Someone educate me on Teles please...

[demioblue]

I'm ordering an Ash body, double bound, paired with a maple neck. Mainly because i've discovered that this is my fav combo for bolt ons.

As for pickups, i have no clue what to expect. I've not had much experience with Teles, always having been a strat/superstrat/LP guy.

What should I expect from a good Tele pickup set? Chime? Twang? Bell tones? I don't know. how much would Teles differ from Strats? I've played a few teles in the stores, and all sounded mre or less quite ok. I don't know how to tell between a giid sounding tele, or a so so sounding one.

Can anyone shed some light?

[holmis63]

The bridge pick up must have a big twang to it, else it´s not a Tele IMO! Othervise it´s very dependent on Year and Model when you mix bridge and neck pup and neck alone. I would recomend the custom shop broadcaster neck pup that is fitted on the Baja tele, nice bell tone alone and mix nicely with the bridge pup.

[Mesotech]

The twang of a Tele has more to do with the bridge type than the pickup. The 3 barrel saddle bridge being the twangiest. The bridge pickup's bite has a close relationship to the metal baseplate on the bottom. No baseplate, less bite and less Tele sounding. Also a good Tele bridge pickup might be a little microphonic (not radical, but mild).

[Don]

Buy used pickups on guitar forums and find out what you like. I had several sets in my USACG T-Style before choosing. Buying used let me try a bunch without losing too much money.

[Gris]

A great Tele will have both twang/cut from the bridge as well enough umpf to overdrive nicely (more than a Strat). The neck PU is a matter of taste, they run the gammut from warm and jazzy to Strat-like. The Tele sound is really all about the bridge PU though.

[demioblue]

Hmm... So what if I want a strat-like neck pup, and a tele-like bridge pup? Which set should I look at?

[Wilko]

IMO, the regular neck pickup will sound strat like anyway, if a little more mellow sounding.

I'm very traditional and prefer a good matched set. I just loaded my 73 tele (ash with maple neck) with Seymour Duncan 54 set. STL-1 bridge and STR-1 neck. Love them both.

here's live take (I start the solo in G but since we're backing a woman, we're in C... )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYDsGikd6xE

[Gris]

Hmm... So what if I want a strat-like neck pup, and a tele-like bridge pup? Which set should I look at?

Numerous tele-lke bridge PUs. I like the Fralin vintage hot. They cost about $80 each.

Strat PUs don't fit teles unless routed. Need a special design. The GFS fatbody is a killer one for about $35.

Set the bridge PU up high andthe neck down low and tilted.

[ch willie]

I've heard people praise Fralins, and I've heard Fralins knocked by others.

The fact that we have to worry about after-market pickup swaps bugs me. There are so many people doing it, shouldn't that send a message to Fender that they need to get their shite together? Or are any of you really satisfied with the stock pickups? I do expect that some are.

I'm looking at the 52 AVRI. As soon as I find a shop with a lefty, I'm going to try it out. If it doesn't have that twang, I'm going to forget it and build my own. I'm tired of swapping pickups.

[Wilko]

The fender RI pickups are just fine. No issue at all.

[Gris]

The PUs in the 50s MIM classic series RI were not good at all - way thin.

[Wilko]

IMNSHO, everything Fender puts out-- besides the RI stuff --is horrible.

Thin and weak. Way thin.

There's a reason that the good ol' 52 RI is great guitar right out of the box.

[cherrick]

google Don Mare. then go listen to Roy Buchanan. Then go listen to Danny Gatton. Then listen to Pete Anderson and Brad Paisley.

then choose.

[marks sonics]

hi there...does anybody know if you can have a series position using a standard 3 way switch? ie bridge..series bridge/neck....neck??/


try to work out some wiring diagrams to no avail/....cheers

[cherrick]

google Don Mare. then go listen to Roy Buchanan. Then go listen to Danny Gatton. Then listen to Pete Anderson and Brad Paisley.

then choose.

Don Mare makes a Bakersfield / Hayride set that you can hear here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_7QWtp8Bo

watch the guy's right hand as he switches between pickups and hear the difference in tone.

Don Mare not only makes pickups he does a Roy Buchanan tribute called "Buck Cannon". These are his Nancy / 2324 pickups built to match a 52 style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp-QlqxDBq8

Ditto on the listening to Danny Gatton. Joe Barden made his pickups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B1s_7SjxJg
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIgb0...093405&index=0
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS5XH84mmI4

CrookCustomGuitars.com makes Brad Paisley's guitars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlZPm-g6Hw
and
http://www.crookcustomguitars.com/paislies.php

Here's a great video of 3 Tele / Tele-style monsters: Danny Gatton (left), Vince Gill (right) and Albert Lee (middle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ljrPfsa50

So, know what tones you're looking for and take it from there.

Oh yeah, that Danny Gatton video always makes me want to quit.

[Gris]

hi there...does anybody know if you can have a series position using a standard 3 way switch? ie bridge..series bridge/neck....neck??/


try to work out some wiring diagrams to no avail/....cheers

Yeah, I think so, but them you'd have to give sumthin else up, right?

[Kap'n]

IMNSHO, everything Fender puts out-- besides the RI stuff --is horrible.

Thin and weak. Way thin.

There's a reason that the good ol' 52 RI is great guitar right out of the box.

The Texas Tele set is nice, and the ones the Baja are also very nice.


The American Standard/Series is neutered for a number of reasons. Pickups, bridge, etc.

[jerryjg]

Besides the traditonal Tele, which is..well..'traditional', youre going to find a lot of folk that want to modernize it . For me, that means retaining the Tele Bridge Twang as much as possible, while boosting the output to keep up with something like a Mini- humbucker in the neck so as to get far away from that anemic and uninteresting traditional Tele neck pickup sound, and also alleviate the noise associated with it. For me, nothing does that better than a Joe Barden pickup.
Another thing is that apart from a vintage instrument, I really do not like vintage frets, so I have a neck with medium Jumbos. Also, I am also not enamored with vintage radius on an old Vintage Tele or a Fender reissue, so I choose a 10" radius across the bord.
I also find that a Pau Ferrau fretboard wokrs the best for me in terms of feel and tone.
Therefore, you could say I love the Tele,and would love to own a vintage Tele for pure tone, but being as how I do not own a vintage, I take license to modify my Tele with the modern appointments ( but i love an ash body and a fat boatneck) that suit my playing style and support my tone quest.
I also like to have a stock vintage reissue style Tele in the stable to better approximate the glory of the vintage sound and feel, but for a day to day player, I would never go back to vintage specs , like on a reissue.

[Wilko]

The Texas Tele set is nice, and the ones the Baja are also very nice.


The American Standard/Series is neutered for a number of reasons. Pickups, bridge, etc.

Yep. When I say thin and weak, I don't just mean pickups. Those thick heavy bridges are big contributors to thin and weak sounds.

[surfreak]

Pickup choice aside, what also "makes" the Tele tone for me is wood choice: I find the best combination is a very lightweight Swamp Ash body, and a thick, U-shaped maple neck and fingerboard.

I've tried many combinations, alder, r/w fingerboard, thinline etc., but this one gives me that great, dry and very woody traditional Tele sound.

[Gris]

Pickup choice aside, what also "makes" the Tele tone for me is wood choice: I find the best combination is a very lightweight Swamp Ash body, and a thick, U-shaped maple neck and fingerboard.

I've tried many combinations, alder, r/w fingerboard, thinline etc., but this one gives me that great, dry and very woody traditional Tele sound.

I totally agree with this statement.

[Wilko]

me too. I sold off my alder bound r/w tele. I still have my thinline for sentimental reasons (as well as it being a different souning guitar humbuckers and a stratish bridge (1972).

My main player tele is 1973 medium heavy ash with that U profile neck.

It's got Seymour Duncan vintage style pickups now.

[demioblue]

As with strats, i've found that the only way to get a "Fender" tone is from Fender pickups. Yes, other single coils would be nice too. I know. I've tried many. But for a certain characteristic I was looking for, only Fender pups delivered. And CS pups at that.

So, for Teles, what would be an indicative tone? What sort of record?

And those who use a humbucker in the neck, do you use 500k pots? or a 250k pot?

[Gris]

Bucker in neck presents a real dilemma in a Tele, because a good Tele bridge PU is bright. We have typically had to go to a 250k no-load pot to get it right.

[demioblue]

Hmm... What would give me that nice fat esquire type tone?

[pseudocat]

Ping Zhangliqun (he's a member on these forums). He wound a tele bridge pickup for me that's simply amazing. He can do fat, he can do twangy, or anything in between. If you want a fat esquire sound, he can nail it.

[demioblue]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind!

[Gris]

Hmm... What would give me that nice fat esquire type tone?

Mare's Broadcaster/'lap-wrap' is killer for that. Hot but very touch-sensitive. Friend of mine in VT has one for sale or at least did a week ago.

[Don]

I'm going to try Mare pickups eventually.

For now I really love the Fralin Blues Special bridge pickup in my Tele. It's just a bit hotter than their regular Tele bridge pickup (it's output matches the guitar's Fralin Stock neck pickup perfectly). It's a bit fatter without getting muddy or losing touch sensitivity. I wanted the cut and thrust of a steel guitar and got it with this pickup.

[Gris]

For now I really love the Fralin Blues Special bridge pickup in my Tele. It's just a bit hotter than their regular Tele bridge pickup (it's output matches the guitar's Fralin Stock neck pickup perfectly). It's a bit fatter without getting muddy or losing touch sensitivity. I wanted the cut and thrust of a steel guitar and got it with this pickup.

I had the exact opposite experience. Went with the Fralin VH over the Blues as the former nailed the steel guitar sound and the latter sounded a tad mushy to me.

[Don]

I remember that. I wonder if the difference is our taste, tolerance in the build of the pickups, strings, differences in the guitars they were put into...

My guess would be all of the above.


BTW, I mention strings because I put a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (I'm lightening gauges due to arthritis) on this guitar a couple of weeks ago and loved them when I first put them on. Now the guitar sounds mushy!

The guitars that I put .009" D'Addarios on still sound great! Maybe that's why I chose D'Addarios over Ernie Balls many years ago?

[Gris]

I use D'Addario 10s, even tho I have some old timer's issues too.

BTW, did you ever try a Fralin 'Vintage Hot' bridge PU? If you did and didn't like it, I'll bet you'd LOVE the Mare Broadcaster bridge PU. It seems to be sort of like the Fralin Blues only much better IMO.

[jamisonst]

I just put a set of Mare Hot Bakelite's in my MIM Deluxe light weight Ash. Neck = A5 6.1k, Bridge = A3 6.46k and they sound unbelievable. I had to wait 10 weeks for them though. Order up!!

[bignote]

In the words of the immortal Frank Zappa "shut up and play yer tele!"

[Offshore Angler]

I dig Duncan Antiquities. Really, they seem to be the most faithful reproduction of a good sounding vintage Tele pickup to my admittedly hosed ears.

[demioblue]

Great information in this tread so far guys... Thanks! I'll definately check out some of te pup recommendations!

[surfreak]

Once you're set on the neck+body wood combination and pickups (btw, I've tried a few boutique pickups and wasn't particularly impressed, the regular Fender CS Nocaster bridge pickup for me just sounds great and is a beast!), don't forget the details:

The traditional brass barrel saddles and string gauge are both very important for the Tele sound, and in my experience a set of fresh 10's sounds the best.