Rio Grande Big Bottom Tele Set

[El Tedesco]

...it finally arrived!
Well, it came already last Monday after a week long cross country journey with xyz.

Ok, I now proudly present:



They are still in their fancy box, but not for much longer and they will drop into their designated Tele cavities.

The Rio Grande Big Bottom Tele Set consists of a Muy Grande Bridge pickup and Vintage Tall Boy for the neck position.

It will go along with the Joe Barden Vintage Tele Style Bridge and a new Tortoise Shell pickguard, which just arrived today.

I am truly proud of my Rio Grande pups. It took a good deal of patience waiting for all the parts.
Besides, they are not so easy to come by, even though they're out there.

[El Tedesco]

work in progress ...



I happen to have a brass base plate, which I intent to attach to the bottom fiber bobbin.
I can't say what it will do, but it seems like a good idea.

Here is the assembly line up:

[El Tedesco]

Here a couple of pics from the construction site. It propably looks very familiar to most of you.

Just an intermittent photo study, lol. Meanwhile it's 2am and the Rio Grandes are in the guitar and the guitar is back together.





I took a low volume sneak peek. To say that I am excited is an understatement.

My first impression, those pups are out of this world. But I will hear more tomorrow with sufficient volume ...

[Ricky D.]

Rio Grandes are pretty cool pickups, and that Barden bridge looks real nice. Let us know what you think after you get a chance to crank that thing up.

[El Tedesco]

Here is how she looks now. I realize, she's not the same guitar anymore.

[El Tedesco]

I also realize that too many significant components have changed. The sound and vibe of the guitar has a completely new personality, which was intented. Now I have to give her a new name ...

The tonal character of those Rio Grandes is pretty much as they discribe: 'Bad to the Bone'.
I am sure that's not everybody's preference.

[El Tedesco]

The overall tonal character is pretty dry, esp in the bridge position.
Personally, I love the neck pickup. Almost sweet, but than again, it never looses it's dryness, although, it shows off as extremely rich in harmonics.

Fascinating are the harmonic dynamics, coupled with the sustain, which I attribute to the Joe Barden Bridge and it's brass saddles.

I have to get used to the bridge pup's character. Bridge pups have never been my preferred pup position, I have to admit that.

This bridge pup is ready to scream! I'm a coward ... I didn't dare to let it go. Not yet.
It has a very corny attitude with sharp trebles, not icepicky, playing down the lower strings, the sound really drops through the bottom, without getting muddy in any way. It keeps all the crisp appearance, ready to punch through.

Well, so far so good.

I really think those are Master Pickups, for those who like the character of it's make.

[Ricky D.]

Originally Posted by El Tedesco

... I have to get used to the bridge pup's character. Bridge pups have never been my preferred pup position, I have to admit that.

This bridge pup is ready to scream! ... I didn't dare to let it go. Not yet. ...

Sometimes, rolling back the tone on the guitar about 20% really sweetens up the bridge pickup.

Crank it up and turn it loose. It's made for that.

[El Tedesco]

I raised the Muy Grande in the bridge a little, that helped. Now I have a better balance between the Tall Boy in the neck and the bridge.

Also, I have a very low cap value, 0.0047mF, but I rather don't change it. The neck sounds perfect and the tone control really responds very well.

You're right, rolling the tone back just about 20% from the top end makes a nice difference.

The clarity of both pups is amazing! Both 'cut' real well. The difference in character is also very up front.

Nice thing here is the shift through the positions.

Middle position gives me lots of smooth low end from the neck without loosing the twangy edge of the bridge. Very nice.

Very low noise all together!

Ps, can anybody elaborate?
As I mentioned in the first post, I built in the brass base plate.
I just had the feeling it was a good idea.
Any posibility of a draw back effect compared with having the bridge without that brass base plate?

I am not going back and take it out just for experiment's sake. I think it's fine.
I just like to know what others' thoughts are on it.

[Ricky D.]

The plate can't hurt anything.

Don't worry too much about comparing with/without the plate. If you like yours the way it is, you are all set!

[El Tedesco]

Well, in that case, I am a happy guitar camper!

Those pups sound very beautiful. Lots of character.

From my experience, I know it takes some time to get aquainted with new pickups. Also, I believe in "burn in time".
Good pickups always sound better over time.

The Vintage Tallboy in the neck sings with a lot of sustain and a dynamic spectrum of harmonics. Nicely growling deep lows and slightly pearly in the high notes.

The Muy Grande in Bridge is rich in trebles with a distinct twang, ready to crunch and scream.
Lots of spank!

Both pickups respond very detailed to setting adjustments either on the guitar pots or amp.

[sjtalon]

hey that Tortoise pg looks real snazzy !!

You must have to keep your CL screw driver on the charger all the time !

Dang, I hate when you people brag up all these pickups. I have (and have had) Texas Specials, Tex Mex, Keystones, Am Std., MIM std. Tele, Fender Original Vintage, SD Hot rails, Fender Nocaster. I LOVE 'em all. You know what ? I guy just needs to get ONE MORE Tele ( I hope the wife doesn't hear this) to use for swapping pickups out every month and then you can have a chance to play with ALL of 'em

[El Tedesco]

To tell the truth, I am pretty exhausted with all the upfront evaluation thru mostly online venues and decision making processes about the products I want to find.
It's not that I am getting paid for it ... lol

There are many excellent pickups out there, but you've got to find the one that keeps the fire burning and matches your shoe size.

A great deal of imagination is involved in this process.

At this point I like to thank all the outstanding individuals who post/share their knowledge and experience here on TDPRI and other quality forums.

Muchos Gracias, Amigos!!

[yorick]

It is possible for you to make samples with your new pickups?
Cause I'm lookin for something for my partcaster and the Big Bottom set is one of the solutions.
In particular I'd like to now if with the neck one you can reach a warm clean jazzy sound without loosing the rock attitude with the bridge pickup.
Thanks!!!

[El Tedesco]

Unfortunately I can't record and upload sound samples.
But generally speaking, you are looking in the right direction, with those pickups, if you are aiming at the Rock & Blues direction.