Why are SD Telecaster neck pickups hotter than the bridge pickups?

[JB6464]

Building a partscaster Tele with the traditional ashtray setup and neck single coil pickup, but when I look at sets on SD website, they always list the necks in the 8k range and the bridge pickups in the 6k range.

Whay are the neck pickups a lot hotter than the bridge pickups?

When you look at stratocaster single coil pickup sets the bridge is always hotter, please explain.

[jeremy]

traditionally, tele neck pups are wound with #43 wire, while most tele bridge pups are wound with #42. this is a good example of why specs dont mean much without more info

[JB6464]

So, if I am looking for something like the Antiquity Texas Hot strat single coil but in the Tele winding, what would be the right Antiquity set to look at?
I'm looking for that Tele sound that has that southern sizzle hotness or can also be used in classic rock tones like the first album from Led Zepplin or early Jeff Beck before he switched to a LP and Strats..

[Rex_Rocker]

They're not hotter. They're just wound with thinner wire.

[beaubrummels]

So, if I am looking for something like the Antiquity Texas Hot strat single coil but in the Tele winding, what would be the right Antiquity set to look at?
I'm looking for that Tele sound that has that southern sizzle hotness or can also be used in classic rock tones like the first album from Led Zepplin or early Jeff Beck before he switched to a LP and Strats..

Those weren't hot tele pickups. Beck used a '54 Esquire. The Duncan Broadcaster might be closest. Page used a '59 Telecaster, that also was Jeff Beck's before him. I believe you'd want the Antiquity 1955 raised D and G version for that, and the Antiquity 1955 neck. But I did LZ / classic rock just fine with a Duncan STL-1b Broadcaster and Antiquity 1955 neck, and it was versatile enough to do a whole lot of other playing (became my #1 guitar for about 10 years. Those pickups never left my Tele and are still in it today.)

If you require hotter, people on here recommend the Jerry Donahue bridge (but I have never tried that one, so I don't know.)
For a hotter, more strat/les paul type neck, I'd recommend a Fender Twisted Tele neck. (It would likely be reverse phase from Duncans, so keep that in mind if you go that route.)