Which pickups for my tele?

[Philly Q]

I'm a bit of a volume control tweaker, so I think the Piledriver, if and when I get another tele project going, might be right up my street. I'm personally thinking of "Esquiring" an old Squier, and the Piledriver is prime candidate at the moment.

If I was going for a tele with a neck humbucker (I tried it before, and I didn't really like it, so I'm unlikely to :lol:), but if I was... I would probably be looking at Piledriver myself - I'd want as much oink as possible from the bridge single coil to balance the neck pickup. And if the bridge single I was looking at also managed to retain the character of a classic tele (which I understand the PD does)... then I'd be sold :D

Yeah, I'm in much the same boat - thinking of putting together an Esquire (or similar) and considering either the Piledriver or BG '50.

For the neck humbucker of my black Tele I'm thinking Alnico IV, warm and fairly low output - Mule, Stormy Monday or maybe even Abraxas.  The bridge pickup now is a Joe Barden but I may replace that too (Piledriver or BG '50 again).

Which leaves my Thinline with a regular Tele pickup configuration.

[gaex86]

Don't know why but I'm starting to consider to come back to single coil + single coil. What set should I consider?Any user?

[38thBeatle]

Ah now your talking :lol: I would say a good traditional set and for a 57 I would suggest looking at the Country Boys for a more polite but articulate trad Tele tone or the newer Blackguards. I haven't tried the latter but there are many here who have and can give you an indication of what they are like. I can tell you that the Country Boys give me classic tones and can crank it out if I apply the appropriate settings on my amp. You might like to trawl the players sections where there are some clips.

[Ivan]

if you want single and single, then my vote is for the Blackguards.... only because you don't have to worry about matching the bridge with the power of a humbucker.

Let's face it, the signature tone of a Tele is the bridge pu and not the neck. The neck pu is useful to have for a change of tone but it's not the star of the show.

The Blackguard bridge retains all the high end and twang you want from a Tele, but has the girth to sound full and not thin or ice picky. Great Tele tone when clean, and a nice articulate crunch when overdriven.

The neck is warm and woody... not muddy. Sounds good and does the job of complimenting the bridge.

[gaex86]

ok!So I've searched all the web, youtube and the player section of this forum and I think I've fallen in love with the blackguard set!I've listened a couple of samples here in the player section really amazing! I've digged the country boy too even if there's something in the blackguard I prefer. Anyway I'd like to hear some feedback and maybe samples also for piledriver,brown sugar, yardbird and the boss. Don't know why but the yardbird has something really inspiring..maybe it's the name! Anyway is there anyone who can tell me how does work a 4 way switch in a tele?

[AndyR]

I've got two teles with Blackguard Flat 50s (a Baja and a Fender Japan 52-type), and one with Yardbirds (a Fender Japan custom).

All three have the four-way switch, it goes:

1. Bridge
2. Bridge and Neck (Parallel - the "standard" sound)
3. Neck
4. Bridge and Neck (Series)

Position 4 is the "extra" - fatter, meatier. For me and what I want, it works really well with the BGs, but I haven't really found any use for it with the Yardbirds, I'm tempted to put the 3 way back.

I love the Blackguards, but there is something about the Yardbirds. They're my most recent BKP, and I wasn't expecting the result, but it is my "go to" guitar for any recording at all. If I've got a song that requires guitar sounds that you'd think were "strat", "tele", and "humbucker", I will happily use my Yardbirded tele for every part.

If I was still playing live, the Yardbirded tele would be the one that went on stage (actually, I'd want another in reserve! :lol:).

Yardbirds are sweeter sounding, but still pure tele - the neck is a gorgeous tone on its own. It does rock/pop/blues/country/rocknroll, takes distortion, is really good when you want multiple guitar parts that cut through without getting mushy.

If you want a set that excels in the blues/rocknroll area, for example, and you're not too worried about much else, I would still wholeheartedly recommend Blackguards - they have a slightly "rougher edge" to them that lends itself to that. They do dirty and clean, they are absolute stunners when you first try them.

They're usable for everything else, but in comparison to the yardbird tele, they're a bit fatter and nearly always the Yardbird tele is more flexible for me.

I only have two Yardbird "clips" - both are complete mixes, and obviously there's a lot of delays and wotnots on them.

The first one, every single guitar part (about 8 or 9) is the Yardbird tele, I seem to remember there's a "solo" on the outro.

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17322.0

The second one is a mixture of Yardbirds, MQs and an accoustic. There's some heavy stereo tremelo on some of the Yardbirds - the Blackguard teles couldn't cut it for me in this particular instance

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17917.0


However, I suspect it's the Blackguards will make you most happy for a first tele set :D

[gaex86]

First I wanna thank you Andy for you're help and wanna thank all the other guys for their post. Anyway I'm amazed by your clips. Wow!You're recording skill are really great so is you're playing and singing. Congratz!After studying I will hear more carefully you're clips with headphones, but so far I'm really impressed by the yardbirds! Really nice clean and dist, I like both bridge and neck position! The point is that I only have one guitar (my trusty american tele) so I'm in the perpetual search of a compromise between the tele's signature sound and a little of flexibility. Except for metal,heavy and hi-gain stuff, I like to play everything from 60's till today. I know I' getting boring, but what do you think will suit best for me?
PS:I don't remember If I told in the first post but don't blame me for my poor english cos' I'm italian!

[AndyR]

If you like playing everything from 60s onwards, and you've only got the one tele, maybe Yardbirds is what you need (out of the ones I've tried). They seem to cover more bases for me. I don't think you'd be disappointed with either set, but Yardbirds definitely do a more convincing jangly 60s pop sound for me. When I go for raunchy, they give me a nice "tight" sound on chords, and leads are just lovely.

If I'm doing something that wants one guitar part, I tend lean towards the Blackguard guitars - they give a nice meaty tone with more "authority". But when I'm putting something together with more parts, keyboards, etc, I seem to find the Yardbird guitar is more likely to give me something I can mix easily.

The only thing I'm not sure about for you is the woods. My Blackguards are in ash bodies with maple neck/fingerboards. My Yardbirds are in alder with maple neck and rosewood board. I don't know how much difference it makes, but I'd guess the alder and rosewood are adding to some of the "sweeter" sound.

Yours is ash with maple board, isn't it? I've not heard the Yardbirds in that - I don't imagine they'd suddenly get harsh with those woods... but I'm not that experienced in how these things interract.

Maybe there's someone has got some actual experience of using Yardbirds in ash/maple?

By the way - I chose Yardbirds for this guitar because the name's cool, and they are the type of pickup a real early 60s tele would have had... (Nothing too scientific in my choice! :lol:) I was actually expecting a vaguely thin and biting tone, and that I was going to learn to work with it to make the sounds that I can hear in my head... But they're not like that at all. They're clear and sweet at the same time, and I've yet to find an amp setting where they don't work well. And added to that - I didn't have to "work" to find the 60s sounds at all, they were there the minute I plugged in :D

[gaex86]

Wow!Immediate 60's sound..this makes shine my eyes!I've always been tempted by the name yardbirds cos it made me think of my greatest inspiration clapton,cream,bluesbreaker and so on..These things you just told me are all I wanted to hear!I'm pretty sure this is the sound I'm after. Anyway about the woods my tele has a maple neck, but I can't find if it has an ash or alder body. Will I change also potentiometers or anything else in electronics? Anyway I'm really impressed by your song "If we should sing together". Really you have some serious skill;i've listened to it a couple of times and it's perfect from guitar playing, to your voice (which is amazing) to the whole song-structure! Congratz sir!

[AndyR]

Many thanks :D

I personally don't fiddle too much with my electronics unless there's something wrong, or I suspect that cheap pots are impairing the sound.

[gaex86]

Anyone who has used/uses any of the single coil tele set wants to give me his impressions?
Thanks in advance!

[Tellboy]

Anyone who has used/uses any of the single coil tele set wants to give me his impressions?
Thanks in advance!

I have been using both the Piledriver and Boss sets. I have been very pleased with both but after reading all the posts on the forum have been curious to see what the Blackguard Flat 50s sound like. I have just fitted a set in my Jap 50th anniversary tele. At the same time I altered the wiring by removing the treble bleed cap across the volume control (there are  some threads on here discussing this) and rewired it to '50s' spec by connecting the tone pot to the centre lug of the volume control. So how does it sound?...Fantastic ! A great Tele sound - loads of bite, twang, clarity which also overdrives well. I was curious to see how much difference the wiring alterations had made so did the same alteration to my cheap tele copy which has the Boss set in and to my ear greatly improved the sound.... not too far from the BGs (considering it's a cheap guitar and desperately needs a string change).
I always thought the treble bleed cap was a good idea and was worried that removing it would muddy up the sound as the volume was decreased but that was not the case as the wiring mod seems to compensate for this.

[Supernaught]

Does noone round here use Brown Sugars?    I just got some and really like them, but theres hardly any mention of them round here.   Makes me wonder if I bought the right set...

[gaex86]

Anyone who has used/uses any of the single coil tele set wants to give me his impressions?
Thanks in advance!

I have been using both the Piledriver and Boss sets. I have been very pleased with both but after reading all the posts on the forum have been curious to see what the Blackguard Flat 50s sound like. I have just fitted a set in my Jap 50th anniversary tele. At the same time I altered the wiring by removing the treble bleed cap across the volume control (there are  some threads on here discussing this) and rewired it to '50s' spec by connecting the tone pot to the centre lug of the volume control. So how does it sound?...Fantastic ! A great Tele sound - loads of bite, twang, clarity which also overdrives well. I was curious to see how much difference the wiring alterations had made so did the same alteration to my cheap tele copy which has the Boss set in and to my ear greatly improved the sound.... not too far from the BGs (considering it's a cheap guitar and desperately needs a string change).
I always thought the treble bleed cap was a good idea and was worried that removing it would muddy up the sound as the volume was decreased but that was not the case as the wiring mod seems to compensate for this.

How would you describe the piledriver,the boss and the blackguard?Dunno pros and cons,for what they're better and what not..I'm really curious!Thx

[gaex86]

Does noone round here use Brown Sugars?    I just got some and really like them, but theres hardly any mention of them round here.   Makes me wonder if I bought the right set...

What pickups did you have first and how would you describe the brown sugars?Thx