software

I want a nice rockabillish clean (Smooth, warm, but not icepickey), but i want a nice bitting, gritty overdrive, and I want plenty of twang.

I was listening to some SD and rio grande clips and the rio's are sounding pretty good, i'd probably be looking at a Muy grande or half breed.

I'd kinda like a little less icepickyness, a little warmer, and a healthy amount of twang.

I want a very useable clean out of the things.
This Qp probably has the worst cleans of any pickup I've ever tried.

I was about to go nutty for EMG's and I listened to the sound clips and it just didnt sound like it had any balls to me.

I've had good results with a Jerry Donahue lead and SM-1 in my solid ash tele and the Hot Lead tappded paired with a Pearly Gates in the neck.

Both the JD and STL-2 have good driven sounds and good cleans, but the STL-2 will give you the option of a fatter, higher output sound when you need it.

I should have my 5/2 neck and Alnico 2 broadcaster installed this week I'll report back to you on it.

I didn't have problems with the cleans on my QPs.

Luke

i cant get a clean tone with the qp on the 5e3 but that thing has no headroom, other than that ive gotten decent cleans with the qp tele lead. its punchy but works welll in a mix


Originally Posted by MephisI was about to go nutty for EMG's and I listened to the sound clips and it just didnt sound like it had any balls to me.

The EMGs I had were very cold and clean to my ears, almost to the point of sounding like piezo acoustic pickups.

Last year I gutted the Tele and went with a Little 59' in the bridge and a Classic Stack in the neck.

The Little 59' is the champ, hands down. With a coil-split it does everything I could ask a Tele bridge pickup to do. I wouldn't hesitate to install another one in a Tele if I had one. With a little bit of consciousness about how the volume and tone pots effect the sound (roll off the volume a little bit for rhythm) it's a serious MVP for me.

I like the Classic Stack, but I'm not in love with it. However I don't think I'm in love with the standard Tele neck pickup sound. There's alot to like but the pony only has one trick, if you can dig what I'm saying.

Does anyone here have any experence with rio grandes tho?
And as silly as it sounds, I actually like the stock tele neck I have, it has a very eric claptonish sound to my ears for some reason, probably my amp. But if I change the bridge, Im changing neck too, I like to have a useable 2#.

My guitar teacher used nothing but rio grandes and he sweared by em, and hes had every pickup duncan makes, and alot of dimarzios too.

Im inclined to believe him after hearing the tone he was getting with vintage tallboys. I just want something a TAD warmer sounding than that, but I dont want it to drive my amp like the Qp does.

And I REALLY do not want to get a humbucker in the thing, sorry guys, just no.


Originally Posted by Mephis...as silly as it sounds, I actually like the stock tele neck I have...

It doesn't sound silly at all... I have a MIM Tele Nashville and I actually kinda liked its neck pickup, even though I don't usually like ANY Tele neck pickup. Those TexMex pickups are pretty good, especially considering the price. The only reason I swapped that neck p/u out was I was set on having a mini-HB in there. See my axe on the quot;Workshopquot; page at the link in my signature.

As for the bridge, look hard at the Vintage '54. That's what I use, and I'm not a country player, more classic rock, 80's, like that. It's pretty much Tele all the way, but I've never found it harsh. It can get downright fat with a Boss GE7 (inverted U curve) boosting it into a Marshall. The 5/2 is another likely candidate - that thing was designed from the start to give twangy lows with non-icepicky highs.

Well one of the other reasons the rio's are looking more appealing is the price, sure theres not much of a difference if I'm buying a sigle pickup, but it'd pay for my installation if I got a set.

And wtf is with the clean clips on the tele soundclips on the SD site? They sound horrible.And I also wana edit this in, the muy grande soundclip is EXACTLY what I was wanting in the way of a tele tone for cleans. Im sure because of its power it'd have great drive too. Its warm, hot, and juicey without sounding driven.

All of the Rio's I tried had a steeley edge to them that can get old quick.

It was a cool sound, but it's not very friendly, especially with overdrive on a bright amp.

I saw some wild tele pickups...

I wonder if they'd still have twang in my tele?

These are called S-90's They are a P-90 that fits in a tele's bridge (without modifaction) i'd have to go to GFS or something and order like a hot lil' puncher neck or something so they'd get close on output tho...


Originally Posted by MephisAnd wtf is with the clean clips on the tele soundclips on the SD site? They sound horrible.

?

I heavily recommend a SD Quarter Pound Tele for the bridge. You said that you don't like the clean tones from them, but I've never had any problems with that.

Howdy,
I'd suggest a vintage style bridge P/U with AlNiCo II magnets, since you say excess treble isn't desired. Search SD's website.I was budget-minded when I decided on DiMarzio's Twang Kings, and couldn't be happier! They're great for Bakersfield cleans all the way to early 70s 'Stones. They're perfect for my Mahogany Tele w/ Rosewood neck. Twang Kings are popular among Tele enthusiasts, just visit the TDPRI for conformation.
As for Rio Grande, I had a quot;Big Bottomquot; Tele set ( vintage neck paired with Muy Grande bridge) and was disapointed: too high octane in the bridge for me. Those huge pole-pieces reminded me of SD QP's-not my cup of tea. They also cost more than DiMarzio. Good luck! Eggman