Harsh vela bridge pickup

[dankilling]

Vela looks great, plays great, and resonates better than any of my other electric guitars, but I find the bridge humbucker bright to the point of being harsh. I’m looking for a replacement with a softer attack, better midrange, and very controlled highs. I’ve been mostly looking at Alnico 2 based humbuckers wound around 9k, but now have analysis paralysis so was hoping for some real-world experiences and suggestions. I don’t want to spend more than $150, so PRS, Lollar, Fralin, etc are out.

 

[Birdsofprey]

Sorry don’t have a Vela, but as far as affordable pickups you could look into Duncan and Suhr. I’ve got both in PRS guitars and love them. For Duncan i use the Pearly Gates in a few of my guitars (bridge) and I have one S2 Mira with a Suhr Aldrich and love it.

 

[Aahzz]

I'm a big fan of Wolfetone pickups, and if you email him what you want, he can do it - and with his ongoing 25% off sale, he's easily in the right price range.

 

[theDeepender]

Vela looks great, plays great, and resonates better than any of my other electric guitars, but I find the bridge humbucker bright to the point of being harsh. I’m looking for a replacement with a softer attack, better midrange, and very controlled highs. I’ve been mostly looking at Alnico 2 based humbuckers wound around 9k, but now have analysis paralysis so was hoping for some real-world experiences and suggestions. I don’t want to spend more than $150, so PRS, Lollar, Fralin, etc are out.

Just checking…
You did try lowering the bridge pickup a bit? Another low cost option is going with different strings. Some have less bite and more body.

 

[Gtrbldr]

I'm a big fan of Wolfetone pickups, and if you email him what you want, he can do it - and with his ongoing 25% off sale, he's easily in the right price range.

Totally agree. Soldered yesterday a custom legend in the neck of my CU24. Awesome!! Did exactly what I asked.

 

[Russ73]

OP I just dial in the amp a little differently with my Vela....but I guess that doesn't help lol...I like a little sizzle but I had a Vela semi with a PAF in it and it def was warm...

 

[dankilling]

Interesting twist in this- I’ve measured the Bela bridge string spacing, and it measures 53mm, so it’s actually f-spaced. That narrows the options down quite a bit.

 

[dankilling]

Moving forward with this. Picked up a Tonerider F spaced alnico 2 pickup, a second PRS pickguard, and parts binned the rest with CTS, switchcraft, Mojotone, and a Puretone jack. Much warmer than before, so I’ll play it in a bit and see if it’s where I want it to be. I kept the original pickguard factory wired so swapping back is a matter of soldering the bridge growing back on and that’s it.