Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

[axiseffects]

My MIM Telecaster appears to have its neck pickup cavity routed for something up to a full-size humbucking pickup, but has anyone installed one in a MIM Tele? I don't have a regular humbucker that I can use to test and see if it will indeed fit in the neck pickup cavity.

Thanks for any help!
Phillip

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

A humbucker or Phat Cat should fit perfectly. My James Burton Tele is also made exactly as you describe. Just makes it cheaper for Fender to only have to make one body that fits most neck pickups. Lew

 

[dd12939]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

I've also heard that mini humbuckers sound really good in the neck of a tele. Butch (BS123) loved his, IIRC

 

[axiseffects]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Thanks guys. Below is a picture that shows the neck pickup cavity while I was shielding the control cavities back in early '04. Lew, does that routing match the routing on yours?

Phillip

 

[Dave]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

I've been tempted to pull my tele apart and go with either a minihum or a phat cat.

A smart guy would just buy another tele... :smack:

I really don't think you'd have a problem with it. I had a MIA Fat Tele w/ a humbucker route and I can't imagine that Fender would have different specs for the same body style, though made elsewhere.

Cool tele-nice shielding!

 

[skh515]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Lew, does that routing match the routing on yours?

Phillip[/FONT]

I can't speak for Lew, but that's what my MIM Tele looks like. A full-size HB will fit just fine. The measurements of most SD pups are available on the site.

Steve

 

[BS123]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

I've also heard that mini humbuckers sound really good in the neck of a tele. Butch (BS123) loved his, IIRC

Yes!! Minihumbuckers are too cool. Smooth, creamy, yet nice and bright; but never muddy like the big ones can be. They also look really cool installed as well. You might also think about a P90 too. :32:

Take a look at this one done by our own XSSIVE.

 

[axiseffects]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Wow mini humbuckers do look nice installed in Teles! Which one is that installed in his?

Hmm could anyone here modify a Tele pickguard if I were to go with a mini bucker instead?

Phillip

 

[BS123]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Wow mini humbuckers do look nice installed in Teles! Which one is that installed in his?

I'l refer you this thread...
Tele Thread

Hmm could anyone here modify a Tele pickguard if I were to go with a mini bucker instead?

Phillip

Personally, I would just order one from Warmouth...

 

[axiseffects]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Thanks for the links, Butch. I was looking through the available mini humbuckers that SD offers, and I think that the Custom Mini Humbucker would be the best for me...high output and fairly bright.

I would love to get one of butnut's "hotdog" control plates for my Tele, but I don't think he's making them anymore. I wonder if Brian, who made those great looking piston knobs and switch tip for Mike's Tele, could make a hotdog plate?

Phillip

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

ask and find out.

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

What lead pickup do you have or want in your Tele? That will affect the best choice for the neck slot if you want a fairly close match in output between pickups. If you have a vintage output Tele lead pup, then I would recommend an SM-1 or SM-3 neck mini-HB -- the specs on the SM-2 are considerably hotter at the neck. If you have an overwound Tele lead pickup like the JD (slightly overwound) or the STL-2 Hot Tele (more overwound), then you might also consider a Phat Cat (great with the JD) or a PAF-style HB (Seth, 59, etc.). A P90 will not fit in that HB cavity without routing, so if you want a P90 go with a Phat Cat (P90 in HB housing). Also, on the American Series neck routes the depth is approx. 0.75", so make sure the HB has short legs.

Just to add to your confusion, I have one Tele with an SM-3 neck and Fender Nocaster Lead, another with a Phat Cat neck and JD lead, and an American HS Tele with a Fender Atomic II HB and SD Hot Tele lead (as well as two with traditional Tele sets) -- and I would be hard pressed to pick a winner in that photo-finish race. So, my choice would be guided by my preference in Tele lead pickups.

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Oops... I just noticed that you appear to have a Lil 59 Tele lead pickup. In that case, just about any of these options should work, so I would try to compare the EQs to come up with a match.

 

[axiseffects]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Oops... I just noticed that you appear to have a Lil 59 Tele lead pickup. In that case, just about any of these options should work, so I would try to compare the EQs to come up with a match.

Yep, I have a Little '59 in the lead position. I really love the sound of the Little '59...so much that I rarely ever use the neck pickup. The Quarter Pound in the neck has always sounded muddy and dark compared to the Little '59, so I would really like to replace it with a brighter pickup, and a humbucker would be perfect since I would have 'buckers in both pickup positions.

Do you think that the SM-2 Custom Mini Humbucker and Little '50 would be a good match? They appears to have EQs that are fairly close to each other. The SM-3 looks like it might have a little too much bass for what I'm looking for.

Phillip

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

hey, that's my baby up there hehehe...i love that guitar, it's now my main guitar...it's actually going in for some custom inlay work soon so in a few weeks i'll post an update.

as for mini-hums...i'm hooked, i have the sm-1 vintage mini hum in that tele and i love it. such a nice sound not too thick not to thin, it's like the perfect pickup for me. since i play mostly high gain stuff a vintage pickup was an odd choice but man it does it well even under real high gain it's very articulate and never gets too bassy, woofy or muddy (whichever term you want to use). i also bought an sm-2 mini hum for that tele but i like the sm-1 so much i never even bothered to try the sm-2 in the neck (i may try it in another tele down the road or a strat). either way i say go with one of the mini-hums in the neck for sure, they look real cool and sound great clean, high gain or anywhere between (well the sm-1 i know does). you can get a guard cut from warmoth, they did mine and it came out great. with your lil '59 in the bridge i'd try the sm-1 vintage mini hum in the neck, should make a nice combo.

also, what year is yor MIM tele? it looks silver, is it, or is it sage green and the pic makes it look silver? i also have a MIM tele (2001) and it has a regular tele route in the neck, not a hum like yours...that's odd...

-Mike

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

If you think the SM-3 will have too much bass, then I would consider the SM-1. If it matches up well with the Tele Hot Rails in XSSIVE's Tele, then it should match at least as well with the Lil 59 in yours. The SM-3 does have pronounced bass, but it growls and has a real nice warmth, too -- perhaps 500K pots would help in your setup.

I haven't liked the clips of the Lil 59 clean, but I keep hearing from people who love it. I guess I should try it sometime, but I'm liking the STL-2 Hot Tele lead a lot for an overwound sound. I also like the Fender Atomic II neck HB in my HS Tele -- a bit hotter than most PAFs, but only slightly, and it has plenty of growl and high end. I think a SD Pearly Gates neck HB might come closest to it. It would look good with a chrome cover or in black mounted in a black pickguard.

 

[axiseffects]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

Mike, my Tele is a 2003 MIM Standard in Sage Green Metallic. I think the camera with the flash and such made it look silverish. The pickguard is mint green, and I used a couple of Gibson SG "reflector" knobs on it just so it would look different. The switch is one of the 4-way Fender Tele Mod switches, and the guitar uses a modified version of the Fender 4-way switching.

Kelsey, I think you're right about the SM-1...That's probably the one that I should try. I always play with an overdrive on (either a stompbox or the overdrive channel of my '94 100-watt Twin Amp). The Little '59 really sounds great when overdriven.

I installed 500K pots and a 0.033uF tone capacitor in the guitar a few months back when I was trying to get the Quarter Pound in the neck to brighten up some. I was surprised at how much better than Little '59 sounded with 500Ks. The Quarter Pound only brightened up slightly, but since then I've learned that a lot of covered Tele neck pickups suffer from the dark and muddy problem.

Phillip

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: Humbucker in MIM Tele neck position?

does anyone know if the squier teles are routed for a humbucker in the neck?

edit: sorry for hijacking the thread.