Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: CommonCourtesy on December 08, 2013, 05:10:49 PM

Title: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on December 08, 2013, 05:10:49 PM
So all my electric axes have had the pickups upgraded bar one, my Fender Standard Telecaster. Its used for teaching primarily, so clean based mainly, although if playing Keith Richards type sounds i whack it out for some of that and some blues stuff.

In my Fender Strat i've put Seymour Duncans in but i dunno what to put in my tele. Single coils can sound great but can't help but be tempted to be something more warm (neck) and powerful (bridge) in there.

Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Hendrix-HK on December 08, 2013, 06:21:45 PM
I have a set of Yardbirds , put on a cheap Sq Tele ,  it real made that  cheap Sq become a nice tele .

it is a  warm and full on  neck , you can get a idea how it sound on this video :

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21549.0 (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21549.0)

2005 Trussart RHBG Steelcaster 00440 SOLD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5TdvVnL5A#ws)

and this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hx2Y941bcw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hx2Y941bcw)

this is the video made me buy it .

but I not sure what you want for  powerful (bridge)  , may be you need some Hot Rails type High output single-coil-size "rails" humbucker.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Telerocker on December 08, 2013, 08:42:28 PM
I have the BG52-set (actually the old BG50, which is now the 52 to make things complicated  :)). I think it's a good allround set for clean, pop, blues, bluesrock and even hardrock. The neckpickup has a nice strattiness to it.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: chrisj1602 on December 10, 2013, 01:32:15 PM
I've got a Brown Sugar in my Tele (bridge position) and I love it.  To me its got the Tele sound but with a bit more power.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on December 10, 2013, 03:41:21 PM
I have a set of Yardbirds , put on a cheap Sq Tele ,  it real made that  cheap Sq become a nice tele .

it is a  warm and full on  neck , you can get a idea how it sound on this video :

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21549.0 (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21549.0)

2005 Trussart RHBG Steelcaster 00440 SOLD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5TdvVnL5A#ws)

I wonder what the selling point was in the video.....haha.

and this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hx2Y941bcw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hx2Y941bcw)

this is the video made me buy it .

but I not sure what you want for  powerful (bridge)  , may be you need some Hot Rails type High output single-coil-size "rails" humbucker.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on December 24, 2013, 08:34:43 PM
Where did my last reply go? Lol.

A hot rail is definitely an option, dunno about what i'll do for neck though.

May go Seymour Duncs or even DiMarzio
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Dave Sloven on December 24, 2013, 09:19:17 PM
There's always the Piledriver if you want power.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on December 24, 2013, 10:40:47 PM
I can't wait to try out the piledriver soon! It sounds so awesome
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on January 15, 2014, 12:19:54 PM
Piledriver? Lol what a name!

Still not sure what i want to get.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Telerocker on January 15, 2014, 06:24:53 PM
A good allround option is the Blackguard 50, which retains the vintage(hot) vibe without comprising heavier styles.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: jesperbc on February 21, 2014, 09:25:12 PM
I really love the Piledrivers I put in '13 MIJ Tele. Really took it to a whole new level. Gave it so much more cut, power and sensitivity to pick attack.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: darrenw5094 on February 22, 2014, 12:51:51 AM
I really love the Piledrivers I put in '13 MIJ Tele. Really took it to a whole new level. Gave it so much more cut, power and sensitivity to pick attack.

Dude, does it do metal?
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: jesperbc on February 22, 2014, 09:37:21 AM
I play hard rock, but it's not a big stretch to say it plays metal as well.

/edit: I was under the impression that the Piledriver was the hard rock/metal players BKP Tele pickup of choice, when not rocking humbuckers.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Dave Sloven on February 22, 2014, 10:47:00 AM
It does many styles of metal.

In fact, it is probably the best BKPs for black metal, I kid you not, at least going by the sound in clips
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: 38thBeatle on February 22, 2014, 12:51:26 PM
My Tele has a set on Counrty Boys. Traditional 1950's Tele tones- all warm and lovely but can aslo pack a punch when required.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on February 22, 2014, 01:52:32 PM
yeah my piledriver can easily do metal. this thing is a beast
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on February 22, 2014, 04:34:35 PM
I would still like to keep the characteristics of the tele, twangy and bright sounding, don't want to turn it into a Jim Root sig haha. Not yet anyway.

Just feel the bridge pickup is a bit weak and the neck isn't warm enough.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on February 22, 2014, 04:38:38 PM
well mine sounds like a metal machine if i want to. it definitely still sounds like a tele. go listen to the clips. the "alt rock" clip says it all. it made me cream my pants the first time i heard it.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on February 22, 2014, 04:41:30 PM
Haha not one to put EMG's in then no? I was tempted by them but the battery change thing puts me off. Its primarily a teaching guitar so I won't use it for band stuff.

Though I've used tele's to do rhythm tracking on recordings, the frequencies coupled up with a Les Paul track makes it sound huge.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: jesperbc on March 02, 2014, 08:41:57 AM
I wonder what the humbucker equivalent of a Piledriver bridge pickup would be?
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Dave Sloven on March 02, 2014, 12:38:51 PM
Not sure.  I don't think there is any real equivalent.  Probably the Abraxas is the closest in terms of output and EQ, but I don't think they sound similar.

Probably I'd say a Cold Sweat in an SG is closest to a Piledriver in a Telecaster, in that the SG negates a lot of the CS scoop.  In terms of output the CS and PD are closest, but the mids are less in the CS.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: PhilKing on March 02, 2014, 12:51:23 PM
I have the Piledriver with a Slow Hand Strat neck pickup and they work really well together.  You can really hear the tele tones, but with a bit more aggressive neck which moves into the warmer Strat tones.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on March 02, 2014, 02:21:00 PM
I looked up the Blackguard 50 set and it sounds pretty nice, retains the tele character well.

Does the Piledriver come as a set or just a bridge pickup?

Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: jesperbc on March 02, 2014, 04:17:53 PM
Set, bridge and neck, but aren't all BK pickups available like that?
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on March 04, 2014, 02:15:53 PM
Dunno, think I saw on the website you can get them separately. But I'd be looking to replace both neck and bridge anyway.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Telerocker on March 04, 2014, 06:05:24 PM
Dunno, think I saw on the website you can get them separately. But I'd be looking to replace both neck and bridge anyway.

You can order a calibrated set, or just a bridge or a neck.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on July 12, 2014, 10:11:32 PM
The BKP guys suggest Brown Sugar or Yardbirds, so its out of those two. Hope to decide next month what I'm putting in.
 I might have mentioned before but its an alder body and maple fretboard, its kinda a bright tele with too much ice picky type high end.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: metale on July 13, 2014, 12:24:25 AM
I might have mentioned before but its an alder body and maple fretboard, its kinda a bright tele with too much ice picky type high end.

I got the ideia that the Brown Sugars are trebly, so I'm not sure I would pair them with your guitar.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: Telerocker on July 13, 2014, 01:30:18 AM
Maple neck pleads even more for BG50's. No doubt here.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on July 13, 2014, 02:07:02 PM
I might have mentioned before but its an alder body and maple fretboard, its kinda a bright tele with too much ice picky type high end.

I got the ideia that the Brown Sugars are trebly, so I'm not sure I would pair them with your guitar.

Hmm, well I want to keep the high end frequencies in a tele, partly for tracking purposes, as a Les Paul would cover the mids and if I tracked with a tele it'd give another layer.
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on July 13, 2014, 02:41:02 PM
i took this little clip of my piledriver bridge yesterday. such a good metal tone like i said. i used my mesa boogie dual rec roadster with a tubescreamer. but like i said, you can get great traditional tele tones out of this with a bit more output. really depends on your amp and set up

http://instagram.com/p/qXnsRZBYmT/
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on July 13, 2014, 02:44:46 PM
Haha, your face needs to be on the Pickup page!!

But maybe I can put a Piledriver in the bridge and something else in the neck? If I'm doing cleans I won't be on the bridge p/up.

What's the Piledriver like in the middle position(depending what you have in the neck)?
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: littleredguitars2 on July 13, 2014, 05:02:27 PM
the neck pickup i have is a stock pickup. very low output so it doesnt match that good but i'm sure theres something that could match it well. it does work pretty good in the middle spot . i've debated trying the nantucket neck with it or the MQ. i think that'd be cool
Title: Re: Tele pickups upgrade?
Post by: CommonCourtesy on July 13, 2014, 05:11:36 PM
I see, well I'm looking to switch both out so I might get a set.

I like the sound of The Boss pickups, more higher output and suited to Maple fretboards apparently, more mids too.