[MatCrns]

Hi, i'm new here. I'm french, so sorry for my english :') I would like to buy a fender player series, and I wish replace the originals pickups by these : the DiMarzio Area T 615 on the bridge position, and the mini humbucker Seymour Duncan SM-2N (Custom mini humbucker) on the neck position.

Will it sounds good ? I know those 2 brands are really good, and I want the "dry" and bright sound from the DiMarzio with a bit of distortion thanks to the mini humbucker.

Or would you advice me a DiMarzio mini humbucker like the vintage one (DP240) on the neck ?

Thank you !

[darkbluemurder]

I have both the Area T 615 and the DP 240 mini humbucker but not in the same guitar. The T 615 is a typical bright twangy tele bridge pickup but without the hum. Good choice if you want that. I have one in a guitar with an Area 58 in the middle and an Area 67 in the neck.

The DP 240 is a mini humbucker - bright on top but not harsh, full but not muddy in the lows. Great match to a medium output humbucker in the bridge. Whether it would make a good match to the T 615 in the bridge depends on what you use the pickups for. Personally I want to be able to switch between both pickups without having to adjust the amp's tone controls so for me it would not be a good match. But if this is not a requirement for you the combination could work well.

No experience with the Duncan pickup you mentioned so I cannot comment on that.

Cheers Stephan 

[MatCrns]

Thank you for your answer.

Actually, I want a telecaster with a telecaster sound (bright sound) but when I'll put some distortion, I want something a bit more agressive that will allow me to play some rock riffs (but not hard metal or something like that haha)

I have another telecaster with 2 hambuckers by fender, wich I use for lead and powerchords, but I'd like something else where I could play blues, rock with less distortion.

[DarthPhineas]

Will it sounds good ?

“Good” is highly subjective. Only your ears can answer that.

It can only be answered when you try it out for yourself.

[darkbluemurder]

All DiMarzio telecaster bridge pickups I tried I like also under distortion. Here they are in order of brightness (from brightest to least bright):

Area T 615
Area T
Virtual Hot T (no longer available)
Area Hot T
Chopper T

I have not tried the others that is why I left them out.

Cheers Stephan

[MatCrns]

Okay, so I think I'm going to go on the area T 615 pair with a T neck, at least I'm sure I'll not have any issues.

[darkbluemurder]

The Area T neck is OK but it is very low output as is typical for a telecaster neck pickup. I find that a telecaster neck pickup is only good if you are set to keep the original telecaster configuration or have a guitar with one and don't want to enlarge the pickup route to fit something else and/or do not want to change/modify the existing pickgouard. Soundwise I would take a minihumbucker, a Firebird humbucker or a stratocaster pickup over a telecaster neck pickup any day.

If you are going single coil instead of a minihumbucker I would go for a stratocaster type as they generally have more output and a stronger tone. If you consider this I would first check the route dimensions whether it fits a stratocaster single coil. Should the guitar have a route for a large humbucker in the neck position, almost anything else should fit this route (except for a P90), and you only need a pickguard that fits. 

Do you have a link to the exact model you have in mind?

Cheers Stephan

[MatCrns]

I see

Yes, I would like to take this one : https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/custom-mini-humbucker-neck?__uuid_ref=5ce80773da332

on the neck position; and this one : https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/hum-canceling/area-t-615

on the bridge position

My goal is to have a rock / blues sound but with a bit of distortion to play some riffs

[darkbluemurder]

I see I was not very clear - with "model" I meant the guitar, not the pickups.

Cheers Stephan

[MatCrns]

Oh, well I still hesitate, Either this one : https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/player-telecaster/0145212515.html

Or this one : https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/american-performer-telecaster/0115112384.html

I'm afraid that puting this kind of pickups on a player series would be a "waste" (a mess ?) but I don't really know haha

[darkbluemurder]

Well - both of these models have telecaster neck pickups so if you want to fit a mini humbucker you would have to enlarge the route in the body and you would have to change or modify the pickguard. if you like to play the guitar why not.

Cheers Stephan

[MatCrns]

I see, thanks a lot.

And with these pickups on a telecaster, I mean will they work well together, or it's a risk to combine both of them ?

[BluesJam]

I’ve always been partial to utilizing the same manufacturer.  I’m certain that some pickup sets are designed to work together sonically.  After 40 years, I’m certain that both companies know a thing or two about pickup designs.  I like DiMarzio because they push the envelope in a modern way.  I used Duncan’s singles in the past, but I’m more of a DiMarzio guy.  I’ve used the HS series for years, in both series and single coil split.  I ended up swapping them out for FS1.   It’s a better pickup and it packs a punch.

[MatCrns]

Yes, I guess I'm the only one to put 2 pickups from 2 different brands haha, but why not, let's see how it will sounds like

[BluesJam]

Sounds great.  Maybe you can analyze them for sonic performance and quietness.  I’m looking forward to your feedback on your DiDuncan guitar setup