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Replacement humbuckers for Fender Chris Shiflett Tele Deluxe

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  • Replacement humbuckers for Fender Chris Shiflett Tele Deluxe

    What's up everybody. I'm looking to replace the pickups in my tele, it's one of the Chris Shiflett deluxes with the two standard sized humbuckers (not the wide range sized pickups), alder body, maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Right now it's got the stock pickups and pots (250k all around). I know that on his personal guitar he had a JB/59 setup so I imagine Fender tried to copy those with these import pickups. The neck is way too dark. It would be nice to be able to get that flutey neck sound kind of in that Slash ballpark or something like John Sykes on the self titled Whitesnake album, but not have a ton of mud with the volume knob on 10. Yes I know my AC15 is far from that tone lol.

    I have 500k pots to swap in which might help the neck, but that ties into another issue. The bridge pickup even with the 250k pots is kind of thin and bright. 500k pots would probably make it worse. It's pretty hot. So I'm guessing that they got pretty close to a JB when they constructed it. I play through an AC15 and I think it's a little too much into my amp. I'd like something that's maybe a little hotter than vintage, with smoother top end and a little thicker overall, but keep the low end relatively tight. Basically a warmer bridge and a brighter neck than now. I've got a few ideas:

    Neck:
    Jazz: is it going to be clear, but too bright and thin?
    59: is the low end going to be too much and sound just like the import pickup?
    Alnico II Pro: probably get into that Slash territory, but too flubby?

    Bridge:
    59/custom hybrid: I've wanted to try one of these for a while and it would probably have cool harmonics, but would it be thick enough?
    Custom Custom: Could be cool and thick, but maybe too loose in the low end or even too smooth in the top end
    59: This is what I had planned on getting, but then I was thinking I might want a little bit more output

    I'm not opposed to magnet swaps either I suppose.
    "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. " - Bukowski

    "A banker will take a guitar and play three notes on it. A rock star will take a guitar and throw it across the room. " - David Lee Roth

  • #2
    If you want a 59b with more output, get a Custom. It has the same sort of eq but a good bit hotter.

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    • #3
      If it were me, I might try Custom Custom w/500k and Pearly Gates neck. Another option might be (with 500k all around) Black Winter set or BW bridge / PG neck, or Whole Lotta Humbucker set or WLH bridge / PG neck; and use the tone to tame any brightness if too much.

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      • #4
        "Bright and thin" with 250k controls gives me the impression you have have the bridge humbucker set too low. Have you tried adjusting the height?

        Would you consider trying the 59/custom hybrid, and change the pots to the 500k? I am guessing your neck humbucker would sound better after changing to 500k pots. The 59/Custom is normally used with 500k controls as well. You could also try changing the tone and volume pots for the neck to 500k, and leave the 250k pots with your existing stock bridge humbucker. After fine-tuning the pickup heights, the issue may be partially solved (if you are a bit lucky). I'd be careful with the SH-1 '59, Pearly gates, and WLH. All of them will be pretty bright and thin in the bridge position so you may have the same issue.

        IMO its hard to decide a neck humbucker without knowing what it will be paired with in the bridge. If you have a high output bridge humbucker, the SH-2 Jazz neck may sound balanced enough after you adjust the mounting height. However with a lower output bridge humbucker you will be forced to drop the neck pickup to balance the level. That's when you find the SH-2n may sound too harsh.
        Last edited by Teleplayer; 02-25-2021, 01:05 AM.

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        • #5
          Not sure what sound you're going for, but to me the 59/Custom is plenty thick in my LP. I have a WLH set in a PRS that works well with med/high gain as well.

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          • #6
            I raised raised the bridge pickup closer to the strings and lowered the neck pickup trying to tame the neck pickup. I haven't adjusted the pole pieces on the neck pickup yet, but it's still too dark for me. The bridge isn't that thin I guess. It may just be in comparison to the neck, but it does have a lot of high end. There's still a lot of fiddling around with it to be done I suppose. In the meantime I've been browsing reverb for any deals.

            I almost forgot to post a picture of the guitar
            Attached Files
            "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. " - Bukowski

            "A banker will take a guitar and play three notes on it. A rock star will take a guitar and throw it across the room. " - David Lee Roth

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            • #7
              The neck pickup will come to life after changing to the 500k controls.

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              • #8
                Thanks for advice yall. I bought a 59/Custom humbucker on Reverb. I'm going to swap all the pots to 500k when I install it and see how it works out with the stock neck humbucker. If it's still too warm I have a couple neck pickups floating around, a Gibson 490r and a Zhangbucker Telebucker 3. The Telebucker is a 6k Alnico 3 pickup that he winds to match vintage tele bridge pickups, but I think it could be interesting here.
                "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. " - Bukowski

                "A banker will take a guitar and play three notes on it. A rock star will take a guitar and throw it across the room. " - David Lee Roth

                Comment


                • #9
                  Personally, I don't think you're gonna like any humbucker with those 250k pots. I'd have swapped those with 500k pots first. They're a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER. You might not have needed new pickups after that. It makes a world of difference from what I've read from others with this guitar.
                  JC
                  -2023 Indio 66SB DLX Plus - Goldtop w/ P90s
                  -2020 Indio 66 DLX Plus - Goldtop w/ Seth Lover neck & '59 Model bridge w/ Faber hardware(#1 guitar)
                  -2021 Indio 66 DLX Plus - Iced Tea Burst
                  -2023 Indio Boardwalk (335-style)
                  -2022 Indio Retro DLX Plus(T-style) - w/ Fender AVRI 62 Custom neck & 52 bridge pickups.
                  -2020 Stage Right 1x12" 15w tube combo(Laney Cub 12R)

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                  • #10


                    I love the range of tones he gets out of the Distortion and Jazz in this video.

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                    • #11
                      id swap the neck pots to 500k first and see what ya think all around before swapping the bridge controls to 500k

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by jeremy View Post
                        id swap the neck pots to 500k first and see what ya think all around before swapping the bridge controls to 500k
                        That's what I was trying to say in post #4 if keeping the stock bridge pickup. After changing to the 59/Custom, I would suggest 500k all round.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I just recently acquired the same guitar, but the white one. I am having the same problem that you are having. The neck is way too muffled, sounds like there is a towel thrown over the amp. I am in the market for some new pickups for this guitar. I have seen Custom Custom/ Pearly Gates mentioned a few times, does anyone have experience with this combo in an Alder body, rosewood fingerboard telecaster? The sound I am going for is something close to Les Paul tones. I know it's a different guitar, but I have never felt comfortable with Les Paul's. I want to, but we just don't mix well. Any input would be very much appreciated!

                          Thanks

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                          • #14
                            APH-2 slash signature pickup set should be closer to Les Paul Tone. The APH-2 was developed to warm-up a bright LP style guitar and make it suitable for Slash's lead riffage.

                            The Telecaster will be a bright guitar for sure. You may be able to keep the Neck pickup after changing to 500k controls, but choose a moderate output humbucker for the bridge. There are not many moderate output humbuckers from Seymour Ducnan. You could Try the "Saturday Night Special" set, but I think its going to sound bright.

                            IMO one of the Suhr bridge humbuckers will be a good "middle ground" between a vintage style PAF humbucker, and higher output Super-strat pickups. My suggestion is to use the Surh SSV+ (10k) bridge pickup if aiming for LP sound from a Telecaster. It would be a bit more vintage sounding than the 59/Custom.

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                            • #15
                              again, swapping the pots to 500k for the neck position would be the place to start. 250k with a bucker in the neck is usually gonna be dark. open up the high end a bit with the pot swap, then see what you hear. even if you swap a pgn or aph2n in there, youll still want 500k pots

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