Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

papersoul

papersoul

New member
...I am not 100% happy.

I love my 2012 American Standard Tele. Playability is top notch! I have a Duncan Little 59 in the bridge and STK-T1n in the neck with CTS 500K pots. The neck pickup is great and I prefer it over the Twisted Tele, it is more full, and bigger sounding while still having distinct single coil characteristics! The Little 59 in the bridge I like but I am disappointed in the fact that it is on the dark side. It shocked me in being darker than my Les Paul at rehearsal! Wow. So, I either need to try a 1 Meg pot or swap it out for a Duncan Custom shop Pearly Gates for Tele or go to a Dimarzio Chopper.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Maybe I should have gone with a Duncan Quarter Pounder or Rio Grande Dirty Harry.

Honestly, since I LOVE the T1n in the neck I am going to start by trying the Hot stack and Vintage stack!

In fact, they sound so good, I might replace the Dimarzio Chopper in my strat with something like a Duncan stack set!

Thanks gents. :)
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

I'd go for a Broadcaster lead. It's my favorite of the production Tele pickups that I've played.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

I have a custom shop Fender Broadcaster but I do not like it with high gain.
I ordered a hot stack 2b.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

The other possibility is the Jerry Donahue. Lots of punch, just the right amount of bite and twang.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

One of the SD Custom Shop Billy Gibbons themed Tele replacement pickups could be the order of the day. BG-1800, Li'l Pearly Gates for Telecaster et cetera.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

Whatever it is, it must be noiseless and bright. I use it with high gain and even with the 59 I was getting crazy feedback! That made no sense. My LP was quiet, then I plug in the Tele and it is feeding back all over the place.

Is there a nice alnico bridge pickup that is tight enough and fat enough to handle a decent amount of gain? Noiseless as well. When I say gain, I am talking as gainy as something by Stone Temple Pilots for example.

Maybe I start to treat my Tele more like a Tele, even if I do play hard rock and go with the Vintage Stack.
 
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Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

I'd try lowering the '59 till the darkness goes away, then raising the pole screws to get the volume back.

IME, Teles feed back easily when using the bridge pickup, as the pickup hangs off of the bridge. It can get really bad with old school bridges, though the newer ones that are screwed down in front should feed back much less in theory.
 
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Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

1 Meg pot or... have you tried the Wilde L-290TL or the Samarium Cobalt noiseless? They are both known to have good highs for noiseless pickups.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

Good stuff. I talked to a guy who said it is too hot and I should try the Vintage stack. For now I am going to play with the Lil 59 pickup height and pole pieces which I have not done yet. I am very guilty of doing nothing yet to adjust the Lil 59. I am so used to with all of my humbuckers, just dropping them in, setting them to 2/32" height and rolling. Let me see what I can accomplish tonight! :) :approve:

Who makes the the Samarium Cobalt noiseless?

Wilde L-290TL? Hmmm

I actually love the feedback I am getting. It is controllable and sounds great on some songs like the intro to Vasoline by STP.
 
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Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

zenmindbeginner said:
Fender makes the SCN pups... a bit thinner sounding but with some nice treble and chime for a noiseless.
Click to expand...

Why thank you! I wish I had taken the time to adjust these pickups for practice. They sounded GREAT at home, then got to rehearsal and sounded dark and muddy. Time to adjust and see how it performs at next practice session. :approve:
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

Great call guys. I know this pickup sounded killer when I first got it and the rehearsal had me down on it. Since I am working from home today I went and spent 10 minutes setting it up and cranked up my PWE. The 59 soounds worlds brighter and clearer. :) Can't wait till rehearsal.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

not to steer you to the other brand but the dimarzio chopper t is bright, does good cleans and also does a very good classic rock mid range tone with some drive.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

You can try the GFS Neovin Hard Vintage or Power Rock set. Pretty inexpensive so it is hard to go wrong if they aren't for you.
 
Re: Love my new Telecaster but changes are coming!

Wow, after I made the changes, the Lil 59 is sounding killer! Very responsive to pickup height and pole piece height! Still want to try the Hot Stack thouh since it is brighter.
 
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