Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

1. For a traditional Tele: Antiquity I (flatpoles for modern radius, 1955 otherwise), followed by Fender Nocaster set.

2. For a hotter Tele: (a) Fender Atomic II HB neck (or SD alnico 2 PAF model) with Duncan STL-2 Hot Tele lead, or (b) SD Phat Cat neck with Jerry Donahue Tele lead, or (c) Duncan SM-3 or SM-1 neck mini-HB with Antiquity I, JD, 5/2 Nashville, or Fender Nocaster Tele lead.

3. For a hotter Tele with traditional look: SD Hot Tele set.

OK, if I only had one Tele (but had other guitars), I'd go with #1 above. If it was my only guitar, however, then it would be something from #2.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

For me it's a three way tie between:

Duncan Antiquity I set...Duncan Custom Shop Tele Hot Tapped bridge & Tele ala Strat neck...Lindy Fralin Blues Special set. I have never heard any pickups new or old sound better than those three sets.

In a naturally bright Tele (most Teles!) I also love the Jerry Donahue bridge pickup. It can sound a little lacking in sparkle in a Tele with an exceptionally warm resonance though.

I like my Tele bridge pickup to have flat or almost flat polepieces...sounds fatter and snarlier to me.

Lew
 
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Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

I'd keep my JD bridge and I'm still undecided on the neck...I'm interested in the Antiquity.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

HB in the neck; strat pickup in the middle; fat, hot Tele pup in the bridge (something that leans toward P90dom). 5-way switch that splits the HB in positions 2 and 4, plus a seperate on-off toggle for the strat pup.

Bingo: good to go.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

I'd probably go for APS II set. I really like their sparkle, and output isn't so much a problem for me. I'd probably run it through a Pickup Booster to compensate.

Either that or the configuration I have now, which are G&L MFD (high output ceramic) pickups. Loud, bright, and bassy, and really articulate. I'd probably spring for the RioGrande replacement versions, since I already know what the G&L stock sound like.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

I'm gonna cheat a bit

nashville tele

rout out the neck for a texas strat pup

put a mini '59 in the middle

that'd pretty much cover...everything!
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

that's easy...although odd for most...it would be my new tele that became my new main guitar...it has a hotrails in the bridge and an SM-1 vintage mini humbucker in the neck (500K vol. and 250K tone). i love this guitar!!

-Mike
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

I am not a tele guy but I did have tried the 54' model and they are great for a classic good old tele tone.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

Well, I have two favorites fro the bridge position. I love my Vintage Stack and I also love the JD model. To my ears, they don't sound all that different; except that the Vintage Stack doesn't hum. :smoker:

The Vintage Stack stays in the bridge. However, I have four pickguards that have pickups mounted to them and I'll change them out as my mood hits; as it has a lot recently...

The pickguards are configured like this -

1. Black with Classic Strat Stack in the neck.
2. Black with minihumbucker in the neck and Strat in the middle.
3. White with Vintage Stack Tele neck pickup in the neck.
4. Black with minihumbucker in the neck.

I have a Tortoise shell (Nashville style) sitting on the counter.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

Antiquity for the neck, QP Tele for the bridge. Easy.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

Fralin high output tele bridge (gorgeous!) and Harmonic Design Mini Strat neck pickup (made esp. for teles). I've never been a big fan of the neck pickup in a tele.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

drew_half_empty said:
I'm gonna cheat a bit

nashville tele

rout out the neck for a texas strat pup

put a mini '59 in the middle

that'd pretty much cover...everything!


Drew-

If you like the strat neck sound, but want it in a tele, you might want to check out the Fralin Blues Special, which is an uncovered tele-sized neck pup which has a bit of a strat flair. Also the Duncan Custom shop has a tele neck a-la strat. I've used the Blues Special for about a year now and love it. Lew has or has had both of these pickups.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

I've only tried two sets of pickups for a Tele. The Quarter Pounders that came with the guitar and the Lindy Fralin Blues Specials that I installed. Of the two I prefer the Fralins, hands down.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

STL-2t Hot tapped for Tele in the bridge.

SSL-2 Vintage Flat for Strat in the neck.
 
Re: Tele Guys: If you only had one Tele...what pups?

BG-1400 bridge
Strat hot stack neck

dat's dakine setup for me
 
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