Telecaster Pickups

[ztikmaen]

Hey guys, I have an MIA Tele that I use for most of my clean/cutting stuff. It seems to do me well but sometimes I wish they had a little more oomph. Can somebody please tell me the Pros and Cons of the standard MIA Tele pickups from what they have experienced, and how they compare to say the Blackguards? Thanks

[Telerocker]

I have an American Series 2000 tele/rosewood fretboard. Stockpickups were decent, but I found them a litte too thin/bright in the topend after all. Replaced them with a John Suhr-teleset: more mids, a bit rounder topend. A step up. Now BG50's are in. The BG50's will get you in Broadcaster-terrority. They have quite some balls for a vintagepu. I like the stringseparation, balance and the dynamics of the Blackguards. The neck-pu (52-set now) has a nice strattiness too it. I like that. The bridge has all you want from a classic tele-pu, from pristine cleans to heavy rock, it will deliver. This set has more magic then the Suhrs, which sound very decent to my ears, but a little flat in direct comparison. The Blackguards for sure have more character. A friend heard them and placed them in a Squier Tele. Now, his strat stands in the corner, the tele became his fav.

[ztikmaen]

Okay, but is there anything good about the standard pickups? Because after upgrading the pickups on my Ibanez (Humbuckers), I may get a new guitar for myself which will probably be a Gretsch Electromatic Pro Jet or Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special. So if I did end up getting one of those, would my priority be to upgrade the pickups on the tele or the Jazzmaster/Gretsch? Would the pickups be hard to change in the Jazzmaster?

[Telerocker]

Where your priorities? Is the tele your workhorse, I should say upgrading. If you plan to use the Gretsch/Fender Jazzmaster for a lot of songs, you'd better invest in the new guitar. I think the stockpickups in your tele are quite ok and you could thicken the topend by adjusting your amp or use a (fat)boost.  My tele goes first into a Toadworks Dual Boost, which does cleanboost, fatboost or a blend of clean/fat. This also helps to tame a tele. Secondly: if your tele has the Fender Deltatone-circuit, just turn the toneknob back till you like the sound. I find the tone on max quite cutting. I like it just a tad turned back.

[ztikmaen]

Just thought I'd revive this, turns out that due to financial staging I'll be replacing pickups before taking a leap into buying a new guitar...
So. What I love the sound of is the Irish Tour. The description is pretty much exactly what I look for in a single coil. Grinding mids, warm lows, and an abundance of smooth round highs. What Tele pickup would give me this tone?
In the neck I want a really juicy tone that can do SRV and Jimi Hendrix.
In the bridge I want a compressed classic Tele bridge tone that can drive well and give me that cut and grind I want. I want nice mids and good highs without getting the icepick. Should keep definition and edge when driven.
Would the Flat 50 BK be too warm? I don't want a thin sound but I don't want waffles either. A nice defined, grinding, non-icepicky sound with decent power in the bridge and a tubular juicy tone in the neck...

[Telerocker]

The Blackguard 52-set: bridge thick, punchy, enough treble, no icepick. Neck sounds very stratty, great for SRV/Hendrix-stuff, although a tele is not a strat, you'll come close to that with this neckpickup.

[ztikmaen]

Wow, sounds like a perfect match... Is there any other set worth considering or is that a sure thing?

[Telerocker]

I think this is the best set for what you are looking for.

[ztikmaen]

I think this is the best set for what you are looking for.

But the Brown Sugar description sounds good too?
A vintage hot TeleŽ set with classic mid range grind, tight bass and characteristic bite in the high-end. Well suited to players looking for authentic TeleŽ tones with a distinct rock voice.

[Telerocker]

I think the BG's are some more special.

[ztikmaen]

I think the BG's are some more special.

How so?

[BigB]

I think the BG's are some more special.

How so?

The BGF52 (previously known as BGF50...) neck is really something you have to try - it has the clarity of the best vintage strat neck, while keeping some of the rawer, less polite character of the Tele. The bridge, while not having a high DC rating, is very powerful (drives my HRDx almost as much as the Crawler bridge :o), very raw and wild and all the Tele twang you want but not harsh nor brittle, and it fattens and "warms" up beautifully when rolling of the tone pot a bit. To sum it up, this set manages to gives you all the classic Tele tones AND more, and is as versatile as possible while having a definite character.

If you didn't noticed, I really LOVE my BGF52 ;)

[ztikmaen]

O_0
.... Sounds awesome!

[Telerocker]

BigB explains it well. My tele seems to hit my amp harder then my strat with the Crawler-bridge.

[ztikmaen]

BigB explains it well. My tele seems to hit my amp harder then my strat with the Crawler-bridge.

How do they compare to the Flat 50's? I kinda want some power behind the tone too. Just looking for other alternatives