Zhang's Pickups Rule!!!!!!!!!

[Benjy_26]

Hey all.

I received a Tele neck pickup from Zhang. It's an uncovered, alnico V unit wound to 7.9k. Zhang calls it the Paul Bunyan, and it matches perfectly with the Paul Bunyan lead pickup I paired it with (alnico V, mid 9k range).

I have this set up in a MIJ 69 Thinline Tele RI. Y'all probably know the specs, but just in case, it's a semi hollow mahogany body with an all maple neck, Fender branded Schaller tuners, vintage style frets, and the previous owner installed a modern brass 6 saddle bridge. I wired it up with 250k CTS pots, a .047mfd Orange Drop, and cloth wiring.

I've had the bridge unit in this guitar for a while, and there's some reviews out there, but I'll do a quick recap.

I play a lot of heavy rock and blues, but I also play a lot of jangle rock and country. Knowing this, Zhang wound up the perfect tele lead pickup for me. The highs are strong but sweet. There's no trace of the dreaded "ice-pick-to-the -forehead" syndrome in this thing. The lows are great. Deep, tight, and rich. The mids growl just about how you'd expect a great old tele to. Clean, it's the idealized tele tone, IMHO.

Dirty, it'll do Keef all day. Roll back the tone a bit and you're in AC/DC territory. With the gain dimed on my Rivera, it'll easily do hard rock and metal with as much muscle as a 'bucker but a lot more clarity and tightness. Harmonics jump off the guitar.

In the mid position, I mostly play clean on a tele, and this is my fave tele for this. Chime, sparkle, and sweetness are the norm here. Strum gently and its almost acoustic. Dig in and it gets growly, spitty, and snarly. Chicken pickin' is tons of fun on this one. REM-style jangle is very easy to do, and sounds fantastic with a bit of compression.

In the neck, this thing gets real gone. I'm not a fan of "normal" tele pickups by any means. I usually replace them with mini's, strat pickups, or 'buckers. This thing is uncovered, but it is a standard sized tele pickup.

I love it.

[Benjy_26]

(cont.)

This pickup combines all of my favorite aspects of my preffered tele neck pickups with none of the drawbacks.

The highs are smooth and glassy, the mids are clean and woody, and the lows are deep and twangy. Oddly enough, the pickup it reminds me the most of is the SM-1 I have in the neck of my Alleykat hollow body, but it's punchier and has more sparkle and chime. Depending on gain and on your indivudual touch, it'll do smokey jazz, stinging Alber King style blues, growly SRV-like rythm/lead work, creamy Clapton style leads, or all out shred.

I could easily take this guitar and a strat (for notch tones) to a any cover band gig and not feel like I need anything else. (except for a good amp ).

Very highly recommended.

I love Seymour's products, but IMHO, Zhang does a better job on tele singles.

Now I just need to get me a Woodbucker/Slugbucker combo to try....

[Butch Snyder]

IMHO, Zhang does a better job on tele singles.

Wow, sounds like fightin' words. I know that Seymour's favorite pickups are Tele bridge pickups...

[Benjy_26]

I know, it blows me away too, but I've tried the STL-2t, Donahue, '54, and Broadcaster, and the Paul Bunyan kills 'em all. That is, for a country boy that still likes to rock.

[Butch Snyder]

I know, it blows me away too, but I've tried the STL-2t, Donahue, '54, and Broadcaster, and the Paul Bunyan kills 'em all. That is, for a country boy that still likes to rock.

Ya know, I have been PMing Zhang for awhile now about his PB's. You got any clips?

[wanmei1]

I know, it blows me away too, but I've tried the STL-2t, Donahue, '54, and Broadcaster, and the Paul Bunyan kills 'em all. That is, for a country boy that still likes to rock.

Say that's AWESOME !
Great review of the Zhang pup with all that detail you provided.
Congratulations to you for thinking outside the square and getting a pup custom made.
Also congratulations to Zhang for being able to interpret what some one wants and making it a reality - not easy !

[B Bent]

He now has a PM from me.

I was about to post a thread titled:

" For once i dont know what Tele pickup I need".

Sounds exactly like what I want!

[ErikH]

He does some great work. Before he started going to the masses, he rewound a set of Strat pickups for me. Sounded fantastic. Loved 'em. Another forum bro has them now. Glad to see others are enjoying his work too.

[Benjy_26]

No clips yet, unfortunately.

[Butch Snyder]

he rewound a set of Strat pickups for me. Sounded fantastic. Loved 'em. Another forum bro has them now.

Apparently, you didn't think they were that great....

LOL, sorry, I couldn't resist....

[ErikH]

Apparently, you didn't think they were that great....

LOL, sorry, I couldn't resist....

DOH!!!! You got me. LOL.

That's not true. I had gotten a set of Texas Specials, which are my favorite single-coils, so I had nothing to put them in.