Strat neck pup for my Tele?

[Supernautilus]

Hey all. I've decided I'd like to try a Strat pickup in the neck of my Telecaster and I could use some help choosing one. I currently have a Broadcaster STL-1B in the bridge, so I'd like to find a good match with that.

The Vintage Flat seems like an obvious choice. Looking at the EQ curve though, it seems very scooped and bright. The Alnico II Pro seems to have more mids which might match the Broadcaster better, but I can see it being too dark. I also read that the Five-Two is a popular option for Telecaster neck position as it’s a good compromise.

But I’ve never tried any of those before and I could use some advice. Any suggestions for my situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.

 

[Mincer]

The Five Two is the perfect balance between the Vintage Flat and Alnico II. Another great option is the Antiquity Surfer.

 

[Supernautilus]

The Five Two is the perfect balance between the Vintage Flat and Alnico II. Another great option is the Antiquity Surfer.

Hey thanks for the response! May I ask you which of those options you would personally go with if you were trying to match it with a Broadcaster bridge pickup?

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Do you have a cutout that'll fit an actual Strat pickup?
Or do you need something that's the size of a Tele neck?

 

[Supernautilus]

Do you have a cutout that'll fit an actual Strat pickup?
Or do you need something that's the size of a Tele neck?

I've already contacted a seller on ebay that makes custom pickguards for my guitar and he said he can do a Strat cut out for the neck. Now I just need to figure out the right pickup.

 

[playas]

What about the routing of the guitar itself?
Normally a tele pickup neck route would be smaller than a strat neck.

 

[jeremy]

if it was me, id go for a ssl2 vintage flat. it should match the broadcaster just fine. i like the aps2 and ssl52 but i really like an a5 strat neck pup tone you get from something like the ssl2

 

[Supernautilus]

What about the routing of the guitar itself?
Normally a tele pickup neck route would be smaller than a strat neck.

I checked the routing. The neck position is already cut for a humbucker so there should be plenty of room. If not I can break out the old Dremel and shave some wood off if I have to.

 

[playas]

Cool. I´d be tempted with a P90 in that case, but I know that´s not what you asked for.

I bought an uncovered bare knuckle blackguard 'flat 52 for just this purpose, but I didn´t want to route, otherwise I probably would have put in a P90.

I also really like barenuckle apaches, but haven´t experience with many SD neck singles, but it seems like maybe the five-two might be a decent compromise.

Good luck either way.

 

[Supernautilus]

if it was me, id go for a ssl2 vintage flat. it should match the broadcaster just fine. i like the aps2 and ssl52 but i really like an a5 strat neck pup tone you get from something like the ssl2

Yeah I was thinking A5 would be better too. I think I’ll probably try the SSL-2 first. As I said in my first post, it seems like an obvious first choice.

 

[Supernautilus]

Cool. I´d be tempted with a P90 in that case, but I know that´s not what you asked for.

I bought an uncovered bare knuckle blackguard 'flat 52 for just this purpose, but I didn´t want to route, otherwise I probably would have put in a P90.

I also really like barenuckle apaches, but haven´t experience with many SD neck singles, but it seems like maybe the five-two might be a decent compromise.

Good luck either way.

A P90 would cool. But I already have a guitar with P90s and I don’t own a Strat. That’s kinda why I wanted to try this. Who knows though, maybe I’ll try a P90 next if this doesn’t work out.

 

[Clint 55]

2nd the vintage flat strat. Can't go wrong, nice and bitey but won't be overly bright in the neck with 250k pots. Although the surfer is pretty delux and a great pickup. I haven't tried the alnico 2 or the 5-2 but I'm sure they're nice also if you specifically want A2.

 

[Supernautilus]

2nd the vintage flat strat. Can't go wrong, nice and bitey but won't be overly bright in the neck with 250k pots. Although the surfer is pretty delux and a great pickup. I haven't tried the alnico 2 or the 5-2 but I'm sure they're nice also if you specifically want A2.

The Surfer seems nice but besides the higher price I’m not sure what the difference is compared to the Vintage Flat. The EQ curve seems about the same. What’s the difference?

 

[Clint 55]

More juicy and vintage.

 

[GuitarStv]

The SSL-2 isn't very scooped in the neck. It's a tad on the higher wind side for a vintage single. I think it would match well with the tele bridge and give you a decent strat neck tone.

 

[Mincer]

The Surfer seems nice but besides the higher price I’m not sure what the difference is compared to the Vintage Flat. The EQ curve seems about the same. What’s the difference?

The Surfer has slightly more mids and less highs (to my ears), which makes me like it better than the Vintage Flat.

 

[GuitarStv]

The Surfer has slightly more mids and less highs (to my ears), which makes me like it better than the Vintage Flat.

It has a vintage stagger too, right? I don't like the G string screaming out twice as loud as the high E and B strings.

 

[Mincer]

It has a vintage stagger too, right? I don't like the G string screaming out twice as loud as the high E and B strings.

You can see the stagger here.

 

[jeremy]

i have black covers for my duncan pups, not sure if they are fender, but im pretty sure they are

 

[Supernautilus]

i have black covers for my duncan pups, not sure if they are fender, but im pretty sure they are

Yeah I really wish the Vintage pups came with a choice of black or white. I need black to match my Tele bridge pup. So I’ll have to buy extra covers if I want black.