American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

[Mack Truck]

I bought an American Standard Telecaster last year. I use it mostly for country , and the kind of sound I am looking for is the "Brent Mason" sound. I know he uses the STK-T3b on his Tele, so I'd like some feedback from people who have been using this pickup (also with STK-T1n). I am pretty happy with the way my Tele sounds right now (Mesa Roadster with Keelley compressor), but I am wondering what difference it's going to make with this new set of pickups. Thanks.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

Hi Mack,

Welcome to the forum. The Vintage Stack Tele bridge pickup will make a huge difference in the tone of your Telecaster; especially when compared to the stock pickup(s). I've used that pickup many times. The neck pickup is very creamy but clear at the same time. I will say though, that most of Brent's tone comes from his right hand technique. That said, The JD will also get you the tone you're looking for.

 

[Mack Truck]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

Thanks for the input. While I am at it, I was just wondering what difference the middle pickup (Duncan Hot Stack) makes ? For country (chicken pickin) I only use the bridge... Thanks again.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

Thanks for the input. While I am at it, I was just wondering what difference does the middle pickup (Duncan Hot Stack) makes ? For country (chicken pickin) I only use the bridge... Thanks again.

Hmmmm, As I read between the lines of your post, it sounds like you're thinking of building a Brent Mason-type Tele. Am I right?:bling:

The Host Stack is a decent middle pickup; but my taste in middle pickups, especially blending them with either the neck or bridge pickups, is to use a true single coil pickup. The stacks seem to have more mids due to the dummy coil. To my ears, having the middle pickup be a true single coil, you get more of that 2/4 position Strat quack. But, as always, YMMV....

 

[Mack Truck]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

Sure, the Brent Mason Tele was what I was looking for, but since it was a too expensive I got an American Standard instead. Great guitar, I really like it. I think it came with alnico V pickups, but I can't wait the Vintage Stacks !! Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

Sure, the Brent Mason Tele was what I was looking for, but since it was a too expensive I got an American Standard instead. Great guitar, I really like it. I think it came with alnico V pickups, but I can't wait the Vintage Stacks !! Thanks again for your feedback.

Okay, that makes sense. The Valley Arts Brent Mason guitar comes with an STK-T3b in the bridge position, an STK-S2 in the middle position, and a Gibson Mini-humbucker in the neck position. The middle pot is a blender pot for the middle pickup. Here's a schematic for that wiring.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=3pickup_tele_blend

What's different about the real Brent Mason Tele is that he doesn't have the push/pull tone pot in his own Fender Tele. That pot, when pulled up, makes the middle pickup out of phase with the other pickups.

 

[BigJoe77]

Re: American Tele upgrade with Vintage Stack ?

From my recent tinkering, I'll second what Butch has been saying. The true singles in there have a bit more of a traditional quack, but the Hot Stack to the blend pot provides a bigger variety of flavors of the bridge to middle. The Hot Stack on its own isn't real stratty, though.

Now all I need is a pedal board the size of Wyoming and the road case with 6 different heads to match his total setup....