’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

[Butch Snyder]

’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I was just over at the Custom Shop's area of the website and noticed this pickup. Anyone care to elaborate on this thing?

Application: Telecaster® or Esquire® bridge position with custom wiring
Price: $200
DC: 6.1K tapped, 9.6K full output
Magnet: Alnico 2
Spacing: E-to-E 2.20"
Lead wire: Waxed cloth
Wax potting: Optional
Logo: Optional
Color: Black
Cover: N/A
Notes: This Tele® lead pickup is tapped for two levels of output. Individually hand wound by Seymour himself. This is the "Guitar Shop" sound.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Pretty cool specs...

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Bump - I thought more people would be interested...

 

[Artie]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I think the idea is cool, but "ordinary" tapped singles are only about $10 more than their non-tapped counterpart. Seems like a lot of money for what it is. But I guess thats because its not a standard production item.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I think the idea is cool, but "ordinary" tapped singles are only about $10 more than their non-tapped counterpart. Seems like a lot of money for what it is. But I guess thats because its not a standard production item.

I'm going to ping Evan and get a more detailed description.

 

[Artie]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I just noticed . . . "Individually hand wound by Seymour himself."

I bet this thing sounds sweet!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I don't know if this is the same as a CS Hot for Tele Tapped or not. The specs appear to be about the same. If it is, it's the best single coil bridge pickup I've ever used...although I wound up putting mine in my Strat!

MJ wound mine. And wound me a matching "Tele ala Strat" neck pickup.

Lew

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

I don't know if this is the same as a CS Hot for Tele Tapped or not. The specs appear to be about the same. If it is, it's the best single coil bridge pickup I've ever used...

Lew

Okay Lew, would you mind giving a detailed description of the tone of that pickup?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Okay Lew, would you mind giving a detailed description of the tone of that pickup?

It's very fat and thick and has a nice twangy bark and snarl in the full output mode. But it's clearer and twangier, IMO, than a pickup like the Jerry Donahue. More complex and more textured. I like the Jerry Donahue but it sounds a little more one dimensional than the CS Hot for Tele Tapped.

At full output it pushes my Fender DR and PR into overdrive at about volume 5 on the amp.

Tapped, it becomes more sparkly although it stays warm compared to an alnico 5 pickup, and it blends very nice with the middle pickup (antiquity surfer) in my Strat.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

It's very fat and thick and has a nice twangy bark and snarl in the full output mode. But it's clearer and twangier, IMO, than a pickup like the Jerry Donahue. More complex and more textured. I like the Jerry Donahue but it sounds a little more one dimensional than the CS Hot for Tele Tapped.

At full output it pushes my Fender DR and PR into overdrive at about volume 5 on the amp.

Tapped, it becomes more sparkly although it stays warm compared to an alnico 5 pickup, and it blends very nice with the middle pickup (antiquity surfer) in my Strat.

I'm very glad I asked. My wallet isn't.....

 

[Curly]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

IMO, it's one of the best sounding tele pickups you'll find

the neck pickup sounds good too, and with a 5 way switch, it's just a great combo

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

the neck pickup sounds good too, and with a 5 way switch, it's just a great combo

Curly, would you mind giving me a description of the neck pickup's tone?

 

[Curly]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Butch,

I'm pretty lousy at describing tone in words ...

that said, I'd describe the neck pickup as having a "tubular" tone, a little strat-like, but more raw ... it's an A5 pickup at ~ 7.6 K. I haven't asked, but to me it sounds similar to the Ant and CS Broadcaster neck pickups.

if you are interested in a set, you may want to talk to MJ, as she winds a similar set

the first time I went to the factory, I asked MJ to wind a set of "whatever Seymour likes in a tele", since I knew he was a tele player. This set wasn't referred to as a tapped '53 at the time, it was just called a hot, tapped, CS set. (Not to be confused with the production Hot tapped.)

the bridge full is a great lead tone, full and gritty; tapped is vintage territory; with the 5 way switch, you have two good lead tones and three rhythm tones -- or whatever -- I actually like the neck as a lead tone with the tone knob up.
the bridge also has a slight percussive chirp ...
these pickups compress some under a full load ... through my tweed Deluxe, which also compresses a lot, I get some incredible NASTY tone. Through my custom EL 84 amp with an OD, I still get incredible tone, plus more articulation, with the option of several clean tones.

great set ... apparently, I'll have to do some clips sometime

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Butch,

I'm pretty lousy at describing tone in words ...

that said, I'd describe the neck pickup as having a "tubular" tone, a little strat-like, but more raw ... it's an A5 pickup at ~ 7.6 K. I haven't asked, but to me it sounds similar to the Ant and CS Broadcaster neck pickups.

if you are interested in a set, you may want to talk to MJ, as she winds a similar set

the first time I went to the factory, I asked MJ to wind a set of "whatever Seymour likes in a tele", since I knew he was a tele player. This set wasn't referred to as a tapped '53 at the time, it was just called a hot, tapped, CS set. (Not to be confused with the production Hot tapped.)

the bridge full is a great lead tone, full and gritty; tapped is vintage territory; with the 5 way switch, you have two good lead tones and three rhythm tones -- or whatever -- I actually like the neck as a lead tone with the tone knob up.
the bridge also has a slight percussive chirp ...
these pickups compress some under a full load ... through my tweed Deluxe, which also compresses a lot, I get some incredible NASTY tone. Through my custom EL 84 amp with an OD, I still get incredible tone, plus more articulation, with the option of several clean tones.

Well, that description sounded pretty good to me....

 

[Curly]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Well, that description sounded pretty good to me....

I recommended a set to you once, but at the time, you didn't want to spring for a custom shop set. That was before there was any description of a tapped '53 on the custom shop page.

another thing I should mention -- with a 5 way, I find it pretty convenient to switch positions with very little knob turning, except maybe cranking the tone up in the neck position .. very practical in a gigging situation.

again, you should probably talk to MJ

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Butch: take Curly's advice and buy a set.

Your search for the ultimate single coil Tele set will be over and you can quit obsessing over it and just play the d#mn thing. :lmao:

(You need to try some Bardens some day too. :dance: )

Lew

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Butch: take Curly's advice and buy a set.

I think I will...

Your search for the ultimate single coil Tele set will be over and you can quit obsessing over it and just play the d#mn thing. :lmao:

Yeah, that'll be the day....

 

[Curly]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Lew's a better salesman than me.

I don't like to overstate things, because the same pickups vary so much in application, and in different guitars.

but since you're a tele player as much as anyone here, you should get a set

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

but since you're a tele player as much as anyone here, you should get a set

My thought's exactly. Just bite the bullet and get it over with: call MJ and order a set.

Lew

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Re: ’53 Style Tapped JB for Tele®...

Is that neck pickup listed on the CS part of the website? Also, I think this might the screamin' Tele set I have been searching for. I was even thinking about getting a set of Texas Specials. I heard they were hot in a bad way though. I want hot but with twang....