1991 Telecaster Plus upgrade

[ClassicRKR]

So, I have been considering replacing the pups on my Telecaster Plus. The Lace Sensors aren't bad, but I prefer something a little more vintage. I was thinking about maybe a Mother's Milk in the neck and a Mississippi Queen in the bridge. Thoughts? I'm worried that it may be a little too bright in the bridge with the MQ because of the body (Ash or Alder, I can never remember) so I was also considering the Manhattan, but I am looking for a really classic rock tone.

[Mr. Air]

I think the Manhattan might be to polite for you as it is mostly aimed at jazzers. If you're not totally set on a P90 bridge you could go for a Mule and Mothers Milk combo which should be perfect for some classic rock. You could also considder a Stormy Monday and Apache combo, but I think the Mule and Mothers Milk will be great.

[ClassicRKR]

Thanks for the input, but yes, I'm completely set on a P90 bridge, I've loved pretty much every guitar I've played with a proper set of P90's in it.

[Mr. Air]

I think that the MQ bridge have been used in strats before which often has alder or ash bodies. I actually remember an article from Guitarist magazine where 4 of their writers each were given a Yamaha Pacifica to mod. The article was called "Pimp my Pacifica" and one of the writers went for MQ bridge along with middle and neck Mothers Milk as he wanted a blues master strat. The Paifica model has a rosewood board though and I take it that your tele has a maple board.

Anyways I think the combination will work and you can always roll the tone a tad back and take a little of the highs. It's been stated at the forums that a quality pot and a good PIO capacitor can work wonders tone wise and make your tone control much more usable. I haven't tried a PIO capacitor so I can't comment on this.

[BigB]

Anyways I think the combination will work and you can always roll the tone a tad back and take a little of the highs. It's been stated at the forums that a quality pot and a good PIO capacitor can work wonders tone wise and make your tone control much more usable. I haven't tried a PIO capacitor so I can't comment on this.

Any decent capacitor (by which I mean "appropriate for audio signal filtering use") will be an obvious improvement wrt/ the cr@ppy ceramic ones that come stock on 99.9% of today's guitars. I personnaly like PIO caps quite a bit for the "warming" effect they can have on tone but there are other options.

[Telerocker]

P90 in the bridge works great with tele's. And there is the toneknob too. If you have a rosewood fretboard the MM will be fine, if it's maple it might be on the bright side. An Apache would be a good alternative.

[ClassicRKR]

Yes, my Tele actually has a rosewood board. Thanks for the input guys! I'll be looking into getting them asap!

[Mr. Air]

I'm looking foreward to hearing your reaction once you get the pups installed. And the "rule" here at the forums is - pics or it didn't happen  :D

[ClassicRKR]

Well it may be a little bit, gotta see how my taxes turn out  :D I'm just a planner/dreamer, but if it works out to where I get the money then you will be getting pics asap!