Tesla Pickups - Single Coil sized

[Enduran]

Hey all!

Anybody use Tesla pickup's Single Coils, Especially, Plasma RS1 and RS2 is it any good? Is it sane to combine it in these few combinations? Because there isn't any Sound clips to be found online.....


PlasmaRS1 Neck - Plasma1 Mid - PlasmaRS1 Bridge?
Or
PlasmaRS2 - Plasma1 Mid - PlasmaRS2 Bridge?
Or
PlasmaRS2 - Plasma 1- Plasma-RS1?
Or
PlasmaRS1 - Plasma1 - Plasma RS2?

Sorry If its another one of those NOOB question that pisses you off. I'm learning.

Thank you for your valuable inputs!

 

[relinquish69]

I've tried Teslas and I find them seriously overrated. I was expecting something that would blow me away when I read all these positive things about the pickups. Unfortunately after trying them out (no idea what set), I've concluded that although they might be better than most stock pickups, they seriously lack character. I feel that's important when selecting single coil pickups.

Toneriders on the other hand are way better if you are into the vintage sound. At least it's specific. I'm using a set of Safaris in my MIJ 62 reissue Fender Stratocaster. What I can say is, they are cheap enough to try & definitely good enough to use. 1 pickup is like $50 brand new? Tell me that's not cheap. Probably the epitome of cheap & good.

If you are in to the high output single coil pickup thing, I would recommend Sky pickups by Kent Armstrong. Don't be fooled by the packaging. I've compared their rail pickups with Seymour Duncans on a Fender Mexican Standard Stratocaster side by side and I prefer my strat that was loaded Sky pickups. The Sky pickups were hotter. The guy who had Duncans loaded immediately went to buy a set of Sky pickups.

I'm not saying the Duncans were bad. It just lacked the output I wanted from a rail type pickup. My friend had both Duncan hot and cool rails on his Strat. 2nd position was really bad IMO.

Yes purists can claim that one is made in USA while the other is made in Korea but seriously if I'm after high output, I go all the way. I've fitted one set on another one of my Fender Stratocasters (This time is a Splatter MIM Stratocaster) and I have a push pull pot to split them. Online reviews have a tendency to be biased but I've gone through enough guitars and pickup combinations to come up with my own conclusions & recommendations.

My advice is, for tesla pickups, just try the guitars that are fitted with them at SV. Tonerider has plenty of soundclips online. Sky pickups I would recommend the rail type pickups. To be honest I have not tried the other Sky pickups but might intend to do so considering how much I like them on my Strat. I think the body is poplar but that doesn't really matter much right? Or does it?

 

[J.custom]

Can vouch for the bad coil splitting on the SD rails, sounded very thin..

 

[relinquish69]

Can vouch for the bad coil splitting on the SD rails, sounded very thin..

Yeah, it is quite thin sounding. However, it might also be split out-of-phase . However, the latter is pretty obvious to detect.

 

[Enduran]

Hi Relinquish69,

Thanks for the Input! Much Appreciated!

My Strat is an SX Stratocaster Copy, from the Beginner Noob Pack.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/168310_486155862711_684422711_6234497_8099556_n.jpg

I'm looking more toward using Single Coil sized Humbuckers or Stack Humbuckers for my Strat. Since Technology has allow for that to happen...
Purist would say I'm distroying the Sweet single coil sound that Strats are Famous for.

I play generally Rock, Hard Rock, Grunge and some Metal. So I prefer a more rounder ad Fatter sound from my Guitar. The Reason why I had gotten a Les Paul Copy.....

So Sky Pickups.....
Where to get them In Singapore? What are the Price range?

I've got another Question, What's the Different between a Rail Pickup and a Compressed Single Coil sized Twin/Stacked Humbucker? I've always been wondering.............

 

[Enduran]

Oh and another Question!

What's the different between the Cool Rail and the Hot Rail Pickups?

I can't access the Official Sky pickup's Website for any Research at all....
Google Chrome Warns of Malwares on the Website......... Weird much!

 

[J.custom]

You're slightly misinformed. There's no such thing as stacked humbuckers, I think what you're referring to is stacked single coils. There are 3 different single coil sized pickups:
1) True single coils, the original and traditional stuff, no humcancelling, no stacked coils no rails etc.

2)Rail-type 'single coils'. If you look carefully, you can see that there are 2 long magnets on this type of pickup and is essentially a humbucker fitted into a single coil, that's why you don't get any hum. You still can get single coil tones on these, but they tend to sound fatter and lean more towards the humbucker side.

3)Stacked Single coils. As the name suggests, 2 single coils are stacked on top of each other, cancelling out the hum. These, like the rail type single coils, sound fatter but sound more like true single coils.

'What's the difference between the Cool Rail and the Hot Rail Pickups?' Well as the name suggests, hot rails are 'hotter' which mean that they have more output, cool rails are not as 'hot' and have less output.


A bit confused by your post, so do you have a strat or a LP? or both?

 

[Enduran]

Hey J.custom,

I have both a Strat and a Les Paul, Both Copies.... Poor man I am.......

Thanks for the Correction!
and Thank you for the explanation!

I'm gonna Opt for a Hot Rail Pickup for Higher Hotter output!
I'm looking into Refurbishing my Strat to be a SemiSuperStrat
With HSH Set up using Hotrail - Standard Single Coil Middle - and another Hot Rail.

Cheers!

 

[J.custom]

Technically, HSH would mean that you have a full sized humbucker in the bridge and neck, so might want to take note of that incase you want to sell it next time.

I wouldn't advise going with that set up. I have found the coil split tones on the 2 and 4th position to be very thin. Most common config with the cool/hot rails, is to either have them all hot/cool rails, OR cool rails in neck and mid, hot rails in bridge. Of course there are other configurations, but these are the popular ones

 

[Enduran]

I won't be selling my guitar at all. It's mine to keep FOREVER! Muhahahha!!!

Anyway who the hell wanna buy a cheap SX Strat Copy? Which has been Mutated!

Hmmm..... Cool Rail - Cool Rail - Hot Rail..... Hmmmmmm...
Than what about Hot - Cool - Hot?
Any one tried that before?

I'm full of Whacky Ideas to refurbish my Strat into a Mutated Rock machine to play with!

My Parent's are gonna Kill me for using all the Time to study to think of this shit........

The screwed up Education in Singapore. Oh the freaking A levels..........................

 

[J.custom]

Well you never know. a hot rail in the neck position may sound a bit harsh though.. haha don't worry you're not the only one going through this

 

[Enduran]

Kent Armstrong Pickups?

This Sounds Incredible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZi7XXY1m8M

But I read from Google, the Sky Pickups are a copy of Kent Armstrong's Designs?

Where do I get these Sky Pickups in Singapore? And how much do they cost?

I'm looking for Option to swap out the Stock Pickups which are Muddy on my SX Strat!

 

[Enduran]

Where can I get these Sky Pickups by Kent Armstrong in Singapore? And how much does it cost?

 

[relinquish69]

Sky Pickups are designed by Kent Armstrong. The original Kent Armstrongs could easily cost $300+ SGD.

Guitar Connection is selling them at $70 a piece. Cheaper compared to Duncans. I like Dimarzio Cruisers too (I own an Ibanez AT300) but they are expensive compared to Sky pickups.

Actually to really push the limits of your guitar, throw in an EMG afterburner to give your signal a boost. I have that combination on my Stratocaster and it's a monster D:

 

[Enduran]

$210 for a Set of 3 for my Strat..........

Hmmm....................... I need money to fall from the sky!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcYuzoQQQ8

If i go on, the Refurbishment will cost more than the guitar originally cost! Damn!

But I'm interested in seeing how i can Modify and Create a Monster Strat! With Superb Tones to bring EPIC WIN\m/ to my Guitar Playing!

 

[J.custom]

$210 for a Set of 3 for my Strat..........

Hmmm....................... I need money to fall from the sky!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcYuzoQQQ8

If i go on, the Refurbishment will cost more than the guitar originally cost! Damn!

But I'm interested in seeing how i can Modify and Create a Monster Strat! With Superb Tones to bring EPIC WIN\m/ to my Guitar Playing!

IMO, 70% of the tone comes from the amp. Another part of the equation you have to consider

 

[J.custom]

$210 for a Set of 3 for my Strat..........

Hmmm....................... I need money to fall from the sky!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcYuzoQQQ8

If i go on, the Refurbishment will cost more than the guitar originally cost! Damn!

But I'm interested in seeing how i can Modify and Create a Monster Strat! With Superb Tones to bring EPIC WIN\m/ to my Guitar Playing!

IMO, 70% of the tone comes from the amp. Another part of the equation you have to consider

 

[relinquish69]

The thing about SX is that the wood is very good. Alder body strat type guitar for around $200 is already a very good start to building up your tone.

My stratocaster is equipped with probably a poplar body but I believe these pickups would interact better with alder. All I know is that my whole purpose of creating this stratocaster is to push the limits on a single coil pickup haha. It's something specific that I want and it's also like a once and for all thing so what the heck man.

 

[relinquish69]

IMO, 70% of the tone comes from the amp. Another part of the equation you have to consider

Have to agree with that. As long as your amp has at least a 10" speaker, lots of good tones will come your way. Don't be too concerned about the preamp section. Can always use pedals to compensate haha

 

[Enduran]

I have a Pretty Decent Solid State Amp. The NuX Mighty 15 and run in a Beta Aivin Distortion Pedal. Cheap Set up but it should suffice for the time being. Until i really have more Money...........

Everything is about the $$$$$$$$ Hahahahahah

Yeap, Since I have a good "Blank Canvas Sheet" which is my base of the good SX Alder body, with the same sentiments about pushing the Limits of a Single Coil pickup to get great tone.

I might be giving the Sky pickup Cool/Hot Rails a try. First save money.......
And first....... Restring and re-setup............. and redo the Hardtailing of the Guitar......