So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

B

bard2dbone

New member
Hi everyone.

I'm picking up a new Tele Monday and I'm pretty excited about it.


I've been planning a mod project for a while and I'm getting started in less than a week! Yay!

Except for two things I'm ready to go. The controls are still a little vague, but I'm working on that.

The other part is what I'm leaving for you guys to suggest: the last pickup.

I'm putting an SD mini humbucker in the neck, like on the 52 Hot Rod Tele. And I'm putting a Hot Rails Tele neck in the middle.

But I can't decide which Tele bridge is a good match for those two. Since both are humbuckers, it's reasonable to make the bridge p'up a humbucker as well. But I want something physically like a traditional Tele bridge p'up. And I'd want to keep the basic twang of a traditional Tele bridge p'up. In fact I'd like to keep everything of one except the hum.

So what's a good hum-cancelling Tele bridge p'up with enough output to keep up with a Hot Rails and a mini humbucker?
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

The mini bucker actually matches up well with a vintage-style bridge pickup. I have used the SM-1 with both an STL-1 (single coil) and the STK-T3b Vintage Stack. The vintage stack is a great pickup; it does classic twang really well for a humbucking pickup. I found it to be a little bit less bright than a STL-1, but I installed a no-load tone pot to regain the high end. So, I highly recommmend the STK-T3b and SM-1 combination.

The Hot Rails concerns me - I think it going to overpower the vintage bridge pickup. You could go hotter on the bridge, but you'd start to lose the Tele twang.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I'm wondering if I set the Hot Rail low in the pickguard will it not be as loud? Could I even things out that way or would it just degrade the signal on the Hot Rail so that I get an ugly but still overpowering middle p'up?

Basically I heard a Hot Rail neck and thought it sound exactly like what I wanted for a neck p'up. But I heard it without having it in a guitar where I could switch between p'ups and check levels. Hearing it by itself may have thrown me off.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I cannot think of any reason why anyone would want a hotrails in the middle of any guitar ever....EVER

If you want a HR put it in the bridge, cause' it will sound disgusting in the middle
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I've heard a high output pickup used in the middle on a tele before, and it worked better than I expected. I don't think it's anywhere near optimal positioning for a hot pickup, certainly wont get strat-style notch positions out of it.

But if your target is a tele with standard tele tones plus something extra, it can be useful. I'd follow Rich_S's advice on the bridge.

The neck and middle really don't sound the same. I haven't heard many proponents of the Hot Rails in the middle position, but then strat users tend to go for the middle being more vintage output in order to get stratty notch (2+4) tones.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I agree with Rich. You could use a Vintage Stack Tele bridge pickup and be fine. I have used them before and they are among my favorite pickups. In fact, anything you hear Brent Mason playing his Tele on, past 1997, is a Vintage Stack.

I also have to ask the question about your choice of middle pickup. Why a Hot Rails and why the Tele neck version? Telecaster neck pickups don't quite stretch across the full width of the strings, in that position. A Hot Rails for Strat would be a better choice for that. Also, why a Hot Rails? They are very think and middy. Unless you're going for a really thick #3 tone from a 5-way switch, your #2,4 positions may not be quite what you want. But, from that perspective, you haven't really said what you're after.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

Basically, I heard one someone else had there and liked it. But the more I think about it, the more I worry that it would stick out too much sonically.

His sounded great, but he was playing one pickup by itself into who-knows-what rig. And I would like the option of Strat 2&4 sounds. Which might not be possible if it's too aggressive soulnding.

I don't like a lot of Tele neck p'ups. I prefer something a little meatier but not buzz-saw aggressive. The humbucker-in-a-single coil slot is a winner,too. But I don't want a Screamin' Demon type thing, just a bit more serious version of the original.

So maybe a vintage rails Strat p'up in stead. Or go full on Brent Mason and get the Hot Stack?
 
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Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

You could also try wiring the Hotrails in parallel rather than series. That would mellow it out a bit. I've "discovered" several "new" sounds by that simple trick. A Duncan Invader is whole 'nother pup when wired parallel. Very smooth and chimey. Might work for the HR also.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

bard2dbone said:
Basically, I heard one someone else had there and liked it. But the more I think about it, the more I worry that it would stick out too much sonically.

His sounded great, but he was playing one pickup by itself into who-knows-what rig. And I would like the option of Strat 2&4 sounds. Which might not be possible if it's too aggressive soulnding.

I don't like a lot of Tele neck p'ups. I prefer something a little meatier but not buzz-saw aggressive. The humbucker-in-a-single coil slot is a winner,too. But I don't want a Screamin' Demon type thing, just a bit more serious version of the original.

So maybe a vintage rails Strat p'up in stead. Or go full on Brent Mason and get the Hot Stack?
Click to expand...

You could do the Hot Stack; but IMHO, it doesn't have as nice of quack tone as a true single coil or vintage-voiced single coil-sized humbucker in the middle position.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

So if we stick ith the vintage stack and the mini-humbucker, what is a better choice for the middle p'up?
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

ssl2 would be my choice for the middle with the mini in the neck and the stack in the bridge. or maybe even better yet get the classic stack + for humcancelling in all positions.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I definitely want hum cancelling in all positions.

At the moment my new favorite for the middle is a Cool Rails for Strat. I heard one and liked it. And this time I got a look at what he was playing through so that I know it's JUST the pickup and not processing.

So currently the plan is Vintage Stack bridge, Cool Rails middle, and Mini Humbucker neck. NOW what do y'all think?
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

Cool Rails is an interesting sound, and it is more popular in the middle than the Hot Rails.

But again, it wont be as stratty for the 2+4 positions. Classic Stack+ is your best bet for hum-cancelling but stratty 2, 3 & 4 positions.

But if you want the Cool Rails, and are comfortable with not chasing strat tones, go for it!
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

+1 for the Cool Rails. The "cool" thang about the CR is that it isn't a single. It isn't a humbucker. It isn't a P-90. It's a whole unique sound. I'm surprised SD doesn't play it up bigger than they do.

I'll always have at least one.
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

Broadcaster. If I didn't like the combination of the neck and bridge on my Nocaster set so much I'd get another one of the Broadcasters. That is one fun pickup.

I used to have a Hot Rails in the bridge position set up to go series/parallel and a '59 in the neck. That was actually a really good, versatile setup. But in the middle? Sounds like Pete T's old Les Pauls with hot pups in the middle. He did it for certain effects, feedback and such.

Isn't a Hot Rails wired parallel like a Cool Rails?

I don't think anyone has ever made a single coil size humbucker, including stacked ones, that sounds like a real single coil pup.
 
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Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

Hagbard Celine said:
Isn't a Hot Rails wired parallel like a Cool Rails?
Click to expand...

Hot Rails and Cool Rails are both 4-conductor. You can wire them any way you want. Vintage Rails, on the other hand, are factory wired parallel.


(I still believe that a Hot Rails neck and Cool Rails bridge are the same pup.) :naughty:



(I probably shouldn't post when I've been into momma's eggnog.)
 
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Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

I disagree on the stacks not sounding like single coils. The latest generation of them is indistinguishably close (aside from the lack of interference) for many uses.

Some people just aren't happy unless it's identical down to humming and picking up stray radio stations. Much like the record afficionados who insist the crackle and pop and skipping on a beat up record is just part of the charm. To those not infected with that particular nostalgia, different solutions sometimes work better.

I'm not saying you can't tell the difference between a particular stack and a particular single coil in a situation with no hum, at high volume playing solo. It can often be done with two of the same pickup, so why wouldn't you be able to tell apart two pickups from different lines?

But in a guitar that is mixing humbuckers and single coils, I think stacks make a lot of sense. A lot of people find the varying hum levels much harder to deal with than a fairly constant hum... I know I never use the middle single by itself on my HSH guitar.

I do agree that side by side humbuckers don't really sound like a standard single coil (also, they don't really sound like a full size humbucker, either). The rail ones are often a bit like a firebird minihumbucker, but not exactly that either. It's good to have choices, however paralyzing it can be when trying to make up your mind. ;)
 
Re: So which Tele bridge p'up to use?

ArtieToo said:
Hot Rails and Cool Rails are both 4-conductor. You can wire them any way you want. Vintage Rails, on the other hand, are factory wired parallel.
Click to expand...


What I meant was if you wire a Hot Rails in parallel don't you get what is essentially a Cool Rails?
 
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