New Tele - Looking for Bridge Humbucker Recommendation

[jjj123]

I just got a used, all-stock Fender American Deluxe Tele (2015) which is an awesome instrument. This one is pretty heavy, almost 9lbs. Sound-wise, it's pretty big and juicy with nice but not overbearing treble.

The noiseless pickups aren't bad, but I want humbucker in the bridge for heavy music (think hardcore punk with a metal influence, so riffing, soloing, chugging...). Definitely don't want to route it, so I am looking at these options that fit the current bridge:

Duncan Little 59
Duncan Hot Rails
Dimarzio Chopper T

Do you have any experience with these and can recommend one? Other suggestions?

For reference, my opinions on a few well-known humbuckers:

Duncan JB: Love it, my favorite pickup
EMG 81: I like it, love it on recordings but don't dig playing it that much for some reason
Bareknuckle Nailbomb: Pretty great, not 100% sold on the mid frequencies but overall I like it
PRS Dragon 2: A bit too tame (frequency-wise, the output is fine) but I like it overall
Dimarzio Tone Zone: Hated it in my ESP M2, might've been a bad fit with the guitar, just sounded dead (Duncan JB was much better in it)
Gibson Custombuckers: These could have higher output / more mids but overall I like them

Cheers!

 

[mrcak]

Got the Chopper T in a Richie Kotzen Tele. I dig it. Plenty of YT vids you can check out if you like the tone.

 

[boost]

If you like the JB, maybe go with the JB Jr. I had both the hot rails and the 59 in my tele at one time in the past. Hot Rails would be the heaviest, JB Jr. next and the 59 would have the least amount of gain, but still way more than a stock tele type single coil.

 

[GOHOINC]

Jb jr for tele.

 

[thenine]

I installed a Dimarzio Area T Hot in my Baja. I dig it alot.

 

[SDMF38]

I've got a Dimarzio Tone Zone t in the bridge of mine, and I've been really impressed with it. I've played everything from Fleetwood Mac to Shinedown on it. It's a keeper.

 

[jjj123]

Got the Chopper T in a Richie Kotzen Tele. I dig it. Plenty of YT vids you can check out if you like the tone.

Thanks, good idea, I'll check those out!

 

[jjj123]

If you like the JB, maybe go with the JB Jr. I had both the hot rails and the 59 in my tele at one time in the past. Hot Rails would be the heaviest, JB Jr. next and the 59 would have the least amount of gain, but still way more than a stock tele type single coil.

Thanks, but as far as I can tell, the JB JR doesn't exist for Tele, only for Strat... or do they make it as a special order?

Did you like the 59 in your Tele? Can you say whether it was dark/bright etc.??

Many thanks!

 

[SDMF38]

The JB Jr. Would be a custom order, but there is a video on YouTube where a guy made his own mounting plate for a tele and installed one. Sounded good, but depends on how crafty you are. I've played telescope with the 59 installed and wasn't really impressed. Really depends on the tone you are going for.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

DiMarzio Super Distortion Tele style. I have one in the bridge of my CS Tele.

 

[boost]

If you like the JB, maybe go with the JB Jr. I had both the hot rails and the 59 in my tele at one time in the past. Hot Rails would be the heaviest, JB Jr. next and the 59 would have the least amount of gain, but still way more than a stock tele type single coil.

Thanks, but as far as I can tell, the JB JR doesn't exist for Tele, only for Strat... or do they make it as a special order?

Did you like the 59 in your Tele? Can you say whether it was dark/bright etc.??

Many thanks!

I think SD will make you whatever you want if you call them. The 59 I liked better than the Hot Rails. It was clearer with more definition, but was full sounding. Not bright, but still clear. The Hot Rails is just full out gain. Heavy mids and no real definition. If you're going to play heavy and gainy all the time, the Hot Rails would be the way to go.

Neither of these pickups retained any of the tele character. Might as well have been a Jackson. I went with a Fralin because of this reason. However, this may be exactly why you will like them. I just needed something different than you do.

SD offers and exchange if you don't like them. Try the Hot rails and the 59 and if that doesn't work, go for the JB Jr. Doubt you could return the custom stuff, but who knows. Good luck.

 

[kunos]

Tried the Chopper, hotrails and tone zone in my teles in the past and I find it hard to pick one, they all have good elements.

I would say the Chopper is the one that will give you less headache when it comes to balance out the neck pickup. It's powerful and big without being overly loud, it is also the brightest of the 3.

The hotrail is crazy loud, load of mids, wonderful saturated tone but say goodbye to any tele vibe and the neck pickup will pretty much disappear volume wise in comparison. Of course you can put it super low to tame the hotness but that's the entire point of buying a hotrail.

The Tone Zone could sit in the middle between chopper and hotrail. I had one but it was micro-phonic so I had to choose between loud and gainy, couldn't do both. Potentially tho, it's my "perfect" tele minihumbucker.

FYI in my current tele (the Elite) I have a chopper just because of my bad experience with the tone zone.

 

[paulyc]

JB jr, and if you want more tone options a "smart" 5 way switch, so you can either split the JB jr to single coil or series/parallel for different tones...installs in place of the stock 3 way and will give you a more stock Tele sound in single coil mode...not exact but closer than just humbucker wiring.

 

[Little B]

Got Fralin blues specials in bridge and neck w/ 4 way +no load vol.Really dig em on my fender custom shop ash tele w/ g bender.

 

[Chris O]

Chopper T is a GREAT pickup. I've had that one in quite a few Teles.

 

[jjj123]

Wow, thank you so much guys - such great info and geedback!
A lot of these sound interesting, I'll look into getting a custom JB JR first! Otherwise you've really given me a few great ones I also need to check out. Appreciate it!