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Thread: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

  1. #1
    Forum Member Old Ranger's Avatar
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    ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    Absolutely love my Squier Bullet Tele. But the bridge pickup is pure icepicks!

    So yesterday I ordered a new one said to be a copy [maybe] of a 50's Broadcaster with level poles of ALNICO 5 magnets. Price was right, and now I wait. 5's may still be a bit bright. They even had some with 1,2, & 3 in ALNICO 3, and poles 4,5, & 6 in ALNICO 5. Idea for dulling the unwound and brightening the wound. Novel concept.

    Oh well, we'll see how it does with this pickup I ordered. 5's could be too much. Shoot, I'm not going to get my undies in a bunch worrying about it. I'm goin shootin. Its now 53 and sunny. I hear "Terminator" calling to me.
    I forgot what I was going to say...

  2. #2
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    I’m a HUGE flat pole hot wound A3 lead pups, they’re a very distinct sound. They’re bright and cut but don’t icepick. I’m sure the A5 you ordered is gonna be a vast improvement over the ceramics that are in there. I’m not against ceramics or anything, just have found that each magnet type has its own unique color
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  3. #3
    Forum Member Old Ranger's Avatar
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    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    My upper frequency hearing is gone. I wear special hearing aids in both ears. Add severe tenitus in the right ear, and its a wonder I hear any notes above the 12th fret! But the bridge pickup is so nasty that it hurts my head if I don't cut the tone 100%! Ouch!So I sure hope this one does the trick. Next up is to toss those dinky little 250k audio pots! Put in some linear pots of substantial size and a good tone cap to make it all sound good. Oddly enough, the little Neck pickup, though being ceramic, it sounds good. So I guess if it ain't broke I won't fix it.
    I forgot what I was going to say...

  4. #4
    Forum Member Old Ranger's Avatar
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    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    The A5 pickup arrived. Hadda wait until my neighbor came home to wire it in. I lost my soldering iron and gear... What can I say? Hasn't been a good year thus far.. But we got it wired. I took the Tele home and reassembled it. Oiled the fretboard. Installed new D'Addario's. Stretched and tuned. Then cranked up the Mustang I v2 amp and gave it a complete tonal test drive.

    Icepicks.... GONE!
    Tone: Bright, but with complete control and quite smooth and refreshing. Like my rum...
    Power: equally matched with the neck. Great outta phase sound in #2 switch position. Cool
    Value: Great, $28 well spent on a very solid and finely made pickup.
    From 1 to 10... I'd like to say 10, but really its a strong 8, pushing a 9. Really, it great. And I'm comparing it to every pickup I've installed or used in 50 plus years of Tele's I've had, and 30 years of repairs and modification for others. Yes, its as good as any Duncan or Dimarizo and such.
    When I figure out how to do that link thing, I'll add it here.

    Ok, I'm outta here. Got a Tele Bullet with a new pickup that wants to hit it like Albert Collins!
    Brick baby!

    Ok, I don't do computer crap. Link? Yeah, sure. When pigs fly.... But, here's the guy.
    [Sanman8753 ] s the eBay store. Stocks good stuff at great prices.
    I forgot what I was going to say...

  5. #5
    Forum Member Volumeknob's Avatar
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    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    congrats on the new pup HOLD the ICE! ;)
    The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.
    T. Roosevelt

  6. #6

    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Ranger View Post
    Absolutely love my Squier Bullet Tele. But the bridge pickup is pure icepicks!

    So yesterday I ordered a new one said to be a copy [maybe] of a 50's Broadcaster with level poles of ALNICO 5 magnets. Price was right, and now I wait. 5's may still be a bit bright. They even had some with 1,2, & 3 in ALNICO 3, and poles 4,5, & 6 in ALNICO 5. Idea for dulling the unwound and brightening the wound. Novel concept.

    Oh well, we'll see how it does with this pickup I ordered. 5's could be too much. Shoot, I'm not going to get my undies in a bunch worrying about it. I'm goin shootin. Its now 53 and sunny. I hear "Terminator" calling to me.
    I know this post is old... thought I'd something.

    Some epoxy glue and some pennies attached to the bottom would have smoothed that pup out. (and saved you some $$$)

    The thickness and the type of material of the plate on the bottom of a tele bridge AND.... the amount of time the pup was potted (dipped in hot wax to prevent feedback) are huge factors on how bright a tele pup is. A lot of boutique winders IMO over pot and the result is a muted pup that doesn't have openness. IMO still ..... even with all the boutique winders Fender (with 70+yrs winding Tele pups) still makes some of the best Telecaster pups. I modded a MIM Tex Mex tele pup with some pennies and its one heck of a great bridge pup. Potted correctly after adding the pennies, I can't tell the difference with it and some of the Custom shop pups I have in other Teles.

  7. #7
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    Re: ALNICO 5 bridge for a Tele

    I built a tele for my buddy some years back. He is a winder so I put some eBay fender squeir PUPs designed by Seymour in it just so it played when I gave it to him. Eight years later he hasn’t touched it. They are very nice sounding.

    Quote Originally Posted by FarmallHseries View Post
    I know this post is old... thought I'd something.

    Some epoxy glue and some pennies attached to the bottom would have smoothed that pup out. (and saved you some $$$)

    The thickness and the type of material of the plate on the bottom of a tele bridge AND.... the amount of time the pup was potted (dipped in hot wax to prevent feedback) are huge factors on how bright a tele pup is. A lot of boutique winders IMO over pot and the result is a muted pup that doesn't have openness. IMO still ..... even with all the boutique winders Fender (with 70+yrs winding Tele pups) still makes some of the best Telecaster pups. I modded a MIM Tex Mex tele pup with some pennies and its one heck of a great bridge pup. Potted correctly after adding the pennies, I can't tell the difference with it and some of the Custom shop pups I have in other Teles.

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