OC Duff Custom Tele

Pickup features: Standard single coil
Impedence or other specs: Not known

Model of guitar or bass: N S Custom Telecaster Thinline
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Fender
Other pickups on guitar: O C Duff
Artists using this pickup: Not known
You musical style(s): Blues, rock and funk.
Reason for pickup change: Tried out the Fenders and wasn't impressed. I saw a pair of his pickups on ebay, read the reviews of Owen's pickups on harmony central and decided he was worth a try.

Perceived output level: About the norm for a good Tele pickup.
Tone: Everything from scratching country lead through a decent jazz tone on the neck pickup with the tone rolled back.
Sonic evaluation: I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which seems to work for all my guitars. I can't really say more than these pickups sound exactly like a good telecaster should. There is something about the winding that imparts a hollow almost "breathy" sound to the guitar. I know this sounds crazy but listen to Grover Washington's sax sound and you'll get the picture.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Remarkably versatile and useful for almost any style. Everybody equates Teles with country lead, funky rhythm and rock and roll. I think they are great for rock lead (everybody uses strats for lead and a strat lead pickup is a wimp compared to a tele) and of course the neck pickup with the tone rolled off a little is great for jazz.

Comments: Tried others but at the moment these are the best i have found. Great value and a great guy to deal with.

Pickup features: Passive Single Coil
Impedence or other specs: 7.2K

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Telecaster w/ B-Bender
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock single coils
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Rock, country
Reason for pickup change: Tired of the typical bright, thin Tele sound.

Perceived output level: More output than stock.
Tone: The tone is crystal clear when pot turned down, fat and warm when cranked!
Sonic evaluation: I play a Tele B-bender through a Matchless amp setup. Occasionally through a Marshall JT-45.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly rock but occasional country once in a while.

Comments: I originally approached Owen to recreate the tone that I get with my ASAT Tele because I love the tone that I get from them. It has a full, warm tone like Page's Tele off of LZ1 but when you roll off the volume it still punches through which is great for chicken pickin country styles. What I got from Owen is very close with the high volume output, very warm and not shrill in the bridge and the neck position very clear, like the ASAT. However when rolling off the volume, the tone wasn't quite the same as the ASAT. I liked it much better! The tone is so clear with the volume down it seems like you actually can hear the tone of the wood ringing through the pickups, it's that amazing...it's kind of piano like. I've just ordered a set of pickups for my Strat from Owen.
Also, what's great is Owen will work with you in trying to achieve the sound you're looking for. Before going with OC Duffs, I contacted Lindy Fralin and some moron answered the phone (not Lindy), put me on hold for 5 minutes (they don't have and 800 number and won't respond to email) and basically seem to be getting frustrated with me when I wanted to customize the pickups to my liking. I would think if you're trying to sell your products and advertise you can make custom pickups you had better try and work with your customer and not against. Luckily I found Owen and he will respond via email in a very timely fashion, in fact I emailed him quite a few times with different changes before I finalized with the ones I wanted made without any negative attitude, in fact he even helped with his suggestions perpetuating the email chain.
I'm sick of these production pickups from SD and DiMarzio, I'll be sticking with Owen and the custom made OC Duffs. Too bad he isn't making humbuckers....

Pickup features: Custom wound single coils.
Impedence or other specs: 7.0 neck, 7.5 bridge

Model of guitar or bass: MIM Standard Tele
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues rock
Reason for pickup change: I didn't like the bridge pickup. It was too twangy and shrill. I wanted the neck pickup reverse wound.

Perceived output level: Slightly hotter than stock.
Tone: Warm and balanced. Bold when distorted. Jazzy, bluesy when clean. Never sharp or harsh.
Sonic evaluation: I play my tele through a DOD Milkbox comp., Ibanez Tube King with a Telefunken 12AU7 and a Fender Blues Jr. The amp is loaded with a Celestion G12 Vintage 30, 2 GE 5751 tubes, 1 Sylvania 12AT7 and 2 6BQ5 tubes.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play blues rock. The pups can be made to order for any position.

Comments: These are a vast improvement over the stock pups. Louder with more flavor. I'm very pleased now that all positions are useable distorted or clean. I love that Fender sound purring through my Celestion. OC Duff was very helpful over email and willing to get me where I needed to go. I rewired my Tele with a 5-way switch mod. after approval of the new pups and doubled my satisfaction. You can find the mod. at: http://archive.guitarplayer.com/archive/gear/hrm4.shtml