Tele Pups?

[SLW]

I need to get new pups for a tele.  I am looking for suggestions.  I have been to websites of plenty of makers and listened to clips.  I want to hear some recomendations from members of this fine forum.  I am looking for that classic tele sound.  The guitar is has a swamp ash body and a rosewood neck. 

SLW

[rafe]

Churchills look like a pretty good deal and is what I will be getting for the bridge on my tele...

[G._Hoffman]

Lollar Tele pickups are really great for the classic sound, though they are single coil pickups so they can be awfully noisy.  But then, so are the classic Tele pickups.  At least for the bridge pickup, if you want something hum free the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups are really nice.  Ooops, I just looked, and they don't appear to be making the Virtual Vintage anymore.  I haven't tried the new ones (Area T's), so I can't comment on them. 


Gabriel

[FYL]

Many pups can fit the bill nicely.

I'd recommend Bill Lawrence's Wilde Keystones ($74 per set for the version w/ neck cover) or Fender's Custom '62 ($80), both are inexpensive and sound really great.

If you're looking for hum-cancelling pups, Fender's Vintage Noiseless ($100) or DiMarzio Area T ($140) are OK. The Kinman AVn-60 60's Custom Set are IMO the best noiseless pups but they're IMO overpriced at $250 or so.

[SLW]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  There were a couple that I had not considered.  I had not considered noisless at all.  I guess the hum from single coils has never bothered me.  Once you start to play the noise seems to go away.  I still don't know what I am going to do.

[HotBluePlates]

And I have Lindy Fralin pickups in my Tele. They are 1/2 & 1/2, with brighter alnico III magnets for the wound strings, darker alnico V for the plain strings. Seymour Duncan did something similar a long while back for Tele pickups, so you have an edge on the bass strings without the plain strings slicing your ears off.

As though you didn't have enough options to consider...

[SLW]

I have narrowed it down to the Fralins and DiMarzio Twang Kings.  The Twang Kings are cheaper at $120 versus $180 for the Fralins.  I am not really worried about the price difference.  It cost me $40 to take my family to Micky D's so $60 seems like a small difference.

Any other Fralin users out there?

[FYL]

I've got Blues Specials (slightly over-wound neck/stock stagger bridge) in one of my Teles. Excellent pups.

[Ed_Chambley]

+1 on Fralin 1/2 and 1/2.  I have tried many and the noiseless are ok, but do not have that bite expecially on the lower strings and are difficult to get a good chickin sound past the 12th fret.  The base Fralins sound exactly like the original Broadcaster.  I have not really noticed a hum with them either.  I am sure it is there, but I am a Tele player, so I wouldn't really notice.  I kind of think it is part of the sound.  I tried and still have some Lawrences, but they are in the box.  I have many different Teles.  I have on with a Swamp Ash and one piece maple neck.  I have it setup for country chicken pickin' and it is best to me with Fraiin 1/2 and 1/2 in the bridge and fender noiseless in the neck with s-1 switching.  It is my go to guitar.  The noiseless in the neck has a very round sound and with both pups runnin out of phase, it is all over Waylon.  I go the the bridge postition for the Pete Anderson Rock-a-bily sound.  It is the only pup I have found where the solo for Guitars and Cadallics sounds like the recording.  I have spent too much time here and money too, but if it don't sound tight at the input of the amp, it just ain't right.  I also have a .001 SoZo cap in it.  I don't think the Sozo is anything special, it is just what I had.  As a matter of fact, don't even get me started with ordering from Sozo.  What a nightmare.

Sorry for the long post, but I have really have spent lots of time with tele pups, I hope it helps.

[G._Hoffman]

You really can't go wrong with anything Lindy Fralin makes.

At least, I never have.



Gabriel

[SLW]

Thanks guys.  I guess I am settled on the Fralins.  Now I need to decide on the flavor.  To recap the guitar is swamp ash, rosewood neck, med jumbo frets with a 9.5" radius fb.  I like twangy, jangly guitars.  I play blues-rock-country types of music.  I had considered stock wind + stager as well as blues specials + stock stager.  It sounds like I should consider the stock 1/2 and 1/2.

Any more input?  I do appreciate all your remarks so far.

SLW

[G._Hoffman]

Thanks guys.  I guess I am settled on the Fralins.  Now I need to decide on the flavor.  To recap the guitar is swamp ash, rosewood neck, med jumbo frets with a 9.5" radius fb.  I like twangy, jangly guitars.  I play blues-rock-country types of music.  I had considered stock wind + stager as well as blues specials + stock stager.  It sounds like I should consider the stock 1/2 and 1/2.

Any more input?  I do appreciate all your remarks so far.

SLW

If you want it to jangle, go with stock output or even 5% under stock.  Lower output pickups tend to jangle more.  But you can also just tell Lindy what you want.  He won't flat out tell you what to do, but he will give you advice and he knows his stuff.

(I've told him in the past to just do whatever he wants, because it was going on a spec guitar and I wanted to see what he would do, and also because we have pretty similar tastes in pickups, but he flat out refused to do it.  He wouldn't make my pickups until I told him what I wanted.  :) )


Gabriel

[HotBluePlates]

To recap the guitar is swamp ash, rosewood neck, med jumbo frets with a 9.5" radius fb.  I like twangy, jangly guitars.  I play blues-rock-country types of music.

You have essentially described my Tele, except for the fretboard radius. Gabe told you right already. I think 1/2 + 1/2 will suit you, perhaps with the 5% underwind, as he said. Getting Lindy's recommendation will very likely help.

Remember the pickups are only part of the equation. While you will always tend towards twangy with that Tele bridge pickup, Tubenit can tell you that my guitar can sound twangy or even jazzy with both pickups or just the neck, depending on amp sound, settings and pick/finger attack.

[SLW]

I ordered a set of Fralin pups.  I went with  1/2 and 1/2, stock output, hybrid stager.  Whenever they get here I will let everybody know what I think.  I am pretty sure I will be happy with them.  Thanks to all of you that took time to post and give me advice.

SLW

[CraigB]

I've always wanted to try Fralins after all the great things I've read about them.  And this thread has sealed it, I'm going to use them in my next guitar build...

Another really great pickup set is the Custom Shop '51 NoCasters by Fender.  I always seem to gravitate to SDs, but I just put the '51s in my latest build and I am really happy.  The neck pickup has a fantastic sound, as does the bridge, but the neck one is not muddy or too thick sounding.

[SLW]

I did indeed order the Fralins.  They came before Christmas.  The rest of the guitar parts came after Christmas.  I just got it back from my luthier after having a nut made and a setup.  My first impression is that the pups are exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks again to everybody that offered advice.

Here is a picture.  I call her Betty Blue.


SLW

[HotBluePlates]

Nice looking guitar!

I think it's hard to go wrong with an ash body and Fralin pickups for the classic Tele tone. It's just up to you and your amp to do the rest of the work... I'm happy that it sounds like you're enjoying them so far!

[duke of earl]

I don't know about the tele, but I put some John Suhr V60LP's in my stratocaster and it sounds angelic.

[Platefire]

I've got two teles. One thing about a tele, it has its own territory of classic guitar tone that no other guitar can cover that I've seen. Pickups are subjective. Personally I like the classic tele tone maybe with a little edge to it. I come to love a tele by playing my bass players 69 all stock tele for serveral years and decided I needed to get my own before I wore his out, so that was my measurement for choosing mine.
  The 2003 highway 1 has stock pickups just a little hotter than normal classic(Almost like Texas Specials), the 2005 Butterscotch Squire tele special has an older Dimarzio in the bridge position, don't know the model as it was in it when I traded for it, the neck pickup was a little weak and I replaced it with a stu mac golden age 7K and that did the trick. I completely rewired and sheilded the squire. Actually the the squire sounds and feels more like the 69 than the Hwy 1 does and its a top loader. Both do a great job of being teles. Platefire