Printable View
After years of tone chasing and being dissatisfied every time, I finally put in Fender Nocasters, and they'll be there for the rest of mine and the guitar's lives.
I've got twang, but I also get some smooth neck pup sounds. Throught the Marshall of DRRI, these things sing. Each amp brings out something "Tele" that is unique and Tele-fied and owes much to those Nocasters.
Bwannggggggggg
I tried a few when I built my T-Style. Duncan '54 bridge, Five-Two bridge, Vintage neck, Kinman Broadcasters, Fralin Stock bridge and neck and Blues Special bridge and others that I can't remember. Once I put the Fralin Blues Special bridge and Stock neck in it I was happy and stopped looking. That was 2005, if I recall.
The Blues Special bridge is fat yet twangy and is great for all the styles I play. The Stock neck is warm and smooth without being dull. Together (not RW/RP noise cancelling, btw) they ring like a bell.
To be honest, it wasn't the pickups or the wood or anything else that made this guitar for me- it wasn't until I got a really great sounding 5E3 clone that I came to appreciate the guitar. I was considering routing the guitar for humbuckers until I got that amp!
Now I've really come to appreciate it and it's my favorite guitar with any amp.
I generally prefer an overwound Blackguard type lead pup, A3 mags of the correct diameter and 43 gauge wire. I use flat pole Strat pups in the neck position because I have yet to find a Tele neck pup I like... I know there's plenty of "good" ones, but I don't personally care for "that" sound.
With that said, I have tried a LOT of great pickups! We're lucky to have so many great choices!!! My #1 Tele has a Voodoo 59 lead, my Thinline sports a Bill Lawrence MicroCoils, and my white Tele rocks a G&L ASAT bridge pup. GFS makes some good Tele pups too, seriously, don't laugh. I've used their Slick brand leads in 2 different Teles, also a rail pup (the middle output one, forget the actual specs).
I've gotten to the point where I use whatever sounds best in the guitar, whatever it is. I've built and hotrodded plenty of Teles, with various pups, and my choice is usually whatever accentuates THAT guitar's inherent tone. Like I said, lots of great choices out there!
As for my personal favorite? Overwound Blackguard type to "get my Stones" off, Voodoo 59 or ASAT for a more "raucous" tone. I have both Ash and Alder guitars, but prefer Rosewood board necks. That's my general "recipe", and I ALWAYS use brass saddles! I only use steel if it's a dark sounding guitar.
Kerry (Onamac Windery) made me a set of A3 Nocaster pups. The bridge is 9.5k and the neck is 7.5k. I dropped them in my GE partscaster and it's my number 1 Tele now. :dude
Bright and smooth is what I hear. Never grating or ice picky and notes retain definition even when over driven. I'm hooked on the A3/ 43AWG combo.
If made correctly, the A3 Tele pup is MAGICAL!!! Bright but not shrill or ice picky. Done wrong? Some of the WORST pups ever. They're especially nice in a pine bodied Tele!!!
I dig hearing about all of your favorites. Gives one a perspective on all the different possibilities of our Teles / Esquires / Broadcasters.
My fave Tele tones include those of Robbie McIntosh when he played with The Pretenders and those of Keef. Keef Keef Keef. I can't get close to those with the Nocasters.
Keep those whats and whys coming.
The Fender offerings are just ok, but you'd think that the company that owns the rights would be able to make great versions of their own parts...
If you're looking for Keef, try any of the ones I listed. Angeltone also makes great pickups! I have a set of one off Jazzmaster pups that are Broadcasters built on JM bobbins. Trust me, I'm a HUGE Keef fan!!! I think the biggest trick is technique and amp choice. Yes, overwound A3 pups help, but I don't think they're totally necessary. I can get really close with my Voodoo 59 and Slick 56 loaded Tele.
It's my understanding that 'overwound' really doesn't cross over from 43AWG to 42AWG as the diameter of the wire is different you end up with more turns hence more resistance but not actually a more powerful pup. The way it was explained to me was that a 9.5K 43 AWG A3 pup is more akin to a 7-7.5K pup with 42AWG wire. That is if both used the same mags.
Please correct me and clue me in if this wrong or an oversimplification.
By ear the higher wind A3s don't really seem to push my amps any harder than the CS Broadcaster in my AM Std. :hmm
ChW~ I really liked the Broadcaster pup a lot until I tried the A3. I still like the Broadcaster pup, it's got a good Tele tone to it, but the A3 is a madman. Just sayin'... :dude
Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckocaster
I trust your judgement on pickups because you know your stuff. I'm close enough to Keef to get satisfaction (groan). I don't need exact for what I do. The Nocasters please me, but I might try some of those Angeltones on a parts build I'm thinking of doing. I keep going to Warmoth and building Tele bodies. I'm thinking about getting a hollow, f-hole Tele body. I've got a wonderful 93 AmStd Strat neck to go on it.
DanD, you're right, my nomenclature is off. I usually say "overwound" to mean an SC pup that's higher than "normal". With pups, what you're dealing with is a recipe. Most guys are used to A5 mags and 42 wire. So when they look at an A3 with 9K+, they are trying to compare apples and oranges. The biggest myth that I had believed was more winds and DC equals more output. What really happens is the EQ curve and resonant frequency changes. We normally hear that as "louder", but usually it's because the pickup is feeding more mids to the amp, which distorts more easily, and we interpret that as more volume. Kinda like how we hear tweed amps as softer and more distorted than Blackface amps. Even though the Blackface actually has more "gain" than a Tweed, beings they distort differently, we perceive different volumes.
Mr Willie: I'm glad I don't come off as a know it all, cuz that's not my intention at all. I have actually never played the Nocaster pups from Fender, but if they're anything like the 52 RI pups I might be able to hazard a guess. While I don't think the 52 pups are bad, they just don't have the "magic" and "feel" of what I expect in that type of Tele. I'd never played "real" versions of early Tele pups. But once I did, I was hooked! They simply have a different compression, feel, and "sparkle" than what we normally hear from a Tele pup. Yes, they still "twang", just differently. Not trying to sound like a jerk, but the guy I apprenticed with was a wealth of knowledge on pre 55 Teles. I didn't get all the secrets, but I was given a very in depth schooling on the subject.
As you know, I'm a "every guitar is a universe unto itself" guy. Meaning I approach each instrument differently and do my best to accentuate that guitar's personality. While it's fun to swap pups, modify and tweak stuff. I don't always think it's necessary, and it's a rabbit hole you'll have a hard time escaping from!!! Trust me on THAT! LOL Guess my whole point is this, we have so many great choices it's too easy to split hairs over things no one else can hear. But, if a guitar doesn't sound or feel right to you, change it. I truly believe that YOU as a player are better served by being comfortable with your gear and how it sounds than by dropping big coin on esoteric unobtainium! When you're inspired by and comfortable with your gear you'll play better, and from doing that you'll also sound better. You're not worried about where the gain is set on your OD pedal, or is my reverb knob at 4 or 5? Or anything else like that. You can concentrate on the most important thing, making music! No one in the audience cares if you have a Black Cat or cheapo RatShack green chiclet cap in your guitar. Or whether the magnets in your bridge pup are the correct diameter for a 53 Esquire. Hell, they couldn't tell you if the Mogami cable you normally use sounds any different from Fender cable you bought on sale for $20...
But, what they can hear is whether you love playing your guitar! And that's the most important thing!!!
Check out those Angeltone pups, they're really nice! I have and have tried many others that are good too. Heck, I have 5 Teles and none of them have the same pups!!! LOL But to get some of that "Keefy" vibe, look at something with A3 mags, 43AWG, and 8.5K+ on the winding. Should get you pretty close. I know at one point he was buying up all the old Fender Lap Steels he could find, just to get the bridge pup out of. That's why you'll see some pups offered as "lap wrap" or something. Leo basically repurposed the same pup he was using in his lap steels for what we know as the Tele.
Chucko, you never come across as a know it all. I am always glad to see what you have to say about guits and such. I learn from you, man, so keep it coming. I appreciate it.
I just know that I personally hate when people start dropping names and get long winded... I do my best not to, but sometimes I can't help it.
I finally put the Angeltones in my new Jazzmaster, and even though they are almost the same specs as my Hamels in my MIJ, they sound different. Part of that is because of being from different winders, the other is because they're different guitars. Both sound great!
I know he doesn't use them, but if you get the chance try a Strat pup in the neck position. It's an old school trick that I enjoy the sound of. Like I said, never cared for the Tele neck pup. The Strat is clearer, and I find that switching between the positions you have a more even tonal response.
A guy on the LPF recommended Don Mare?
twisted tele pickups and Texas special tele pickups
For me, I like the OVs with the A3 magnets. They're reasonable priced and have the exact vintage flavor I like.
Depends. I really like Antiquities for SCs, and for WRHB's Telenators are about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on, NAILs some of the Keef sounds.
OA, Thanks. I'll eventually build a partscaster, and I've thought about the Antiquities. But the others sound very interesting too.