Stuck for choice of new pickup

[df]

I've got a choice for putting in new pickups for my new Tele (pictures up after I've finished fondling with it)

I've decided between these 2 (Seymour Duncans)...STHR-1b hot rails and STK-T2b hot stack. I play punk music and don't really care about how real teles should sound.

Thanks for your opinions in advance...

 

[markedymark]

people are gona burn you for the "i dont care how teles sound sound". haha.
but erm, i feel hotrails is abit much, if youre thinking of playing marilyn manson and all, by all means, but punk not so heavy lah.

 

[Phanto]

go for it. best choice imo

 

[df]

Phanto, best choice as in hot rails or hot stack?

 

[penta-tonic]

well id say go for the hot rails. punk is an aggressive music and an aggressive sound so go for something raunchy. metal isnt really in the pickup, its more to do with the amp, the pickups just decides how hot the signal begins with unless ure a big fan of clean, but i suppose u arent those kinda anal vintage enthusiasts which even the cleanest pickup will never be enough so whack on. u could alternatively pm subversion and ask him abt his tele which has hot rails in them tho he uses it for his metal appetite but at least u can roughly get an idea of what the hotrails in the tele can attempt.

 

[trianglebiscuit]

me thinks the hotrail are abit over the top.

get the little 59 instead.

 

[Rory]

listening to the samples on the website i'd go with the hot rails. then get a nice Boogie mkIII and you can rock like El Hefe! 8)

 

[NewGuy]

Hey dude, the hot rails sound a like any classic maiden sound. I'm using a pair of hotrails. It has quite some punch (bass and mids) to it. Not ideally punk but great for hard rock, metal and stuff. Hope this help.

 

[ShredCow]

Frankly, why can't punk be done on a stock Tele?

Is there a need to change?

IMO, if punk is about the attitude, energy and vibe, then, what better than a low output, less compressed pickup? Something that you can channel your frantic playing thru?

I say, hold on for a moment and enjoy the tele for another mth or so.

 

[edder]

ditto that. i played punk with my Fernandes revival series Tele. too bad i was too stupid then to sell it off. fricken ace guitar.

 

[df]

Shredcow, I'd love to play it through my stock pickups ...but they squeal once I stop playing...I can't shut it up unless I turn down the volume...and some songs I play have that few seconds of stoppage which I can't turn the volume up and down that fast.

Hah, I'm not looking for them pickups to go into the metal territory anyways....hee..

 

[ShredCow]

Microphonic eh.

Bo pian loh...

Get cheap cheap ba. :wink:

 

[df]

Yea, shredcow...it's microphoic...I even sang through it...haha...what do you mean by get cheap cheap ba?

And, forgot to add one thing...I hope Hot Rails don't sound like EMGs...do they? I'd like something more towards the JB...not too heavy but not too light either.

 

[ShredCow]

Get cheap cheap means... get cheap pups.

If the kind of music you wish to play, there's not much need for some... uber articulate, super toneful kind of tone, you know what I mean?

You are looking for something punchy, something with good body, perhaps even something with a raunchy kind of flavour to it.

Don't go for the higher output stacked hums then, go for medium output...

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

+1 for medium output. However, a certain person I spoke to recently commented on distortion onstage...

It's like.. when the volume is so loud (at punk / rock / metal gigs), sometimes the tone of the guitar is completely lost, you can only hear the gist of the chord and you're completely wrapped up in the music.. you're just focussing on the people onstage.

So yeah, personally I've seen so many guys onstage who just plug in and crank it (gain + volume) up. In the end they all sound the same >>> no tonal differentiation.

 

[ShredCow]

But how much tonal variation do you want to see/hear in such genres? Its hard when you have so much gain going on.


Eh! Wait!
This is WRONG!!! Tone is IN THE FINGERS dammit!!! So they all HAVE THE SAME FINGERS!!!

 

[gsonique]

Bill Lawrence ... 8)

fender samarium

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

well honestly, perhaps I'm just indifferent or ignorant :lol: but whenever I hear bands like Simple Plan, Yellowcard, Click Five, the fact that 'modern tone' sounds so similar... I could not tell the difference!

But that whole 'heard-those-kids-play-live-and-they-all-sound-the-same' thingie is based on what I have heard locally, at certain gigs... not putting them down, but it's just the mentality of kids... and the influx of herd mentality.

 

[ShredCow]

I understand Crawldaddy, and I would agree too.

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

Absolutely, cheers mate!

But can't blame the players too. After all, after-market pickups (SD, Dimarzio, Lace, EMG) tend to have that certain characteristic for individual brands, and when truckloads of player play through the same pickups and into shared amps... what you'd expect is pretty much the same stuff :?

I know.. I know, I'm a vintage tone buff and vintage tone would always stay vintagey... hehe but I like it lah.

Good luck in finding the pickup of your dreams, df!