Pickup suggestions please (type)

axisus

I may get cracking on my guitar build again. It's basically a tele of some kind. I'm wondering what would be an interesting pickup configuration. Here's what I don't want:

3 single coils (I have a great strat)

2 HBs (I have a great LP)

P-rails (have them already)

probably not trad tele (have one somewhere)

~So I'm thinking maybe P90s, mini humbuckers or something else??? I've never had a p90, so I'm thinking maybe one of those at the neck.

What would you go for? 

Maynehead

Sustainer?

Megii

I have a guitar I fitted one of these to in the neck position - was a bit of a gamble ordering it I suppose, but it worked out well, and in my opinion a really great pickup, and something a bit different:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Surf-90-Alnico-II-Rockabilly-Pickups_c_259.html

Adam_MD

If you've never had p90s then that's what I'd go for a good p90 makes a truly glorious noise. My next tele build is going to be a double bound 2 x p90 affair and might end up with a bigsby.

stickyfiddle

Filtertrons, or some slant on that theme?

meltedbuzzbox

If you can live with the routing I would go Jazzmaster pickups. Definitely the nicest single coil sound there is (in my opinion of course)

Second choice would be Jag pickups

ThePrettyDamned

Oil city alligator 90 for p90 in a tele pickup!

usedtobe

HB sized p90s.

HAL9000

P90 neck, splitable HB bridge.

steamabacus

I would stick with a tele bridge pickup (very different to a strat) with something different in the neck - mini humbucker. P90, one of Oil City's Cow-Tron humbuckers maybe?

ThePrettyDamned

steamabacus said:

I would stick with a tele bridge pickup (very different to a strat) with something different in the neck - mini humbucker. P90, one of Oil City's Cow-Tron humbuckers maybe?

Yeah that cowtron is nothing like any other humbucker I've used.

Chalky

Sweet P90 neck plus a humbucker bridge offering the choice between raging hot humbucker and spitting wiry bridge. Hence wisdom to @HAL9000...

thomasw88

irongear alchemist in the neck and irongear blues engine in bridge. Sounds fantastic

ICBM

Rickenbacker.

Pretty different from any other single coil. "Toasters" are medium-output Alnico pickups, "High Gains" are high output ceramics.

They would definitely go well with a traditional ash/maple Tele construction, or you could do a semi-hollow more like a real Rick...

GuitarZero

Teles with Filtertrons sound great.

p90fool

Gold Foils would give you something you don't already have.

rpr

Charlie christian for deep and mellow

Afore mentioned gold foil for bright and gnarly

or maybe some mix of the two?

Rocker

Piezo bridge. You get "acoustic" sounds into your pa if you use a stereo socket. @ICBM or others will advise on models....

mr_air

I say p90s as others have. Or a combination of p90 and some other kind of pickup.

OilCityPickups

I would second all those who have said a P90 ... but I would put that in the neck, and a really pokey, high output Tele pickup in the bridge ... the 'both on' combo is then absolutely HUGE.

ICBM

Rocker said:

Piezo bridge. You get "acoustic" sounds into your pa if you use a stereo socket. @ICBM or others will advise on models....

I really wouldn't. The 'acoustic' sound you get is usually fairly unrealistic at best, and they have problems with reliability - the individual saddle transducers are more failure-prone than the simpler strips that you fit under the saddle on a normal electro-acoustic.

I actually find a stereo split so you can run the standard magnetic pickups independently and put the *neck* one direct through the PA with a bit of EQ to bring out the top-end sounds almost as 'acoustic' and in some ways just plain better, without the problems.