The Black Keys Fan Lounge Forum

Hello good people of the internet. For better or worse I'm a gear junkie so it's only fitting my first post is about something as stupid as guitar pickups.

After listening to some Beck era Yardbirds for a month straight I got it into my mind to make myself an Esquire guitar. Soon after I started planning I watched the BKs first live DVD and I remembered how heavenly Dan's Tele sounds, of which he only uses the neck pickup. That might be useful to have.

I grabbed these captures from the DVD. I find it pretty commonly reported on the internet that he has Dimarzio Fast Track pups in the Tele, and from the screen freeze there's definitely one in the bridge. I think the FT pups came stock with this model Tele. The neck's pole bars are shiny so it looks like it's been swapped out for another one.

Has anyone here tried the FT pups? If you take off the plastic cover are they shiny?

I know Joe Barden makes a similar looking pickup:
http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store/show_item/1893

OK, well that's all for now. See you 'round.

I have no backup/proof, but I've always been told (since around 2003) that Dan used Dimarzio twin-blade single-coil sized 'buckers. There are a couple different ones he could have used, but I tend to agree with you that he probably used Fast Track T's.

I had a Fender Fat Telecaster (neck bucker) once upon a time that I dropped a GFS Dream-90 (bucker sized P-90 pup) in the neck pos, and a Dimarzio Fast Track T in the bridge... MAN that thing cooked. Also threw on an aftermarket maple, fat, V-shaped neck like the one on Dan's tele. I miss that guitar. So yeah, I think Dan should play his Tele more often. Although the Magic Potion tour was badass because he was a bearded wildman wielding that white lawsuit Ibanez SG Deluxe. Oh and his Harmony is a real beaut' too...

I think it's likely that he's using a chopper t in both the neck and bridge positions. It's hard to see "dimarzio" on the neck pickup, but thats probably because he beats the living daylights out of that guitar

I've installed dimarzio chopper in the neck of my japanese tele some time ago and here is my example with blues junior amp and black russian muff http://file.qip.ru/file/124081436/279f62b/Untitled_mixdown.html

@ japas, Do you have them both in your neck and bridge position? I think my neck pickup sounds great already but the bridge pickup I have in there now needs more balls. Does the chopper do the stuff we heard on thickfreakness fairly well? I don't want a metal pickup but something that can handle fuzz and overdrive very well and have alot of bass and bite. Does the chopper fit the description?

@Funkmaster I have them in both positions with a Bigsby too. I've had them for a while now. I think the choppers do fairly well, specially if you use a Maestro Fuzz pedal, but to me it is a bit heavy. I use a customized Fuzz pedal that gives me more settings and more variety than the Maestro Fuzz although, I do use it when I want more punch during choruses and whatnot.