Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

[srvstrat1959]

Hello everyone,

My name is Bob, and I'm new to this forum. I was hoping someone could help me figure out a pickup configuration that would help get somewhat close to Joe Bonamassa's 51 Nocaster Setup. It will be a Christmas present for my mom who fell in love with the guitar itself and tone coming from his Nocaster at a concert recently. I know we'll never get it exact, but was just hoping to get close. This will be for home use only, so volumes will be low. I bought a Mexican Ash Telecaster for her already, but I'm undecided on the pickup setup. Joe has full size Gibson Paf in the neck & most likely the original bridge single coil. Ive read that having pickups with boosted mids and hotter style helps tone with home setups. This setup will be mainly for Joe Bonamassa style Blues rock, Albert King blues. No country or metal. Leaning towards a full size SD 59 in the neck(routed out) and a Little 59 in the Bridge. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

 

[beaubrummels]

Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Welcome to the forum

If it were me I'd put a Broadcaster in the bridge and Seth in the neck, use standard 250k pots and .05 tone cap and let those darken it back slightly to sweet blues tones. But it also depends on what 'home' amp we're talking about. If the amp isn't bright at all, you wouldn't want hotter darker pickups anyway.

Additionally, just being in a small home room with furniture, carpeting/upholstery will make a guitar rig sound a bit darker than it is. But if it's somewhat empty with wood floors the amp and guitar could sound lively. So the room has an affect also.

 

[srvstrat1959]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Thanks so much for the quick response. This is exactly the advice I was looking for, much appreciated. This will be my mom's 1st guitar. Unfortunately, I haven't bought her amp yet, that will be my next decision. Trying to keep it simple, looking at possibly purchasing a Vox Av15 amp, it's a hybrid analog with some nice effects settings. Figured that way she wouldn't have to buy any additional pedals right away just so she can get started.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Any Telecaster and a tweed Fender amp cranked will get closer to that sound than the right pickups and wrong amp.

When you say "so she can get started," do you mean started playing guitar, or started nailing Joe's sound? If you mean playing guitar, keep in mind that Joe's been playing for almost his entire life, so sounding like him is a bit of a lofty goal at first.

 

[james.small.104]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

I agree with the Broadcaster bridge and Seth Lover neck. As far as amps, I would suggest a Fender Champ. Low volume, tube tone "beginner's" amp. No frills, just a volume knob and a tone knob. Starting out with too many knobs to tweak can be frustrating and pull you away from the main source of your sounds - your hands. Just adjusting hand position, pressure, angle, and many tiny things that I can't describe gives everyone there own unique sound. It's more about the player and less about the equipment. Joe sounds like Joe, it doesn't matter if it's a Tele, Strat, or Les Paul. I hope this helps and wish your mother many years of pleasure in her guitar playing.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[srvstrat1959]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Perfect, thanks for the advice. My mom will be just starting to learn how to play guitar. She will be turning 59 next month, so I'm hoping that she will be able to make this at least a nice retirement hobby in the near future. I agree that it will take her a very long time to sound anywhere near like Joe. During our recent concert to see Joe, she mentioned that she loved the particular tone coming from the overdriven Tele out of all his many guitars he used during the concert. I think she may have liked the bit of twang sound that sounded different from his normal Les Pauls. She's fairly old school(she loves polka as well) so I think she also fell in love with the vintage look of the guitar. Thanks much for your post!!

 

[srvstrat1959]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Excellent, thanks so much for your post. I am having the tech install the Seth Lover & Broadcaster tomorrow. I agree with you on the amp, simple will definitely be the best route for my mom. After 1st looking at Vox, Fender amps seem to be the perfect solution for a nice starter amp. I have a tweed deluxe reverb & couldn't be happier with it. Very true that only Joe can sound like Joe, I'm just hoping that a nice quality instrument will give her the confidence to continue to grow with the guitar. She's very passionate about music, she used to take accordion lessons about 10 years ago. Wouldnt say she ever got to Frankie Yankovic's skill level, but she was decent Thanks so much and have a great night!!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

A Seth Lover in a Tele is a thing of beauty. Let us know how this turns out...and of course, we will need pics.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

As much as I like a Champ for what it does, I would recommend a Mustang 1 or 2 for this gig- Lots of variety in clean, warm or crunch at the turn of 1 knob and overcomes the 'how do I make the Champ crunch question' that often follows

 

[srvstrat1959]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

Thank you, I'll take a look at the Mustang. Anything Fender seems to be a good choice for amps. Appreciate your insight!!

 

[SFW]

Re: Joe Bonamassa Nocaster Pickup Choices for Home Use

This...

Welcome to the forum

If it were me I'd put a Broadcaster in the bridge and Seth in the neck, use standard 250k pots and .05 tone cap and let those darken it back slightly to sweet blues tones. But it also depends on what 'home' amp we're talking about. If the amp isn't bright at all, you wouldn't want hotter darker pickups anyway.

Additionally, just being in a small home room with furniture, carpeting/upholstery will make a guitar rig sound a bit darker than it is. But if it's somewhat empty with wood floors the amp and guitar could sound lively. So the room has an affect also.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk