jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

[jazzcaster]

I have a Fender Tele Nashville Deluxe. It has a Strat pickup in the middle position in addition to the usual Tele setup. My favorite setting is neck and middle combined. I don't like the stock Tex-Mex pickups--too gritty, especially when leaning in. I want a clean jazz sound. By "jazz sound" what I mean is a sweet tone with clarity and good definition on chords. I don't want a dark and muddy sound, which I suppose a few people might equate with jazz. I'm looking for a modern sound that is clean with a certain amount of warmth. I am thinking of the APTR-1 in neck position and Little 59 in middle position. (I never use bridge.) How would these work together? I am wonder about wiring issues and how to determine whether they are correctly in phase with each other. I am fairly handy but I have not wired pickups before, and I don't know if using these two together would present any problems. Thanks!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Welcome to the forum.

Any phase issues between an APTR-1 and any Li'l series humbucker can be corrected by reversing the order in which the four conductor + shield output cable of the single coil-sized humbucker is connected up.

In my opinion, some of your tone issues could be resolved by fitting a better quality bridge.

My outright favourite Telecaster pickup for Jazz sounds is the Fender Custom Shop '51 Nocaster neck/rhythm unit.

 

[jazzcaster]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Thanks for the suggestions! I was also going to look into replacing the bridge, but Tele bridges come in several different styles. The Deluxe Nashville has what I guess is a reissue of an older type in which the saddles are offset towards the high E side. I was looking for a meatier bridge and am considering the Gotoh, but that bridge has the saddles arranged symmetrically rather than offset, so I am guessing there might be a problem with alignment if I use the original holes (and I am sort of reluctant to be drilling new holes). I once had a Gotoh bass bridge, and it was very high quality. Other suggestions?

 

[elelpe]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

I want a clean jazz sound. By "jazz sound" what I mean is a sweet tone with clarity and good definition on chords. I don't want a dark and muddy sound, which I suppose a few people might equate with jazz. I'm looking for a modern sound that is clean with a certain amount of warmth.

I think you'd love Wilde pickups by Bill Lawrence. Check out the NF singles model if you want to retain the classic look. L280S (P-90ish) or L200s (stratty) middle and L200T or L202T (with A2 magnet) neck.

 

[jazzcaster]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Thanks, I'll look at these too. Much appreciated.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

RE: meatier bridge.
The joe Barden bridge is amazing. 3 chunky barrel style saddles like vintage teles for sustain and meat, but offset for correct intonation. A directt drop in replacement for vintage fender tele bridges. The beveled ashtray edge and the little cutout at the bottom are nice touches too. Seriously quality kit.
The gotoh 6 saddle bridge is cool too. No ashtray, but the base and saddles are solidly built. Big Chunky sound too and a nice upgrade to anything from fender, but it obviously doesn't look vintage if that is a concern for you. It comes in two sizes, so just make sure that if you order one that its the right one for vintage fender tele hole patterns.
Iv'e installed both of the bridges on two different teles and been really happy with the results.

Re: pickups yep, an APTR-1 in the neck is sweet. Match it with an A2p strat in the middle. You don't need a lil 59 in the middle (or any kind of humbucking pickup) because you will get hum cancelling anyway when the two duncan singles are used together. I think you will get a much sweeter, chimier sound with two true singles than trying to match pots etc to accommodate the use of a single and a humbucker. However, it might be worth contacting SD directly to make sure that the tele neck and strat middle are rwrp to each other, if not, you wont get the hum cancelling (i prefer no cancelling anyway -but thats a personal choice). If it turns out that they are not rwrp to each other, just order an a2p neck model and you'll get the hum cancelling. I'm only mentioning this because if you bought 3 strat pickups, the middle one is rwrp. I'm just not sure which way round a normal tele set is, because they are usually set up for hum cancelling when using neck and bridge together.

Re: never using the bridge:
I reckon you would probably use the bridge more if you had a kick ass pickup like the jerry donahue model in there...just sayin!

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

If you want some of the classic tele jazz tones (Bill Frisell, Ed Bickert) I'd definitely go for the Alnico 2 neck. Maybe even an Antiquity neck, though I don't have any personal experience with it other than knowing that Frisell uses one.

If you are looking for really modern jazz tones, you might want to look into custom ordering a tele cool-rails neck. I used one in my strat for a long time for jazz gigs and loved it, but as my tastes have moved more vintage I've gone back to standard singles.

And I 100% agree with gibson175, I'm a jazz player through and through, but as I've moved to good, vintage style bridge pickups I've actually found a lot of use for them even in jazz settings. He knows his stuff with teles it seems, and I'd trust him on the JD bridge.

 

[jazzcaster]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Yes, I'll probably go with Alnico 2. When I say "modern," I suppose I don't mean that modern. Probably something like Ed Bickert. Being an old guy, I just find solid body guitars much more comfortable to play than archtops. Thanks for this!

 

[jazzcaster]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Thanks to Gibson175 for the detailed response. I have looked at the Joe Barden and Gotoh models online. What confuses me is that all of those Tele bridges appear to have a symmetrical format, whereas the saddle placement on my Deluxe Nashville is clearly offset towards the high E. I have seen other replacement bridges online with this format (including one at Allparts) but none of them have brand names. The current bridge has 6 saddles but otherwise appears to be an older style. It looks dinky to me. Thanks also for the pickup advice. I am going to follow your advice and stay away from the humbucker. I have a nice Les Paul Studio (which I'm selling)--it's not the sound I want. Thanks again!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

re: a new bridge. As long as the holes for the string spacing match you will be fine. I think the only difference with your bridge is that the saddle screws are offset, but the strings still come out of the regular spaced holes.
I'm pretty sure that you can use any tele replacement bridge that has vintage string spacing and 4 screws to affix it to the body, rather than the old style 3 screw setup.
you can see what im talking about with the two pics at the top of this page:
http://www.callahamguitars.com/brdge_T.htm

 

[jazzcaster]

Re: jazz-oriented pickups for telecaster deluxe nashville

Thanks much, I see what you are saying. The Callaham bridges seem to be beauties. There is a lot of tech talk on that site, but things are explained well. My current bridge is crap. I am aware that bridges can make a big difference in sound--I've done a little experimenting with that. Have you tried the Callaham bridges? Based on what I read, I would be inclined to go with the brass saddles. I don't know if having 3 vs. the 6 I currently have would be a big deal.