Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

[MikeRocker]

I'm helping my brother build a Tele (swamp ash body and rosewood fretboard), and now I'm helping him figure out which pickups to get. He got it routed for a neck humbucker, and I'd really appreciate any recommendations that I can pass on to him for some good neck 'bucker choices - he's going for a rock & roll/rockabilly/country thing - vintage, not heavy. Think along the lines of Keith Richards, the classic Tele neck humbucker sound. Also he's got it routed for a Strat middle pickup, so something he could split would be cool to allow him to get the #2 position Strat sound - I realize that a lot of vintage style humbuckers are single conductor, he'd rather sacrifice the 4-conductor and go with something that fits the style and sound even if it's single conductor (maybe he could get a shop floor custom or make a Custom Shop order if there's a vintage model that comes standard with a single conductor). I'm also going to wire it so that he can get the bridge/neck combination by itself, even though there'll be a middle Strat pickup.

So, bottom line, what's the best sounding vintage style neck humbucker for a Tele?

Thank you!

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

Funny I was going to post a similar post... I was just thinking of TELEs and want one... I dont know if it helps but I probably would put a seth...I would want a neck Buker Realy dont know,, I dont know why I want a tele too... I just Love that Bridge tone. and that it is a simple guitar but an Amazing guitar.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

I really dig the Pearly Gates I have in my MIJ Thinline. It's thick without being muddy and cuts through really well without sounding ice-picky.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

You can order just about any Duncan humbucker with 4 conductor wiring if I recall.

That said, the only humbucker I've got experience with in the tele neck position is the SM-1 mini-humbucker. Very smooth and buttery tone that works great with clean tones and moderate amounts of gain. In the neck, even in a tele, it can get a little muddy under high gain.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

You'd want something pretty light that won't overpower your Tele bridge, definitely low 7's. Pearly Gates is probably a good pick. Keep the middle pu light too, right around 6k, unless you're using a pretty hot Tele bridge.

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

I really dig the Pearly Gates I have in my MIJ Thinline. It's thick without being muddy and cuts through really well without sounding ice-picky.

Will keep that in mind.. what abt bridge?

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

I use a STL-2 along with my PG. I use a 5 way switch to get the following combos:

Hot Lead
Hot Lead/Neck
Neck
Neck/vintage lead
Vintage Lead.

I also use a push/pull to split the PG, giving me a couple more sounds.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Neck humbucker recommendation for Tele?

If you want a readily available pickup with a nickel cover, I'd say a Seth Lover...although the standard model can't be split and it's a little difficult to find in the 4 conductor version...altho available.

Or: the Pearly Gates neck or Alnico 2 Pro neck...both of which come with 4 conductor cable but are not so easily found with nickel cover...altho they are available too.

One of those three though would be my suggestion...and a nickel cover can be easily installed on a PG or A2Pro. Lew