It’s double trouble for the ever-cool Billy Gibbons as Seymour Duncan announces the release of a signature Telecaster bridge pickup and a hotter humbucker set for the guitarist.
The Hades Gates humbucker and the Red Devil for Tele sets have been crafted to cover all bases of Gibbons’ sizzling blues tones, with a tight focus on “tight harmonics and thick rhythms,” with the former turning single coil Tele bridges into faux humbuckers via a handy drop-in installation.
The devilish Tele set follows on from the pair’s original Red Devil set, designed to be loaded into Fender Stratocasters craving a little ZZ Top bite.
Speaking of the success of that pickup, he said it left Telecaster and Esquire players craving “that gargantuan sound,” and so he’s reignited his ‘Duncan collaboration to meet their needs – as well as his own.
And so that recipe has now been tailored to drop into single coil Telecasters, which feels a natural progression for a guitarist who loves both classic Fenders in equal measure.
The Reverend Willie G approved pickup matches an Alnico 5 magnet with a four-conductor cable, and a “hot wind” to drive amplifiers and pedals harder than a traditional vintage humbucker, despite its single coil presentation.
Says Gibbons: “I like the twank of a Telecaster and the beef of a humbucker, and right here you get a little bit of both. It fattens up the bottom end, and you eliminate hum.
“It doesn't require any drilling,” he adds. “Just pop it into your instrument and tear it up.”
The Hades Gates humbucker pairing, meanwhile, is inspired by Gibbons’ love for heat – itself shown through his fuzz-addled lead playing and his range of hot sauces.
Based on the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup set found in his beloved 1959 Gibson Les Paul, Seymour Duncan has injected a little more output into the P.A.F ‘buckers at Gibbons’ request.
An extra hot wind persists here too, resulting in what Seymour Duncan calls “a fiery take on the mid-forward, punchy sound” the bearded riff wizard is known for.
Its Alnico 2 magnets help drive amps into “hot, blue, and righteous territory.” They are hand-built in Santa Barbara, California with a four-conductor cable and short mounting legs.
“Seymour Duncan took the Pearly Gates pickups and gave them an extra bump,” Gibbons explains, meaning guitars equipped with them will “stand up and bark.”
“When on stage, the essence of cutting through relies on what emanates from the source,” he continues. “It would be fair to say that's the heart of what makes it sound so good. It's really what it takes to differentiate this to ‘wow...I want that.’”
Gibbons' "Pearly Gates" Les Paul, acquired in 1968 just as ZZ Top was kicking into gear, has been by the guitarist's side for more than 55 years, writing itself into folklore as it was employed across the band's hugely successful records.
“You gotta have the right guns when you enter the town of tone,” the Texan bluesman once told Guitar Player. “I’ve spent plenty of money putting together a collection of guitars attempting to find something to replicate Pearly, and it just hasn’t happened yet.”
The Seymour Duncan Red Devil for Tele bridge pickup costs $129, and the Hades Gates set costs start at $129 each or $258 for a set, depending on which finish players opt for.
Visit Seymour Duncan to view the full range.
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