PAF tone in a Tele

[ken5849]

Hello. Other guitars are Les Paul and ES335. Bought a MIM Tele for change of pace—beautiful special reserve cherry. It was that or G &L ASAT Tribute Bluesboy, with single pole In bridge, Seymour Duncan Seth Lover in the neck. Liked the tone on the G &L. More like Gibson PAF in neck position.

Didn’t quite like the tone on the Fender, and hum, so put in Dimarzio Area T and a 4 way switch. But still like the tone of the G & L better—warmer. So not there yet.

Should I try to put something else in the Fender, or sell it and get the G & L? I like some Tele tone and the neck, but warmer. Play classic rock, a little country rock. Everything from Steely Dan to Little Feat, Allmans, Bonnie Raitt, Floyd, Hot Tuna, Who. (Love Pat Metheny too, but can’t play his stuff. Yet..)

If another neck pickup, which? Seymour Duncan suggested Vintage Stacked. And if I just replace the neck, will that go okay with the Area T bridge, or should that be replaced too? I’m new to Teles and choosing pickups.
Any suggestions appreciated. Budget won’t go to American Fender or G & L.
Thanks!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

Why don't you put a PAF-alike in the neck slot? I had a Squier with the Duncan Designed versions of the Classic Stack (bridge) and Jazz (neck) and it was pretty sweet.

 

[jeremy]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

is the g&l semi hollow? the mfd bridge pup has a lot more juice than a typical tele pup. if you liked the g&l better, why didnt you get that?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

G&L ASAT Classic neck pickup. It retains "Teleness" while being able to be pushed in to Gibson territory. It's kind of like a mini P90 in terms of design, and some of the bite it has, but with more clarity than your typical neck P90.

You might even want to put the ASAT Classic MFD bridge pickup in there along with it.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

I have a tele with a SM-1b at the neck and a STL-2 at the bridge. The neck pickup is almost like a midway point between a nice PAF and a strat pickup and the bridge gets very, very soapbar-ish at times. If you're a Gi son guy that plays a tele, that's a combo that I'd recommend.

 

[jeremy]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

i have a antiquity firebird pup in the neck of my tele and freakin love it. a mini or fb pup should be the stock tele neck pup as far as im concerned

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

i have a antiquity firebird pup in the neck of my tele and freakin love it. a mini or fb pup should be the stock tele neck pup as far as im concerned

Samesies. I thought EXACTLY that when I threw the SM-1b in the neck of mine. This is after trying the Hot Rythm, APHn, PGn, and Dimaezio PAF in the neck slot of the same guitar.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

For the bridge on a Tele, throw in a SD "Stacked Lil 59" -or whatever the modern equivalent on the Duncan site is.

At one time (at least in the 90s) that was dead ringer for an LP

 

[jeremy]

Re: PAF tone in a Tele

if you are going to keep this and not get the g&l and want something different than what you have... for those bands that you mention, id put an antiquity II mini humbucker in the neck and jd bridge and keep the 4 way. the mini hum will give you a paf lite tone, the parallel selection will give you most of what youd expect from a tele middle position, the jd is a bit warmer than a typical fender with a bit more output but still sounds like a tele, the series option will be fatter and have a bunch more output. 250k volume and tone with a .022 or .015 cap is what id suggest for that setup.