Ultimate Tele tone!

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

Lew, what about JD lead with Ant rhythm?

I think that'd be cool...the Ant rythym is a little brighter and clearer than the Alnico2Pro.

I prefer alnico 5 neck pickups in my Teles though.

They seem brighter and clearer still, and to me, the covered Tele neck pickup is the weak link in most Teles and is the pickup most in need of improvement.

I just got some Duncan a5 Vintage necks and some some a5 Duncan Tele Hot necks in...I might give the Hot a try.

But I'll be surprised if they are able to beat out the a5 Custom Shop Tele ala Strat neck pickup MJ wound for me.

Lew

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I'm sure that would work well

however, the Ant set is so well balanced in all positions, I'd probably prefer that

(the JD being like an overwound vintage tone)

Curly is right. I like the JD in a bright guitar but in a dark guitar it's not bright enough sometimes.

The Antiquitys seem to sound great in ALL Teles I've tried them in.

 

[Curly]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I love the JD, BTW, like most who try it - a great hot vintage tone, deep, warm and vocal.. I have a Hot neck with mine, and that works fine, but I'm likely to try a couple other neck pups before I'm done.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I love the JD, BTW, like most who try it - a great hot vintage tone, deep, warm and vocal.. I have a Hot neck with mine, and that works fine, but I'm likely to try a couple other neck pups before I'm done.

Curly, that's why I ordered some Hot Necks to try...because you recommended it.

 

[BS123]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I have a Hot neck with mine, and that works fine, but I'm likely to try a couple other neck pups before I'm done.

Curly, what do you like about the Hot Neck model?

 

[Curly]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

Curly, what do you like about the Hot Neck model?

Butch,
I started with a Broadcaster/ Vintage Rhythm in my ash tele. Too bright in the bridge, and I felt the neck needed more push. I switched to a JD for a while in the bridge, and ended up getting an Ant set for that guitar, which is just so nice, warm, and well balanced as a set in all positions.

After talking with the local builder who helped me put the ash tele together, I took the spare JD, a Hot neck, and switched them into my AS alder tele.

Mind you, I'm not the tele picker you are - my tele playing still comes out as blues, no matter how hard I try. So really, the output of both the JD and Hot seem to suit my playing. I always felt the Vintage was just a little weak. Maybe with a Twin pushing it, and the amp volume cranked, it might work for good twangy tele tone, but the Hot can be fairly clean, yet still give you more oomph when called for.

I would've thought the AIIPro would be a good match for a JD, at least on paper, but Lew and others (you maybe?) said they felt that the AIIPro was also weak in output, so I never tried one.

I said I was using a Hot for now - I still have a Fralin neck that I haven't tried. Actually, I haven't been playing that tele much lately. I briefly tried a Seth in the neck, but found it just too much, and went back to the Hot neck.

One thing led to another, and I ended up setting that tele up for slide - a set of 11s, tuned to open G. I found that with the tele's tuning stability, and the sustain of a string through bridge, added with a bit of OD, I got a pretty decent tone for slide.

here's a couple clips of that set up:
AS tele

So, I guess after all that rambling, the answer to your question is, it's a matter of the Hot having an output that balances well with the JD bridge.

 

[easyman]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I have put a gibson PAF classic '57 neck on my japanese tele
imitation. Do you happen to know what bridge pickup Keith Richards has on his1952 butterscotch blond (very apparent woodgrain) tele that he calls "Malcom" and witch
SD bridge Tele pickup would correspond to it ? I'd want to get as close as possible to hi "Malcom" sound. Easyman
Here is a very rare website on K. Richards guitars etc.
http://guitar.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://members.tripod.com/~Blue_Lena/guitar.html

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I have put a gibson PAF classic '57 neck on my japanese tele
imitation. Do you happen to know what bridge pickup Keith Richards has on his1952 butterscotch blond (very apparent woodgrain) tele that he calls "Malcom" and witch
SD bridge Tele pickup would correspond to it ? I'd want to get as close as possible to hi "Malcom" sound. Easyman
Here is a very rare website on K. Richards guitars etc.
http://guitar.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://members.tripod.com/~Blue_Lena/guitar.html

If it's really a '52 with a stock pickup there are several Duncan's to consider:

Broadcaster...Jerry Donahue...Antiquity I

I'd probably go with the Antiquity I in most Teles.

All are flat poled Tele pickups based on the pre-54 design.

The Jerry Donahue would be alnico 2 and probably wound the strongest of the three. The Antiquity I is also alnico 2 and not quite as hot as the JD but still plenty strong and stronger than the original pickup in my old '54, and I like the Antiquity better than my original. Haven't tried or measured the DC Reisistance of the Broadcaster, but it's alnico 5 and doesn't have the pronounced mids of the other two.

My '54 Tele has an original flat pole. These are are not usually hot pickups. 6.5K or so. Joe Barden told me the pickup in Roy Buchanan's old '53 was no hotter than the pickup that came in my old '54. Lindy Fralin told me exactly the same thing.

Anyways, I'd suggest the Antiquity I...they ALWAYS sound great to me!

Lew

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

Tele's rule

 

[Toenail-Tommy]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

My tele questions are answered...

 

[Istanbul]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I need a Tele neck Pick-up which can fit best with Jb.Jr Bridge pickup.. Does anyone have an idea?. Yeah.. ist JB.Jr in bridge ...some re-formed but working good..

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I need a Tele neck Pick-up which can fit best with Jb.Jr Bridge pickup.. Does anyone have an idea?. Yeah.. ist JB.Jr in bridge ...some re-formed but working good..

I've never tried the JB JR or Little 59 pickup in a Tele, but I would guess that the Tele Hot Rythym or Vintage Tele Rythym would be a good choice with the JB JR. Or the Vintage Stack Rythym if you want humcancelling. But I've never seen a JB JR. for the Tele...are you sure that's what you have? Maybe it's a Little 59 for Tele?

Lew

 

[Istanbul]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

Yes its Jb Jr... Its edges were cut and a hard plastic was sticked on bottom to give the shape.. But the pup is Jb Jr..

6 months ago i bought a STR-1 neck to combine it and it was a wrong choice as i have lost the tone which i was already able to take from Squier neck pick-up..

I am looking for a neck pickup for Telecaster which can work good with Jb Jr.. I even thought to buy Li59 neck or Duckbucker (for stratocasters) and try to make it fit to my Tele...


I need help..

 

[xStonr]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

This thread is awesome. I just got my first Tele and I'm ready to upgrade the pickups. Just a note, I'm trying to keep it around a $100. Even though, it seems the antiquity would give me the sound I'm looking for, I'm leaning towards the JD for the bridge and maybe a Nocaster in the neck. I don't want the neck to be to dark sounding. What do you think?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

This thread is awesome. I just got my first Tele and I'm ready to upgrade the pickups. Just a note, I'm trying to keep it around a $100. Even though, it seems the antiquity would give me the sound I'm looking for, I'm leaning towards the JD for the bridge and maybe a Nocaster in the neck. I don't want the neck to be to dark sounding. What do you think?

Thanks! You have to be careful mixing pickups from two differant manufacturers. If you want to be certain the pickups will be in phase with each other and that you have humcancelling when the two are combined without having to disaasemble the guitar again, it's best to stick with one manufacturer. Especially when it comes to Teles because it's not just a matter of reversing the black and white wires if the two pickups are out of phase when combined. You also have to move a third wire (a ground wire) on the bottem of either the neck or bridge pickup, and in the case of the bridge pickup, remove the whole bridge again to get at it! It can be a pain.

I'm not certain if there'd be any issues using the Nocaster neck with the JD or not. Anyone else have any insights?

Lew

 

[xStonr]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

I've spent the day reading threads here and on other websites. Let me tell ya, I a bit confused. There seem to be so many great options.Broadcaster, Rio Grande,Twang King, Alnico pro, and the list goes on. Here's the tone I'm trying to achieve. I'm looking for a versatile pickup that can do surf, country, blues, along with a little Keef and Bruce. Any suggestions?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

You mean Bruce Springsteen? I think he used quarter pounders...at least for a while.

I think maybe keeping it simple and just getting a set of Antiquitys might be the best bet.

Those are awesome and you just cannot go wrong with them.

 

[xStonr]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

Thanks Lew, now I have to find a great price for a set.

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

The best Tele sound I've ever heard was George Harrison's Rosewood Tele that he used on Let it Be

 

[Artie]

Re: Ultimate Tele tone!

The new Peavey Omniac, (Tele clone), uses the JD in the bridge and the AII Pro in the neck.
I wonder if they used this thread for some "research".