As there aren¡¯t many reviews out there on these I thought I¡¯d post a little review. With a followup to come later. I¡¯ve got a modded Squier Standard strat which had Custom Shop Texas Specials in it. I¡¯ll be honest and I found them awesome clean but lacking bottom end and they were very harsh with overdrive. I prefer Tex Mexs and Iron Gears.
As such I had gotten a TESLA set as part payment for a modded Squier Affinity Tele I sold.
Now, as far as noisless pups go I like Lace Sensors A LOT, especially for the cover band I play in BUT they don¡¯t really have that classic Strat bell like sound which happily these Teslas seem to have up to a point. They are neutral sounding for Single coils and sound like the treble, mids and bass are all very equal which is good as a base for working on your tone BUT might be regarded as a lack of character. My favourite single coils I¡¯ve tried so far are Iron Gear PIG IRON Overwound as they are hot but without that overly prominent mid hump which a lot of overwound single coils have got.
The Good: - They are truly noiseless - Closer in sound to a real set of single coils than Laces ( a LOT closer) - Look cool with the little TESLA shiny logo (sorry I am vein! Lol) - Very neutral sounding for single coils (not sure this is a good point so it¡¯s in both good and bad!) - Relatively cheap
The Bad:
- Not as much chime as real single coils - Very neutral sounding for single coils (not sure this is a bad point so it¡¯s in both good and bad!) - Not well known and therefore not many reviews so hard to judge before you buy
All in, I¡¯m fairly happy with them but I¡¯ll need to run them through my normal gigging rig tomorrow night at practice.
For reference I¡¯ve tried the following in strats over the last few months: Vanson Classic Pros Good overwound pickup for the price – very close to Tex Mex but not as much clarity Lace Sensor Silver Silver Blue In my Number one Strat enough said! Lace Sensor Blue Silver Red In my Number two Strat enough said! But I¡¯ll be honest I find the Blue in the neck too ranchy Tex Mex Really well suited to most situations as they sit in the middle ground of overwound single coils. Bellcat Unbelievable quality for the price. Custom Shop 69s Too low output for my liking. EMG Dave Gilmour Best Clean sound ever but way too harsh with the preamp engaged with overdrive and REALLY flat sounding (clean and driven) without the preamp. Iron Gear Smoke Stack IIs Crazy cool pickups!! Love the standard coil but am struggling to find a use for the overwound side so far as they are REALLY Hot and very middy with the second coil engaged Real 73 Fender single coils Too low output for my liking.