Sunday, June 23, 2013

Quarter Pound Pickup for my Telecaster review - if it ain't broke, should I still fix it?

Debating if I need to make a stop.  I saw some pickups a while back and might need to turn around to pick them up.

My custom pine Tele
First off, I'll give the specs of my Telecaster.  She's a Logan Custom Tele made out of old pine.  The current pickup set is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Tele bridge and a Quarter Pound Strat in the neck.  I run 500k pots with a .22 orange cap.  I originally played with these pickups in a Ritchie Blackmore Signature Strat through my 5150 combo (a story for later) and loved them so much I ordered a set for my Tele.

The Quarter Pound pickups have a tight low end, pronounced, humbucker-esque mids and sizzling highs that don't get too bright.  Low on the twang end for Tele pickups but they can chug and pinch harmonic with any humbucker.  The midrange drives like a humbucker but the overall sound is tight and retains that single coil character.  The Quarter Pound pickups are powerful, focused and modern and will work great when you need humbucker power but want that single coil sound.

Unfortunately, the 5150 combo that sold me these pickups is retired and sinking into the floor.  I currently play a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 because I need a clean sound more than I need a distorted sound.  Even though the JC120 has serious headroom, I feel the Quarter Pound pickups might be driving it harder than necessary.  You always hear "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but I don't believe that applies to tone.  My Pinecaster will make any decent pickups sound good and I feel I may be missing out.

I've rewired this guitar more times than I'd like to admit and wish I still had the previous pickups.  Should I turn back and see if I missed something or just keep going and save my coins for later stops?

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