I can only imagine how much better it'd sound with some Lollar or Kent Armstrong pickups (which, for a set of either of those would cost probably 3x what I paid for the GFS ones). I went with a cheaper option (GFS dogear P90s), but it made a huge difference! Now I set my amp to 'normal' EQ settings and it sounds really really nice. So I ended up just recently replacing the pickups. but still wasn't quite getting the bright sound I was looking for. I'll crank the treble on my amp and completely cut the mids and bass. But I don't have access to anything else. Maybe a better amp would serve me well (I just play out of an Orange Crush 35RT). That plus the metal covers, it sounds pretty muddy and uninspiring. From what I have gathered online, they are WAY overwound (like to the tune of 14k).

but I also just happen to like the sound of a wound G a bit better anyway) (I'm sure a proper setup would have also fixed things up and not required a wound G. Plays really well! I have had some slight intonation issues with the G string, but that fixed up nicely after I put a set on with a wound G. The guitar build and quality is actually quite impressive, IMO.