Pickup choices

[JB RETRO]

My next guitar build is in the planning, almost starting, which is a ' Pawn shop Strat' tribute. It has a Humbucker in the bridge position and a single pu in the neck, kind of like a Tele. I would like to split the humbucker. I'm thinking something heavier in the bridge and something a bit old school or bluesy in the neck. Am limiting it to Entwistle and Toneriders. Which ones do I choose. I need some opinions. JB

[ILRGuitars]

JB...I have a TL-Q1 with a Tonerider Hot Classic in the neck. If you are keeping a single coil in the neck, then you can't go past it. Beautifully clear, great tone, plenty of volume and a good price too.

[JB RETRO]

Tonerider hot classic. will have a read up. thanks IRL. Just need the humbucker now

[Andy40]

Pretty cool idea JB. I too have the Tonerider Hot Classic in the neck of my TLA-1R. Its awesome. I'd say if you were tossing up between a tele neck pup and a strat neck pup, I tend to find the teles are a bit smoother in the neck that the strat neck pups. If you want more edge with your single coil, I'd go with Tonerider strat neck pup, probably the classic blues.

Any tonerider in the bridge would work. something overwound like generators, they can be coil split too.

[JB RETRO]

Thanks Andy, sounds like the Hot classics have the neck position. So now its between the Rocksongs and the Generators I'm thinking for the bridge
Extra question has anyone used the Entwistle HDN's and or the Nemesis. Can I mix the 2 brands? Thanks in advance

[DrNomis_44]

Thanks Andy, sounds like the Hot classics have the neck position. So now its between the Rocksongs and the Generators I'm thinking for the bridge
Extra question has anyone used the Entwistle HDN's and or the Nemesis. Can I mix the 2 brands? Thanks in advance

I've tried a couple of Zebra Entwistle HDN full-sized Humbuckers, they have a very high output and a lot of high-end to them, the Bridge HDN I got had been wired-up incorrectly when it was manufactured so that both of the coils were in parallel rather than series like they were supposed to be, so the Humbucking effect wasn't working like it was supposed to, I ended up taking the pickup apart in order to correct the wiring mistake so that the pickup functioned correctly, the neck pickup I got worked correctly though.

[wazkelly]

I dropped Dark Stars in my Son's Strat and kept a single coil for the middle so that it was HSH configuration. Did the 4 wire coil splitting and for the price they were OK but when compared to the Tonerider Alnico IV's installed in my EX-1 they sound much better as they have more mids and warmth which is lacking in the Entwistles. Depends on whether you want a Ballsy or Shrill bridge PUP sound. Tonerider have more options to choose from.

[JB RETRO]

Thanks Waz food for thought. I've steered away from the Dark Stars after listening to some demos and I'm leaning now towards the Octanes or Generators

[wazkelly]

Wize choice. If on a very tight budget the Entwistles are better than stock Chinese units as you effectively can get a set of 2 for the price of just one Tonerider. They are good for metal where mid range tones are not so prevalent but lacking versatility if you play more than just one genre.

[JB RETRO]

Ok, Rocksongs or Generators.