[gregr]

I gave the HFH another chance for several months this time around. It was nice at first but I grew tired of the bass response and lack of mids.

I replaced it with an A3-loaded Seymour Duncan 59N. I’m using a stacked pot as a PTB control in order to further manage the bass.

The bridge pickup is my usual Screamin’ Demon which is no match for a stock 59N. The Demon is leaner and weaker than a Duncan 59B, despite Duncan classifying it as a mid-gain pickup. Itself, the 59B in the bridge isn’t all that well balanced with a 59N to begin with. For those not familiar, the wire in the Demon is 43AWG and very under-wound. For reference the DCR is of the Screamin’ Demon is 10k while the Duncan Custom is 14k. In my opinion a Custom 5 pairs perfectly with a stock Duncan 59N.

With the with the bass set to minimum the 59 is able to balance tonally with the Demon. Turn it up and you get all that PAF goodness. The Demon has its own tone control and the output is controlled by a master volume.

[greenlion]

I don't know how many times I have installed the HFH in some guitar, initially liked it, and then removed it several weeks later because it is just anemic and somewhat boring. I appreciate the clean nature of it, and the tight low end, but always find myself wanting just a little bit "more of everything" out of it. I still have it though, because if I ever get a Tele with a neck humbucker, I'm going to try it in there.

[gregr]

I posted about my Tele with an Area Hot T in the bridge a month or so ago. It ended up with an EJ Custom Neck and I’m very happy with it.

The HFH never went in the Tele but I swapped between the Tele and the guitar that had the HFH to get an idea about how it would pair and I didn’t care for it. The guitar with the HFH is brighter so had I put the HFH in the Tele I probably would have liked it even less; the reason being that it will sound deeper and more full in the Tele, further detracting from the Area Hot T. I imagine the HFH would work better with a Chopper, but even then I’d want to try an EJ Custom Bridge in the neck position.

As was suggested to me earlier, the Full Shred Neck has the makings for a great pickup in an SH Tele. I once had one in the guitar that had the HFH. The FS was tighter and more aggressive. It’s an excellent mate for the Screamin’ Demon and I would still be using it except that it doesn’t provide the clean tone that I want from this guitar.

[darkbluemurder]

I second everything that was said about the HFH. I have no idea how the bass rating of 1.5 came about. To my ears it is more like 4-5 ...

I have used the Duncan Full Shred neck in several guitars (and still have one in two different guitars). Its biggest assets are the tight bass response (especially with 3 screws on the bass strings removed) and the single coily bite in the highs. However, If the guitar has piercing highs, the Full Shred neck will accentuate that. I also had it in one guitar where I found it did not sing enough, and I replaced it with a Breed neck. I also don't like its split and parallel modes much as they are kind of thin. Again, this may depend on the guitar it is in and the rest of the rig.

Cheers Stephan