PUPS for a Tele

[Bludave]

I posted a thread a while back on the same topic. I have a MIJ '52 RI Tele. A very nice playing guitar. I am not really happy with the PUPS in it. When I first got it they were microphonic, so I waxed them and now they are fine. I find these stock pups to lack bass response and are kind of thin. I am looking to improve these two areas. I just recently had the oppurtunity to A/B this guitar with a Relic Nocaster, and the Nocaster was so much better. I am mainly a Blues.blues/rock type of player. I also play thru a Fender Super Reverb, and a Marshall 900. The SR has a Spina modded TS9 to push it a little. I would welcome any opinions regarding what PUPS would be good for this guitar Thanks for your help!

 

[Pierre]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

mhm... How about a quarter pounder or a five two?
Though for Blues, maybe a little 59 for Tele will do the job fine.

 

[Curly]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

I can recommend Antiquities, or a JD bridge.

I'm still not sure which neck pup to use with the JD, but after seeing Evan's post, an Antiquity neck would probably be fine with the JD, too.

depends on how much of the vintage vibe you want ... either way, those are all pretty touch responsive

I like pushing a tele with a pedal a little, too .. the Spina modded Boss DS-1 works well, but the TS-9 should be great, too

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

Hey buddy, I've been been waiting for an opportunity to repay you for that killer Muddy Waters poster. So contact me when you're ready for some pickups.

So you want more bass? Alnico 5 has more bass than alnico 2.

But that said, my faves are:

1. the Antquity I Tele sets which are alnico 2.
2. the a2 Jerry Donahue bridge and a a5 Fralin Blues Special Tele neck or an a5 Strat Surfer neck
3. the a2 Custom Shop Tapped Tele Hot and a5 Tele ala Strat neck pickup with a 5 way switch.
4. a5 Fralin Blues Specials with hybrid stagger

My Fender Nocaster Relic came with the Fender Nocaster pickups. Didn't love 'em...I changed them to a set of Duncan Antiquitys. Much better.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

well Dave you know i'm not the man to help you here since you've played my psycho tele's which rival Les Pauls with the amount of thick earth shaking balls they have hehehe...but if you for some reason want to give the SD vintage tele stack (neck) a try i have one i'm about to put up for sale that your more than welcome to pop in and try out. as a bonus (in my eyes at least) it's hum canceling and still sounds like a tele should but with a bit more chunk to it which you may like. if you want to give it a test run in the tele let me know and i'll bring it by on Sat. If you like it i'll sell it to you cheap and if you don't then you can just take it out and give it back when your done trying it out.

-Mike

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

At the moment, I have two teles; a 50's style MIJ Fernandez with an ash body and a Fender 69 RI Thinline, also MIJ. In the Fernandez I have a SM-1 mini paired with a JD in the bridge and in the 69 I have a Hot Tele set with a tap on the bridge pickup. To be honest, I don't know which one I like better.

 

[Bludave]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

Hey buddy, I've been been waiting for an opportunity to repay you for that killer Muddy Waters poster. So contact me when you're ready for some pickups.

So you want more bass? Alnico 5 has more bass than alnico 2.

But that said, my faves are:

1. the Antquity I Tele sets which are alnico 2.
2. the a2 Jerry Donahue bridge and a a5 Fralin Blues Special Tele neck or an a5 Strat Surfer neck
3. the a2 Custom Shop Tapped Tele Hot and a5 Tele ala Strat neck pickup with a 5 way switch.
4. a5 Fralin Blues Specials with hybrid stagger

My Fender Nocaster Relic came with the Fender Nocaster pickups. Didn't love 'em...I changed them to a set of Duncan Antiquitys. Much better.

I was leaning hard towards the Antiquity. When I played the Relic Nocaster I thought the tone was real good. After your last statement I think I have my answer..... Thanks Lew I will contact you when I am ready!

 

[Bludave]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

well Dave you know i'm not the man to help you here since you've played my psycho tele's which rival Les Pauls with the amount of thick earth shaking balls they have hehehe...but if you for some reason want to give the SD vintage tele stack (neck) a try i have one i'm about to put up for sale that your more than welcome to pop in and try out. as a bonus (in my eyes at least) it's hum canceling and still sounds like a tele should but with a bit more chunk to it which you may like. if you want to give it a test run in the tele let me know and i'll bring it by on Sat. If you like it i'll sell it to you cheap and if you don't then you can just take it out and give it back when your done trying it out.

-Mike

Thanks Mike. I will give that some thought. As you know I am not a big fan of changing PUPS. But you were there and heard it too... I think I need to upgrade the PUPS in this guitar. The Twisted caster is just plain insane tone wise. I loved it

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

I was leaning hard towards the Antiquity. When I played the Relic Nocaster I thought the tone was real good. After your last statement I think I have my answer..... Thanks Lew I will contact you when I am ready!

Cool! I liked the Nocaster pickups in my Nocaster Relic...just didn't love them. I love the Antiquity I's. There's the diff.

The Nocaster pickups did not remind me of the pickups in my '51 Tele at all. The Nocasters sounded very good, especially the neck pickup, but they are alnico 3 pickups and have a bright slightly steely tone. It's a good tone, but not my favorite Tele tone.

The Antiquitys are bright enough but not steely. They have more mids and a tone that just feels more comfortable to me: richer, fuller and still plenty of twang. They remind me Roy Buchanan's tone when he was really sounding good.

 

[Bludave]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

Hey Lew, The JD Bridge combined with a Fralin Bluse Special. Can the Fralin be covered to give it the traditional look? IF I decided to go with a Duncan Neck with the JD Bridge which one?

 

[Uncle Unborn]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

Are there any Internet links where I can hear the Lindy Fralin pickups? I'm curious about the Fralin Blues Special Neck for Tele...

 

[Dave]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

Hey Lew, The JD Bridge combined with a Fralin Bluse Special.

That combo, thanks to Lew, has made me very happy with my tele-plenty of guts and sweetness too. The Blues special has sort of a woody, strat-like air about it. It's pretty strong and bright, a bit percussive, though not like an SSL-1. I wish, however it was a bit thicker, which has me also eyeing the Antiquity tele.

JD is phenomenal-you won't be disappointed. It does to teles what the JB does to everything else.

Dave

 

[Hellion]

Re: PUPS for a Tele

QP Tele for the bridge and a mini-humbucker for the neck.