Muy Grande vs Fat Lion vs Nocaster

With a PAF, if you want matching output you need a 'bucker. Ant overwound single is going to be midrange-city. Duncan like 59, Hotrails worked well in my friend's Custom to balance WRHB.

 

Go to Cavalier's soundbytes page and watch Mike Nix's videos.
http://www.cavalierpickups.com/soundbytes.html
Last year his videos (Dagg's weren't there yet then, his sound source is also helpful) instantly made me a huge fan of Cavalier pickups. I'd had all those pickups that he tested in his videos (but Cavalier's), and the sound was so reliable feeling as if the audition was being done here in my apartment. All the pickups sounded just like mine, and Cavalier pickups were exceptional.

 

I have used a Muy Grande and a Duncan Hot Tele with a Duncan '59 bucker and they both work well...you still need to lower the bucker. The Hot Tele is super middy and loud but will rawk. The Muy does a better twang and sounds like a tele pickup on steroids but not a lot of steroids Not as much kick as the Duncan Hot Tele. No on the Nocaster...much lower output...I have a pair of them and they are wonderful but would not work with a big bucker. No experience with the Cavaliers.

 

I dunno why you'd buy a pickup, to pair with one that you don't like......

Get a Broadcaster type, for early Zep.....and never use the neck pickup again.

 

I've had a Muy Grande, a Nashville, a Fat Lion and a Fralin Blues Special. They're all great pickups. The hotter a pickup is, the more mids it'll have. None of the above are true twang masters. The Nashville was probably the most versatile. The Fat Lion is not too middy to my ear. The Muy Grande sounded a tad hotter than the Fat Lion. The Fralin was the clearest and most articulate.

I currently run a Fat Lion with a SD Jazz neck, 250k pots with a 200pf vol/treble cap. Perfect volume match. The middle position is to die for. I've flirted with an even hotter bridge pu like a lil 59 or Huge Lion but don't want to screw up that GREAT middle position tone.

I'd talk to Rob about winding to one between the Nashville and the Fat Lion. They're essentially the same other than the turn count.

 

Muy Grandes have a slightly darker twang... but do not sound like an overwound pickup at all. And if you have a treble bypass cap installed rolling back the volume will thin them out slightly.

I like it!

 

The Muy Grandes are pretty unique sounding aren't they? Almost a different flavor? Cool

I've got both "59 and a low wind Lollar in teles, and being the geek that I am I've tried tons of combinations. I don't do country either. I like complex pickups that have some muscle as well. It's still gotta sound like a tele. So of the ones I have:

The '59 is medium output and so is harder to match. Both the Lollar and Fralin Blues can hang and kick ass, but you'll have to work the volume with any of the nocaster, OV, SD Broadcaster, or traditional output guys. The Dimarzio Pre-B1 is dirt cheap and matches up perfectly. Think Zep 1. And I haven't met an amp it didn't like.

My bud rocks a Squier with a Seth Lover (similar to a '59) and a fat lion with 350k pots...tone for days.

Now I think a low wind Imperial is just about a perfect HB, and belongs on a tele. Same as before with the Blues Specials and Lollar Specials, just more so. The Dimarzio worked great, but sounded kinda one dimensional because the low wind is so 3D. Set the low wind lower, and the regular output guys all work. Fender OV, Lollar 52, Keystone, all matched well. Two standouts, much to my surprise, were Fenders...The old 52RI bridge was bright in a good way and killer in the middle position. And the Nocaster is absolutely stellar, and my favorite.

I guess the only ones that would suit your needs with both pickups would be the Lollar Specials, Fralin Blues Specials, Fat Lions, and the Pre-B1. And that 3D thing; that's only when compared to the Lollars and Fralins that cost three times as much. It's really a great sound.