Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

[Lewguitar]

Pulled the bridge Fralin Blues Special and installed a bridge Fender No caster pickup. Boy...is that Nocaster bridge pickup bright! It uses a3 magnets for the polepieces. I've always thought a3 was to bright in a single coil...at least for my tastes. But I wanted to hear these for myself. It's not a bad tone...but just so snappy, crisp and bright it'll take some getting used to. Very country-ish. Makes me want to play Don Rich licks...not Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton licks. I actually wanted to put some Duncan Antiquitys in this guitar...and will as soon as they show up. They've been backordered for a while now. When they come in, I'll put of set of the Antiquitys in this guitar and compare them to the NoCasters. BTW, I used to have a real '51 Tele...I don't remember that guitar being nearly so bright and crisp sounding as these new '51 NoCasters sound. Mine was much ballsier and almost P90 like. Take care, Lew

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

thanks for the review lew. I am looking into some new tele pickups for a project that blue ling is building for me and one of the other teles i have. what is it about this pickup that makes it so bright compared to something that has A5 magnets like the broadcaster?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

thanks for the review lew. I am looking into some new tele pickups for a project that blue ling is building for me and one of the other teles i have. what is it about this pickup that makes it so bright compared to something that has A5 magnets like the broadcaster?

I dunno much about alnico 3, or why it makes for such a bright single coil tone. The a5 Broadcaster pickups I've used do not sound like this a3 Nocaster pickup...the Broadcaster pickups I've used had more bass and mids and were not so "snappy" and "crisp", as is the stock '54 pickup that came with my '54 and the stock bridge pickup that came with my '51, tho I haven't had that 51 for many years so my memory is a little dim. This Nocaster pickup does not have a Tele tone I'm comfortable with...I prefer a fatter, warmer, less snappy tone. Like Roy Buchanan's tone. Lew

 

[hacker]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

you need to try the old nocaster bridge pickup, the one that had a 10K output, but good luck finding one.

the best tele pickups I've ever heard where John suhr fat t's.

 

[captain cavman]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

we keep intouch Lew, I work on a new tele project currently and I think about some Ants for it
Please let us know when you try the Tele Ants !

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

we keep intouch Lew, I work on a new tele project currently and I think about some Ants for it
Please let us know when you try the Tele Ants !

I use both the older 10k version and the newer 7k version in two seperate Teles and I Like these pickups...

John

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

I use both the older 10k version and the newer 7k version in two seperate Teles and I Like these pickups...

John

These are great for bright, spanky, fast chicken pickin' kind of stuff...and they do sound alot like some of the brighter, twangier Tele pickups I've played over the years.

But the vintage Tele I tone I prefer is a little sweeter and middier and when combined with the neck pickup: chimier for a second rythym tone.

GE Smith has commented on 51 Teles with pickups that almost sound like a P90...that's what I was hoping for from these NoCasters. Maybe the 10K NoCaster pickup would be been closer to that tone, but this particular set isn't doing it for me.

The Burton Tele has an alder body and one piece maple neck with medium jumbo frets, BTW. And I did remove the stock 6 saddle bridge and install an old 60's 3 saddle Fender bridge in which I had installed the Stew Mac angled brass saddles.

Regarding the angled, Danny Gatton style brass saddles: they do allow me to get this Tele more in tune than my old '54 which has the early 50's non-angled brass saddles.

Lew

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

I have a Nocaster set in a limited edition Fender Custom Telecaster with a fairly light ash body and a Nocaster clean bridge pickup (paired with an SM-3n neck mini-HB) in a standard American Series Tele with a moderate weight ash body. The Nocasters are pretty bright, but they have substantially more midrange than stock American Deltatone pickups. The Nocaster bridge pickup in the lighter Tele has a stronger and smoother midrange tone, whereas the Nocaster in the heavier Tele has less midrange and more high end bite. The difference in tone is noticeable, although the pickups both read about 7.1K, and both guitars have modern American Tele hardware, 1-pc maple necks, and swamp ash bodies. The height of the Nocaster bridge pup in the lighter Tele is set at approximately 3/32" across the board, but I set the other Nocaster bridge pup closer to the strings at the treble E (1/16") to match the output of the SM-3n at the neck. This closer setting seemed to bring up the midrange slightly. Both pups sound really nice with some tube OD.

I just had an SD Jerry Donahue put in the bridge slot of another, heavier ash American Telecaster, but I've only had 20 minutes of playing time so far. My first impression is that the JD has more low end, about the same midrange (more or less), and a more hi-fi sounding high end than the Nocasters. It is set to 3/32" across the board, but I will probably raise the treble side a bit closer to the strings to balance with the Phat Cat at the neck slot.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

I take it all back...

I just received my 2003 '53 RI Tele made in the Fender Custom Shop. NoCaster pickups. 9.5" fingerboard radius. Medium frets. Very light weight swamp ash body...lighter even than my old '54 Tele.

I played it all day yesterday in the shop without plugging it in...and kept liking it more and more as it opened up and got used to being handled. At first I wasn't sure I liked it. Then I started to like it. Then I got it home last night and plugged it in to my '59 5E3 with the old Celestion Silver Bulldog...

WHOH....

Sounds absolutely killer. Still a touch brighter than I prefer but I can do a very convincing Roy Buchanan with this ax.

Just a touch snarlier than the same pickups in my alder bodied James Burton, but snarlier enough to make THE difference. And what a difference.

Kelsey, John: you were right! There's not a huge difference in tone between the NoCasters in these two guitars...maybe 5%. But it's enough that when I crank the Deluxe up to 1/2 way it growls and barks in a way that the alder bodied Burton doesn't do quite as satisfyingly.

The alder Burton has a more open, less mid rangey voice than the swamp ash bodied '53 RI. That's another surprise: I always think of alder as having the denser voice over swamp ash.

I love being proven wrong sometimes! :smack: :duh:

Can you tell I love this guitar? I do!

Looks and plays almost exactly like my old '54 too!

I'll post some pics after the weekend...I'm out of here for three days. Going on retreat in the mountains. I'll return a nicer fellow than I've been the past couple of days...I promise.

Lew

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

cool! so it seems that the nocaster works much better in swamp ash than alder?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

cool! so it seems that the nocaster works much better in swamp ash than alder?

He Jeremy,

If these two guitars are indicators: yes!

Next I'll be trying the Duncan Jerry Donahue pickup in my Burton Tele...and then, when they show up, the pickups I've actually been looking most forward to hearing again: the Duncan Antiquity Tele pickups.

Lew

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

Thanks for the update, Lew. I'm looking forward to the pics of the '53RI and your take on the JD in the JB.

As for the Nocasters, I'm not sure whether it's a case of alder vs. ash or body weight. My limited edition Fender American Custom Telecaster is very light swamp ash, and the Nocaster bridge pup in it has a very full and smooth midrange tone with a bright but smooth high end. My modded American Series Tele with a Nocaster bridge pup is noticeably heavier swamp ash (although still moderate in weight), and it gets more high end bite but less midrange (though still pretty full). So I think the only conclusion I could draw from this limited sample and Lew's experience is to go with confidence for the Nocasters in a light swamp ash Tele, but beyond that your mileage may vary considerably.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Fender Nocaster Pickups in my James Burton Tele

Thanks for the update, Lew. I'm looking forward to the pics of the '53RI and your take on the JD in the JB.

As for the Nocasters, I'm not sure whether it's a case of alder vs. ash or body weight. My limited edition Fender American Custom Telecaster is very light swamp ash, and the Nocaster bridge pup in it has a very full and smooth midrange tone with a bright but smooth high end. My modded American Series Tele with a Nocaster bridge pup is noticeably heavier swamp ash (although still moderate in weight), and it gets more high end bite but less midrange (though still pretty full). So I think the only conclusion I could draw from this limited sample and Lew's experience is to go with confidence for the Nocasters in a light swamp ash Tele, but beyond that your mileage may vary considerably.

That's very possibly true. This new Tele of mine is lighter than my '54 or the James Burton. Heavier wood does seem to translate to brighter tone...