Humbucker for Squier 51

I just picked up a Squier 51 yesterday & one of the first things to go will probably be the humbucker that came in it. It's just to shrill sounding & i'd prefer something that offers the tone of an old Gibson PAF & of course the cheaper the better. Any recommendations?

the Rio Grande pickups. They make a bunch of different ones, but I think you'd be happy with one of theirs!

Johnny Isaacs

The first thing I did when I got my Squier 51 is a pickup swap. I found a couple used pickups that seemed to be complementary in their output range, and when I installed them, they sounded tremendous. The bridge humbucker is a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom, and the neck pickup is a Dimarzio stacked humbucker. Total cost of the swap = $65. You might want to check the Duncan website for descriptions of their humbuckers and then go from there.

Have fun!

Dean

Quite a few '51 owners have been known to pop in GFS pickups.

-You certainly can't complain about the price...

GFS Humbuckers (http://store.guitarfetish.com/humbuckers.html)
GFS "Retrotron" Series (http://store.guitarfetish.com/vintagestyle.html)

Check out the Squier '51 Modders forum at http://www.instituteofnoise.com/squier51/forum/default.asp. Lots of good info, lots of different pickups.

Personally, I went with the GFS Bigmouth in the bridge, and am very happy with it. I'm using it for mostly lead-type stuff and it's got a great tone for that. Very fat and full, brightish and clear, mid rangey without being honky.

Before you do anything try lowering the stock one. Put the bass side barely above the pickup ring and the treble side about an eighth to a quarter of an inch below it.

I tried a few GLS pickups in mine and I went back to the lowered stock one.

Thanks for the replies guys. I think i'll try lowering it first & see what happens.