OK, so I thought I'd better post my view on these pickups.
I played mostly on my Laney Lionheart L20H and matching 2x12 cab which is loaded with UK made Celstion Heritage G12H'S. If you don't know the amp it is a true class a rock/hard rock machine with el84 powers and 3 preamp tubes. Fantastic cleans and awesome drive. I love this amp.
First up, I really don't want to say too much about the DR V neck or Marshallhead bridge with A2 mag as they were in my Traditional with the stock pots, caps. Obviously having the stock electronics isn't going to give a true indication of what these pickups are truly like, however it will still give you an idea of what I was working with.
I will say in the Traditional the Dr V was still quite bright even with stock electronics, no mud what so ever. This pickup liked clean to just breaking up on the amp. For me the cleans were good but driven hard it lacked bottom end and seemed a bit dull. I could not get a singing lead tone out of the neck. Maybe it was just tooooo vintage for my liking?
The Marshallhead with a2 was quite good. The a2 mag added a little compression and smoothness, just rounded off the top end a bit which is what you would expect. Good rock tone but again for me it lacked bottom end. Just didn't really thump like a Les Paul bridge pickup should. For what I like anyways.
Now to the Marshallhead set i had in my 01 Standard.
I liked these pickups for rock, think ACDC, but again for me they lacked bottom end thump. Both pickups again on the bright side which I don't mind.
I like both a quite thick bridge tone as well has a toppy one. The main thing for me in a Lester is that the bridge has thump. You know, you hit that chord and you just sit back and go YEH BABY
The Marshallhead bridge did not have this in spades. It was good but not jaw dropping.
The neck Marshallhead was good too, and again great no. As with the DR V it seemed to prefer clean to just breaking up on the amp and again could not get that singing lead tone out of the neck under gain. It was better than the Dr V but not what I was after.
What I did find is that the louder I turned up the amp the better they sounded. If it makes any sense it's as if these are a gigging volume pickup. They still lacked that real bottom end shove and singing lead tone out of the neck but certainly improved as I cranked her up.
Now you may say that you need to have your amp loud to get a good tone. I love cranking my amps and yes they sound better cranked but for instance when i had a Seymour Duncan 59 and Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 i could still get a great thumping bridge tone and singing leads on the neck at low volumes.
I actually really like the 59/Custom 5 setup. For me though the 59/c5 pickups need more mids and can get a bit harsh on the top end. They did however cover a lot of ground from me from classic rock through to metal with eq and volume adjustments on the guitar.
So for me the search continues. I will certainly say that Wolfe was absolutely brilliant to deal with and offered to rewind these for me. Customer service could not have been better. I thought about having them rewound and am certain that given time and Wolfe getting the right information from me about my wants that he would wind me a perfect set of pickups. I think however I will just flip them and try another winder, just for the sake of trying another persons craft.
I would also say that although these sets weren't for me they might be for you. Wolfe's pickups are exceptionally well made, you only have to look at them. These sets also may sound better with different style amps/eq/pedals etc. You know the drill.
I was actually hoping I would have recieved my WB Firewaters and Habaneros from Will. This would have given me a great opportunity to really compare these two winders. I've emailed him again so hopefully I will hear back soon on the progress.
Until then I may consider WCR as he seems to be very highly respected.
If I can scrape together enough cash I will probably get the American Steele set Goodwood bridge/Crossroads neck for the Traditional and Maybe an Ironman set for the Standard for the heavy stuff.
I hope I have made sense and have been some help to anyone out there looking at pickups.
I HATE BUYING PICKUPS, I F'ING HATE IT.
