Recommend me a set, what are my options?

[thrashmetl]

So I just got me a Danocaster and I love the beast to death, but I had Dan put in the Custom Shop Nocaster pickup set and I'm somewhat disappointed, mostly with the neck pickup, so I think I want something else. Here's what I'm looking for.

I love the bite of Alnico II/III pickups, so that's what I want. I want something that that's less twangy, something with more of a rock/blues beefiness and I'm not opposed to something with more than vintage output like a Broadcaster-ish pickup as long as it does cleans well.

As far as the neck goes, my main problem with the Nocaster neck was that it was so much darker than the bridge and the output seemed to be lower too, the pickups didn't match well at all. I really just want a sweet bluesy neck pickup that matches the bridge well.

That being said, I love Buddy Whittington's tone with his Lentz HSL which I think has a Broadcaster-ish bridge pickup in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lIjrcLjBMA

Recommendations???????????

I've been looking into Don Mare pickups and everyone seems to love them, the Donocaster set sounds intriguing but does he have something with a little more output? His S-Telly Strat type neck pick-up sounds interesting as well. Anyone had any experience?

[Lathem]

I see no one has responded yet...

You could put everything I know about pickups in a thimble and still have room for your thumb, but FWIW Dan used a Peter Florance Voodoo TE-60 set in my Danocaster, and I couldn't be happier. I'm truly amazed at the wide variety of tones these things can generate. If I were you, I'd give Dan a call. I didn't request any particular set of pickups or wiring configuration when I ordered my guitar from him; I just very vaguely described what I was looking for, he asked a couple of clarifying questions, and he proceeded hit the nail square on the head.

Good luck!

[Colt W. Knight]

You can't hardly beat OC Duff pups

[robt57]

Put nickle cover on the neck Pup ? Aren't they a plated brass cover on those??

[graphs]

I'm sure if you called Don and explained to him what you're looking for he could suggest one of his models that would best suit it +/or wind something to your specifications.

[yegbert]

The Fender Custom Shop Nocaster neck pickup comes with a nickel silver cover, and is the clearest and most trebly sounding covered Tele neck pickup that I've heard. Ask Dan if your Tele has a wiring scheme that darkens the neck pickup tone. If so, consider changing to the "modern" wiring scheme Fender started using in late 1967 and still uses today in many Teles; or some wiring scheme that will similarly let loose the full potential of that Nocaster neck pickup.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by yegbert

The Fender Custom Shop Nocaster neck pickup comes with a nickel silver cover, and is the clearest and most trebly sounding covered Tele neck pickup that I've heard. Ask Dan if your Tele has a wiring scheme that darkens the neck pickup tone. If so, consider changing to the "modern" wiring scheme Fender started using in late 1967 and still uses today in many Teles; or some wiring scheme that will similarly let loose the full potential of that Nocaster neck pickup.

+1
No way that a Nocaster neck pickup can be too dark - this has to be the brightest Tele neck pickup ever made, mine is actually brighter than my Nocaster bridge-pickup...

[thrashmetl]

Originally Posted by RomanS

+1
No way that a Nocaster neck pickup can be too dark - this has to be the brightest Tele neck pickup ever made, mine is actually brighter than my Nocaster bridge-pickup...

That's what I thought every time I played a Nocaster, but it's not for some reason. What's the difference between vintage type wiring and modern wiring? how does it effect the tone?

[yegbert]

Fender's specs for a Nocaster regarding switching:

3-Position Blade:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup (+ Neck Pickup with Blend control counter - clockwise)
Position 2. Neck Pickup
Position 3. Neck Pickup with No Tone Control (dark vintage circuit)

...and for an AV '52:

3-Position Blade:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Neck Pickup with Tone Control (Bright Vintage Circuit)
Position 3. Neck Pickup with No Tone Control (Dark Vintage Circuit)

Duchossoir describes the effect of this dark vintage circuit on position 3 for both these wiring schemes as a pre-set bassy sound.

Fender posts a decent wiring diagram online for many Teles, including the AV '52 but unfortunately not including the Nocaster.

Fender includes with the Nocaster set, a paper diagram showing a way to wire them. I have one, but no way to scan it and I don't understand all the subtleties of the differences between that Nocaster diagram and the one online for the AV '52. But I see both have a capacitor, one end of which is connected to the bottom of the volume control pot and the othe rend of which is connected to one of the switch terminals; and the Fender diagram for the late '67 modern diagram doesn't include a capacitor in a similar position. So I'm guessing that capacitor is key to the pre-set bassy sound. You might take a quick look and see if your wiring has a capacitor connected between the switch and the bottom of the volume pot.