pickup for my tele. please help.

[shootthebreeze]

Hi, it's my first visit to this forum and a lot of people on here know far more than i do so hopefully someone can give me a bit of advice.

I recently snapped the head stock of my les paul standard at a show and i am going to try to get it fixed but at the moment my bank balance wont allow it. My only option is to hot up a mexican tele that i just use at home, it has a standard single coil space for the bridge. I dont use the neck pickup so im only looking to beef up the bridge. I was looking at the site and the 'little 59' appeared to be what i was looking for but i really dont know much about single coils. how would it campare to a humbucker?

I am the only guitarist in a heavy rock band and i just plug straight into a hughes & kettner duotone. If i change pickups and my tele doesn't sound like a tele any more then that's fine, it just has to have plenty of guts & tone.

any assistance appreciated.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

The Lil 59 would work, as would the Hot Rails.

 

[shootthebreeze]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

hey benjy, thanks for your help. how much of a difference is there between a regular humbucker compared to a mini single coil sized one, do they still have all the grunt of humbucker?

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

They don't have all the low end wallop of a ful sized 'bucker, but they do get close, with the added bonus of having more clarity and detail.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

I have had great experiences with the JB jr and little 59. I am not keen on the hot rail because it lacks the kinda glass i expect from a PAF, and it masks some of the guitars tone, IMHO. I am not amazed by the responsiveness of the Hot Rail, HOWEVER - it is the best power crunch of the group. The JB Jr has nice classic mids, "Marshall-y", and the little 59 to me is a great hybrid between a single coil and a humbucker. It's not quite a full humbucker, and its got some of the single coil glass. Very warm too.

I will say, I have used the Full Size 'bucker versions, and to me the pure physica dictate the mini versions will not sound as "big" or warm, but they do get the job done. Shockingly, I am not a huge fan of the full size 59 bridge model (I prefer the APH1 as I have said too many times, lol), but the Little 59 is pleasing to me. Although I do not like the top end or balance of the Hot Rail, they do have a warm and powerful sound.

Now why you wanna play a tele in a heavy rock band? Havin' a Jimmy Page flashback? hmmm Not a bad thing to have.

 

[mrfjones]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

i am going to say hotrails on this one. it doesn't really sound like a tele but i think it is a bit hotter and will be more to your liking than a lil 59.

 

[saladin]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

Got a set of QP's if your interested.

 

[flank]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

i think this JD pickup sounds really good for Zeppelin type stuff, i mean, sometimes it sounds dead on.....but if you want heavier than that, than the other suggestions are the ways to go

 

[ErikH]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

As a Little 59 user in a Strat, I can tell you the thing rocks. If the Tele version is anything like the Strat version, you'll be in for a treat. If your amp already has the gain you need and don't need hot pickups, the Little 59 is the ticket. It'll probably let your Tele still sound somewhat like a Tele, but a Tele with an attitude.

 

[Mephis]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

I love my Rio grande Muy grande in the bridge.

Almost like a P-90, fat, lots of low end but still has great cleans and tele twang somehow.

Took my No.3 to No.1. Try it, rio grandes are made really well and have less hum than most average single coils I've used.

Stay away from single coil sized buckers, just dont get those nasty things. Unless you have an addiction to the Iron Maiden tone... yuck

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

The Tele Lil' 59er should fit the bill. I use it in my strat and it sounds fine. Like mentioned above, Maybe not the full throated wallop of a full size bucker.
But compared to the PuP in there now...It will be a night and day difference.

 

[pinto79]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

I have a HotRails in one of my Teles and it will compete with a Paul any day of the week. As mentioned above, it also has a huge amount of added clarity and really packs a punch. Sounds good split too...

 

[tone4days]

Re: pickup for my tele. please help.

welcome to the forum ... sorry to hear about your bad luck snapping the headstock

i wonder if a seymour duncan pickup booster pedal might actually be a cool fix for ya until the LP is reheaded ... with the resonant frequency shift switch, you can fatten up a regular tele pup to sound more humbuckerish and dial in as much gain as you could ever possibly need ... would let your tele remain a tele with the booster off ... then, when your LP is fixed, you can use it for any number of rockin things

good luck
t4d