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Author Topic: Neck Humbucker to suit Texas Special Bridge in American Special Telecaster  (Read 4471 times)

Warpiggate

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Hi,
I like the sound of the middle position on my American Special Telecaster (alder body, maple neck) a lot but whereas the custom shop Texas Special bridge is very versatile, the neck doesn't have much definition on its own. For this reason I've been toying with the idea of swapping it out for a Humbucker. I would want it to maintain a bluesy feel in the middle and compliment the bridge, but to have some character of its own. I'm Not too fussed which Alnico etc. I play mostly blues and rock and try to use a wide variety of tones. I have a mule neck/riff raff bridge in one Les Paul and PG Blues in another. I like them all. I prefer more vintage sounds.

I was wondering about maybe a Stormy Monday neck??? Any thoughts would be very welcome.

Cheers, Laurie

darrenw5094

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Never played a stormy monday, but the Emerald is another neck option, if you don't want another Mule neck.
BKP: Abraxas - Les Paul
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Kiichi

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The Stormy is definetly a good choice. Since you like the PG and Mule that is just a great option here.
BKPs in use: 10th set / RY set / Holy Diver b, Emerald n / Crawler bridge, Slowhand mid MQ neck/ Manhattan n
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Telerocker

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Stormy, PG Blues or Mule, all great for your style.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

AndyR

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For what you're asking, I'd say Stormy. To my ears it's more "open" sounding (more clarity) than the Mule neck and would better suit a tele bridge pup. In fact, it might even sound clearer than the Texas Special in the bridge! (from my experience/memory of that pickup).

However, do think about another option:

You love the middle position sound at the moment - I'd be so scared of losing that (if I replaced the neck single with a humbucker).

When I was first sorting out various teles with pickups a few years back, I found that middle tone is VERY fragile when it comes to swapping pickups (and adjusting their height). The sound you love can disappear VERY quickly and you struggle to get it back - it's a careful balance between bridge and neck pickup. Years ago I gigged with an SH tele - I had to use the middle as my "bridge" tone (it wasn't a tele middle sound at all), because with the amp adjusted for using the humbucker, the bridge on its own was unusable. I'd been expecting a highly versatile instrument when I put the humbucker in. But it turned into much more of a one-trick-pony.

So I'd strongly suggest that you consider getting a BKP tele set and a four-way switch. I replaced both a Texas Special set and the set that was on a Baja (twisted tele and something, forgotten) with the original BKP Blackguard Flat 50s. That set is now called... er... help me out someone(!) ... I think it's the Flat 52 set?

For me, that set blew both stock sets out of the water with their own tone - the guitars didn't sound much different but LOADS better, almost like it was what the original pups were doing but with more authority (the tele with Texas Specials opened up in the clarity, the other got more robust with no loss of its clarity and tele sparkle). After a bit of height adjustment between bridge and neck, I had the middle sound back where I wanted it.

The addition of a four-way (adds a "bridge and neck in series" option to the standard configuration) gives you a "humbucker" tone. With this BKP set it's VERY usable. I find with my Yardbirds set that the "both in series" position doesn't really bring anything to the party (partly because the neck is so good on its own). But the Blackguard set, wow, it's Les Paul time without changing guitar (or amp settings - it all balances nicely).

I know what you're thinking - but I love my Texas Special bridge! Trust me, you will ADORE the Blackguard bridge. Also, look at it this way - a tele set is £140, a single humbucker is £117... not much different... plus you won't have to hack up the scratch-plate and dig a bigger hole in the guitar (or is yours already routed for a humbucker?).
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Warpiggate

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Thanks for all the advice, sounds like the Stormy is a good option and I am intrigued by the idea of putting an emerald in. The American Special Telecaster is routed for a humbucker neck already. I love this guitar so wouldn't carve it up!

The description of the 4 way switch moving it into Les Paul territory interests me a lot. I've been worried about changing anything because I'm new to telecasters and this sounds like a good option. I really appreciate the advice from someone with more experience of teles. I'll ha a good look at the set you recommend.

Cheers everyone

Dave Sloven

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Warpiggate

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Andy R - I've taken your advice and gone for a set of Flat 52s and a 4 way switch. Being relatively new to telecasters, I've lived with the Texas Specials for a while at various heights off the scratch plate in case I was rushing into anything with a humbucker swap. I figured you're suggestion might give me what I'm looking for without changing the guitar's essence. The guitar sounds awesome acoustically and these will hopefully do it more justice. I was swayed by the fact that the BKP blurb describes the neck as more 'stratty' which combined with the humbucker like 4 way mod should hopefully do it for the versatility too. I'll update at some point when they're in. Thanks again.

Agent Orange - cheers

AndyR

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Hope it works for you as well as it does for me :cheesy:

It was this set that finally got me into telecasters. I'd played one live, on and off, over the years but never fully bonded with the tele as a go-to guitar. Then I got a Baja a few years back. Loved it, but still couldn't quite get to grips with the tele vibe in sounds. I put the Blackguards in and suddenly I was getting all the sounds I'd been looking for and expecting - I couldn't put it down. Since then I've found that I can now get that out of any tele with any tele pups - but it was the Blackguards that got me to that state-of-mind. And even now - if I've been playing strat or Les Paul for a while, the Baja with Blackguards is what gets me converted back to tele-appreciation.
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Warpiggate

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Ok so firstly, apologies that it's taken so long to feed back on the new flat 52s with 4 way switch. Had so much else on and also had some set up issues with the guitar itself. Initially it had developed a little too much forebow which I was slow to spot and then the fret buzz was out of control which took me ages to fix (well mostly fix anyway). Increased saddle height wouldn't do it. The nut is spot on. I tried re tightening the neck and eventually ended up repositioning the saddles completely which fixed it except for the G string??!? I use 9s due to an old wrist injury and swap the 16 G for a 14 so in desperation put a spare 16 on and the buzz has mostly gone. Anyway back to the pickups. They're amazing and do exactly what I was after. I wanted more versatility from the neck and I am now much more likely to use it on its own like with a strat. The other positions are rich and classic tele sounding. I've so far found the 2 in series sounds great with tremolo or Hendrix style vibe but am looking forward to experimenting more.

I sometimes put little rambling tasters on Soundcloud and this one is the first since the swap out:

https://soundcloud.com/orenzouant/flat-52-blues-jam

I'm no genius but it might give an idea of the 2 in parallel then the neck.

Thanks for all the advice

AndyR

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Nice one. I just had a gut feeling that they'd work out and give you what you want while keeping the "telecaster" vibe.
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