Esquire pickup options

[marshman]

So, I'm down to the last few parts for my Esquire, and a pickup is among those bits.

I play mostly Classic Rock & Blues, mostly in the slightly dirty 'touch of hair' range to Billy Gibbons 'grind', but never heavy/hard rock or metal stuff (at least not on this tele) or high gained-music.

I THINK I want a stacked humbucker, so I can go from cleanish to dirty at the flick of a switch while maintaining a classic look. For purely sentimental reasons I am partial, but not exclusive, to Seymour Duncans, and they have 2 options that look like they're my speed. I have looked at a few others...Dimarzio has offerings, but I think of Dimarzios as high-gain specialists. I can't get to the Rio Grande site to browse. Also not opposed to having Cavalier wind something for me.

Any thoughts?

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Cavalier Fat, Huge or Humongous Lions are worth a look. Check out YouTube vids by TDPRI’s own @roknfnrol for some excellent demos.

 

[TeleFiveOh]

I put a Duncan stacked single coil (STK-3b) in my partscaster 'Esquire' and I'm very satisfied with the twang, the cleans and how it handles dirt. On the same clean amp with a Lovepedal Purple Plexi it has slightly less hair on it than my Les Paul Junior but that's not a knock on it. It does all that with no hum too.

 

[TheDams]

I have the Seymour Duncan BG1400 on my Esquire…

Really an amazing pickup !

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Sounds like you want the BG1400 or the Gilly.

Word has it that Rio Grande might not active anymore.

Cavalier can do a tapped pickup. Some options there. Rob is great to work with.

 

[marshman]

That BG1400 really is leading the pack for this application, but the demo on their page seems like it's a bit too dirty. Change my mind.

When I try to check the Rio Grande page, I just get some guff about the site not being secure and my browser won't let me go...if everyone else is experiencing the same thing, sounds like trouble.

 

[ChicknPickn]

You owe it to yourself to check out a Bill Lawrence “noise free single” in the 290 series. I’m a big fan of the L298TL. Real quality at a nice price, family business. Awesome quiet pickup with a lot of character.

https://www.wildepickups.com/products/noisefree-tele-lead

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I'm another happy Cavalier customer. My Esquire has a Fat Lion that goes from clean to dirty at a turn of the volume knob. If that's not dirty enough for you, I'm sure one of his higher-wind pickups (Huge Lion or Humongous Lion) would be. And if you need more room between your clean and your dirty, his tapped pickups are the ticket.

 

[markophonic]

I have a Cavalier Fat Lion in an Esquire I built last month. I believe it was the Perfect Choice for an Esquire pickup. It just works. I wired mine with the Eldred mod and I can't believe the amount of different tones I get with one pickup, the switching options and a volume and tone control.

I HIGHLY recommend the Fat Lion!

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Oh… I forgot to mention. If you want a slightly sweeter sounding overwound pickup for an Esquire, don’t overlook the Cavalier Nocaster holy grail.

 

[DisharmonicDark99]

That BG1400 really is leading the pack for this application, but the demo on their page seems like it's a bit too dirty. Change my mind.

Interestingly enough, I had the BG1400 and love it. However I just went and checked out the sound samples on the Duncan page for that pickup and you're right, it does sound particularly dirty/gnarly there. In my experience with that pickup I've been able to get it to growl when I want to but I tend to run it mostly clean with some reverb and delay for slapback, and I think it sounds pretty authentically twangy especially for an overwound stacked pup. When you click on the sound sample and switch it to "clean" rather than "dirty" or "crunch" it does sound closer to what I'm used to, but I've even gotten it considerably cleaner than that. So I don't know, obviously it's very subjective but from what you initially described that you were after my first thought was "Oh the BG1400 is what he needs." For me it fits precisely into that range of clean to a bit of hair to BG grind, and doesn't lose too much of the Tele twang that a lot of other hotter stacked pups tend to sacrifice to my ears.

 

[Beebe]

I really like the the Revel Humdinger Blackwatch Wind.

It's not stacked. It has two in-line coils for hum canceling. One around the three top poles and one around the three bottom poles.

I haven't tried stacked, so I can't comment on that.

Jesse offers a couple different winds, and the Blackwatch is just north of 10k and uses Alnico3 magnets.

His prices are fair for custom options, so you can probably have him wire a tap for a lower output.

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

Oh… I forgot to mention. If you want a slightly sweeter sounding overwound pickup for an Esquire, don’t overlook the Cavalier Nocaster holy grail.

+1 on the Holy Grail. That’s what’s living in my Esquire and I gotta say, there’s a reason why Rob named it the Holy Grail.
Just wow!

 

[Sax-son]

For Esquires, there are plenty of choices, but based on my experience I can only advise two. The BG1400 or the Cavalier Nocaster Holy Grail. I have them both and love them equally. The BG1400 was designed to give a one pickup Esquire a "big sound". The Holy Grail is just a fantastic pickup unto itself. Either way you can't go wrong with either in my opinion.

 

[robt57]

Cav or maybe do what I did in my 48 proto DIY. As Esquire as it gets. Dimarzio Pre B One with no tone circuit or tone wired to jack side of switching.. I opted for no tone, and it stays bright as you turn volume down till about 1/2 on git..

 

[Sax-son]

Dimarzio Pre B One

Another really good choice for a reasonable price.

 

[robt57]

Another really good choice for a reasonable price.

PreB1, in Broadcaster fashion, can get your tone pretty damn snarly and then some if that is what you are seeking.

I've touted the tapped Bakers/FatLion Cav I have here in threads also. That on a quick pop of switch of your choice to the fat is attention getting thru a pushed front end of a tube amp with a gainy front end.

Get Rob to wind it 6.5-8/10-11k or similar.

More creatively you could put in a stack and do a spin a split pot of the coils in parallel, I digress..

 

[DavidP]

A big +1 on @robt57; get Rob at Cavalier to wind you a tapped pickup.
When you install it, also put in a no load tone pot for an additional bit of oomph on demand!

 

[robt57]

A big +1 on @robt57; get Rob at Cavalier to wind you a tapped pickup.
When you install it, also put in a no load tone pot for an additional bit of oomph on demand!

No load, good idea. I am a big fan of switching the tone circuit outta the equation. Especially for the voice of snarl I thing we are talking here.

My 48 Proto has like 10" of wire total and no tone circuit, add in the PreB1 and Snarl on tap. Diddlers shoud try this on for size and see if it sticks.

 

[viking]

Not everyone will agree , but I would just get a Cavailer Fat Lion or similar....in fact most bridge PUs around 8 k or over will do.....a Tex Mex might just do it for you..........
Important for me is a pu with enough oooomph , so it wont just die when the tone knob is turned down from time to time