Scott! Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I've been playing around with my Telecaster lately, and I've been slightly irritated by the fairly low output pickups- it doesn't sound great when driving the amp and that sort of thing. I'm looking at a pedal to do something about that, and was thinking about a Boss GE7- it has some gain boost, but that isn't its primary function. Would a graphic EQ be the way to go on this or should I get something like a Micro Amp? I'm partial towards the equaliser because I need some mid boost as well, but if it wouldn't really help towards boosting the signal, I'd consider something else... Thanks in advance!Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HateEvent Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I need some mid boost as wellEMG SPC Control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott! Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Interesting... sadly no space on the control for wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Have you considered new pick ups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bailz Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Either new pickups or an Ibanez Tubescreamer.If it's a mexican tele I'd say do the pickups first, mim pickups are notoriously ball-less.I tried an MXR Microamp and the Boss GE-7 and they both did little for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gasss Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Most EQ pedals are noisy and the boss GE-7 is even worse. I'd recommend Slowdazzle's suggestion of changing pickups if you need a permanent change in sound.The Crowther Audio Hotcake is good for pushing a valve amp without compressing the sound too much or losing bottom end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 It's sounds like the problem of wanting a strat to sound like a les paul or vice versa, it's pretty hard to make a telecaster sound monsterously heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 For a pedal, some form of overdrive, so the Microamp, Tubescreamer or anythign else in that vein.An EQ would be more versatile as to boosting certain frequencys, but it depends on how you have your amp set - if its already starting to break up then it could be the job to push it over the edge, but an overdrive could give you more gain, it depends on how you have your amp set (using an overdrive channel on your fender?) and what sound you are afterthe best plan for if you have low output pickups would be new pickups, you can get higher output singlecoils or singlecoil sized humbuckers depending on ho wmuch gain and what sound you want, as always though, that would most likely be at the expense of some of the clean soundDavid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 This is what you need... http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/gpage4.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeid Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 It's sounds like the problem of wanting a strat to sound like a les paul or vice versa' date=' it's pretty hard to make a telecaster sound monsterously heavy.[/quote']I disagree, a pickup change really does make a difference. I put a Hotrail in my Tele and it did it the world of good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bailz Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I disagree' date=' a pickup change really does make a difference. I put a Hotrail in my Tele and it did it the world of good.[/quote']Had a hot rail in my Strat for a while, fantastic sustain. Put Quarter Pounds in now and they're fairly high output single coils. I really like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gasss Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I have a strat with a quarter pounder and a hot rail. They're both about 4 times as loud as the original pickups and great for driving the amp.Terrible clean sound though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bailz Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I really like the clean sound from the Quarter Pound. What kind of amp do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Teles have a distinctive sound. A change of pick-ups should make a big difference though...John 5 anyone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeid Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 I have a strat with a quarter pounder and a hot rail. They're both about 4 times as loud as the original pickups and great for driving the amp.Terrible clean sound though!Perhaps you should change the settings on your amp. I own the Hotrail and get a good clean from it. I also owned a Quarter Pound single coil and it had a great clean tone as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 This is what you need... http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/gpage4.htmlHave you got one of these? How much? How does it sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Have you got one of these? How much? How does it sound?I dont have one' date=' but I'm very tempted as I've been offered any pedal at a special price. There's one on his ebay page now: [url']http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/D-A-M-DAM-RED-ROOSTER-RANGEMASTER-GERMANIUM-BOOSTER_W0QQitemZ7408282104QQcategoryZ22669QQcmdZViewItemThe do exactly what it says on the tin(so to speak) boosts the volume and tone which you have full control over. Basically a modern take on the very rare Dallas Rangemaster as used by Tony Iommi, Clapton, Bolan etc.His workmanship and attention to detail etc is grade A!!!EDIT: Well, the one on ebay's gone because I just bought it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gasss Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Perhaps you should change the settings on your amp. I own the Hotrail and get a good clean from it. I also owned a Quarter Pound single coil and it had a great clean tone as well.I suppose it depends what you mean by "great", "tone" and "clean". High output overwound ceramic magnet pickups, whether humbucker or single coil are not really designed for clean sounds. I hate the over compression, lack of top end transparency and nasal midrange focus for clean sounds. It's not the kind of thing you can dial out on your amp. They all sound cheap and dead to me. Great for screaming leads though. Come to think of it, why do I even have those pickups in my guitar?I made the modifications when I was 18 (a while ago) and wanted to sound like Bob Mould. Now, I play more clean/OD than megafuzz. If I were to do it again and liked the sound of my strat stock but wanted more grunt, I'd probably go for hot vintage type pickups (texas special kind of thing). This is my subjective opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lime ruined my life Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Perhaps you should change the settings on your amp. I own the Hotrail and get a good clean from it. I also owned a Quarter Pound single coil and it had a great clean tone as well.My SD hotrail is pretty terrible clean in strat bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lime ruined my life Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 This is what you need... http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/gpage4.htmlare you sure this isn't just an mxr micro amp clone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 are you sure this isn't just an mxr micro amp clone?Very sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan G Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Maxon OD808 or failing that a decent tubescreamer eg the TS9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lime ruined my life Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Very sure!are you called mkII because you bought the mkII on that website?i recently added a switch to a big muff pi to turn it into a sola jumbo tone bender, although i'm not totally convinced i like it, i might lower the gain of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 are you called mkII because you bought the mkII on that website?i recently added a switch to a big muff pi to turn it into a sola jumbo tone benderHah, i am MKII due to my love of the sounds from the sola sound professional MKII tonebender circa 1966 and the MKII mellotron circa 1965. Big Muff's, jumbo's, yuk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott! Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Right, thanks for all the ideas! I'm not really hugely attracted by the Tubescreamer as I'd prefer a cleaner boost, & not really terribly keen on pickups either as it's kind of a project/junker (as much as I hate to say it!) guitar & I don't want to dump tons of money into it. The equaliser's looking like a good choice right now but, as Ikaruga said, HarmonyCentral consensus says it's supposed to be insanely noisy, which I'm not really terribly enthusiastic about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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