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Hey folks. I need some help pickup shopping. My main guitar is a tele deluxe with a BLK/TRI DRONE humbucker in the bridge and stock wide range at the neck. That bridge pickup is amazing and I love it and also it's no longer in production. I'm trying to get another guitar set up to use for my current project and I don't know where to even start. It's a G&L Fallout with a humbucker at the bridge and a P90 in the neck. The stock bridge pickup didn't suit me at all but otherwise it's great. So far I've tried:
Seymour Duncan Black Winter - Love the sound but it's way higher output so not a great pair with the P90. Sounds so killer driving an amp but my dirt is all pedals for this so I really don't need that much output
Dimarzio Super Distortion - My go-to for years but it just doesn't have the low end CHONK and the weird hairy character of that BLK/TRI
That's all I had in my parts drawer that seemed worth trying so now maybe it's time to buy something else. The band is a 2 piece and I'm tuning to drop B so I really need a pickup that captures the low end beef to carry things along but is still kinda balanced and medium-ish output. I never thought I would fall into the trap of lusting after unobtanium boutique gear but here I am. I'm looking for something by Duncan / Dimarzio / etc but I guess I could be open to other smaller builders. I know this is one of those "ask 10 people, get 10 answers" kinda things but really any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks

You might try a Wilde (Bill/Becky Lawrence) L500XL. They might be a little hotter than you are looking for, but they sound more balanced than other hot pickups. The L500L is a little less hot.


Another pickup I really like that I would have never tried if a set hadn't come in a guitar that I bough used for cheap is the Bareknuckle Nail Bomb. A pair of them came in a used Schecter I bought for something like $700.


I had a Black Winter in a guitar for a while, and these compare favorably.

How about the Seymour Duncan Pegasus?

X2N maybe? Very hot but balanced and you can roll off the volume a bit. The 80's schaller made OEM version sells for super cheap used, had one in a guitar that I really liked.

i feel your pain. i have a guitar with a BLK TRI WILDMEN in the bridge & nothing else sounds quite the same.

my solution is just to not try to replicate that sound with other guitars & just go for a completely different vibe on each guitar. that doesn't help at all if you're trying to have the two guitars be essentially interchangeable for live shows, etc.

Very relevant to my interest!

I have the same guitar, and have recently decided to do the same thing, swap the bridge...though I have yet to get to it. You have already saved me from trying one or two combinations I already considered

Phosphene Audio wrote:You might try a Wilde (Bill/Becky Lawrence) L500XL

I've got some kind of Bill Lawrence blade humbucker in my drawer but I wasnt going to try that one because all I remember was that it was pretty hot. I'm looking for something more on the medium-\but-extra-zesty range of things

Disarm D'arcy wrote:How about the Seymour Duncan Pegasus?

That seems like it could work for me. Thanks!

imJonWain wrote:X2N maybe? Very hot but balanced and you can roll off the volume a bit. The 80's schaller made OEM version sells for super cheap used, had one in a guitar that I really liked.

Honesty I'm too dumb to be worrying about my volume knob staying the right spot while im trying to kick out the jams

voerking wrote:i feel your pain. i have a guitar with a BLK TRI WILDMEN in the bridge & nothing else sounds quite the same.

my solution is just to not try to replicate that sound with other guitars & just go for a completely different vibe on each guitar. that doesn't help at all if you're trying to have the two guitars be essentially interchangeable for live shows, etc.

Huh interesting, yeah I guess his pickups really are unique. Hope he drops another batch sometime. I'm not too worried about matching the sound exactly, I just want to be able to switch guitars quickly without having to mess with the EQ on my pedals and amp

Jero wrote:Very relevant to my interest!

I have the same guitar, and have recently decided to do the same thing, swap the bridge...though I have yet to get to it. You have already saved me from trying one or two combinations I already considered

It's a cool little guitar. What pickups have you been thinking about trying?

maybe an EGC humbucker would work. it's similarly huge/clear in comparison to the BLK/TRI pups i've tried.
https://reverb.com/item/2472637-electri ... 022-chrome

strike that: get this, before i buy another one - https://reverb.com/item/49171952-blk-tr ... t=49171952