Little '59 for Tele, I think I don't like it.

[ceragan42]

I put a little '59 in the bridge of my mahogony Fender '69 Thinline RI. This is my main ax and has been since it entered my stable 10 years ago.

I'm having a difficult time getting to know the lil '59. The previous pickup was overwound by another pickup builder around 7 years ago. It seemed like the thing to do at the time, but over the years, the original pickup warped and did not get an even mix from the strings, no matter how I played around wiht the heighth and postion. So I snagged a lil '50 for tele and....

Well... It don't sound like a tele no more... Plus there is a glassy harsh brash tone when I run it through any amp dialed up to where I like to play (5E3, cranked, AC15 wannabe cranked, or my '72 Pro cranked.

I may get rid of this thing. It's not clean enough for clean tones, and it gets too dirty on the distorted tones.

What did I do wrong?

 

[jony]

Re: Little '59 for Tele, I think I don't like it.

The lil 59 was meant to sound like an old Gibson PAF. So the tele sound really disappears.

 

[ceragan42]

Eek, let me clarify!

Eek, let me clarify!

Yeah, I know I went into completely different tonal range. It was 2 a.m. when I posted that, I was'nt all that awake. Re-reading, and I'm a little confused as to what I was trying to get accross. Let me clarify...

Perhaps there is something wrong with this one. There is a brash high noise when I hit the strings and the amp is turned up enough to get overdrive. It's not the amp either, I get the noise with three of my amps on this guitar only, my stock '52 RI doesnt get the noise. If the whole band is playing, then it isn't as audible, but when it's just me and I have my amps cranked a little higher, it's there. With my pignose or 15 watt el84 practice amp dialed in at living room volumes, it's not there.

In addition, despite numerous attempts and tests, I cannot get it to coil tap. I've manually attatched the two extra wires to each other and it still acts as a 'bucker. It won't funcion as a single coil.

As far as the tone, I know I was gonna get into different tonal range, the other guitarist in my band has little '59 neck position pickup in the bridge position of his strat (he insist that doing this is his "secret weapon"). I was impressed with it so I went ahead and snagged one for my trusty '69 Thinline RI with a mahogony body. The output on this thing is waaaaay louder than what I've been used to for a long time. Certain Tele tonal characteristics that I thought had little to do with the pickup were greatly reduced or just gone when I wired this thing in.

I've adjusted the pickup to reduce the high output (lowered it quite a bit), and dialed my amps in different ways to get some really good tones, but it's just so different from what I was used to with a single coil. It's completely different from my '52 RI, and it's higher output makes it harder to switch guitars in the middle of a set or band practice, I have to dial a few things on my rig in differently to accomidate. I really should have done a tad more research, rather than just picking it up because it sounded good in other guitars.

I wish I could have the same pickup, but with less output, and with the coil tapping that the instructions showed, and no brash high pitched noise.


I should say that I think it's a decent pickup, I just think mine might have some issues. I'm not sure what I should do about it, and I've never had any luck selling a used pickup. ANd I'd hate to sell one to somebody knowing there was a high pitched noise with certain amps dialed up to power tube saturation.

Perhaps I should have posted a thread asking for advice, rather than just saying I don't like it. I dig seymour duncans products, I'd rather get this one to work with my rig better than to just get rid of it. I

 

[Artie]

Re: Eek, let me clarify!

Re: Eek, let me clarify!

In addition, despite numerous attempts and tests, I cannot get it to coil tap. I've manually attatched the two extra wires to each other and it still acts as a 'bucker. It won't funcion as a single coil.

When you attach the red and white together is when the Lil 59 acts as a humbucker. Use this diagram as a reference:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/hum_1vol-w-coil_split.html

Even though thats a full-size 'bucker, it works the same way. You should short the red/white pair to ground to be in "split" mode.

I use a Tele Lil59 myself. (Though, not currently installed.) Its a much hotter wind than the Strat version of the same pup. I don't know why they do that, but it is a different tone. Also, I noticed that its very sensitive to pup adjustments.

But the main thing is, make sure your wiring is correct as per that diagram.

Artie

 

[ceragan42]

Re: Little '59 for Tele, I think I don't like it.

I did make certain I was following the instructions. I've gone back with the soldering iron 3 times now. I even did some tests by manually touching the wires together while it was plugged in, and it remains a 'bucker whether those wires touch each other or not. Plus, there's the whole brash, high pitched noise thing.