Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

[Lewguitar]

I've settled on the JD bridge pickup for my James Burton Tele, tho I'll still compare it to the Antiquity Tele lead as soon as they come in...tho I suspect the JD is going to stay in this guitar when the shootout's over.

I'm using the Duncan Alnico II Pro rythym for the neck position and I like it OK, but it's not high enough in output and not bright enough for my tastes.

It sounds muffled to me.

So far, my favorite new Tele neck pickups are the Fender NoCaster and Fralin Blues Special and Tele Stock.

I need to try some more Duncans, including the Antiquity Tele neck pickup.

What Duncan are you experianced Tele spankers using with the Jerry Donahue?

I don't really want to use a neck humbucker, mini-humbucker or PhatCat, tho I do plan on at least trying a PhatCat...I have a new pickguard on order just for the test.

But I'd prefer a stock looking, medium to high output Tele neck pickup for this guitar. Bright with strong output...like the NoCaster and the Fralins I mentioned.

Lew

 

[Falstaff]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

Doesn't MJ make a tele-sized neck pickup that emulates a strat neck sound? I'm sure she could do just about any flavor of strat pu for you. I have a strat pu in the neck of my tele and I love it, especially in the middle position. I had the MIJ "JD" tele a while back and that guitar comes stock with a strat pickup, as does JD's custom shop job.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

Doesn't MJ make a tele-sized neck pickup that emulates a strat neck sound? I'm sure she could do just about any flavor of strat pu for you. I have a strat pu in the neck of my tele and I love it, especially in the middle position. I had the MIJ "JD" tele a while back and that guitar comes stock with a strat pickup, as does JD's custom shop job.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking I'd call the custom shop and have a nice Antiquity style Jerry Donahue bridge and Strat output Tele neck pickup wound...and put them in my Custom Shop '53 RI tele. The Burton Tele is a great guitar but I'm basically using it as a test platform guitar for testing Tele pickups. Thanks!

 

[Curly]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

Lew,
have you measured that pickup?

if the specs are accurate, it says that pickup is 8.1K, which seems like it shouldn't be low output

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

Hi Curly, I have checked the output (8K), it uses alnico 2 polepieces, which despite the length of the wire wrapped around the coil, still results in lower actual output than the A3 NoCaster and A5 Blues Special. The tone curve on the AIIPro Tele neck is 6/3/4 = low/mid/hi. 4 for the treble is just not bright enough for me. Sounds muffled. Lew

 

[Curly]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

maybe try a Vintage Rhythm, till you get a Custom Shop set

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

I'm going to put a nickel covered Fralin Tele Stock neck pickup in there today so I can compare it to the nickel covered NoCaster neck in my CS '53 RI Tele and the uncovered Fralin Blues Special neck in my '54 Tele.

But I think I'll call MJ today and order the Duncan Custom Shop Tele set we just mentioned...and see if they can be Antiquity-ized for the right look. Lew

 

[jeremy]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

cant help ya much here lew. love the jd, dont like tele neck pups. ive always used strat pups or something else, ssl1 is a nice choice but im really kinda on about the idea of trying the antiquity II strat pups. granted i did like the tele neck pup on the '56 i played but it was nice and bright as is my buddys 69. but ive never played a tele that i could make mine that had a good neck pup tone that i liked.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

cant help ya much here lew. love the jd, dont like tele neck pups. ive always used strat pups or something else, ssl1 is a nice choice but im really kinda on about the idea of trying the antiquity II strat pups. granted i did like the tele neck pup on the '56 i played but it was nice and bright as is my buddys 69. but ive never played a tele that i could make mine that had a good neck pup tone that i liked.

Boy...I am with you on that!

My faves are the Fralin Blues Special (has the output of a Strat single coil but no cover) and the Fender NoCaster neck pickup so far...this has been quite a fun shoot out for me.

But I'd like to find a Duncan I like as much...just to keep it all in the family I guess!

Jeremy...why did you stop using the Jerry Donahue? It's exactly what I've been looking for, tho I wouldn't mind a tiny bit more output, as long as it didn't lose highs.

I did find that I like it best moved VERY VERY close to the strings. Closer to the strings than the bridge pickups in either of my other two Teles.

Lew

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

I really like the Nocaster neck pickup for a traditional tone and look. In addition to one Tele with that at the neck, I have a Phat Cat in another and an SM-3n mini-HB in a third. I like 'em all. The SM-3n comes as close as I need to Albert Collins' rig, and the Phat Cat gets the P90 tone without the hassle of routing for a true P90 format. If I didn't have a good Strat, then I would certainly consider an SSL-1 or similar at the neck. The middle position combo sounds real nice with all of these choices, so don't worry about losing anything there.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

i stopped using the jd cause i sold that guitar and i currently only have one tele and its set up with a qp tele lead and a custom strat neck pup so its more of a rock guitar. ive been grooving on my buddys 69 though so im thinking the guitar that i put that '62 neck on should have a tele bridge pup

 

[BachToRock]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

I LOVE the JD Bridge and the APII Neck pickups... I prefer all tele neck pickups with the cover OFF...
I'll trade you my vintage neck pickup for the APII...
Also, the Hot neck pickup is great as well...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jerry Donahue Tele lead...but which neck?

I LOVE the JD Bridge and the APII Neck pickups... I prefer all tele neck pickups with the cover OFF...
I'll trade you my vintage neck pickup for the APII...
Also, the Hot neck pickup is great as well...

I agree about uncovered Tele neck pickups...that's why I've used the Fralin Blues Special for so long and why it is still my favorite at this stage of the shoot out.

But doing this Ultimate Tele Tone pickup shoot out I've been writing about has been a real eduacation for me, because the Fender NoCaster neck pickup sounds just fine to me. It's not quite as full and strong sounding as the Blues Special but it is excellant and actually a little brighter than the BS...even tho the NoCaster is covered.

So it IS possible to get the tone I like from a covered Tele neck pickup after all.

Those two are the leaders so far in the Tele neck pickup category.

The Jerry Donahue, Blues Special and NoCaster are the leaders in the bridge pickup category.

Still waiting on those Antiquity Tele pickup sets...and I also have a couple of sets of the Tele Antiquity II's coming in as well.

I'll try them all...that's what I bought this James Burton Tele for: to compare pickups.

Lew