replacing tele pickups?

[jkhuri44]

A mate of mine wants to replace ...or add some pickups to his tele....he wants a more aggressive tone for metal, but still wants to have the awesome cleans of a tele, from the lipstick pickups (we're not sure if you can mix and match like this...we'll soon find out)

he's thinking of Dimarzio super distortion pickups made for Teles...

anyone know what these are like? or whether there are any other better choices?

I didnt really know enough to advise him well enough...

[TimS]

A mate of mine wants to replace ...or add some pickups to his tele....he wants a more aggressive tone for metal, but still wants to have the awesome cleans of a tele, from the lipstick pickups (we're not sure if you can mix and match like this...we'll soon find out)

he's thinking of Dimarzio super distortion pickups made for Teles...

anyone know what these are like? or whether there are any other better choices?

I didnt really know enough to advise him well enough...

Hey Jamil,
I'm a guitar player and have a tele in my arsenal of guitars. Not really a metal guitar is the tele tho...
Its hard to have the two sounds, as a tele does a particular type of sound in its own right.
My suggestions would be for overall top tele tones the following pickups;
Suhr Classic T's
Brierley Pickups (hand wound pickups from Adelaide) - best tele pickups I've heard
EMGs (more for the metal side you are after)
These would be my choices anyway..
Tim..

[jkhuri44]

yo tim.

yeah, i kinda guessed the tele aint the "go to" for metal...but the music he plays is very varied...and kinda wants an all rounder guitar pickup...

nice cleans, that are sweet for experimental stuff...all the way to "brutal" stuff...probably scratch the EMG's, cant be bothered with the whole active p-up business :P

any of your suggestions high output/low noise options??

-cheers.

JK.

[TimS]

yo tim.

yeah, i kinda guessed the tele aint the "go to" for metal...but the music he plays is very varied...and kinda wants an all rounder guitar pickup...

nice cleans, that are sweet for experimental stuff...all the way to "brutal" stuff...probably scratch the EMG's, cant be bothered with the whole active p-up business :P

any of your suggestions high output/low noise options??

-cheers.

JK.

The EMG tele range is pretty good - I'm an EMG user also (not in all my guitars tho)
The Suhrs are standard but great low noise, as I think the Brierleys are too, but Mick could hand wind them hotter if you required.
Best to call him and ask..
T..

[mfdu]

John5 manages pretty well on tele's. admittedly, i think he uses the humbucker-equipped customs?

i recently replaced the lipstick pickup on my lap steel with a seymour duncan hotrails humbucker.

it may be the type of thing you're after (i'd say as neck p/u, but you may prefer it as bridge p/u) - it has a good hot output for driving a tube amp, but still sounds more lipstickish than humbuckesque . . .

rock

chris
mfdu