OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

[Luke Duke]

Alright guys I'm going to bite the tele bullet. I'm going to pull out the QP's and put in some more vintage sounding pups.

I saw the hotter Fralins had no cover on the neck pup. How does this sound. I'm wanting a smooth neck and neck bridge tone. Something similiar to what Don Felder gets on Hell Freezes Over's Learn To Be Still/Love will keep us alive.

For the bridge I'm wanting a good tele bridge sound but smoother. The bridge pup being wound less hot I'm wondering how well it will cut through, and how the pups compare to the Fender Delta Tone pups. I wish I could pick up one of the SD esquire pups. Those have two taps yes? Anyways for the bridge slot I might have to save my pennies and dimes and go with a custom shop pickup.

Oh, and my tele is 2000, or 2001 American series with an ash body and maple fingerboard.

Thanks for the help in advance.

Luke

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

I think you'll like the JD at the bridge. It's very much a vintage tele sound, but with a bit more push and slightly rolled back highs.

As for the neck, I'm not too fond of tele neck pickups, so I'll suggest a SM-1 mini or maybe an APS-2 strat pickup.

Good luck.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

bumpity bump bump

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

I'm wanting a smooth neck and neck middle tone.

What is your "middle" pickup, and why haven't I seen it?




I told you to lay off the crack. :smack:

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

What is your "middle" pickup, and why haven't I seen it?
I told you to lay off the crack. :smack:

??? I don't see that at all in my post WHO'S on crack now??

 

[Kelsey]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

The JD is very nice, as is the Antiquity I flatpole lead. The Antiquity I rhythm pup is warm and smooth with enough high end to stay clear. Crank the amp (or use something like a FD2 or TS-style OD) and play with the Tele tone control, and you'll get nice thick lead tones and crunch from either of those lead pups. The STL-2 Hot and 5/2 lead are real nice, too. From what I've heard, I think these lead pups will have stronger mids than the Fralins, but I've never used the Fralins, so YMMV. The only SD Tele rhythm pup that I like is the Antiquity, but I haven't tried them all. Clips of the Fralin Blues Special neck pup sound very nice. A Firebird-style mini-HB (SM-1, SM-3) is also a great choice at the neck slot with any of the Tele leads I mentioned.

 

[Curly]

Re: OK I'm gonna bite the tele bullet

well, I think you've already gotten the best answers ..

I have a set of Antiquities, and a JD with a Hot neck - both great sets. Everyone loves the JD, but the question seems to be what is the best match for it. JD himself uses a strat APS. The minis are another option, if you don't mind a non traditional look - my friend Pete uses a Thunderbird pickup in his vintage tele.

Lew would likely say his favorite is "Seymour's favorite" set from the CS - a tapped hot bridge with a hot neck. On my set, the bridge pickup measures 9.4K, and 6.6K tapped. The neck measures 7.6K.

I think Lew also has another CS set with a "tele a la strat" neck pickup, and he might even like that more.

IIRC, one of Evan's favorites is a regular Hot tapped bridge with a Hot neck. (I'm not positive about the neck he likes.)

I have my JD/ Hot set up for slide, and I like to juice it a little with a pedal. I have a couple clips of that on my site. JD/ Hot set . BTW, I tried a Seth, but with the stock rout, I couldn't set it low enough to balance with the JD bridge. So much for my Keith phase.

OK, so I only confused matters. :smack: