Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?

[A Theist]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask the question, but I guess it deals with technology in a way. I have a Tex Mex Fender Telecaster that I bought back in the '90s. I'd like to upgrade my original pickups to something better. I know there were a couple members sometime back who were knowledgeable with this sort of thing. Anybody have experience with something like this?

[Jackalope]

I'm not familiar with telecasters in particular but I would expect a telecaster-compatible pickup set to be a pretty simple upgrade. They generally are for strats.

I think it's really going to depend on which pickups you select. The vendor / manufacturer should be able to shed some light on what's required.

[LastPoet]

I gave up the guitar since I found my big hands anf fingers too clumsy. Mabe Thump.

[A Theist]

Thanks guys. I found some online that are priced out anywhere from $75 for both pickups to $199 for the pair. I'm not familiar at all with this kind of thing but I do want something that has a quality Tele sound without the buzz or hum of cheaper pickups. I also thought of maybe modifying the guitar to a single pickup with a Fender Squire sound. Yeah, Thump could probably weigh in. He might know something about these Fenders.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Buzz-free single coils aren't going to happen unless you find some stacked p'ups. Jason Lollar makes great Tele drop-ins that are relatively low-hum, from what I've read. I've never owned a Tele, so I'm only going off what I've read on my favorite guitar forum. Now, it also depends on what Tele tones you like -- the jazzy neck tones, or the spanky bridge tones. There's a trade-off between high-end and hum-free sounds.

I can certainly ask around and PM you some links to guys I know who know their shit, if you'd like.

[I_am_not_mafia]

[A Theist]

Buzz-free single coils aren't going to happen unless you find some stacked p'ups. Jason Lollar makes great Tele drop-ins that are relatively low-hum, from what I've read. I've never owned a Tele, so I'm only going off what I've read on my favorite guitar forum. Now, it also depends on what Tele tones you like -- the jazzy neck tones, or the spanky bridge tones. There's a trade-off between high-end and hum-free sounds.

I can certainly ask around and PM you some links to guys I know who know their shit, if you'd like.

Thanks Thump. That would be great. The tones I want to try and achieve are the old Luther Perkins style Rock A Billy, although mostly he played a Fender Squire. Later on he also played a Jazz Master and a Jaguar before going back again to a Squire. But yeah, if you could get some info on it I'd appreciate that. I was also wondering about converting my Tele to a Squire. I really like that sound.

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I used to be an avid and obsessive guitar player 20 years ago. I owned Fender Jap Strats rather than teles. Replacing pickups aren't too difficult if you know how to use a soldering iron. Seymour Duncans and Dimarzio were the two main makes when I used to play, but Kent Armstrong also make good replacements. I have owned pickups from all three manufacturers.

One thing I found is that the sound absolutely rocks if you bypass all the controls and directly connect a single pickup to a jack socket but it does severely limit your guitar!

Thanks. I'll look up those manufacturers. It shouldn't be too awfully hard to convert this Tele to a single pickup Squire, should it? If that's the route I choose to go.

[Thumpalumpacus]

An old Esquire sound is pretty much Tele bridge pickup into a tweed Fender amp. The hum is gonna happen there.

Give me a day or two, I'll throw those links your way.

[A Theist]

An old Esquire sound is pretty much Tele bridge pickup into a tweed Fender amp. The hum is gonna happen there.

Give me a day or two, I'll throw those links your way.

Thanks, Thump. Much appreciated.

[Thumpalumpacus]