Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

[Butch Snyder]

Hey guys,

I just picked up a 1994 Tele Special. Been looking for one for years. Humbucker in the neck position and Tex Mex in the bridge position. Tone control is a Fender TBX. Remember those?

I have a Duncan Little 59 that I'm thinking of installing in the bridge position. The 5-way switch is a single-wafer superswitch. Currently, the switch is as follows:

Pos. 1 - Bridge pickup
Pos. 2 - Bridge/neck pickups w/neck pickup split
Pos. 3 - Bridge/neck pickups w/neck pickup full
Pos. 4 - Neck pickup split
Pos. 5 - Neck pickup full

If I install the Little 59, I'd like to take advantage of either splitting it or series/parallel. Never split one before. Anyone split a Little 59 or used its series/parallel wiring? What are your thoughts?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

The parallel is more useful than the split option. Most of the mini's don't sound very good split because they are just bright, weak, and noisy. Parallel sounds good especially when clean.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

The parallel is more useful than the split option. Most of the mini's don't sound very good split because they are just bright, weak, and noisy. Parallel sounds good especially when clean.

I have done the Hot Rails Tele bridge pickup in parallel. It did sound good. I wonder what the Little 59 would sound like in parallel. I'll search youtube and see what I can find.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

Another vote for parallel. A split single-sized humbucker doesn't sound as good to me as a full sized split.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

I have done the Hot Rails Tele bridge pickup in parallel. It did sound good. I wonder what the Little 59 would sound like in parallel. I'll search youtube and see what I can find.

I have tried it with both the neck 59 and bridge 59. The treble is jangly, the midrange is dipped and the bass is percussive. It sounds really good in the neck position while fingerpicking clean.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

The parallel is more useful than the split option. Most of the mini's don't sound very good split because they are just bright, weak, and noisy. Parallel sounds good especially when clean.

I agree. Don't split it. Put the coils in parallel instead. I've always done this with a mini switch though. Don't know how to do it with a 5 position switch.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Splitting a Duncan Little 59 for Tele

I decided not to go with the Little 59. Even in parallel, it's tone is kind of flat and sterile; not really much personality. I have a bunch of Tele pickups lying around. I have a set Fender Vintage Noiseless for Telecaster. I went ahead and removed the Tex Mex bridge pickup and replaced it with a Vintage Noiseless Tele bridge pickup. I like the results. With respect to output, the bridge/neck pickups match fine. The Vintage Noiseless pickups are a little louder and fuller-sounding.