Pickups for American Standard Tele

[jimc]

Hi guys,

It's time for me to replace the pickups in by 2013 American Standard Tele. It's got the stock Twisted Tele neck and Broadcaster bridge at the moment.
I like the Twisted Tele which is quite Strat-like. Has anyone had both a Twisted Tele and a Flat 52? The Flat 52 is also meant to be quite Strat-like, so I'm wondering how they compare. I'm really looking for something similar to the Twisted Tele, but with a bit more attack and more of that BKP magic I get from the BKPs in my Organic.
The Broadcaster has never been to my taste - it lacks the snappy attack I expect from a Tele bridge pickup and seems quite weak and lifeless. I play mostly modern country, and am looking for something like a Brad Paisley tone. Is a Flat 52 in the bridge the best bet, or should I consider something else like the Country Boys, or even The Boss in the bridge which looks like it may be closer to the Voodoo TE60 that Paisley uses?

Cheers

[38thBeatle]

I can't answer about Start sounding neck pickups but I have a set of country boys on my Tele and have had them about 5 years or so. Very classic Tele tones and they respond well to a cranked amp too. All the snap and presence of a great Tele pickup.

[Telerocker]

I can't answer about Start sounding neck pickups but I have a set of country boys on my Tele and have had them about 5 years or so. Very classic Tele tones and they respond well to a cranked amp too. All the snap and presence of a great Tele pickup.

Yeah, I also think you should look at Country Boys, or if you want to rock out Brown Sugars or the Boss, though the bridges have quite different eq's.

The Flat 52-neck is indeed quite stratty, but I can't compare it to a Twisted Tele. Never heard them side by side.

[AndyR]

I have a Twisted Tele somewhere, it was ok, but didn't grab me (it was in my Baja). I bought Flat 50s (which I'm pretty certain are now the 52s?), and the guitar came alive.

Then I got a similar tele, Fender Japan, didn't like the pickups (I think they were Texas Specials or something). I'd been reading a lot about the Baja's pups being good, especially the Twisted Tele... so I gave them another go. I liked them less than the "Texas Specials", and they were very disappointing next to the BKP'd Baja. I gave them a good go on height adjustments, changing capacitor values. But they were just "less" in all departments. So I went for the same BKP set as the Baja. Neither guitar has changed since.

However, even though I haven't tried Country Boys, Brown Sugars, or Boss sets myself, I have a feeling that you might be better off looking in that direction. No real evidence, just based on listening to Brad Paisley and wondering why I can't make my Flat 50/52s sound like that... (could be me and my amp settings, of course! ).

If it was me, I'd give Country Boys a go...

[gordiji]

Flat 52's are great for country,  here they are in maple usa tele. 

[jimc]

Thanks for the advice guys! Listening to the samples on the site back-to-back I decided to go for the Flat 52s. I like the extra bass and the way the bridge pickup sounds more balanced tone (has less of that mid-range "quack" to my ears).
I'm hoping to get them installed this weekend, along with a Callaham bridge and Glendale saddles. Will post before and after clips once done.

[Telerocker]

You won't be disappointed. Let us know how they perform in your tele.

[jimc]

So I managed to get the Flat 52s and the new bridge installed. Here are some clips for comparison of the two - each short clip has the standard guitar first, then the modded guitar.

https://soundcloud.com/jimcross1981/telecaster-standard-vs-modded-clean
https://soundcloud.com/jimcross1981/telecaster-clean-vs-modded-crunch1

My initial impressions (after a very short amount of playing time):
- I love the bridge pickup. The combination of that plus the new bridge (Callaham plus Glendale 3-saddle bridge) gives it the bright, twangy Telecaster sound I want from the bridge pickup
- I'm undecided about the neck pickup. It sounds great, but I think I might prefer the more scooped mids and more open sound of the stock Twisted Tele.

I'd be interested to know other people's opinions

[Telerocker]

I would experiment a while with the height. Scatterwound pickups are sensitive for that, every mm gives a different result.

[jimc]

After much experimentation I still couldn't get the sound I wanted from the neck pickup. I switched back to the Twisted Tele in the neck and kept the Flat 52 in the bridge and in the bridge position and the neck position it now sounds perfect, and there's a really lovely balance between the pickups

[Telerocker]

Somethings things work, sometimes they don't. I like the Flat 52-neck, but it in my guitar and that might be the difference here, as well is the rest of the gear.