Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

M

matteo.marzo

New member
Hi all,

I'm Matteo and I am a new member of this fourm.
I own a beautiful Made In Mexico Telecaster that I love. Despite this, I would like to substitute the lipstick pickup at the neck with a hotter and thicker nickel-covered humbucker. I searched on the web, but found too many information and I feel like confused. Which is, in your opinion, the warmest neck (nickel-covered) humbucker for a Tele? I would like to buy a SD pickup, but if you know anything else, I'm open ;)

Thanks a lot for your support.

Cheers,
Matteo

P.S. How about the balance between the hot humbucker and the twangy pickup at the bridge, in the middle position? Is there any issue about it?
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

Welcome to the forum!

The Seth Lover is a popular, vintage-voiced humbucker that works really well in the neck position of a Tele.
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

Hi stevie_bees, thank you for your reply :)

I read on the web that the Alnico II pro is warmer and thicker than the Seth Lover, isn't it? Is the Alnico II pro nickel covered?

Cheers,
Matteo
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

You should be able to get all of the vintage-voiced humbuckers covered.
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

My thought was the Alnico II Pro, which is really the warmest of the stock humbuckers. It also splits well. That being said, I like the complexity and dynamics of a Seth Lover in the neck of a Tele better, especially when combined with a Tele bridge pickup.
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

I had a covered APHn in the neck of my tele paired with a STL-2T for a while. It balanced well and was warm, yet detailed.
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

Just a bit of advice, just because you find your current pickup to be too bright, doesn't mean you should go 100% full-on in the opposite direction. The Seth Lover is pretty warm and is an excellent choice for a Tele neck pickup, but first, do you even know if your Tele is routed for a neck humbucker and, if not, are you willing to either do it yourself or pay someone else to?
 
Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

I’d go for the Seth lover. It’s plenty warm if you use a 250k pot which most people would on a tele. Many pickups you could choose would be too dark with that value. It’s also not too hot so it should balance well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

Chistopher said:
Just a bit of advice, just because you find your current pickup to be too bright, doesn't mean you should go 100% full-on in the opposite direction. The Seth Lover is pretty warm and is an excellent choice for a Tele neck pickup, but first, do you even know if your Tele is routed for a neck humbucker and, if not, are you willing to either do it yourself or pay someone else to?
Click to expand...

Hi Christopher,

Thanks for your advice. Well, I removed the pickguard and realised that my tele is routed for a neck humbucker.

Do you guys think the Seth Lover is the only choice? Would I feel the difference with respect to my stock lipstick pickup? Or a warmer pickup is better?

Matteo
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

4,1,3,2.

For me, it would be between the Alnico II Pro and the Seth.. It depends what is in the bridge, and how bright/warm the guitar is naturally.
 
Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

I'm almost certain you don't want the "warmest" humbucker there is for this job. There are some very warm humbuckers out there, so much so that there have been countless pages of threads here devoted to making them less warm.

Anywhere from the Seth Lover model to the Custom Custom might work for what you want, depending on what level of output you are looking for, and how you play, and into what amp/pedals at what settings. You're probably going to want something with a weaker magnet like an alnico 2, or a weakened alnico 2 (i.e. Antiquity). Antiquity, Seth, A2 Pro, Pearly Gates, Custom Custom are going to be the pickups you probably want to choose from as a first stab. Most of those have two variants, as well: neck and bridge. There's nothing wrong with using a bridge pickup in the neck position, if it gives you what you're after.

Personally, I would suggest that you start with an Antiquity neck model. Make a decision within the 21 day exchange window. If the Antiquity neck is just a bit too warm, exchange for a Seth Lover neck instead; they have the same basic character, but a little more clarity than the Antiquitys. If it's not warm enough, try an A2P neck in the neck position. If that still isn't warm enough, try a Seth bridge there.
 
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Re: Warmest neck humbucker for Tele (nickel-covered)

What specifically are you wanting from the term 'warm'???

You can simply turn the tone knob down.....that will remove treble better than any swap. In fact the typical tele neck singlecoil pickup usually has way too much warmth for most due to the brass cover.
 
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