Bridge pickup suggestion for recent build

My first build which I just completed, came out better than I could have imagined. See the thread here:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/307439-ive-read-months-first-build-time-your-thoughts.html
It truly plays amazing! When I ordered the electronics for it I wasn't as optimistic. I had some 250kb pots and .475 caps laying around, and I ordered a budget Desert dawg pickup. The sound is a bit brighter and chimney than I'd like. My KERRANG has a little too much ANGGGGG.

So I come here looking for suggestions. First I intend on putting in some pots and seeing what I get. After that, I would like to get a high quality pickup. I am open to anything. Right now, I mainly play humbuckers and also like p90 sounds. I play mostly hard rock along the lines of guns n roses. If I could get zepplinish sounds with this guitar that would be really cool

you may wanna just try a different cap.. .033 or .022 will tame the highs a bit... it's a bit less expensive than a new pup.... and if they don't do it for ya, you can move on to plan "B" then..

Ron Kirn

If you haven't, try lowering the PUP to lose some anngg

As suggested raising the pickup and swapping out the tone cap will help a lot - could actually be the solution. The other thing is 250k volume pot on a Tele does wonders for me.

I have used a Fender Hot Alnico-3 bridge pickup and I like it a lot for overdriven stuff - I mention it and play some on it at 1:45 in this video:

OYfYz6rz5n8

It's dirt cheap off of the bay and a nice middle ground between a humbucker and a Vintage Tele bridge pickup tone. It has some power to it, but there is also a lot of separation in the tone, so if you play a minor or major 3rd and then a 4th or 5th.. the changes in dissonance are a lot more pronounced, and they still have some athority to them - it's a great double-stop pickup.

Out of the bridge pickups I've used in my builds so far, the only one I'd say is "chimey" would be the Lindy Fralin stock wind.

I've also used a Tonerider Hot Alnico Classic and a Seymour Duncan Five-Two. Those are definitely on the brighter side of the scale.

Thanks for the suggestions! I did lower the pickup and it got better. Caps and pots are up next. Ron, I see the values you suggested. Are there any specific types that work better? Right now I have the green chicklet type. Here's a pic of my control plate
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t141/deejayfatcat/b1351f42.jpg
Has anyone tried the tele sized p90s that BG makes?

any cap of the appropriate value is fine... any difference in "tone" between two different makes of caps of the same value has more to do with the slight variation off the published values and not the way the thing is made.... or a preconceived notion of what the sound is supposed to be.

The Green Chiclet is fine…. I know, I know… yes I do use rather expensive caps in my guitars, I do it because I build ‘em like I would wanna see ‘em if I had plopped down that kinda $$$. If I bought a guitar like mine and opened it up and found a 3 cent cap (that’s what chiclets cost when ya buy a few hundred at a time) ,,, It’d be a big let down. I try not to let ya down.

You can try any standard cap, but I'd stay between .1 mf and .01 try .022, .033, and .047 if one of those doesn't do it.... then it's time for the scalpel.

make a couple of leads hanging out of the guitar so you can string it up and play it, then change the cap by twisting the leads to the wires and play it again fast... a multi-pole switch is best… that way you make the change instantly.

when making subtle changes, unless you can A/B them in a very short period of time, your recollection of the precise way it sounds erodes rapidly with in the brain. That’s just the way it is… if ya don’t buy into it, get off “guitars” for a while and explore audio in general at an analytical level.

These guys that say they ripped apart a guitar and change some insignificant part and now hear myriads of angles singing are nuttier ‘n a Claxton Fruit cake. The brain just doesn’t work that way.

r

Thx for the advice Ron! I have the .047 in there now so I'll try the other values. I have a question though. Does the cap do anything if the tone knob is at full level? I would think no, only the pot value comes into play. Correct me if I am wrong. It will have effect on the forward switch esquier wiring though, right?

at the most basic level.. the way a cap works is it gives the high frequencies a way out.... when the tone is cranked all the way, the cap is doing it's max.... turn the tone all the way down (max treble) and the tone cap is for all practical purposes out out the circuit...

the bigger the number... the lower the cut off point....so a .047 will make it sound more bassy than a .033 but only with the tone knob cranked all the way...

there are subtle things it can do to the pickup, but they are so very subtle, that unless heard in an A/B comparison it would never be noticed... except by the guys with the million dollar calibrated ears that want to argue the point now despite the fact that they have been playing rock, for 50 years and swear it hasn't damaged their hearing any.. :wink:

Ron Kirn

Thx for the advice Ron! I have the .047 in there now so I'll try the other values. I have a question though. Does the cap do anything if the tone knob is at full level? I would think no, only the pot value comes into play. Correct me if I am wrong. It will have effect on the forward switch esquier wiring though, right?

Most wiring schemes, you're correct. The tone pot allows more (or less) of the signal, filtered by the pot, to allow only the treble tones, to bleed to ground, so you hear less treble. When the pot is turned all the way "up" there is no bleed to ground, when it's turned "down", as much bleed as can get through the pot's resistance is going to ground.

If you don't get the tone your're looking for by adjusting your tone cap, and want a new pickup, I really like Lawrence's Micro Coils. I know Pups are very subjective and their sound has a good bit to do with the rest of the circuitry, but I've really been impressed with them. I'm going to tune up my Challenge guitar and can't wait to put the set of microcoils I bought, into her. Lawrence has been a good long-term sponsor of this great website, too.