Great review of these pickups. I was going to buy them anyway but then I came across your review and it just sealed the deal even more. And I agree with you that your tone comes from you and your fingers. Yes the amp does help but tone chasing I stopped long ago. Its more about what I like to play and how I like to sound. If people like, fine! If they don't, still fine. You made a Fan of your page now too.
Sounds awesome! I thought they sounded fantastic with high gain. You don’t find enough people willing to throw a bunch of gain on pickups like these and play some heavier stuff in a demo. I think you really showed just how versatile these are. You hear people rave about how versatile some telecaster pickups are in a demo but don’t really take it from one extreme to the other. They’ll throw a little dirt on em and act like they’ve shown you everything the pickups can do. A true demo will do everything from clean to high gain/metal. I wanna hear a pickup in every aspect, even if it doesn’t sound that great in some genres. It’s subjective. You took them from one extreme to the other and I enjoyed the demo so I just bought em!
Awesome! I still love them and they’ve made this Tele my preferred guitar out of the 8 or so I have these days. These pickups respond really dynamically to how you’re playing which makes them fun to play as well. Enjoy!
I disagree. It’s harder to find people playing single coils 100% clean. Not everybody wants to hear pickups masked by all kinds of distortion and effects.
Love the video and the pickups! Actually bought my set for the same reasons, and am elated to find a review from a metal player, since I was hoping they would work well for my favorite genre
Have a 2011 Classic Vibe 50s Tele that has a bridge pup I never really liked and decided to give these a try. Kind of curious to get it back from the shop and see if it's an improvement. I didn't want to turn the guitar into something too different, but just wanted something better without losing that Tele twang. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the video! Brad definitely does not use a kemper though. He bounces back and forth between a Dr. Z, Bruno, and an old AC30 he loves. But it's ALWAYS one of those 3..... Mostly Z though
jumby1984 nice! I know Bonamasa uses a bunch of boutique amps on his stage but didn’t see anything back lined on Brad’s tour. He just had a super clean stage layout so I believe you! It definitely sounded like a hot AC series amp when we saw him! Cheers and thank you for clarifying! Thanks for watching too!
How are they compare to the Texas specials I have a thinline with ebony fretboard I’m looking to change pickups don’t kno if I should get la brea or Texas specials ???? Help lol
Brad Paisley Tone is easily top 3 hardest tones to achieve. There are so many people went on years long journeys trying to achieve his tone...including me lol. Ironically for average player is fastest way to get close is to switch to middle position on the tele . However, Brad definitely plays on the bridge. I tried so many things trying to achieve that thick ballsy tone on the bridge without muddy bass. I have to say that besides amp for me two things instantly helped a lot 1) Alnico Gold and Blue speakers. There is nothing else can simulate that speaker tone 2) Boss Waza Tube Expander cuz it allowed me to set my Z Wreck volume on 11. I tried traditional attenuators and there were sucking tone too much. Would love to try this pickups . I do realize that at least 70% of his tone is his fingers . Tone in a fingers is cliche but true fact. You can watch videoS Brad testing different style amps and he still sounds like Brad Lol Thanks for the video
And you know what? I just bought the set and I putted it on my RI'52 and restablished the standard wiring by the same time, added a new set of Slinky 10.46, I preconize to let the pickguard out some days, the time to check the hight of pickups to combine neck and bridge, the middle position is absolutly a delight. The twang is amazing very Brad sound like in every kind of good amps Marshall / Fender / Vox a bit of compression, delay and overdrive to get a power sound (chorus if you want) but just a bit it's subtile. Do not use with heavy distorsion it's not his territor. I would say it' less polyvalent that my stock vintage RI pickup specifically to play Hendrix or hard rock stuff but if you love midrange chicken picking it's absolutely perfect.
Obviously the SD's are a lot more clear, transparent and defined. Great sound. How would you compare them to a set of Twisted Tele pups? I'm kind of torn between the two.
I was also torn between the Twisted Tele set from Fender and the LaBreas. From my original research after NAMM 2019 when I visited the SD booth, the LaBrea pickups are more akin to a 60s era Fender pickup since that’s what the LaBrea Tele had in it and they just sounded great. So Mr Duncan reverse engineered those old Fender pickups while putting his spin on things and the LaBrea set is the result. I think the twisted Tele pickups have a more traditional quacky bridge with a strat sounding neck. Whereas the LaBreas have the Tele sound in the bridge with a little less brittleness to them. The neck pickup on the LaBreas is smooth and fatter than the bridge but still clear and articulate. You can’t go wrong with either set honestly though!
@@HomeBrewedHero thanks, that was super helpful 🙂 I play a variety of roots styles, from clean(-ish) to gritty country, cleaning surf sounds, gritty blues stuff... so versatility is important, also the marriage between my Ego compressor and Klon style drive. I'm guessing the La Brea's would suit best, can you agree?
Thanks for the great video! I actually have this exact guitar, the Fender Butterscotch FSR with the reversed switch plate, and I'm looking around for pickup upgrades. I had my eye on the SD Twisted Teles because of the higher output but I like the sound of these too. I'm not really a full on country guy either (indie/blues maybe?) but I do like the idea of my tele still sounding like a tele. So the La Brea pickups are something to consider now too. So thanks again. Solid playing too! 😎❤
Hey thanks! It's a great axe for the money and it's built super well! I love SD pickups and I too was looking at the Twisted Tele pickups but after teetering back and forth I decided to go with these in this Tele and went with Quarter Pounders in my other partscaster I built. Good news is you'll be happy with either choice!
Honestly, that tone in this video is MOSTLY from the Keeley Caverns V2 I'm rocking. It has a warmth knob on the spring reverb section of the pedal that really creates that full warm luscious tone and the delay adds that HUGE delayed echo-y effect common in that genre. It also does a whole lot more. I'll probably shoot a video about that pedal very soon tbh cause it's also phenomenal and in use a lot when I'm writing.
I put Duncan Quarter Pounders in my MIM Tele and I think that they sound better than these pickups for sure. But that's just to my ear of course, we are all different and that's the beauty of it!
I wouldn't mind these on my fender player series Tele pitty there so expensive in UK I can only find one shop that sells it other than eBay I don't trust eBay on these sorts of things
How did you mount the neck pickup to the pickguard? I am trying to do the same thing, but the screws that came with the pickup won’t hold it up. They are too thin. Help! Thanks!!
I reused the screws that fender provided for the pickguard mount. The base plate of these pickups took them without issue. In fact I didn’t use any of the hardware Seymour Duncan provided.
Also a metal guy but Brad absolutely kills it. One of the rare dudes that transcends genres.
I really appreciate the way you minimize the BS. I’m now a subscriber.
You nailed the review, as usual. All important points covered, with no extraneous BS.
Great review of these pickups. I was going to buy them anyway but then I came across your review and it just sealed the deal even more. And I agree with you that your tone comes from you and your fingers. Yes the amp does help but tone chasing I stopped long ago. Its more about what I like to play and how I like to sound. If people like, fine! If they don't, still fine. You made a Fan of your page now too.
Sounds awesome! I thought they sounded fantastic with high gain. You don’t find enough people willing to throw a bunch of gain on pickups like these and play some heavier stuff in a demo. I think you really showed just how versatile these are. You hear people rave about how versatile some telecaster pickups are in a demo but don’t really take it from one extreme to the other. They’ll throw a little dirt on em and act like they’ve shown you everything the pickups can do. A true demo will do everything from clean to high gain/metal. I wanna hear a pickup in every aspect, even if it doesn’t sound that great in some genres. It’s subjective. You took them from one extreme to the other and I enjoyed the demo so I just bought em!
Awesome! I still love them and they’ve made this Tele my preferred guitar out of the 8 or so I have these days. These pickups respond really dynamically to how you’re playing which makes them fun to play as well. Enjoy!
I disagree. It’s harder to find people playing single coils 100% clean.
Not everybody wants to hear pickups masked by all kinds of distortion and effects.
Thank you very much brother. I couldn't find any pickups for my guitar until I came across your video. Awesome playing too
Very good demo! Thanks for takeing it though differnt styles. Very tastfull playing. Greetings from Germany
What song are you playing at 2:30?
Love the video and the pickups! Actually bought my set for the same reasons, and am elated to find a review from a metal player, since I was hoping they would work well for my favorite genre
I have the exact guitar and after watching your video ordered the La Breas. Thanks for the demo.
Sounds amazing. Great video as always.
This is a fantastic demo. I'm saving for a set of these for my MIM Tele because of this. Thanks for posting it.
Thanks for this...I bought them off your recommendation and love them!!!!
Michael Barrand awesome! So happy to hear! They’re really versatile and they just respond so nicely to however you play! Cheers!
brad paisley use a kemper? lmaooooooo funniest thing i heard in a long time
Nope.... Dr. Z amps
Nice demo.. Good mix of different tones, rhythm and leads. Thx
Enjoyed the demo. Could hear the great tone these pups.
Awesome demo!! Thanks man. Gonna get some in my tele in a couple weeks 👍🏽
Cool video man just what I was looking for ! Subscribed 👍🏻 Thanks
Very nice demo and comparison. Thank you.
awesome playing man, you do these pickups justice. what's at 6:43?
That's Scarlet by Periphery but not in the same key as recorded due to the setup on on the guitar. Thank you for the compliment! Cheers!
Have a 2011 Classic Vibe 50s Tele that has a bridge pup I never really liked and decided to give these a try. Kind of curious to get it back from the shop and see if it's an improvement. I didn't want to turn the guitar into something too different, but just wanted something better without losing that Tele twang. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the video! Brad definitely does not use a kemper though. He bounces back and forth between a Dr. Z, Bruno, and an old AC30 he loves. But it's ALWAYS one of those 3..... Mostly Z though
jumby1984 nice! I know Bonamasa uses a bunch of boutique amps on his stage but didn’t see anything back lined on Brad’s tour. He just had a super clean stage layout so I believe you! It definitely sounded like a hot AC series amp when we saw him! Cheers and thank you for clarifying! Thanks for watching too!
I picked up a set of these because of this video an incidentally now have the best sounding tele I've ever played. Seriously
3:00 That is some delicious tone friend
Sounds good to me . Thanks decided on getting these
You won’t be disappointed. This and my baritone Tele are my most played guitars now. World apart tonally, but both with Seymour Duncans in them
Tasty licks! And now I have to be a La Brea set....
Im putting a set of La Brea to my Classic Vibe tele...
How do they sound ?
Yep this is the set. Thanks dude
I think we have the same tele. Mines a 2019 mim fsr tele reverse plate butterscotch but with a 4 way switch
How are they compare to the Texas specials I have a thinline with ebony fretboard I’m looking to change pickups don’t kno if I should get la brea or Texas specials ???? Help lol
Oh and I play pretty much every so I need it to versatile for all types of music
The Duncan's sound killer..big upgrade.
i have these pickups,i really like them..what is your height setting?
Brad Paisley Tone is easily top 3 hardest tones to achieve. There are so many people went on years long journeys trying to achieve his tone...including me lol. Ironically for average player is fastest way to get close is to switch to middle position on the tele . However, Brad definitely plays on the bridge. I tried so many things trying to achieve that thick ballsy tone on the bridge without muddy bass. I have to say that besides amp for me two things instantly helped a lot
1) Alnico Gold and Blue speakers. There is nothing else can simulate that speaker tone
2) Boss Waza Tube Expander cuz it allowed me to set my Z Wreck volume on 11. I tried traditional attenuators and there were sucking tone too much.
Would love to try this pickups .
I do realize that at least 70% of his tone is his fingers . Tone in a fingers is cliche but true fact. You can watch videoS Brad testing different style amps and he still sounds like Brad Lol
Thanks for the video
And you know what? I just bought the set and I putted it on my RI'52 and restablished the standard wiring by the same time, added a new set of Slinky 10.46, I preconize to let the pickguard out some days, the time to check the hight of pickups to combine neck and bridge, the middle position is absolutly a delight. The twang is amazing very Brad sound like in every kind of good amps Marshall / Fender / Vox a bit of compression, delay and overdrive to get a power sound (chorus if you want) but just a bit it's subtile. Do not use with heavy distorsion it's not his territor. I would say it' less polyvalent that my stock vintage RI pickup specifically to play Hendrix or hard rock stuff but if you love midrange chicken picking it's absolutely perfect.
Alex Terrieur watch the Fender Game of Thrones video. Brad pushes the silver tele to get up to the heavy rock/metal tone
Obviously the SD's are a lot more clear, transparent and defined. Great sound. How would you compare them to a set of Twisted Tele pups? I'm kind of torn between the two.
I was also torn between the Twisted Tele set from Fender and the LaBreas. From my original research after NAMM 2019 when I visited the SD booth, the LaBrea pickups are more akin to a 60s era Fender pickup since that’s what the LaBrea Tele had in it and they just sounded great. So Mr Duncan reverse engineered those old Fender pickups while putting his spin on things and the LaBrea set is the result. I think the twisted Tele pickups have a more traditional quacky bridge with a strat sounding neck. Whereas the LaBreas have the Tele sound in the bridge with a little less brittleness to them. The neck pickup on the LaBreas is smooth and fatter than the bridge but still clear and articulate. You can’t go wrong with either set honestly though!
@@HomeBrewedHero thanks, that was super helpful 🙂 I play a variety of roots styles, from clean(-ish) to gritty country, cleaning surf sounds, gritty blues stuff... so versatility is important, also the marriage between my Ego compressor and Klon style drive. I'm guessing the La Brea's would suit best, can you agree?
Nice review I might get the neck pickup to go with my dimarzio chopper T
Thanks for the great video! I actually have this exact guitar, the Fender Butterscotch FSR with the reversed switch plate, and I'm looking around for pickup upgrades. I had my eye on the SD Twisted Teles because of the higher output but I like the sound of these too. I'm not really a full on country guy either (indie/blues maybe?) but I do like the idea of my tele still sounding like a tele. So the La Brea pickups are something to consider now too. So thanks again. Solid playing too! 😎❤
Hey thanks! It's a great axe for the money and it's built super well! I love SD pickups and I too was looking at the Twisted Tele pickups but after teetering back and forth I decided to go with these in this Tele and went with Quarter Pounders in my other partscaster I built. Good news is you'll be happy with either choice!
What would be the main tonal difference between the SD's and the Twisted ?
Does it hum cancel in the middle position
Thanks bro ! Great video
Great video!Thanks!
1:43 CHOP CHOP
Hreat review, this helped me a lot.
Kudo to you for the tele... my pet hate is people buy a guitar shape based on genre instead of right sound. those la breas sound like honey
I prefer the OG Leo Fender 1951 “Nocaster” pickups.
Ive been chasing that sleepwalk tone for forever. how would you set the amp for it? awesome and diverse playing by the way!
Honestly, that tone in this video is MOSTLY from the Keeley Caverns V2 I'm rocking. It has a warmth knob on the spring reverb section of the pedal that really creates that full warm luscious tone and the delay adds that HUGE delayed echo-y effect common in that genre. It also does a whole lot more. I'll probably shoot a video about that pedal very soon tbh cause it's also phenomenal and in use a lot when I'm writing.
Thanks!
I put Duncan Quarter Pounders in my MIM Tele and I think that they sound better than these pickups for sure. But that's just to my ear of course, we are all different and that's the beauty of it!
I’ve got quarter pounders in my other Tele and they also sound great!
Did not expect to hear periphery played on a Tele with single coils lmao
Hell yeah but they don't sound too bad in context!
Are they noiseless?
No.
I wouldn't mind these on my fender player series Tele pitty there so expensive in UK I can only find one shop that sells it other than eBay I don't trust eBay on these sorts of things
How did you mount the neck pickup to the pickguard? I am trying to do the same thing, but the screws that came with the pickup won’t hold it up. They are too thin. Help! Thanks!!
I reused the screws that fender provided for the pickguard mount. The base plate of these pickups took them without issue. In fact I didn’t use any of the hardware Seymour Duncan provided.
Hook your balls back up, go to the hardware store and get the right screws. Take ya 15 minutes and cost you 42 cents.
To much back ground noise
No self respecting guitar slinger uses kempers...lol. in the past he used Dr Z amps