[darkbluemurder]

Surprised that there is no thread on these yet so I will start.

Chopper T

This is probably the most versatile telecaster bridge pickup I ever encountered. With the coils in series it resembles a hot PAF type pickup - healthy output but not over the top, enough bite to cut through, solid, tight bass and vocal but not overbearing midrange. This is with a 500k volume pot. With the coils in parallel and a load of approx. 250k it resembles a powerful single coil, even though the bass is not quite as tight. It also sound quite good with just one coil in operation but of course it is no longer humcancelling then.

Comment on the strat variant to follow.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

Now on to the regular Chopper. I had this in two different strats in the bridge together with an Area 58 in the middle and an Area 67 in the neck. The main difference is that in one the volume pot was 250k whereas it was 500k in the other. I prefer to run it with 500k.

Keep in mind that I am not a vintage strat pickup fan usually, and definitely not a fan of a traditional single coil in the bridge position - too icepicky for my taste. I was always looking for something beefier in the bridge but without the usual compromise to the bridge + middle position.

The set up I have now is as follows: 500k audio volume pot, 500k audio tone for positions 2-5, 500k audio tone only for position 1 (bridge only). No coil split in position 2 (bridge + middle in parallel). No series option - not really necessary with the Chopper in the bridge. 5-way 4 level switch. I use a 560k resistor to bring down the load to approx. 270k for positions 3-5. Note: position 2 keeps the 500k load.

Result: a fat but present bridge tone without any trace of icepick, very hot PAF like. Volume balance to the single coils is great. The bridge + middle position sounds excellent and does not feel like a compromise at all. The guitar also offers a setting that gives bridge + neck which sounds excellent as well.

In summary the Chopper is a great option for anyone wanting a fatter sound in the bridge position of a strat that is routed for SSS which still sounds great together with the middle single coil.

Cheers Stephan