Which humbucker for my CVC?

[plymman]

I love my Squier CVC but I'm thinking about swapping the neck pickup for a humbucker to get a bit more variety of sounds out of it. As it's already routed for a humbucker I though I'd go that route to give me a slightly fatter, more rocky sound. I still want to keep the bridge pup as it is as I still love that tele twang I can get from it. I'm in the UK too if that makes a difference (a lot of pickups seem to be US only, or difficult to get hold of over here).

Any suggestions folks?

[el cheapo]

For the sound you are looking for, I don't think you could go wrong with a GFS Mean 90. I don't know about availability across the pond, but I'd be surprised if they wouldn't ship to you. I have their Vintage '59 myself and like it just fine. Good luck!

[plymman]

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it.

[kmac]

I just put a lollar firebird in the neck. Its unbelievable.

[plymman]

How does the Lollar sound? Does it tone down the 'twang'? I love the twang from the bridge but it would be nice to have a deep, twang free, chiming neck pickup to give me the variety I crave.

[BoogerRooger]

As you're in the UK check out Toneriders - excellent sounding and great value. One thing to take into consideration though, is that the CVC pickups are pretty low output. Putting a humbucker or P90 in the neck might blow away the bridge pup if it's not of a similar low output.

[plymman]

That's something I hadn't considered. Is there an easy way to know what would be a suitable output?

[BoogerRooger]

The output is usually given as a reading in ohms (but it's a bit more complex than just that). The CVC readings from someone here are 5.8 ohms Bridge, 6.4 ohms Neck. The websites for the companies making pickups will give ohm readings for their models. So you could try seeing if any match.

One thing you could do is post your question in the Telecaster Discussion Forum. More people are likely to see it there who might have found a good match - and it's still discussing Telecasters!

Good luck with your search.

[AirBagTester]

I also have a CVC and this is something I'm interested in too.

[kmac]

The lollar is like a fat full single coil. It is great on its own. Cleans are fantastic and it takes pedals extremely well. Awesome tone in the middle too.
I put a TX special in the bridge. I play mostly bluesy rock/slide. This combo is totally badass.

[kmac]

The lollar measures 6.2 and my TX comes in at 9.4 if I remember. They balance quite well and the tonal variety is unbelievable. Can't say enough about the lollar.

[Led_Tele]

I put an Epiphone generic paf type humbucker in my CVC neck and a Dimarzio Twang King in the bridge with 500K pots. The stock bridge pup was way too weak for me. Any paf type will sound great on its own in a tele neck position, but will be louder than the bridge position. And the in between position seems a little worse than a trad tele, but not too bad.

Any low wind paf type is worth a shot IMO. The minihum would be a great choice too. The Duncan SM-1 is the one the 52 hot rod uses. The Lollars are probably great too, but a bit more spendy.

[gwjensen]

I just got the Lollar El Rayo. Very impressed. Brighter and less mid-rangy than most 'buckers. Has a P90 quality to it. Installed it in my MIM to replace a Duncan '59, which was too dark. The Lollar has more clarity and responds better to eq changes. Expensive though...