The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

[Artie]

I just did a Tele conversion for a customer, with the Sigler Music Brent Mason conversion kit. Getting all those wires into the Tele route was a challenge, but I got it. It was fun to play with, but I really wasn't all that impressed. Probably sounds better in the hands of Brent Mason.

What I was impressed with, was the sound of the SM-1 mini-humbucker. Wow! This might be the best Tele neck pup of all time. Bright, clean, but with a bit of girth. This thing would be killer for blues or old jazz. I'm going to need to get one of these. But first, I guess I'm going to need a "real" Tele. Finding a pickguard to fit the mini-HB'er is going to be a challenge.

Artie

 

[dystrust]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

As long as your Tele fits a standard guard, it shouldn't be too hard to find one. I've had a SM-1 in the neck of my Tele for a couple years now, and my assessment is pretty much the same as yours. It's like a best-of-both-worlds hybrid of a humbucker and Strat pickup.

 

[Artie]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

Sweet. Love that color too. But something else has to go before I spring for a new axe.

 

[jeremy]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

i love a good firebird pup in the neck, its what i want a tele neck pup to sound like. not a fan of the traditional tele neck pup

 

[Artie]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

Yup. Me too.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

What didn’t you like about the Brent Mason set? Not a fan of the Vintage Stack Bridge or Hot Stack Middle?

 

[Artie]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

There were a couple of things I didn't like. For the sake of anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about, it's this pup/control layout:



The 1st pot is the normal volume control for the N/B pups. The 2nd push-pull pot is the volume control and series/parallel switch for the middle pup. Both are wired "50's style", so that neither kills the other. The last pot is the master tone control.

The first problem is that the volume controls interact with each other in a strange way. If both vol pots are all the way up, and then you start to roll the middle pup back, the volume and tone start to "swell", or peak, in an odd way, and then start to roll down. It was an odd, not good, sound. I can't remember if the main vol did the same thing. The second problem is that switching the middle pup to parallel didn't produce the same character change in tone that I'm accustomed to by going parallel. It just seemed to weaken and lower the volume. Not much different than if I just lowered the volume to begin with. The third problem is that there was no "notch position" chime or jangle from having B/M or M/N. I'm guessing that this is because of the dual volumes rather than having discrete switching.

So overall, an expensive and complex wiring scheme that didn't produce a particularly interesting variety of tones. And, non-intuitive controls to boot. I think I could do better. And to put my money where my mouth is, I ordered the BM pickguard and control plate yesterday. I'll probably do a Jerry Donahue bridge, SM-3n neck, and not sure what I'm doing in the middle. Maybe an STK-4n or a Cool Rails. I also have a Vintage Rails laying around somewhere. Also, I'll be doing my new, barely tested, non-interactive dual-volume setup. Hitherto never before seen by man.

Film@11.
Artie

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

Great post Artie.

I’ve been intrigued by this setup since I learned about it, both for its uniqueness and because Brent Mason is a monster player with killer tone. The combination of those two things always makes me think Gear instead of player, when in actuality he’d do just fine with a MIM Tele.

 

[Artie]

Re: The Brent Mason Tele, and the SM-1.

To be fair, since this was a customers guitar, I could only play with it for a short period of time, and even then, not at the volume that I'd have preferred.