Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder?

[Tone Chase]

Any current thoughts about these pickups.

I tried to do a deep dive into reading many threads with a reference about them.

I have had a half dozen different Teles, with stock pickups. Still have 4 Telecasters. All very uniquely different.

The only exception is my 2000 or so American Deluxe Nashville B-Bender that I picked up used. It has a SD FiveTwo in the bridge. I really like all the tones in this one. Overall the best sounding Tele that I ever owned, but a really heavy guitar.

I am looking for something as versatile for my 2011 American Deluxe Telecaster. Such a great guitar, but the noiseless pickups are just OK. I may Nashville this guitar. I have a James Burton wiring kit for 3 pickups, 5 way switch, S1, and tone bypass pot.

Thanks.

 

[Guitarteach]

QPs are decidedly dark sounding.. i have one in the bridge of my strat. Fatter but with less sizzle.

 

[KokoTele]

QP's are a bit dark, but still sound Tele-like. If you like the Five Two because it takes the edge off of the icepick nature of a vintage Tele bridge pickup, you might like the QP because it does this more, but also sounds bigger. It still sounds Tele-like, though.

If the Five Two takes just enough edge off for you, then the QP will probably be too dark for your ears.

If you buy new, SD dealers can swap pickups if you don't like the way they sound. Just be sure that the pickups are in good condition when swapped.

 

[fleezinator]

I had them in my nashville build, my only tele. I was sold on them by way of SD's demo video in which they sounded like a versatile set, retaining some of a traditional tele sound. I found I couldn't get near the tone as demoed and decided I was after a more traditional tone than these provided. Darker, muddier, hotter are all fair descriptions of these. If that's what you're after, they sound great, but I already have a few in the stable that covers this ground.

 

[bgmacaw]

I have one in the bridge position of my Mosrite JR style kit build. It works really well in that guitar since it's paired with a Firebird-ish mini-humbucker at the neck. The pots are 500k with the tone being a no-load tone. If 250k pots were used it would be darker sounding.

 

[brookdalebill]

If you want a Tele bridge pickup that doesn’t sound like one, the QP is for you.
They are extremely dark, and mid-range-ey, like a hot P90.
SD has been making and selling them for decades.
Someone (not me) likes em’.

 

[Rustbucket]

I’ve tried one and couldn’t wait to get rid of it. And I’m not generally one who swaps pickups a lot.

 

[Censport]

If you want a Tele bridge pickup that doesn’t sound like one, the QP is for you.
They are extremely dark, and mid-range-ey, like a hot P90.
SD has been making and selling them for decades.
Someone (not me) likes em’.

*raises hand*

I have one in my main Tele, a partscaster I built for versatility. Had a L'il '59 in there originally, but it wasn't quite working for me. The QP is definitely getting the job done. But I may not be a typical Tele player, despite having half a dozen of them.

Unfinished swamp ash body, rosewood fingerboard, Gibson '57 Classic in the neck position with a 500K pot and no tone, separate 250K volume and tone for the QP.

QPs aren't for everybody, but then I've never found a pickup that is. Well, other than the SD Jeff Beck. Those things are everywhere.

 

[mjcyates]

Some peoples dark is other peoples muddy. The ones I have heard sounded muddy.

 

[Humbuckers]

I don’t know why people don’t talk nearly as much about the STL-2 Hot for Tele. Similar output as the Quarter Pound and not muddy.

 

[tfarny]

The Duncan JD is a great pickup that is trebly enough to sound like a tele pickup but doesn't tend to icepick.
The Dimarzio Area series are great if you still want noiseless. There are probably hundreds of other choices that are as good, I just don't know them.

 

[Milspec]

I installed them on an early build to chase some Springsteen tones. I liked them for that, but they are not very versatile nor is there any tele twang to them.

 

[Milspec]

The SD Vintage Broadcasters are a far more versatile pickups

 

[jrblue]

I had a QP in a Tele I used all the time playing lead in a pretty straight-up rock context, and it was my main drive sound, straight plus modest OD. I did not consider it a Tele-like PU at all in that setting, nor did I want the bright, piercing Tele tone. The QP delivered a hot signal (but not ridiculously hot) and a more full tone, though still with bite. I wouldn't use that now, but for the group I was in at the time, it worked great and people (including the rest of the band) really liked the sound. Leads, triads, fills, etc. -- I almost never played barre chords or any of that heavy strumming stuff, as we had a rhythm guitarist. And I don't think it would have sounded good for that.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I like' em. Have one in a Tele and one in a Strat. And I used one in middle position on an HSH Floydcaster for decades.

QPs have muscle and compression, yet when you dig in they still give you a distinctively singlecoil attack, unlike something like the Lil59 for Tele or the ToneZoneT.

Kinda halfway to P90 territory, just with better definition & note separation.
Still, this is a rocker -not a lot of vintagey character to be had.

If you want twang, look elsewhere.

 

[cyclopean]

QPs are decidedly dark sounding.. i have one in the bridge of my strat. Fatter but with less sizzle.

I’ve never found these to be dark at all.

 

[Vognell]

Definitely more bottom end and less extreme high end than a typical telecaster pickup... but I don't find them "muddy"... plenty of that "bell-like" single coil clarity, but with more meat than a typical telecaster pickup, and without that as much of spiky icepick quality you get on the bridge with a standard tele pickup. I agree with previous poster that they work best with 500K pots. I use the 0.047 uf resistors on the tone pots.

I use them on my Warmoth build and on a Fender Modern Player Plus (with a p-rail at the bridge).

You can order them with coil-taps so that you can reduce the impedence/output a bit, but I haven't gotten that to work to my satisfaction yet.

 

[Danb541]

I have one at the bridge paired with a duncan P90 neck pickup. I like it, they work well together

 

[PeteWaller]

I have one in my bridge position and love it with overdrive but dont like its clean tones. But when I play through the bridge pickup its always with some Blues Driver pedal engaged and my neck pickup for clean tones...which is usualy a strat voiced pickup

 

[TeleUpNorth]

Any current thoughts about these pickups.

I tried to do a deep dive into reading many threads with a reference about them.

I have had a half dozen different Teles, with stock pickups. Still have 4 Telecasters. All very uniquely different.

The only exception is my 2000 or so American Deluxe Nashville B-Bender that I picked up used. It has a SD FiveTwo in the bridge. I really like all the tones in this one. Overall the best sounding Tele that I ever owned, but a really heavy guitar.

I am looking for something as versatile for my 2011 American Deluxe Telecaster. Such a great guitar, but the noiseless pickups are just OK. I may Nashville this guitar. I have a James Burton wiring kit for 3 pickups, 5 way switch, S1, and tone bypass pot.

Thanks.

I used to have one in a MIM Standard that I converted to an Esquire. I loved how it sounded. Was versatile enough it was one of my main guitars in a cover band. Definitely a “hotter” pickup, but some nice single coil snap and jangle.