Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

T

Thurisarz

New member
I have a tele at home but i feel a need for a humbucker in the bridge position. Can i just route for a humbucker or does it need to be routed for a humbucker in the beginning for the body to resonate good with the humbucker? Will the extra space from the old pickup routing be a problem?

New bridge and pickup - no problemo! but i worry about the routing :( Single-coil humbuckers are out of the question - i want the real deal!
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

you can mod your tele.... i've done it... if it was me i'd buy a modern Gotoh Humbucker tele bridge and a full sized humbucker... rout out the body and wire it up... i have a tele mutt axe that has 2 Duncan 59's in it and i routed it out using the Stewmac templates and router bits for my router...

I've heard a few people say once you rout for a humbucker if you go back to a Vintage style tele bridge you can see the Wings of the PU routs on either side of the vintage bridge... i'm sure a modern Gotoh Tele style bridge would cover the holes better... but many tele fans love that vintage bridge
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Thanks WhoFan for the info! I may go ahead and route that baby! :) Now to the big question....what SD to put in there.....;)
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Once you route a Tele for a bridge humbucker you can't go back without having visible holes & other nonsense. Also if you're going from a 3-saddle bridge to a 6 there's going to be a significant change in the tone of the guitar...
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

wrong wrong double wrong !!

don't defile your tele - get a tele-sized humbucker if you must...
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Who cares if it sounds EXACTLY like a full-sized 59?

Is the 59 the only bridge pickup in the whoooooole world that you like? ;)
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

I loved Townshend's 1979-88 era Shecter teles he used a lot... those custom tele's, some rear routed, all with twin humbuckers and nice body binding were amazing.... as a teen i wanted a fleet of bound teles with dual humbuckers...

double humbuckers in a tele in my mind is a great hard rock axe.. many true tele lovers have a hard time excepting a modded tele as a tele... yet you don't hear the same responce from strat fans when someone sticks a humbucker in a strat... it's all just weird...

i like most teles i see.... only tele's i would not don't play or own myself are the ones with the vintage bridge with straight 3 barrel saddles.... my MIM tele had that bridge on it when i bought and i replaced it with a Gotoh modern 6 saddle... besides that mod that tele is stock electronics... i've thought about modding it with humbuckers but so far have not as it is great as is.. besides my other tele is mutt!!! an old Tele-like shaped Peavey body, a Fender neck with a strat headstock, 2 59's, and lots of great tone...

I like the compensated saddles on a vintage bridge somewhat but i find it hard to get used to the cup shaped vintage tele style bridge.... but still i plan on a tele build out of Warmoth parts with a vintage bridge... with a bound tele body, an all maple neck, a quality vintage bridge with 3 compensated brass saddles, and some nice tele PU's....
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Now it became hard :cry: Should i get a full humbucker with new bridge or keep the bridge and get a single-coil humbucker which is kinda like the real humbucker :(
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Thurisarz said:
Ok if you give me your word that the tele Lil'59 sounds Exactly like it's bigger brother?
Click to expand...

It won't because the Tele bridge is an intrinsic part of the tone of a Telecaster. The pickup, bridge & strings all work as a system... It'll be as close as you can get but it won't be exactly the same as dropping a humbucker into a Strat... it can't be.

Physics is a muther...
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Since the neck position is already routed for a humbucker i'm getting a hummer there first so i can think more about if i should operate or not on the bridge position! A2 or '59 hmmm what to choose.....
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

the next tele i get(or have made) will retain stock brige/p/u config
i really killed my squier by putting a bridge hb in it. oh well its a squier
my mahog deluxe will be 2 hb and my std squier has 2 p90s
so next one will be all tele (ok, maybe a nashville set up) but no hb
and it must be ash!!
 
Re: Tele Humbucker mod - good/bad?

Hmmm.. I'd say try some of the single coil sized humbuckers first. Routing your guitar is a permanent thing, and you may not like it. I've always bought instruments knowing pretty much exactly my limits, and if I get into the thinking of modifying something with new pickup routes and such, I start looking at other instruments that already have the specific body pickup route(s) that I want. To me, this is really a fantastic excuse to pickup another tele with a dual humbucker setup on it!!

-Peter
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top