Anything you get will be a compromise on one sound or the other. The problem is that any little humbucker either split or in parallel doesn't quite sound like a Tele pickup.
Tele + Hot Rails? Lil 59? Red Devil?
- Thread starter Aceman
- Start date
Anything you get will be a compromise on one sound or the other. The problem is that any little humbucker either split or in parallel doesn't quite sound like a Tele pickup.
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
I would recommend the lil 59 set. It is hot PAFy but still retains rootsy tone to it so it would go well in a tele. There's no tele neck so you'd have to get the strat lil 59 neck and a strat tele pickguard. I would also recommend putting them in parallel rather than split. I forgot if you were considering full size hums or not, but the JB has really good faked tele tone. You probably have several JBs already but imo it's the most tele sounding full size humbucker.
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
I am not a Tele guy. I do not ever wake up and say "Perhaps some Chickin Pickin today." I am not an aficionado of the twang, the stang, or any other Tele associated "ang" that Tele dudes might be about.
This would literally be just for the sake of having a Tele, and to make a Tele sound should I ever want to. That said, I'd be hitting the 59 in the bridge all day, all night, all week, always. Maybe some Tele neck explorations. Who knows?
I get that Tele pickups are different. But when I had a Tele, I found I mostly played the middle Hot Rail or neck PAF. Rarely just the bridge. Perhaps I just let this Tele Bridge thing go and call split good enough....
This would literally be just for the sake of having a Tele, and to make a Tele sound should I ever want to. That said, I'd be hitting the 59 in the bridge all day, all night, all week, always. Maybe some Tele neck explorations. Who knows?
I get that Tele pickups are different. But when I had a Tele, I found I mostly played the middle Hot Rail or neck PAF. Rarely just the bridge. Perhaps I just let this Tele Bridge thing go and call split good enough....
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
JB and WLH will sound PAF rawk and rootsy without going full blown fuzz like the hot rails. Any of the single size hbs with screws will give you that sound too. You could go for a chimey sound in the neck like a regular tele or mini to go with the PAF rawk bridge. Or put PAF rawk pickups in neck and bridge.
In that case, do a Hot Rail in the bridge and either a push/pull or S1 switch to make it parallel, and be done with it.
dystrust
Well-known member
If you're looking for Tele-ish tone and PAF-ish output, I'll recommend the Hot Stack again. It isn't as twang-y as the Vintage Stack or a STL-1, but it doesn't sound like a full humbucker either. If you're looking for rawk tones from a Tele without going full humbucker in the bridge, I haven't found anything better.
If you're looking for a second pickup, I really like the SM-1 in the neck. With the tone full up it almost sounds stratty, while it gets more PAF-like when rolled off a bit. I'm using 500K volume & tone, so they'd both be a bit more mellow with 250K.
ToneFiddler
New member
QP is pretty hot and beafy, can easily compete with a vintage output bucker, i’d say.
for me it was too hot and went to something more open.
but in general i liked it. just a bit too over the top.
also let the lil 59 go.
too hot, compressed, round and middy for my taste.
i can see you having no problem with all that, though
qp with a tap should be great!
never tried the lil59 split/parallel.
i actually doubt you like a classic tele bridge like a stl-1. so i wouldn’t focus too much on the authentic split/parallel tones
for me it was too hot and went to something more open.
but in general i liked it. just a bit too over the top.
also let the lil 59 go.
too hot, compressed, round and middy for my taste.
i can see you having no problem with all that, though
qp with a tap should be great!
never tried the lil59 split/parallel.
i actually doubt you like a classic tele bridge like a stl-1. so i wouldn’t focus too much on the authentic split/parallel tones
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Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
An intriguing thought.
Is a Tele neck not a thing? I can believe that...junky little silver single pickup that it is. I see a LOT of PAF necks in Tele's. Did it myself....
Well the Tele neck pickup isn't quite the best sound you can get out of a Tele. If you are going to make a more useful, versatile guitar, I'd put a PAF-type pickup in the neck to start.
CaptainWhizz
New member
Custom Shop Pearly Gates for Tele? Maybe with A5 for more bite?
freefrog
Well-known member
+1.
One of my main stage guitars is a "Tele specs" solid body with a Hot Rails bridge and a Cool Rails (bridge) in neck position + one volume, one tone and two series/parallel switches.
it goes from strong enough HB sounds to (noiseless) Fender alike clean tones in parallel. It's logical since the inductance in parallel mode drops precisely to Tele SC values: 3H for the bridge PU, 1.8H for the neck one (and around 12H / 6H in series). That's actually the reason why I've mounted these PU's in this guitar.
It would NOT work in split mode, where the inductance would just be halved while the humbucking capability would be disabled - and the narrow magnetic windows of a single blade would just shape the sound in an unpleasing way.
Obviously, parallel mode doesn't sound exactly like the SC's in my real American Tele. But it's really "close enough" and nobody has never complained about my tone as being bad or fake among my bandmates or the (often crowded) audience. It's quite the contrary in fact: a pro guitarist among my friends periodically asks me if I would mount the same Pu's in his American Tele Elite.
Don't know what Aceman will chose : it's his own quest with his own criteria and I wish him a good luck in it. But generally speaking, I just wanted to testify that parallel mode is interesting with properly selected rails pickups while the split mode is not IME.
YMMV.
alex1fly
Well-known member
Thanks for the write-up. It's always nice to hear suggestions that have been tested with audiences and other musicians. Do both pickups cop a believeable Fender-ey tone in parallel, or mostly just the bridge?
freefrog
Well-known member
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