Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

D

Dreezy2250

New member
I'm lookin to upgrade my MIM Telecaster neck pickup.

The output is sooo low on it. When i switch to the neck pickup i get a big volume drop. I've raised the pickup and lowered the bridge to find a sweet spot but it's not happening. I love the stock bridge pickup, however, I would like a tad bit more output.

So, I'd like to upgrade my neck pickup to get that output up close to the bridge OR if i can upgrade both pickups but still keep them single coil and preserve that Tele sound that would be awesome!
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

That's weird. Those stock pickups are not everyone's cup of tea, but usually quietness and balance are not problems with them. I'd check the wiring for spotty connections before buying anything.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

ItsaBass said:
That's weird. Those stock pickups are not everyone's cup of tea, but usually quietness and balance are not problems with them. I'd check the wiring for spotty connections before buying anything.
Click to expand...

haha I thought that too and had it looked at. It's wired up good. The volume drop i guess isn't too extreme i guess (i guess i was being a bit dramatic) but there is one. :/

Going the upgrade route, any suggestions for a neck pickup? OR if i can upgrade both pickups but still keep them single coil and preserve that Tele sound?
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

One pickup I've always been tempted to try in the neck position of a Tele is Fender's Twisted Tele pickup. It's supposed to be brighter and more clear than the typical dark Tele neck pickup.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

Had good results with Fender AVRI '52 pickups. The alder body and modern machined bridge seem to smooth out the brightness of the vintage style pickups.

If you want Duncans, the STR-1 and STL-1 come closest. IMO, the Little '59 for Tele and SD Custom Shop Tele Lead Stack both go nicely in the MIM Standard Tele but they go beyond the traditional sonic palette.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

Isn't the MIM routed for a humbucker in the neck?

I know you want to keep the classic tele sounds but remember you can always pick up a push/pull for ~$10 depending on where you look. I'd consider getting a used humbucker that's ~8k (isn't a tele neck like 4-5k ohms anyway?) and splitting that so your guitar would be a little more versatile.

Or, if you didn't want to change pickups you could just rewire your tone control as a 'blend' control - basically on a potentiometer the center lug is output and as you turn it one way or the other the outside lugs are gradually 'connected' with the center so you could just take out your tone cap, wire the lead from the bridge to one side, the lead from the neck to the other, and then the output of that to the volume control. That would be the simplest way methinks. That way, when your 'tone' control is rolled all the way one way, it's all neck or all bridge, and you can roll back in the other pickup to a degree, to where at '5' on the dial it's like both are selected on the switch.

The problem with that is I'm not smart enough to figure out how you might go about wiring a blend control that only works when you're in the middle position. Doing it like I've described would render your 3-way switch useless. But you could always try it out and change it back if you don't like it. Shouldn't take very long to unsolder/resolder the wires, and is free for you if you already have the soldering iron and some solder.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

First off, what's your budget? Second, are you happy with the tone of the bridge pickup? Whatever way you go, (neck only or both) buying used (from the Trading Post here, or other online gear classifieds) is the way to go. Much better bang for you buck. In the bang for buck arena, Tonerider pickups are great. Lot's of love for the GFS tele pickups (not my fav's, but others dig em) and Bill Lawrence Keystones get rave's. SD offers some killer tele pickups. I like the A2 and the Antiquity's. Dimarzio's Twang King neck pup is a killer neck pick up. If you want to take your tele to new tone heights, contact Zhangliqun (who is a member here) tell him what you want to hear and he'll nail it for you. Good luck!
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

Another vote for DMZ Twang Kings. Nothing wrong with getting just the neck if you're happy with the current bridge pup.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

I have a STR-1 at the neck coupled with a STL-1b at the bridge, I have the best Tele tones in years of experiments.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

GilmourD said:
One pickup I've always been tempted to try in the neck position of a Tele is Fender's Twisted Tele pickup. It's supposed to be brighter and more clear than the typical dark Tele neck pickup.
Click to expand...

I have a Fender Twisted Tele in the neck position of my MIM Tele. It matches well, both tonally and output-wise, with the BKP Blackguard Flat 52 I have in the bridge position.

It has more output than a typical Tele neck pickup, and can be fine tuned to match bridge pickup output by adjusting its height.
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

You could try 500K pots in there which REALLY opens up the stock neck pickup, I've done it and that setup is staying. For the bridge you might want to roll down the tone control abit for that, but decide first if it is too piercingly bright in the bridge. Some really good tele pickups that will keep the traditional tone that I'd recommend are:

Sets:
- Quarter pound bridge/Quarter pound neck (with a tap for lower output at the flick of a switch)
- Hot Lead/Hot Rhythm
- Five-two Lead/Five-two Rhythm
- Vintage for Broadcaster Lead/Five-two Rhythm
- Jerry Donahue Lead/Vintage Rhythm

If you only need to change the neck pickup, any of the previously mentioned would do, but if you want to put a full size humbucker in there, I'd say:

- Seth Lover neck
- Jazz neck
- Pearly Gates
- '59
- DMZ Humbucker from Hell

You have a lot of great options thankfully. Teles are just like that and incredibly easy to make sound great IMO. :)
 
Re: Upgrade Options for MIM Telecaster

Myaccount876 said:
You could try 500K pots in there which REALLY opens up the stock neck pickup, I've done it and that setup is staying. For the bridge you might want to roll down the tone control abit for that, but decide first if it is too piercingly bright in the bridge. Some really good tele pickups that will keep the traditional tone that I'd recommend are:

Sets:
- Quarter pound bridge/Quarter pound neck (with a tap for lower output at the flick of a switch)
- Hot Lead/Hot Rhythm
- Five-two Lead/Five-two Rhythm
- Vintage for Broadcaster Lead/Five-two Rhythm
- Jerry Donahue Lead/Vintage Rhythm

If you only need to change the neck pickup, any of the previously mentioned would do, but if you want to put a full size humbucker in there, I'd say:

- Seth Lover neck
- Jazz neck
- Pearly Gates
- '59
- DMZ Humbucker from Hell

You have a lot of great options thankfully. Teles are just like that and incredibly easy to make sound great IMO. :)
Click to expand...


Awesome man thanks!!

Thanks everyone for your feedback!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mincer
Seymour Duncan Announces The JB Jr. for Tele
Replies
19
Views
363
Mincer
Mincer
Jermo3178
Squier 40th Anniversary Tele upgrade idea, with questions and opinions..
2
Replies
35
Views
591
Jermo3178
Jermo3178
N
Squier Troublemaker Tele upgrade
Replies
4
Views
204
Supernautilus
Supernautilus
S
Hotter telecaster neck pickup
Replies
8
Views
145
Mincer
Mincer
Rich_S
Pickups for FREE Telecaster
Replies
19
Views
364
Rich_S
Rich_S
Back
Top