New member-1997 telecaster California

[dobrodewed]

I bought a 1997 telecaster. I see mention of fat pickups for an option on this model. Mine has the single coils. What is the best option? They say fender made a humbucking for the neck with a single for the bridge. Can you put two humbucking pickups, change to a 5 way switch and have it use many options.
2 singles, neck single-bridge dual, neck dual-bridge single, both dual? What are the options. I’m new to this. Thanks Duano

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: New member-1997 telecaster California

You will need a 5-way superswitch. This will give you a lot of different options and you can find diagrams for those options here https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wiring-resources/2-pickup-guitar-wiring-diagrams/

 

[Mincer]

Re: New member-1997 telecaster California

Welcome to the forum!
Selecting new pickups is a great idea, but we need to know a little bit about the sound you want, the sound you can't get now, and what you want to use the guitar for.

 

[shadowfire90]

Re: New member-1997 telecaster California

lift up the bridge and see how much wood you have to work with. One of the better options is stacked 4 wire telecaster bridge pickups or of course the hot rail like pickups. now in the neck position there are a few 4 wire variants out. I remember one guy I knew just said screw it and put a cool rail single coil in his pickguard. He had to file out some material.

if you need a new bridge I suggest the guitar fetish ones. they should have a humbucker one. Either way just remember to put the ground loop back on the bridge to properly ground the strings.

As for wiring there are a bunch of geniuses on here who can draw out or suggest a particular wiring. It all depends on the sounds you want. Careful with the guitarelectronics.com wrings, their usual stuff is flawless and I learned a lot. However for super 5 way switches. Some schematics work, some don't. I've got a bunch of working diagrams if you need them that people on here helped me with. It's cheaper and easier to just go with a few push pull pots but if you're not a fan these are for you.

this is a typical hot stack seymour duncan. for example. it is hum cancelling like a humbucker, they are harder to find used. You can split coils and it works like a humbucker. There are plenty of variations so find what works best for you
https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/hot-stack-tele-bridge

lets start off with something i designed for hot rails , this gives position 2 hum cancellation until you get a neck pickup you like, however i'll have to convert it to a 4x4 switch since you said fender. The other two are examples of super 5 way switch wirings.

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[LesPaulPlayer001]

Re: New member-1997 telecaster California

Your pickup choice really depends on what genre you play and what tone you want for that specific genre. But year you can go with SSS (all singles), SSH (Humbucker bridge), or HSH (Humbucker Neck and bridge). Seymour Duncan alone has thousands of different options for any sound you could ever want and thats without the custom shop.