NEW REVIEW - American Std Tele Upgrade

After cursing my Tele's 60Hz hum for over ten years I was ready to upgrade the OEM pups and began my research. Ultemately the EMGs won. The pickups arrived sooner than expected. Installation was easy enough although I did have to shave the neck position PU hole in the pick guard. Total installation time, including prep and clean up, was just over two hours, (your mpg may vary). Results; the EMGs are very quiet and not until the tube amp is at 5 does hum start to become apparent which is much better than with the Fender Tele OEMs, Gibson PAF Humbuckers, DiMarizo Humbuckers or Harmonic Design single coil pups at the same setting. Output volume of the EMG is maybe a little better than the OEMs. The tone quality is much broader and the tone knob works without cutting the volume. For better or worse a significant portion of the twang is gone resulting in my guitar no longer sounding like a Tele. These are not what I would call hot so if you go for the EMG and want to drive your amp consider the preamp option. Finally, these black, featureless pups stand out against the chrome bridge plate and white pickguard like the hungry eyes of a shark.

Reviewed by RB on 11/3/2008 who plays RNR, RNB.