SM-1 Mini Humbucker [neck] + Little ’59 [bridge] in a USA Telecaster

P

PacificOceanBlue

New member
I am a big fan of Telecasters but I would like to try out some new sounds than the standard stock setup. I have a second Tele that can serve as a platform for this.
I love clean and overdriven guitar sounds, and I use distortion mostly for solos.
I am considering the SM-1 Mini Humbucker [neck] + Little ’59 [bridge] but I am a newbie in the pickups changing domain so I have a few questions please:

(I intend to ask a guitar specialist to do this installation but I need to know first what to ask from him)

- would this combination of pickups work well? Would you have any other suggestions?
- do I need to change the pots or do any further change to the electronics?
- will the mini humbucker require wood carving for the neck position?
- will a 5-position super switch impact the sound quality of the guitar?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated!
 
- Output wise it should be a good combo. Whether you like the tones is of course up for you. I’ve never used the little 59. But I have the SM-1 in the neck of an offset Tele and it sounds pretty good. It’s thick like a HB but it has some single coil qualities too.

- With that combo I would use 500K pots. You can always turn down the tone pot if it gets too bright. But I don’t think it will. I use 500Ks with a SM-1 neck and an SH-1 59 bridge and it sounds great.

- Depends. You would have to lift up the pickguard to see. But I believe most new Squiers and Fenders come with enlarged neck routes so you should be ok. You are going to want a new pickguard cut for the SM-1 though. If someone is else is doing this installation, I would download the dimensions spec sheet from the SD site and give it to them.

- Never used a super switch, sorry!
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the forum!

Having a Superswitch won't do anything to the sound quality. The pickups would sound the same with a 3 way switch. What do you want the other positions to do? As far as the pots go, the Little 59 is designed to drop right in a stock Tele. I'd try with the stock pots and if you need to add brightness, you can increase their value.
 
Great combination! Sm1 is a superb tele neck from clean to crunch. Little 59 takes u a long way from a tele bridge....great crunch combo!

Agreed that I would keep original pots to start and probably start with a three-way until you know if you want other combos.
 
i think thats a fine combo as long as the neck pup fits. i use a firebird pup in the neck of my black tele and it just fit without having to rout anything, but its an old 80s mia tele. id try the stock pots as others have mentioned. if it was me, id wire a normal three way switch and a p/p tone pot to put the bridge pup in parallel to get a brighter cleaner bridge tone when i wanted it
 
Thank you all for the reassuring responses!

Regarding the 5-way switch - I am interested in the 3 standard positions plus in series out of phase and in series.
Having 5 positions on my switch might be a bit tricky to use when playing live so I am also considering delegating one position to a push/pull.
Considering the above what were the configurations that worked best for you in practice?

Is it worth going for the in series​ with the 2 pickups I intend to install?
 
i wouldnt want those two pups in series, very thick and dark sounding. i like two vintage single coils in series sometimes though. in series, out of phase might be cool with those two? in series, in phase i wouldnt think would be very usable but ymmv
 
Thank you for the notes regarding the unusable sound of these pickups in series!

Of course this lead me to research things further and agonize about my decisions.

Two other recommendations for bridge pickups are SD Jerry Donahue and SD Hot Stack.
These would be closer to the Tele sound but give a more 'stern' sound.

How would these pickups combine with the SM-1 Mini Humbucker?
Can they work in series and out of phase?

​
 
I did a Jerry Donahue and SM-1 for a customer. I already loved, (and had), the JD. Bought the SM-1. It's a perfect Tele combo, as long as you get the mini-hum pickguard.
 
PacificOceanBlue said:
Thank you for the notes regarding the unusable sound of these pickups in series!

Of course this lead me to research things further and agonize about my decisions.

Two other recommendations for bridge pickups are SD Jerry Donahue and SD Hot Stack.
These would be closer to the Tele sound but give a more 'stern' sound.

How would these pickups combine with the SM-1 Mini Humbucker?
Can they work in series and out of phase?

​
Click to expand...

I think either of them would blend well with the mini hum. And any combination would sound pretty cool out of phase. As far as series goes, I think I would only consider it on traditional Tele pickups- lower, vintage output types. Series gets way too muddy and thick (not in a good way) with anything hotter.
 
PacificOceanBlue said:
Thank you for the notes regarding the unusable sound of these pickups in series!

Of course this lead me to research things further and agonize about my decisions.

Two other recommendations for bridge pickups are SD Jerry Donahue and SD Hot Stack.
These would be closer to the Tele sound but give a more 'stern' sound.

How would these pickups combine with the SM-1 Mini Humbucker?
Can they work in series and out of phase?

​
Click to expand...

Another vote for the Jerry Donahue. I almost mentioned it in my first response, but I didn't know if you were set on getting a humbucker or not.

But the JD is great. It's THE Tele sound, but a little beefier than vintage. It can easily keep with a humbucker in the neck. And it's a popular choice to combo with the SM-1.
 
Thank you for keeping up with my decisional process.

So I will go for SM-1 Mini Humbucker [neck] + Jerry Donahue ​[bridge] + S1 Switch (in the Volume control) to set the middle position out of phase OR use a 4-way switch for this

I understand I will not need to change any of the pots.

My intention with this upgrade is to be a bit experimental and try some new things.

Do you have any other observations/suggestions before I proceed with the order of the pickups and switch?
 
You will have some difficulty to switch the polarity of the neck pickup as the SM-1 has something called “single conductor” cable. It means a single core wire with a ground shield, so it is not possible to swap polarity / phase. The JD has the black wire connected to the bridge ground via the back plate. To add a phase switch you would either need to make some modification or ideally order a custom SM-1 pickup with “4-conductor” cabling.
 
sm1 + jd would be better in series than with the lil59. i dont usually like phase unless i have independent volumes
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Artie
Vintage SM-1n vs Seymourized SM-3n?
Replies
6
Views
150
jeremy
jeremy
D
Installing Little 59 in Tele bridge
Replies
3
Views
45
Artie
Artie
S
Neck Pickup for 59/Custom Hybrid
Replies
12
Views
115
orpheo
O
O
APH-1 neck vs bridge and SH-11 questions.
Replies
15
Views
231
jeremy
jeremy
Jermo3178
Squier 40th Anniversary Tele upgrade idea, with questions and opinions..
2
Replies
30
Views
244
jeremy
jeremy
Back
Top