Help! which tele pups?

J J

New member
hey everyone
I was thinking into getting a pair of duncan tele pickups and i'm looking for something real versatile since I like playing all kinds of music.
So i guess what I'm saying is for you to through some suggestions at me and tell me what you like about them.

Thanks
JJ
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

APTL-3JD for sure! It can handle country/rock/blues and fix that old Ford in the backyard.

Now, it's and Alnico II magnet in there so it won't be as biting as a vintage style "ice-pick." I've found, however, it can get bright and edgy if you set it closer to the strings, but it'll warm up nicely if you lower it a bit. It's very clear, with a smoother side and sounds great through any Fender amp-even better with a bit of drive.

I'd be suprised if anyone had too much negative comments to say about this pickup-she's a keeper.

Have fun,
D
 
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Re: Help! which tele pups?

For lead, there's two Duncan's I really love: Jerry Donahue and Antiquity.

I need to try some more Duncan Tele neck pickups and I just ordered some from the Duncan Custom Shop.

The Antiquity and Alnico II Pro neck pickups are excellant: warm and toneful.

But I prefer more of a Strat neck pickup tone: brighter & more output.

Lew
 
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Re: Help! which tele pups?

I've been reading reviews for the vintage broadcaster pups and it seems like that's what I'd like

anyone wana give me their opinions on this one?

Oh yea
Is it possible to put a strat neck pup into a tele?
 
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Re: Help! which tele pups?

No, it isn't possible unless you rout the hole bigger. But I just ordered a Tele neck pickup from the MJ in the Duncan Custom Shop and she says it'll be comparable in tone and output to a Strat neck pickup. I'm really looking forward to trying it. Dave is right about the JD Tele bridge pickup. It's great and my favorite. Lew
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

how would a tele sound if i had a JD at the bridge and a vintage stack at the neck?
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

There are a lot of options for sure. You can help us help you by stating what types of music you like to play/list some favorite bands. If you don't, people will just list pickup combos and you'll really get nowhere fast.
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

Dave said:
There are a lot of options for sure. You can help us help you by stating what types of music you like to play/list some favorite bands. If you don't, people will just list pickup combos and you'll really get nowhere fast.

Good call
Here's most of the stuff i listen to

(the great) Roy Buchanan
Danny Gatton
Jimmy Page & Led Zeppelin
Rory Gallagher
Clapton and Cream
Jimi Hendrix
Pink Floyd
Stevie Ray Vaughn
to name a few...

Oh yea, my setup is a Fender Mexican Tele (sunburst) through a Fender Blues Deville (212). I also use a danelectro Daddy O overdrive pedal and sometimes a crybaby wah.

That just about sums it up...
 
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Re: Help! which tele pups?

Then its all about how much edge you wanna accomodate. If you don't prefer punch, but still is loyal tot he above (a great selection by the way) JD is a very cool pickup. I love mine. If you wanna get more twang, and less beef, A2P is the way to go. And if you wanna have that a5 punch, and beef, broadcaster type pickups (fralin blues sp, duncan broadcaster, ...) are the way to go.

B
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

Here are some suggestions that I've tried -

SD Broadcaster in bridge with a Rio Grande Tallboy in the neck (to get Strattier neck sounds without routing)

Harmonic Design Vintage Plus - Output is a little high, but it doesn't sound overwound at all. Very versatile set.
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

I love the QP Tapped bridge it works really well with a very wide range of sounds from full out to vintage. The neck I am still screwing around with on my Tele's my best neck out of a Tele so far was a 4 wire 59 wired for a split. Great full and single coil sounds, really covered a lot of ground as well.
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

I am in the same boat as you. I just got a Japanese Tele Reissue. Great guitar, but the pups are very miocrophonic, so rather than pot the pups I decided to replace them. I did a lot of research on tele pups and decided to go with the Lindy Fralin Blues specials. I have not recieved them yet, but will post my opinion about them once I have them in the guitar. I also have a Cal. Tele which has Fender Tex mex Tele bridge, and Tex mex Strat neck. I will make a detailed comparison of these as well.
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

very cool
I would like to read your opinion on those pups when you get them
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

Well, those groups cover a lot of range. If you want the Clapton, Hendrix, Floyd stuff, you may want to add a middle pickup as well to Nashvillize your tele. I did that with mine and although the 2 and 4 positions aren't true strat sounds, you can kinda get that quacky-honky sound. I'd also push for a strat neck, or in my case, the Fralin Blues special neck does a great job and balances well with the JD.

As for middle pickups, I have a strat alnico 2 pro in it, wired 5-way like the James Burton (see the Fender tech page Mr. Gearheads [or gearheadz] and look up the James Burton standard. You'll sacrifice the single in the middle position, but you'll preserve that classic tele neck/bridge in #3.

I can't however tell you that the A2 pro is the middle you want-I'm still searching for a good complement.

Doc's post has a great deal of advice in it-as always.
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

Dave said:
Well, those groups cover a lot of range. If you want the Clapton, Hendrix, Floyd stuff, you may want to add a middle pickup as well to Nashvillize your tele. I did that with mine and although the 2 and 4 positions aren't true strat sounds, you can kinda get that quacky-honky sound. I'd also push for a strat neck, or in my case, the Fralin Blues special neck does a great job and balances well with the JD.

As for middle pickups, I have a strat alnico 2 pro in it, wired 5-way like the James Burton (see the Fender tech page Mr. Gearheads [or gearheadz] and look up the James Burton standard. You'll sacrifice the single in the middle position, but you'll preserve that classic tele neck/bridge in #3.

I can't however tell you that the A2 pro is the middle you want-I'm still searching for a good complement.

Doc's post has a great deal of advice in it-as always.

Thanks Dave, I appreciate it.

I thought maybe you'd be interested in the wiring of my tele. It is my main gig guitar, and all that funky things evolved over an interval of 15 months or more to accomodate my needs on stage.

It has a 1 piece warmoth hard ash body (great sound, the only bad thing about is that it is not light), and a 95 american series maple neck. The bridge is a SDJD, the middle is a neck Fender TX SP strat single coil, and the neck is an ant HB (I adore its tone through a 500K pot, hence, the following weird wiring).

It has a 5 way blade switch a la strat, and 2 500K push pull pots. The vol push pull pot activates a 240K resistor unit directly connected to the vol pot. (My most sincere thanks goes to Lew for getting me them resistor units for free I have to add. A mighty gift! All the others I could find was 300K and 120K.) Thus, I can go back and forth between fender and gibson level of pot values. That idea came from a guy, whose name I don't recall now from TDPRI, and by checking some wiring schemes from mrgearhead.com, learning the details from our own JohnS's (STRATDELUXE97) guide. (EDIT: I have checked that thread, his nick is Teleologist, thnx man whereever you are.) The tone push/pull pot activates connects the bridge pickup to the neck, if active.

So basically, I can have all the combinations of pickups, and am able to run the ant neck through a 500K pot, and the others if needed through a ~350K pot.

B

EDIT: Some explanation needed not to confuse people. If you were to mod the y K pot with a resistance unit measuing x K, the result would be somewhere in the neighborhood of (y - ( x / 2 ) ) K. In my case, if my memory is in tact, I used a ~470K CTS pot, and 260K resistance unit. That seems to do the trick.
 
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Re: Help! which tele pups?

One more question
what pickup combo do you think would do best to play roy buchanan material?
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

i know seymour loves roy, i bet an antiquity would do ya right. i love the jd as well, killer tele bridge pup. not as bright as some but still very tele
 
Re: Help! which tele pups?

J J said:
One more question
what pickup combo do you think would do best to play roy buchanan material?
I agree with Jeremy. I have a set of the antiquitys in one of my Teles and I think Seymour had Roy Buchanan in mind when he wound the antiquitys. The Jerry Donahue has a little less treble and more mids...more quack. I've played a few 50's Teles with tones similar to the Antiquitys, but only one, a real '51, that had the tone of the Jerry Donahue...but that middier, quackier tone is what I prefer in many ways. Lew
 
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