Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

[UAF1]

Does anyone know if a SD Pearly Gates trembucker can be installed into a made in Japan reissue '72 Fender Thinline Telecaster?

I put one of these into my American :unitedsta Fender Stratocaster and I love it! I would really like to use one in my Tele. It does have the large Fender factory Love humbuckers installed. I know that I may have to drill new holes in my pick guard. Just looking for thoughts or if anyone has installed another pick up in a Thinline.

Cheers!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

Welcome to the forum.

The Pearly Gates Trembucker should fit easily through the cut out in the scratchplate. The problems are;
1) There will be a generous gap between the pickup and the edge of the cut out
2) It would be necessary to drill two new screw holes through the scratchplate to accept the Pearly Gates Trembucker ...
3) ... assuming that the height adjustments screws actually reach to the scratchplate to either side of the cut out.

The measurement between the elevator screws of the Trembucker is approximately 3 inches.

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

Thanks a lot. I guess I will just have to pick one up and see if it will work out.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

The other option is to get a scratchplate from Warmoth or similar with the right cutout.

 

[brunogio]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

I contemplating doing something similar to my AVRI.

You can get a custom made guard. They are somewhere between $40-80 depending on the supplier.

You can add a pickup ring but I think it would look odd.

I think a thinline needs the right pups to look right. I'm putting Lollar Regals in mine. I checked out other options I listed and didn't find one that would make the guitar look right. You got some choices between SD Custom Shop, the Fender Reissues, Lollars, and Novaks. You can get both MJ and Novak to rework your original pups to the original tone.

One caution on the guards, they will likely require you to drill new holes in the body. Supposedly pickguardian.com can get them to line up exactly but it might require you to send your original guard to them.

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

You guys are right on about the scratch guard. I did a little measuring and the SD trembuckers would not fit in the original Thinline scratch guard. I will have to look into getting a custom one. The original pups leave a large gap around the PU. :sad:

I will check into getting a custom guard and go from there. :headbang:

Cheers!

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

I checked into the Warmoth pickguards. It seems that they do not offer Trembucker cuts. Only Gibson humbuckers. Does anyone have any other suggestions where to buy a custom pickguard? I am not sure that a "Humbucker" would fit into a Fender since the stings are wider. (F-Space)

Also, If I was to put a Zebra SD Pearly Gates trembuker in the bridge, what would you recommend for the Neck pick up? I do not think that they make a zebra style neck position PG-TB. I was thinking of just getting two of the bridge PG-TB for bridge and neck. Is this a bad thing or would it sound bright in the neck position? I am open to ideas. Thanks!

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

AFAIK, the only difference between a Trembucker or F-spaced pickup is the polepiece spacing, the pickguard cutout and mounting hole spacing should be the same as a regular humbucker. A Trembucker or F-spaced humbucker should fit in the same rout as a regular humbucker, the actual pickup is not larger.

Al

I checked into the Warmoth pickguards. It seems that they do not offer Trembucker cuts. Only Gibson humbuckers. Does anyone have any other suggestions where to buy a custom pickguard? I am not sure that a "Humbucker" would fit into a Fender since the stings are wider. (F-Space)

Also, If I was to put a Zebra SD Pearly Gates trembuker in the bridge, what would you recommend for the Neck pick up? I do not think that they make a zebra style neck position PG-TB. I was thinking of just getting two of the bridge PG-TB for bridge and neck. Is this a bad thing or would it sound bright in the neck position? I am open to ideas. Thanks!

 

[chadd]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

When I was thinking of doing something similar, a suggestion was made to use the baseplate off the pickup already in the guitar. I haven't gotten around to trying it, but it may be worth considering.

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

So here are a few pictures of the guitar. I installed a bridge SD PG and neck Slash Alnico-II pup. It sounds great and the guitar is super light.

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

 

[allstarrme]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

AFAIK, the only difference between a Trembucker or F-spaced pickup is the polepiece spacing, the pickguard cutout and mounting hole spacing should be the same as a regular humbucker. A Trembucker or F-spaced humbucker should fit in the same rout as a regular humbucker, the actual pickup is not larger.

Al

This is true for dimarzio's but not Duncan's.


The final product looks great, did you cut out the pickup holes yourself?

I did a similar one for a single coil thinline starting from a blank sheet of pearloid. I used a large scaper to bevel the edges. It came out pretty good but not perfect.

 

[UAF1]

Re: Pearly Gates TB into a MIJ '72 Thinline tele?

Yes. I cut the holes out myself on the pick guard. It's fairly close but not perfect.