Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

F

Farkus

New member
I'm nearing the assembly stage of my Telecaster project.

I have decided to go with a neck humbucker on this particular Tele. It will need to be covered to go cosmetically with this build. My question is, which neck humbucker should I go with? I am familiar with multiple Duncan humbuckers, but I'm looking for something that will match up to a classic tele bridge pickup (no humbucker in there, but may go with a Broadcaster bridge pup); I'll be using a vintage tele bridge with brass saddles. As for the tones I need...I play a lot of rock and roll so that's a factor, but I'm most worried about the output/tonal matching with the bridge pickup as I can EQ if I need to.

Any suggestions?
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

I would stay with something vintage voiced like the 59, or the A2Pro. I had a Jazz N in mine a while back, but had a lil59 in the bridge, not a true SC.
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

Invader neck, or 59N both are only 8K, and both would probley sound great in your guitar !
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

If you go with a broadcaster and a 59n, you will have to lower
The 59 down quite low, and raise the broadcaster up high, to even come close to matching outputs. At least this was the case with my (former) Ash body/maple neck tele.
Btw, the mid position with this combo is killer!
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

I tried lots of pickups in tele neck positions but never found the perfect humbucker to match a classic tele bridge pickup. The Jazz is the best I've had, regarding output balance - but the Jazz did not have enough sparkle for me in a tele neck position. The 59 can sound pretty amazing but the output is a lot more powerful than a tele bridge. That works for some people but I did not like that imbalance.

You can wire humbuckers in parallel for a brighter sound with a little less output. The character changes a bit though. You could also get a higher output humbucker and split it. I am not a big fan of splitting so I won't give advice on which bucker would sound 'better' split.
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

Stevo said:
I tried lots of pickups in tele neck positions but never found the perfect humbucker to match a classic tele bridge pickup.
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of. I have a Duncan Minihumbucker I might try...I'm not sure if it's the same model used in the '52 Hot Rod or not. Think that might balance better?
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

+1 for wiring the bucker in parallel if it's not sparkly/too much output
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

You think it will work output wise though? I have a PGn here, but it's uncovered.
Click to expand...
Yes, the PGn will balance much better then a 59 in a Tele. Try it! It's not hard to put a cover on either if you want it covered.
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

I should have noted the phat cat. It is a single coil pickup that is the size of a humbucker.

The phat cat is definitely sweet in a tele neck position. I don't recall trying to pair it with a single coil bridge though. I recon it'd be a better match than a lot of humbuckers.
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

Stevo said:
I should have noted the phat cat. It is a single coil pickup that is the size of a humbucker.

The phat cat is definitely sweet in a tele neck position. I don't recall trying to pair it with a single coil bridge though. I recon it'd be a better match than a lot of humbuckers.
Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly.
 
Re: Tele neck humbucker for rock-Which SD?

The ALL-MIGHTY A2P !!!!


_Keith-Richard-grande.jpg

An A2P in this will sound GODLY !



James
 
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