R.G. TwangBucker and new S.D. Twang Banger..opinions???

[LarryR]

Anyone get a chance to try either of these pickups??
The new S.Duncan twang banger for strat sounds interesting. Anyone use the Rio Grande TwangBucker????can it do the best of both worlds?
Thanks
Larry R

[klasher]

I have the Rio Muy Grande Twangbuckers, both the neck and the bridge. Pretty cool pickups. On single coil they sound A LOT like the old Eagles lead guitar player on tunes like Peaceful Easy Feeling and the first guitar lead part on Already Gone. On humbucker mode, they really kick. Very smooth distortion sounds. Not Metallica powerful, but still pretty powerful sounding. Having these kind of humbuckers in a tele is a very unique sound. On humbucker it actually does very well for the second lead part on Already Gone, which is the more rock sounding humbucker guitar tone on that song.
Pretty cool pickups all in all. The neck pup is really nice too. Does a nice Clapton/Santana tone on humbucker mode.
These are darn expensive though, especially if you're having someone else install them. But it really is like having two guitars in one, so it's worth it.
Hope that helps.
Karl

[klasher]

I just wanted to clarify, the Twangbuckers are actual humbuckers: they're two tele single coil pups wired together, so when you split them, you actually are playing a real tele pup.
The new SD pickups are single coils for strat designed to sound like a tele single coil...
Jerry Donahue has a similar pickup in his Fender custom shop strat.

[Ringo]

Hey if you want to try something simple and cheap to get the same effect, you can mod your Strat pu(s) by taking a piece of steel and gluing it to the back of the pu, I did this years ago , used a piece of hacksaw blade, wrapped copper tape around it, glued it the bridge pu on a Strat with some silicone rubber , works like a champ!
It made a noticeable difference.
I'd try that before I shell out a bunch of $ on one of the Duncan "Twangy" Strat pu's!

[LarryR]

Klasher, thanks for the info on the Twangbuckers...I am gonna try building a strat body guit around the bridge twangbucker......
and Ringo, thanks on that, I have an old Duncan SSL-1 laying around ,I will try what you said and see what happens......
Thanks again
Larry R

[TeleGeir]

Originally Posted by klasher

I have the Rio Muy Grande Twangbuckers, both the neck and the bridge. Snip... Karl

Thanks for the info on the Twangbucker, Karl. I will have the bridge one in my Tuxedo Thinline. For the neck I have chosen the RG Texas humbucker rather than the Twangbucker, partly because I wanted a "real" humbucker, partly because it comes with a cover, which I wanted.

Sure look forward to the day I can try it out...

Geir :)

[Butch Snyder]

The Duncan Twang Banger is more than just a Strat pickup with a metal baseplate underneath it. It's wound with with a little more agressive wind. It has Alnico II magnets as well. If I had to describe it, I would say it sounds most like a Duncan APTL-3JD Jerry Donahue Tele bridge pickup.