GFS Pickups Hot TC Alnico

Single coil tele style pickup,around 9 or 10k.

Esquire guitar,only one pickup.

I put this pickup in a homebrew Esquire guitar that has a few custom winding ideas that I got off of different forums.First of all,I added a different cap to the "front" position (anyone who knows Esquires knows this is an unusable tone in the stock wiring;.I then added a trim pot to roll off the desired amount of treble with the new cap...i then super glued the pot and taped it off.Finally,I added a small SPDT switch to choose between 2 different caps in the middle position.
Whew! Now back to the pickup.The GFS sounds perfect...lots of snap and upper mid roundness that a good tele pup should have.I've tried it through several amps,and it responds very well

GFS makes some really nice stuff,and not just for the price---which is ridiculous compared to most aftermarket pups.I have their Hot Alnico Staggered strat models and couldn't be happier.I will probably be giving them more business.Jay is a great guy to deal with,answers emails promptly,and gives good service.

Pickup features: Single coil "hot" tele bridge pup around 10K
Impedence or other specs: Why, around 10K

Model of guitar or bass: Homebrew tele
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None...just a test drive..........
Other pickups on guitar: Manlius humbucker
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone: Spanky, girthy and trebley!
Sonic evaluation: The jury is still out on this one. It does have some beef and power and matches well with the neck humbucker. With a bit of overdrive, the tone is fat and spanky. While a hotter than vintage wind, it still has a nice twang to it...just more girth.
This pickup has a TON of treble bite to it. Of course, most tele bridge pups do. Where the GFS fails in my humble opinion, is in it's
( I've found this to be the case with a Dream 180 & Retrtotron Brooklyn also ) inability to respond to the guitars tone control. While I do like the inherent tone of the GFS pups I've tried, they are very unresponsive to the guitars tone control. YMMV. I'm just talking about my experiences.
Now, before you say "change the pot and cap stoopid!" I'll let you know I searched and tried many pots and cpas to find the right combo. Works well with the other "botique" offerings I've used.
So...while I like the pickup and will leave it in for a while, I'm less than thrilled with tone roll off capabilites. Those of you who play teles know the magic lies when rolling the tone and volume controls back a bit. I'll continue to experement with the Hot TC and see if I can't reach a happy medium. One thing I do like is how it sounds in the two pup combo with the Manlius. Verycfunky, bluesy and cool.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Mostly blues baby.....

Comments: For the price, this is a no brainer. If it was more expensive, I'd be more critical. For $20 though, you'd be hard pressed to find a better bargain.

Pickup features: Passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: about 8k

Model of guitar or bass: Warmoth Esquire (alder body; maple neck/fretboard)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: n/a
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: n/a
You musical style(s): Blues, fusion, hard rock
Reason for pickup change: This is the first pickup I've put on this guitar.

Perceived output level: Slightly hotter than a standard contemporary Tele bridge pup
Tone: Clean: typical Tele twang; Overdriven: mushy (unfocused)
Sonic evaluation: I played it through my Tech 21 Trademark 10. The clean tone was interesting and quite Tele-like (twangy). I didn't like to overdriven tone much. The sound lost focus.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: THis pickup seems well-suited to those wanting to play classic blues, classic rock, or country.

Comments: I've just replaced it with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails for Tele. I much prefer the overdriven sound I now get. I guess I prefer the more pronounced mids and bass that the SD offers. Personal preference I guess.