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Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
#1
Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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?
"Inside every Liberal there's a Totalitarian screaming to get out"

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Quote: JohnDG...
Quote:It was an awful mistake to characterize based upon religion. I should not judge any theist that way, I must remember what I said in order to change.
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#2
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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.
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#3
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
I gave up the guitar since I found my big hands anf fingers too clumsy. Mabe Thump.
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#4
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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.
"Inside every Liberal there's a Totalitarian screaming to get out"

[Image: freddy_03.jpg]

Quote: JohnDG...
Quote:It was an awful mistake to characterize based upon religion. I should not judge any theist that way, I must remember what I said in order to change.
Reply
#5
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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.

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#6
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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!
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#7
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
(January 10, 2018 at 4:26 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: 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.

(January 10, 2018 at 5:01 pm)Mathilda Wrote: 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.
"Inside every Liberal there's a Totalitarian screaming to get out"

[Image: freddy_03.jpg]

Quote: JohnDG...
Quote:It was an awful mistake to characterize based upon religion. I should not judge any theist that way, I must remember what I said in order to change.
Reply
#8
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
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.

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#9
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
(January 10, 2018 at 5:29 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: 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.
"Inside every Liberal there's a Totalitarian screaming to get out"

[Image: freddy_03.jpg]

Quote: JohnDG...
Quote:It was an awful mistake to characterize based upon religion. I should not judge any theist that way, I must remember what I said in order to change.
Reply
#10
RE: Anyone Familiar With Upgrading Pickups On A Fender Telecaster?
(January 10, 2018 at 6:58 pm)A Theist Wrote:
(January 10, 2018 at 5:29 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: 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.

The guys at TDPRI's Pickup Subforum are a mixed bag, but some of them really know their shit. I'm not a member there but do read threads there as a guest.

And though it's a forum dedicated to Les Pauls, MLP's Tonefreaks subforum is populated by guys who both know plenty about Teles as well as good pickups for them, CooljUK in particular. He winds pickups for Rewind Pickups in England and has encyclopedic knowledge of them. I'm registered there under this name, so if I see you around I'll make sure to give you a wedgie.

Hope this helps, brotha, and happy playing/modding.

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