Pickup suggestions

[Wound3rd]

Hello,

Mostly a lurker here but I've really enjoyed all the knowledge that gets passed around on this forum. I'm hoping you can give me a suggestion or two here. Recently purchased an SX Tele and did the usual mods - new tuners, nut, straplocks, pickguard, steel saddles, copper shielding and removed the neck finish. I had a Duncan Broadcaster pup lying around the house for what - 25 years or more? It's vintage in its own right now, so I installed it. I'm happy enough with the way the Duncan sounds but I don't care for the SX neck pup. Too wooly and dark sounding. Originally I had thought about a set of Keystones. I really don't want to spend a ton of money on this so boutique pups are out of the question.

So, my quandry is - go with Keystones and remove the Duncan, which I like very much or buy a neck pup to match the Duncan? My other solution would be a set of Dimarzio Area T's and that would be the most expensive thing I'd want. I have a set of the original Virtual Vintage pups in my Strat and I'm pretty happy with them. Noise is an issue with single coils as my playing is done in church and lots of buzz is undesireable even in a contemporary setting so for that reason I'm leaning toward the Area T's. I want Tele twang and and a bit more snap and sparkle from the neck. The Duncan handles all the flavors of OD I throw at it just fine, albeit with added noise as the OD increases and then goes back to a nice clean sound easily.

Well there it is - Keystones, Area T's or a new neck pick-up and which one to match the Broadcaster? Hope this makes sense. Describing sound is not the easiest thing to do! Thanks!

[TG]

Area T's. Excellent pickups clean and overdriven. Noise-free without any hint whatsoever of the stacked pickup 'something-not-quite-right'-ness you can get with many noiseless designs.
I'll never consider any other tele pickup from now on (but I'm speaking of the bridge pup since I have Fender Vintage Noiseless neck pickups in my teles...I've no personal experience of the AreaT neck pup).

But if you get them be aware that they are very height sensitive so take a bit of time finding the right setup.

[maddog]

Check out Klein Pickups in Texas. Hand wound - decent price

[Telelite]

The Fender Vintage Noiseless neck pickups are good. I put one in my tele and find myself using the neck pickup more and more. It also balances up well with the bridge pickup. If you know anybody who has one fitted to there tele have a listen. Don't know much about the other reputable manufacturers products. I suppose it's a matter of personal taste and the style of music you want to play.

[Ricky D.]

Why not just get a Duncan neck pickup to match your Broadcaster? Duncan makes first class gear. The STR-1 is the match for your Broadcaster.

[Roli]

Get an Esquire pickguard and be done with it.