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Does the QP for Tele (both lead and rhythm) retain the vintage tele sound? I want my MIM 50s RI Tele to have a slightly more aggressive tone (a little meaner of an attitude), and I’m going back and forth between the hot for Tele and the QP for Tele. Both the hot and QP look like they could fill the role, but I’m not interested in a very modern sound out of the pickups, just a hotter one.

The STL-2/STR-2 hot seems like the obvious choice, I just don’t want to pass up anything that might have been a better choice.

Thanks in advance bros.

The STL-2 with a tap will do exactly what you want. If you don't want to mess with taps, the JD can get plenty mean with the right amp.

I had a QP set for awhile and really liked them (changed pups just to change things.)

They're really not going to be quot;vintagequot; with that high output, but they are quite faithful to the vintage tele. They are a fuller and more aggressive set-very growly and ballsy-but I noticed more of a difference in the neck position (QP vs vintage). I always thought that the vintage rhythm pickups were kind of lukewarm and lackluster. The QP lead is very powerful and it retained the tele twanginess for sure. Both are fuller, fatter, a bit edgier. All in all, the QPs are a fun set to screw around with for awhile-great drive, distortion and feedback if that's what you're after. I set mine a bit lower from the strings and with low guitar volume they really cleaned up nicely, but once you juice them, hang on!

I currently own a JD and Jumpmarine lent me his Broadcaster lead a while back. They're both fantastic, but I wouldn't classify the JD as gutsy as the others although it's a totally sweet pickup-kind of a smooth/natural compression built in to it-a bit of spank and twang, but nothing like the edgy Broadcaster.

Hope that helps,
Dave

Cool, thanks guys. I've always liked the vintge voicing and the twank that my tele currently has, but always wished it had a little more quot;attitude.quot; I'm more of a humbucker guy, so I'm treading uncharted territories here.

Given the output of the QP and STL-2, should I be concerned with a compressed tone?

If you want slightly more aggressive with attitude, then you might consider the JD Tele lead (fat mids, smooth highs, a little weak in the lows) or the Antiquity I flatpole Tele lead (good mids, strong lows, and an interesting mix of smooth and raw highs). The JD is more compressed sounding than the Antiquity, which has a big and full tone. I also like the STL-2, which is very punchy and a bit compressed -- great mids and lows, smooth but trimmed highs. Any of these would work great with a Firebird-style mini-HB at the neck, but for a traditional Tele neck pickup I would choose the Antiquity I Tele rhythm or the STR-2 (although I have no firsthand experience with the latter). I have never used the QP set, but I've been told that they are steelier sounding than the STL/STR set.

I've got a set of QP's in my Tele and they rule! If you keep them lowered they will still twang like a Tele pickup should, hit some gain and they rip right through the mix! Excellent! I wish I would have tried these years ago. I don't notice much compression, unlike the Vintage Stack that sounded very compressed. If you want your Tele to ROCK these are your pickups!

Bruce Springsteen uses QP's in his Teles for a long time. Always sounded like a Tele...but louder. So, IMO, a Tele with QP's will still sound like a Tele...but louder and fuller.

That said, if you're a humbucker guy and want your Tele to have a little more of that tonality, I'd go for the Jerry Donahue.

Lew

Awsome guys, thanks. I'm now leaning heavy on the QPs. Before I do anything I need to measure the resistance of the existing pickups just to see how weak they are compared pups like the JD.

Thanks again guys.