Thinking about new pickups for an HH Tele

[bob7point7]

Of all the Warmoths I've built the one I have connected with the least is a Tele with a chambered swamp ash body and all-rosewood neck. Acoustically the thing has a nice sound. It seems to have scooped mids and a woody character. You can definitely sense warmth of the rosewood neck and the resonance from the chambering. Currently I have a set of Duncan P-Rails in it with switching that allows for all 4 pickup configurations (series, parallel, P90, rail). They sound OK in this guitar but it just doesn't have enough cut in a band setting competing against two Gibson-style guitars going through half stacks. It lacks the beef of a Gibson or the brightness of a typical Tele and just seems to get lost in the mix. I'm thinking of moving the P-rails to another parts Tele that has a lot more brightness but currently has some so-so GFS pickups. The big question mark I have is what to put in this Warmoth Tele. I lean towards old-school sounds and play stuff such as  Tom Petty, Steve Earle, Black Keys, Foo Fighters, etc. (not trying to nail any of these sounds in particular, just trying to give a rough idea of the range  I'm shooting for). I'd like some humbuckers that have some midrange power and a bright top end that will accentuate the tele-ness. Added bonus if they sound good split. Currently I'm thinking of a Duncan Jazz in the neck and a Custom/59 hybrid in the bridge. I would love to hear any opinions on what you guys think would work well here.

Thanks,
-Bobbie

 

[bagman67]

If brightness and cutting through the mix is your bag, I think the Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell may be the ticket. 


http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/humbucker-hell

 

[swarfrat]

I like the searing upper mid treble I get on the GFS Memphis. I'm also playing stainless steel strings

 

[DavyDave53]

What amp and pedals are you playing through?

 

[bob7point7]

Humbucker from Hell looks like an interesting pickup - I'm not too familiar with the Dimarzio line so I'll check out. I think I have GFS Memphis pickups in the other parts Tele. I could try swapping those into this guitar but I haven't been to crazy about them so far. As for amp and pedals, I typically play through an 18 watt Marshall with a preamp based on a Bluesbreaker or a tweed prolux with octal preamp and 6L6 power section. I usually play rhythm stuff with no pedals and use a homemade Tubescreamer for leads.

 

[DavyDave53]

Have tried using a Dallas Rangemaster (or a clone)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Rangemaster_Treble_Booster

 

[justinianus]

I use a combination of P-rails neck and JB bridge, with Fender TBX tonepots on the two seperate singlecoils on the P-rails to brighten/beef them up, I love em. I would recommand trying TBX tone controls before swapping the pickups, they really improve the sound IMO.

here's my tele thinline '72

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=22702.0

 

[ThtOthrPrsn]

You may want to check out the Dimarzio Titan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2KCFBKlho4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vynu4_0ERp0