On a mailing list that I subscribe to, there is an interesting little discussion about pickups and tone, prompted by an unplanned mid-concert guitar swap that resulted in what some people found to be a better, slightly more prominent guitar sound. This then moved to a discussion about strat pickups and "hotness". Then a point that I found interesting was made:
So-called "hot" pickups usually do *not* cut through the mix better than non-*hot* pickups. By increasing the inductance to the very limits of a Strat-sized bobbin, you actually reduce the amount of upper-midrange and high- end "sparkle," which are vital to a Strat being heard in a band setting without help from a pedal or two.
A Tele, with it's larger bridge pickup, does not suffer from this "overdone overwound" syndrome, and the real solution for a three-pickup Fender- style guitar is putting a larger pickup of appropriate inductance in the bridge spot -- the Strat bobbin is simply too small to do that job well imo.
So I present that for your consideration and discussion.
This, it seems to me (who can't understand why electric guitars don't have a hole in the middle) is saying that bobbin size comes into the equation as well, and thus you could get a lot hotter with a P90 and still retain clarity because of the larger bobbin.
