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Revel ‘Red Letter’ Tele Pickups
Lead Time: 6 to 8 weeks. Sorry, I am hustling to get caught up!
$110.00
The idea behind the Revel ‘Red Letter’ Telecaster pickups was to develop something utilitarian. Pickups that, instead of being an homage to a particular and beloved Tele era, were something that could cover new ground and more ground. The result is this incredibly percussive set of pickups.
Like all Revel single coil pickups the Red Devils are hand-wound and RW/RP but: the pole pieces are fully adjustable for the ultimate in string balance. The coil dimensions and winding technique are also unique.
The Red Letter neck pickup is warm and open with a touch of top end chime. It’s brighter than a typical and traditional Tele neck pickup (with some Strat like qualities) without being harsh, has terrific string definition, and is complex. The middle position has a wonderful chimey, hollow and percussive sound that will make you grin ear to ear.
The 42AWG wound bridge is, likewise, open and percussive, chimey, twangy, and more. The 43AWG wound bridge is, too, but with more ‘honk’ characteristic of early Tele tones and exemplified by the Black Watch pickup.
A NOTE ABOUT SOUND CLIPS:
Corporate marketing hype has made it mostly necessary to include sound clips and resistance specifications. Both have very limited meaning and are, in many ways, lies. The best player can make the lousiest guitar loaded with the cheapest pickups played through the lamest amp sound downright amazing. For that reason I feel that clips are misleading. Clips let you hear almost everything except the pickup and primarily the amp in a controlled environment that’s not readily reproducible. Please take these thoughts into consideration.
DEMO DETAILS:
Guitar: Pine Tele, Maple neck
Amp: Tweed Bassman
Mic: SM57
Reverb: Fender Standalone Unit
Michael Borucki – Minneapolis, MN –
I just had my first shot at really playing them this weekend.
I genuinely love them. I was playing on a Matchless DC30 Kemper profile out of a semi-open 1×12 with a Creamback on Sunday and the pickups were everything you said they’d be. All three positions sound great and the 4th is darker and a little gritty which I think is an awesome option as well. The pickups are clear, take drive pedals really well with notes that are still articulate, and have great midrange. The neck is not flubby or too bassy, and the bridge is bright without being thin or shrill. I found all 4 settings to be very usable with position 2 and some very light OD/reverb likely my baseline sound. I love the way they look in the tele as well. I’ll try to snap a pic and send your way over the next few days.
I did have a chance late last week to run it through my helix on 2 profiles. Only got about an hour total in. One was an AC30 with a blue/gold 2×12 impulse response and the other JCM800 with 4×12 vintage 30 impulse response. The pickups sounded great on both profiles. I honestly was surprised at how much I liked it with the Marshall amp overdrive. Very Weezer Pinkerton album, which is a favorite of mine.
Thank you for putting your time and effort into designing these. I’m sure a lot of players are going to be very happy when released.
Jeremy Duphaine –
After telling Jesse what I was looking for in a Tele pickup set he suggested these “new” pickups. I wanted clean and versatile. Man these are great. They do the regular Tele thang and a lot more. The middle position is something I’m not sure I’ve heard before – a really open and hollow sound that’s like a trance.
Man these are great. Thanks Revel.