Tele Thinline Pickup suggestions

[danbond]

I play in a band called Apologies, i have none (www.apologiesihavenone.co.uk) and we play sort of punk/rock. The song on our website called Sat In Vicky Park is a pretty solid indicator of our sound. We go for a big sound.

I play a 69 thinline tele through a Fender Twin-amp. The amp is the more modern 2 channel version with clean/dirty channels. The guitar has stock pickups which I think are "vintage" style but I cannot find any info on what they are. They seem to be quite low output and I don't think they are exactly the right ones for my playing. For lead/octave parts, they don't sound explosive enough and the whole rig is quite bright (treble and presence are turned right off on the amp!) Tghey sound great for ringing chords, but up the neck things thin up and get a bit bright.

I have been looking at BKP as our other guitarist got a humbucker for his strat and it sounds pefect. Tim suggested the BG 55 Stagger set, but they seem to have a lot of treble, which is something I want to control. I'd like something maybe slightly higher output which can drive my amp harder and cut it for rhythm and lead parts without getting too bright.

My cleans sound amazing at the moment and so the pickups would have to work for clean equally as well. Any suggestions would be really helpful.


For reference, the other guitarist plays a strat with a Rebel Yell in the bridge through a Orange R30 and a Marshall 4x12.


Thank you

Dan

[Telerocker]

What about the 50/52-Blackguards. They will perform great with maplenecks and beef up your sound. Did Tim talk about these?

[danbond]

Tim didn't mention these pickups. I  like the look of the flat 50s as they seem to have a controlled top end and do seem to have a beefier sound than what I am playing now.

Do they still have good cleans? Are they very hot? Do they still retain a real tele sound? I am quite interested!

[Ratrod]

If you're worried about brightness, that's what the tone knob is for.

My BG-ed Esquire is the first guitar on wich  I actually the tone knob. With the tone backed off a quarter turn or so, it ventures into P90 territory.

[BigB]

Tim didn't mention these pickups. I  like the look of the flat 50s as they seem to have a controlled top end and do seem to have a beefier sound than what I am playing now.

Do they still have good cleans? Are they very hot? Do they still retain a real tele sound? I am quite interested!

The BGF52's clean tones are just amazing, and yes, they do deliver that classic Tele twang - without the ice-pick 8). And the bridge is hot enough to drive your amp into a nice overdrive - I don't have to mess with my gain knob in when switching from my SG or Vox Custom 24 (both with rather hot 'buckers) to the Tele.

FWIW, for even more beef you can also go for a 4-way switch, will give you one more position with neck+bridge serial (like a humbucker). Still sounds like a Tele, but way fatter.

[St.James]

 8)

[Telerocker]

The BG50/52 have this broadcaster-tone, but still enough snap on tap. I think the 52-set provides this ultimate fat but snappy teletone you hear on so many records. The bridge, als Big B stated, has enough oomph to drive your amp. And yes: I also use the toneknob to sculpt the sound, from bright Tele to dark Les Paul-types of sounds.

[BigB]

The bridge, als Big B stated, has enough oomph to drive your amp.

and the neck (52 set) is just the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to clean tones (and still can take a good amount of gain).

And yes: I also use the toneknob to sculpt the sound, from bright Tele to dark Les Paul-types of sounds.

Wired mine gibson/50s style with a russian PIO cap and works just fine - tone down the bridge a bit and it fattens without loosing cut nor definition. Perhaps not "Les Paul-type" but still way heavier than what you'd expect from a vintage-labelled SC pup. Still vintage sounding FWIW - you may like it or not -, but that doesn't have to mean "weak" nor "shrill". I'm mostly a 'bucker user, and this Tele is the only SC axe I can (and did) use as a backup (indy / grunge / punk-rock band). Nuff said.

[HTH AMPS]

I use an 11k Broadcaster pickup and it's serious meaty, but still retains the trademark Tele twang - I'd go for something similar in the BKP range.

[Telerocker]

The bridge, als Big B stated, has enough oomph to drive your amp.

and the neck (52 set) is just the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to clean tones (and still can take a good amount of gain).

And yes: I also use the toneknob to sculpt the sound, from bright Tele to dark Les Paul-types of sounds.

Wired mine gibson/50s style with a russian PIO cap and works just fine - tone down the bridge a bit and it fattens without loosing cut nor definition. Perhaps not "Les Paul-type" but still way heavier than what you'd expect from a vintage-labelled SC pup. Still vintage sounding FWIW - you may like it or not -, but that doesn't have to mean "weak" nor "shrill". I'm mostly a 'bucker user, and this Tele is the only SC axe I can (and did) use as a backup (indy / grunge / punk-rock band). Nuff said.

I didn't mean real Les Paul-tones, but pretty big round classic rocktones on my Orange Rockerverb 50 head/ 2x12. And yeah, the neck pickup is fantastic.

[danbond]

Thanks for all the repies. I think I am going to get the BG50s. Cannot wait to try them out!

[Telerocker]

They won't disappoint you!

[WezV]

I use an 11k Broadcaster pickup and it's serious meaty, but still retains the trademark Tele twang - I'd go for something similar in the BKP range.

tim did me a 10k piledriver for a lapsteel - pretty much what you describe

[Philly Q]

I use an 11k Broadcaster pickup and it's serious meaty, but still retains the trademark Tele twang - I'd go for something similar in the BKP range.

tim did me a 10k piledriver for a lapsteel - pretty much what you describe

Isn't this pretty much the new BG50 spec?  10.6k with 43AWG wire.  I'm only going by numbers of course, don't own the pickup.