Twangiest classic twang pickup

Quencho092

Quencho092

New member
My buddy is looking to convert his MIM strat into a pure twang machine.

I'm trading him my MIA maple strat neck for a polytone amp, and he's looking to sell his JB and put a legit telecaster pickup. We have the tools to do the routing.

What must be done to properly mount a tele LEAD pickup to a strat? and What tele pickup will get the MOST GENUINE TELE TWANG SOUND, pure country/danny gatton type stuff?

Throw down some knowledge, I know we got plenty of tele lovers here who know twang!
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

Don't know about the pickup, but I can guess the "twang purists" will tell you that the vintage steel Tele bridge plate & brass saddles are necessary to get the One True Twang.
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

Jeremiah said:
Don't know about the pickup, but I can guess the "twang purists" will tell you that the vintage steel Tele bridge plate & brass saddles are necessary to get the One True Twang.
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I will agree. Part of the twang is the fact that the bridge pickup is hanging off the stamped steel bridge plate. That's also why Teles with modern, thicker chromed brass bridge plates don't twang nearly as much.

That said, part of the twang is also the plate on the back of the pickup.

You COULD just get a Duncan Twangbanger for Strat and make mounting things easier.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage-output/twang_banger_ap/
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

but it wont be all that twangy. i love the twangbanger but i dont think it sounds like a tele all that much and isnt twangy at all, it does sounds great though.

how far do you want to go with this? the bridge does have a lot to do with it.

if you want a twangy tone monster get the antiquity II tele bridge pup
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

I will second what others have said...

The Twangbanger is an excellent Strat bridge pickup but it doesn't really make a Strat sound like a Tele.

The vintage style stamped steel bridge is a massive part of the Tele tone. After being without a Tele for years I bought a MIM standard Tele and put some BKP Flat 52s in it. Great pickups but still didn't get the classic Tele tone I wanted. Swapped the thick six-saddle bridge for a Wilkinson vintage style one and TWANG... there it was! :D
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

There are a lot of very nice tele bridges if you search for them I like the Joe Barden and there were a few others I liked but they slip my mind (callaham, and two others I can't think of them).

But basically they take the good things about the vintage bridges and improve on them by giving you compensated brass saddles so intonation is improved.

I think that's the best way to get that classic tele twang.
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

Simon_F said:
I will second what others have said...

The Twangbanger is an excellent Strat bridge pickup but it doesn't really make a Strat sound like a Tele.
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Well, the reason I suggested it in the first place is that it would be easier to install that than to hack up the body and a pickguard to get pretty much the same effect.

That said... If you're gonna do it, do it right!

Stratotel.jpg
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

When you hear Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan you're hearing a '53 Telecaster with the original flat poled Tele pickups. Later, with Danny, you're hearing Joe Barden pickups in his '53 Tele. I don't think you can get that tone without without putting both a Tele bridge assembly and a Tele bridge pickup in your Strat.

Here's my guitar with a Duncan Custom Shop '53 JB Tele Hot Tapped pickup. Sounds really great. It's the best single coil bridge pickup I've ever had in my Strat. But it doesn't sound like a Tele - it doesn't sound like a Strat either tho. It sounds better.

I ordered it from MJ in the tapped version because I wanted vintage output when I combine it with my neck pickup or middle pickup. The tone pot is a push/pull. When I pull up on it I get the HOT output.

The 5 way switch is a Schaller Mega Switch that lets me get: neck, neck/middle, neck/bridge, middle/bridge, bridge.
IMG_2530.jpg
 
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Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

Wanted to add that as great sounding as it is, the Duncan 53 JB Tele Hot pickup is not a steely bright sounding Tele pickup. It's fat and warmish with plenty of treble but not that piercing ice pick kind of treble. It's sweeter. Maybe in an actual Tele it would have more of that classic steely Tele twang. I love it in my Strat though.
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

Gypsyblue said:
When you hear Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan you're hearing a '53 Telecaster with the original flat poled Tele pickups. Later, with Danny, you're hearing Joe Barden pickups in his '53 Tele. I don't think you can get that tone without without putting both a Tele bridge assembly and a Tele bridge pickup in your Strat.

Here's my guitar with a Duncan Custom Shop '53 JB Tele Hot Tapped pickup. Sounds really great. It's the best single coil bridge pickup I've ever had in my Strat. But it doesn't sound like a Tele - it doesn't sound like a Strat either tho. It sounds better.

I ordered it from MJ in the tapped version because I wanted vintage output when I combine it with my neck pickup or middle pickup. The tone pot is a pull/pull. When I pull up on it I get the HOT output.

The 5 way switch is a Schaller Mega Switch that lets me get: neck, neck/middle, neck/bridge, middle/bridge, bridge.
IMG_2530.jpg
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Something tells me that there's a word that describes the tone from that thing and the below picture.

MEATY!

flank-steak-1.jpg
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

i have and love that pup too. my favorite single coil bridge pup, hands down.

it is not a twangy tele pup. i have one in a strat, a custom hollow tele and an esquire. not twangy. sounds incredible though. flat pole a2 usually doesnt = twang

if you want twang, get the antiquity II tele lead pup
 
Re: Twangiest classic twang pickup

jeremy said:
i have and love that pup too. my favorite single coil bridge pup, hands down.

it is not a twangy tele pup. i have one in a strat, a custom hollow tele and an esquire. not twangy. sounds incredible though. flat pole a2 usually doesnt = twang

if you want twang, get the antiquity II tele lead pup
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All true. The Antiquity II is an alnico 5 pickup and twangy/steely bright. I like it too but I don't use one.
 
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