I recently purchased and installed an SD STR-1 tele Neck pickup and installed it in a homebrew Tele I built. The classic telecaster curse became a reality for me; the neck pickup is just so dull, dark and low in output in comparison to the bridge pickup. I could tell I was going to like the pickup if it were just brighter, the output difference I could live with. I have never really owned a Tele with vintage pickups, so the reality of the difference in the positions was new to me. I had known that removing the covers could help gain some output and brighten up the pickups, but left your coils exposed. I do a fair amount of bending and have stuck strings on pickups before, so I wasn't looking to have that happen to me anymore. I had also known that nickel silver covers reduced the highs less than brass and was another option. I really didn't want to take a chance on replacing the brass covers on the pickups with a nickel silver cover to have it not be bright enough still, so I opted for nickel silver covers that have the center removed to allow the pole pieces to protrude. This was a wise choice I feel! The pickups went from dull, dark and quiet to being a perfect match to my bridge pickup! The neck was now bright and lively and its output was now comparable to the bridge.
If you want to get a more balanced and clearer sounding Tele neck pickup sound, I highly suggest nickel-silver covers with the open center. They are very cheap and does the trick. If you are worried about removing the original pickup cover, I say you really shouldn't be. Simply remove the ground wire from the cover and wick up as much of the leftover solder you can. Bend the tabs out carefully and heat the cover up a little by letting the soldering iron set on one of the tabs for a moment melting the wax. Then carefully pry, push and pull the old cover off. Once removed, collect any wax that is left over you want to recycle. Replace the new cover over the pickups and bend the tabs. Attach the ground wire to the cover and re-install the pickup. Viola, you have a brighter and hotter output Tele neck pickup. Be mindful when removing the covers of the bobbins and the pickup coil leads. Don't pry too hard and don't use implements that could cut or damage the coil wires and bobbins. A little heat will help soften the wax which should ease in the removal of the cover. To melt the old wax back into the pickup simply heat the cover and flow any old wax you want to recycle into the coil. Much easier than I thought it would be to do.
If you want to get a more balanced and clearer sounding Tele neck pickup sound, I highly suggest nickel-silver covers with the open center. They are very cheap and does the trick. If you are worried about removing the original pickup cover, I say you really shouldn't be. Simply remove the ground wire from the cover and wick up as much of the leftover solder you can. Bend the tabs out carefully and heat the cover up a little by letting the soldering iron set on one of the tabs for a moment melting the wax. Then carefully pry, push and pull the old cover off. Once removed, collect any wax that is left over you want to recycle. Replace the new cover over the pickups and bend the tabs. Attach the ground wire to the cover and re-install the pickup. Viola, you have a brighter and hotter output Tele neck pickup. Be mindful when removing the covers of the bobbins and the pickup coil leads. Don't pry too hard and don't use implements that could cut or damage the coil wires and bobbins. A little heat will help soften the wax which should ease in the removal of the cover. To melt the old wax back into the pickup simply heat the cover and flow any old wax you want to recycle into the coil. Much easier than I thought it would be to do.
