Hamel report

[pbradt]

Man, where to start.

Think about the smoothest Tele sound you ever heard. then double the smoothness. Bill Hullett spoke of a "smokiness in the bridge pickup and it's really true. In my guitar, which is very light and snappy, I rolled the tone control back about 10 percent. Man, it just doesn't twang any better than that. When you kick in some overdrive, either the amp itself (in my case, a Clay Hullett Deluxe repro) it really sings, or screams depending on how you play it.

Middle position is just silky, rhythm guitar never sounded so good. lots of spank and that middle position twang. I used this position for a lot of solos last night just because I was digging it so much. The "in series" middle position was also very nice but of course louder and a little darker.

Neck pickup was a surprise. It's wound quite weak, 7.1K, which is weaker than any neck pickup I've ever had. But when I wanted to solo on that pickup, it was not weak at all, in fact, it rather drove the amp a little harder. Go fig.

I'm always skeptical about the flavor of the month in pickups, but Alan Hamel is making them correct. I really hope his production problems are behind and he can get, not only caught up but can start putting them out.

If you can afford them, these are the best Tele Pickups you can buy.