Requesting pickup recommendations for old Kalamazoo (Gibson's "Mustang" knock-off)

I'm wondering if anybody has any ideas for replacing a guitar that had two Melody Maker pickups, like my Kalamazoo KG-2.

The guitar looks like this (and you can see the pickups, they don't look like regular Strat pickups)

Would Telecaster neck pickups work? What would it sound like with two Telecaster neck pickups? Has anybody ever tried that? Seems like the Squier "Duo-sonic" is kind of like this.

Anyway... if anybody has recommendations, I'm all ears. I don't really want to route a new shape to the pickguard. I don't mind drilling a new hole, but I don't have the tools to make really nice cuts in plastic. I'm getting a replacement pickguard because my original is shot, and I really just want to get pickups that will be wired up the same (2 x volume and 2 x tone, plus single slide switch) and at least fit in the same spaces.

P-90s are nice but they're outside my budget. That's why I was thinking of getting some cheap tele pickups. But I don't know what else is out there.

EDIT: I suppose I should note that I'm definitely looking for that jangly surf tone with this guitar. The old pickups on my Kalamazoo, which I stupidly threw away when I was a kid, thinking they were "useless because they were so microphonic" (hey, it was the mid '80s and I was into Malmsteen... ugh), were really punchy if I recall. I'm looking for that sound again. I don't play a lot of technical hard rock or heavy metal. I'm more about the aural landscapes nowadays with vintage guitar sounds, like the Beach Boys and Velvet Underground, with a little Hounddog Taylor thrown in for good measure. I play into a Titano (Magnatone) amp, as well as a small 5watt Voxy sounding custom amp made from an old radio. Vox IS the sound to me... love the chime.

Duncan lipstick for Strat. Tis what I have in my Strat and I don't ever see myself going back to reg Strat PUs...

I'd put a pair of baby 'buckers on it, but hey -- that's just me.

you might want to ask over at www.lespaulforum.com (our sister site) they can probably point you in a direction towards some stock type pups.

as for me and my melody maker, i stuffed a gibby mini in it. tuned her down a whole step and she sounds like the crankiest telecaster you've ever heard.

Does anybody think it would be crazy to put two Telecaster neck pickups on there? If I did this, what kind of pots should I use?

I was thinking of basically setting it up like a telecaster. Instead of the two volume and two tone controls, which I never really use, I would do the slideswitch and connect it to a single volume and tone.

But I don't know what affect a 250 vs. 500 pot would have for volume and/or tone. Will the sound have more tonal range and characteristics with a 500, but will it also lose chime? I wish there was some kind of chart that made it easy to "visually" understand this sort of stuff. Kind of like those charts on the back of packs of strings that show you where the strings are on the range of "warm" to "bright".

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Originally Posted by Gris

Duncan lipstick for Strat. Tis what I have in my Strat and I don't ever see myself going back to reg Strat PUs...

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That sounds pretty cool, although I already have a Silvertone/Danelectro 1457 with those type of pickups and they do sound amazing, but they don't have immense sustain so they don't really "jangle" or "chime", although they definitely have that punch surf tone. I describe it as the "wet plexiglass sound". So clear, but not too high end like the way a Telecaster sounds running into a Vox.

Plus, those Duncans are $70. I know that's cheap for a really good pickup, but I'm really shooting for "cheap and acceptable". For instance, I just picked two Tele neck pickups for $45. One is a NOS Chandler, which was apparently a high quality 3rd-party manufacturer back in the '80s before the era of the "boutique" guys. The other is from a Mexican tele.

By far the best el cheap PU I've ever heard is the GFS 'fatbody' (bass poles) alnico Tele neck PU. Sounds like the best Strat PU you ever heard. Huge bottom, but crystal clear high end too. Blows away all other tele neck PUs IMO, no matter price...

I use the GFS lipsticks - 8K neck and 6K RWRP middle - the 8K's supposed to be a bridge pup - who says? Best and least money I've spent in a long, long time... they're pretty quiet and do what they say on the tin - nice clear response with plenty of poke... :D

Oh, good point. I didn't know GFS was making Strat sized lipsticks. I would buy those over the $69 Duncans, they prob are the same PU - tho I was lucky to get my Duncans for $37 each. I'm gonna put a GFS double-lipstick and buckr size P-90 in my 'new' el cheapo Paul copy.. :-)