Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Hmmm... so this is what's rocking your world lately. I like. ?
Thanks. I'm loving it.
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
P90 Tele-ish? Those MFDs have always intrigued me, but I've never played them.
Nope. They look a bit like P90s, but they are more like high output tele pickups. In saying these are high output, they are quite articulate, clean up well when rolling back on the volume knob and have a lot of spank and even a bit of twang - something other higher output pickups often lack IMO. You could easily get into chicken pickin' with these. They have quite a bit of chime in the middle switch position with both pickups on, which was a welcome surprise. The Jumbo MFDs don't quite have the extra mid range punch of P90s, but they are fatter sounding than normal singles. I think there's a bit more going on in the lower mids than normal SCs. They sound a lot like a Tele, but supersized. The neck pickup balances tonally a lot better with the bridge than a traditional tele's, so it is less of a night and day difference (probably why the middle position works so well). They're also very quiet for single coils, so you can heap on the gain if you want to. Lots of versatility here, while still having a very distinct voice (something often lost when versatility is mentioned), which is exactly what I was hoping for.
From what I've read, Leo Fender was just trying to expand and improve on the fundamental tone of his original tele and came upon this design. The smaller MFD pickups in the ASAT Classic were actually invented after these to satisfy the purists looking for a more traditional look. Interestingly I've found those have more of a punchy P90 thing going on than the Jumbo MFDs despite the more traditional looks. That said, the Classic MFDs can also twang when clean. ??? MFD pickups are their own thing. In the ballpark of other recognizable tones, but they are hard to compare to standard single coils.
I've tried the Jumbo MFDs in a solid body ASAT Special (Alder) we have in stock and in that guitar it seems to have even more spank and immediacy of attack. In my ash bodied semi hollow, they seem to sound a bit fuller and rounder, though still with more than enough bite for me. I guess kind of what you would expect with the differences in construction.
Preaching to the choir, brother. Preaching to the choir. Big necks are tone and feel for me.
Totally in agreement there. Unfortunately the big guitar manufacturers seem to disagree. ☹
