Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

[Mister Paul]

I have a Mexican Tele. I've been an acoustic man for 30 years, so I'm (pretty) strictly rhythm.

I want to upgrade the pickups and would appreciate some advice. I'd like to be able to get a nice thick distorted sound for chugging, as well as something jangly (think Chili Peppers' Jephyr).

What do you reckon? I've been listening to the demos on the SD site, and was wondering about a Hot Rails on the bridge and a Vintage Stack at the neck. Thoughts?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I think that there's a few people here that use hot rails in the bridge. I'm sure that they will chime in eventually.

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[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I'm unfamiliar with the music you mention, but I've used a Tele with a Hot Rails in the bridge. It will rawk for sure, and with a coil split and or a parallel option, you can move toward jangle. The coil split would probably work best there. Heck, you can have all three options, if desired.

I don't know anything about the Vintage Stack in the neck.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

... I'm (pretty) strictly rhythm...

You don't wanna make it cry or sing?

That sounds like a pretty good setup already. I would recommend finding a way to incorporate a coil split, or preferably series/parallel for noiseless operation, but that's a good set of pickups you're looking at.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

.

I think that there's a few people here that use hot rails in the bridge. I'm sure that they will chime in eventually.

I 2nd that but would add Hotrails or Chopper-T both do that stuff well . 40 yr Tele ( + many other ) player ~ Blues to Hard stuff

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I would recommend finding a way to incorporate a coil split, or preferably series/parallel for noiseless operation, but that's a good set of pickups you're looking at.

Both pickups are humbuckers ( " Hot Rails on the bridge and a Vintage Stack at the neck" )

 

[Mincer]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

For the neck, I'd actually consider a Strat pickup, maybe an SSL-2 or Five Two. You will get a more usable jangle all around.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

Both pickups are humbuckers ( " Hot Rails on the bridge and a Vintage Stack at the neck" )

But if you split a humbucker it's no longer noiseless. Put it in parallel instead and it is.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

But if you split a humbucker it's no longer noiseless. Put it in parallel instead and it is.

that's why I dont usually split them ( U brought that up

 

[Securb]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I'd like to be able to get a nice thick distorted sound for chugging, as well as something jangly (think Chili Peppers' Jephyr).

OK, this is deja vu. The Hot Rails will give you all the chug you could want. I use mine for hard rock and metal. The pickup is a classic high output humbucker. It does respond to the volume pot well so backing it off a bit allows you to dial some interesting tones. For jangle, I use the original jangle pickup a T.V. Jones Classic Plus. The Hot Rails and T.V. Jones play very well together.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

But if you split a humbucker it's no longer noiseless. Put it in parallel instead and it is.

Man - I HATE when people say that! Not hating on you Chris - just this thought in general.

Yes, a humbucker is quiet, and a single is noisy. However, With p-90's and singles, I have always found that this is mostly an issue when you are in some silly electromagnetic deathtrap of pedals, gear, monitors, mics etc, where you should KNOW better than to use singles because of noise vs tone (isn't life a trade off?). SO either people need to learn how to use their tools according to the laws of physics, or I'm just not that bothered by it.

But! When you split a humbucker, it is a HELLUVA lot quieter than a standard single in the same situation. You still get some serious hum reduction from the mere presence of the additional coil. Hell - that's how some companies MAKE silent singles!!!! You don't believe me? Ask either Eric Johnson or Yngwie who both do that with DiMarzios. Or, if you still don't like it, check your wiring or get out of Magneto's lair when you play.

So yeah -
HB = quiet
Single = some noise

but...

Split = less noise than a true single, and ≠ to a single on its own

 

[Demanic]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

Man - I HATE when people say that! Not hating on you Chris - just this thought in general.

Yes, a humbucker is quiet, and a single is noisy. However, With p-90's and singles, I have always found that this is mostly an issue when you are in some silly electromagnetic deathtrap of pedals, gear, monitors, mics etc, where you should KNOW better than to use singles because of noise vs tone (isn't life a trade off?). SO either people need to learn how to use their tools according to the laws of physics, or I'm just not that bothered by it.

But! When you split a humbucker, it is a HELLUVA lot quieter than a standard single in the same situation. You still get some serious hum reduction from the mere presence of the additional coil. Hell - that's how some companies MAKE silent singles!!!! You don't believe me? Ask either Eric Johnson or Yngwie who both do that with DiMarzios. Or, if you still don't like it, check your wiring or get out of Magneto's lair when you play.

So yeah -
HB = quiet
Single = some noise

but...

Split = less noise than a true single, and ≠ to a single on its own

Yeah, but parallel sounds almost like a single. Oh, but NO hum.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I just *don’t like* parallel on a full-sized humbucker. It sounds like some goofy borderline oop caricature of a single coil with a ton more spank, nasal tones and quack than an actual single; good for funk, but not my favorite in regular use. Supposedly the comb filtering effect is at fault and reduced with smaller single-sized buckers, but I also only had my Hot Rail in parallel for a moment before eliminating that as an option on my guitar.

On the other hand - depending on what humbucker you use, the output difference isn’t drastic between the split setting and a ‘regular’ single in my experience. The full-sized Distortion splits well. I like my G&L split, which keeps a portion of the opposite coil active for some hum-cancelling.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I just *don’t like* parallel on a full-sized humbucker. It sounds like some goofy borderline oop caricature of a single coil with a ton more spank, nasal tones and quack than an actual single; good for funk, but not my favorite in regular use. Supposedly the comb filtering effect is at fault and reduced with smaller single-sized buckers, but I also only had my Hot Rail in parallel for a moment before eliminating that as an option on my guitar.

On the other hand - depending on what humbucker you use, the output difference isn’t drastic between the split setting and a ‘regular’ single in my experience. The full-sized Distortion splits well. I like my G&L split, which keeps a portion of the opposite coil active for some hum-cancelling.

This. I was never a parallel fan, for any pickup, except the P-Rails, but that is a strange case.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

Man - I HATE when people say that! Not hating on you Chris - just this thought in general.

Yes, a humbucker is quiet, and a single is noisy. However, With p-90's and singles, I have always found that this is mostly an issue when you are in some silly electromagnetic deathtrap of pedals, gear, monitors, mics etc, where you should KNOW better than to use singles because of noise vs tone (isn't life a trade off?). SO either people need to learn how to use their tools according to the laws of physics, or I'm just not that bothered by it.

But! When you split a humbucker, it is a HELLUVA lot quieter than a standard single in the same situation. You still get some serious hum reduction from the mere presence of the additional coil. Hell - that's how some companies MAKE silent singles!!!! You don't believe me? Ask either Eric Johnson or Yngwie who both do that with DiMarzios. Or, if you still don't like it, check your wiring or get out of Magneto's lair when you play.

So yeah -
HB = quiet
Single = some noise

but...

Split = less noise than a true single, and ≠ to a single on its own

I've found that a partial split with a resistor value in the ~1k1 and up range under a metal cover has, for a practical purposes, no hum. Even with out a partial split, the covers have a dramatic effect on noise reduction.

 

[Mister Paul]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

Sorry chaps I got the wrong Chili Peppers song. It's Universally Speaking https://youtu.be/CoOibAstPJ4 but I've discovered this was played on a Gibson. I'd still be interested to know whether I could get the same base sound off a Tele though....

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

If you want a Frusciante tone in general, I'd still say a Strat neck pickup is vital (whatever he used on any particular song.) Curious where you heard Universally Speaking was a Gibson - I know he used a three-pickup SG at some points during that period.

Without looking it up I feel like Zephyr song must be some sort of Fender (Jaguar on the video and he is a known user - but often the guitars he used in videos don't even seem to be his so no guarantee that was recorded, though my Jaguar can ape the tone pretty well.)

 

[chadd]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

Sorry chaps I got the wrong Chili Peppers song. It's Universally Speaking https://youtu.be/CoOibAstPJ4 but I've discovered this was played on a Gibson. I'd still be interested to know whether I could get the same base sound off a Tele though....

Just remember that what you are hearing has been heavily processed in the studio by the time it gets to your ears and the guitar used is almost irrelevant in a lot of cases.

 

[Sensates]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

What do you not like about the current pickups?

 

[Techy Beccy]

Re: Be gentle with me - Tele pickup advice appreciated

I just put a hot rails bridge in my Tele, its awesome!
Its funny that we have our own words that we associate with sounds! When I saw the word 'chugging' I thought of the hot stack for tele bridge. I've only tried the strat hotstack and its thick and powerful. As for the neck, it depends how creative you want to get with using different type pickups - and also whats under the scratch plate. Not all telecasters have routing for anything but a telecaster pickup. Something sigle coil and vintagy would sound good - so many options with that one!