with lots of things before the '...is that a family of pickups or something?

 

[TBurst Std]

They are different takes on the Gretsch Filtertron pickups.
While a humbucker, they do sound different than a PAF. 
Everyone needs 1 Guitar with Filtertrons as they have their own sound. 

 

[rauchman]

They are different takes on the Gretsch Filtertron pickups.
While a humbucker, they do sound different than a PAF. 
Everyone needs 1 Guitar with Filtertrons as they have their own sound.

How do any of the Filtertrons do with high gain?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I describe them as “wooly”. I guess it depends on your definition of “high gain”. They have a lot of character and I love them with fuzz or with an overdrive pushing a Fender amp, but I think they might fall apart a bit under modern metal type gain levels. I don’t think they would do the tight/focused high gain thing very well.

 

[new-killer-star]

To get somewhat unique tones in each guitar (and keep making reasons to make more), I have a gold foil neck pickup in my HH telecaster, I almost put a gold foil in the bridge, and almost a filtertron but ended up putting a PAF there because my other PAF style guitar is a gibson custom shop SG and I don't end up playing it much. My other HH guitar has noise-canceling p90s in them (these are all from righteous sound pickups).

 

[davegardner0]

To get somewhat unique tones in each guitar (and keep making reasons to make more), I have a gold foil neck pickup in my HH telecaster, I almost put a gold foil in the bridge, and almost a filtertron but ended up putting a PAF there because my other PAF style guitar is a gibson custom shop SG and I don't end up playing it much. My other HH guitar has noise-canceling p90s in them (these are all from righteous sound pickups).

I did think about P90's. What sort of hum-cancelling models are you using? Also what do gold foil pickups sound like?

 

[Great Ape]

Barden makes pickups that excel at high-headroom clarity. I have their Tele and P-90 type pickups in several guitars, and they are quite unique and special. (That's in my opinion, of course-not many things are more subjective than pickup
sound.)

 

[new-killer-star]

I did think about P90's. What sort of hum-cancelling models are you using? Also what do gold foil pickups sound like?

I have righteous sound pickups versions of both of these, but there's lots of stuff to listen to on youtube if you search for gold foils and hum canceling p90s and as folks said - this stuff is all very subjective.

 

[fdesalvo]

Let me muddy the waters.  The Dimarzio Gravity Storm set is spectacular clean and distorted.  Very organic and rich.  Sparkles split.

If you want to go all out and get an amazing set of buckers, I'd roll with the BK Rebel Yell set, particularly if you have a warm fundamental tone.

 

[Zhaezzy]

My favorite so far is the Dimarzio Norton in the bridge with a coil split option and a Dimarsio humbucker from hell in the neck. The Norton is a semi hot more mid focused pickup which splits to a almost tele type single coil. Humbucker from hell is a bright clear humbucker that if I would compare it to a Fender Wide range humbucker.

 

[Belch]

I put a set of harmoniic design z90 pickups in my HH warmoth. For electronics, it's just a VVT with a three way.

I find it is a really good alternative between my single coil and HSS strat. The harmonic designs aren't going to get you that real hard rock sound of a bridge humbucker, nor that shimmery glimmery sound of fender single coils, but it excels at everything else. Punk rock to warm jazzy stuff works perfectly.

They've been in the guitar for about 25 years now, and I'm always thinking of changing them out, but then I play it, and it does everything from good enough to nailing it that they're still in there.

 

[frown]

Joe Barden Two/Tone are great. Nice aesthetic [at least to me], can be Full / Split / Tapped so versatile.

I've got a couple of Warmoth HH guitars, one with JBT/T set and one with DiMarzio Transitions [Steve Lukather Sig Set], both have same switching of a Push/Pull volume pot for a total of 8 combinations, with minimal controls cluttering the guitar front up.

Someone mentioned the Alumitones and I gotta do a build to try them out at some point. One day...