lil 59 in a tele, what about a full sized hum?

[TwofacePimp]

Hello all, I'm entertaining the idea of a new partscaster tele-gib dealie, and am wondering about bridge pickup selection.

Currently there's a lil 59 in the bridge of my american standard tele, and it's solidly in my "like" category, which would make it pretty good, but not groin-grabbingly amazing. I was wondering if similar results could be attained with a full-sized humbucker in a plastic ring (not the metal tele bridge with a hb-sized hole), and what pickups might fit the bill. Thanks!

 

[Hecubus]

Re: lil 59 in a tele, what about a full sized hum?

Seymour put a JB in the original telegib. What do you find lacking from the lil59? What kind of music do you play and what else is in the signal chain? A plastic ring won't fully cover the route and additional routing will be necessary.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: lil 59 in a tele, what about a full sized hum?

Er, in what precise way would you like your next Tele Lead pickup to be amazing? Do you want power? Do you want twang? (There is a trade off between these two.)

The modifications to install a full-sized humbucker in the bridge position of a Telecaster are awkward. The routing and hardware can work out expensive. The results never look as good as a Tele that had a humbucker in the bridge position to begin with.

Consider trading in your Am Std for a Double Fat.

 

[Rowan]

Re: lil 59 in a tele, what about a full sized hum?

I'd highly recommend a Custom Custom if you're looking for a full size HB. I have one in my frankentele (fender USA neck/USACG alder body) and it is a great fit. The smooth/rolled off highs keep things from getting shrill but you still get a touch of twang with crunchy attack.

My guitar is routed for a humbucker with a gotoh tele/hb bridge. I think you'd have to do some routing to fit a full size hb in a standard tele right?

 

[TwofacePimp]

Re: lil 59 in a tele, what about a full sized hum?

Er, in what precise way would you like your next Tele Lead pickup to be amazing? Do you want power? Do you want twang? (There is a trade off between these two.)

The modifications to install a full-sized humbucker in the bridge position of a Telecaster are awkward. The routing and hardware can work out expensive. The results never look as good as a Tele that had a humbucker in the bridge position to begin with.

Consider trading in your Am Std for a Double Fat.

Thanks all for replying so far! This is actually going into plans for a new custom guitar, either a partscaster locally assembled or from a builder like Ron Kirn. The Am Std tele will stay in my possession and not be drilled up, as it has huge sentimental value to me. This new guitar would be for my main band which plays ska (good cleans with little to no breakup) and rock, with my desired rock tone being on the heavier/modern end of things.

The lil 59 that's currently in my tele is pretty good, but I guess I'm looking for something more like the custom 5 in my lp. A little more power, a little tighter in the low end, a little better for a heavy distorted sound. (Not a big fan of the JB, but I've never tried one in an alder/ash type guitar either.) I guess what I'm trying to figure out for my next guitar is if I should stick with traditional bridge and a "lil" hb, or go far a fixed bridge with a full sized hb. Maybe sometimes you should leave well enough alone?