Advice on matched HS pair for telecaster

[mickythesticky]

Hi all -

Can anyone recommend a balanced pair of BK pick-ups for a telecaster?

I want single coil at the neck and humbucker at the bridge.

I'm looking for a clear, bell-like tone from the SC, and from the HB something that will push the amp (a vintage British-made valve amp) a bit more when I play harder, but I want them to be reasonably balanced in terms of tonal output, with a clean well-defined low-end. I'm not looking for classic tele twang at the bridge so much as something which will give a few slightly weighter/grittier options, but which can be played alongside a clean neck tone.

If its helpful to have more context, I've bought this particular guitar as a bit of a project. It was clearly someone else's project previously. It has a US Fender tele body [routed for 2 humbuckers, so presumably once belonged to a Tele Deluxe] and an all-in-one maple neck [vintage style, with 'vintage' frets] from another guitar [an 80s Fernandes]. It plays very well indeed and has been set-up nicely, but the p-ups are a very poorly matched.

The neck is currently a 1984 Fender JV single coil. It has a modest output, and is quite poorly defined at the low end [lots of boom and wobble on the low notes].

The bridge is currently a Seymour Duncan TB6 humbucker. Its all mid, mid, mid. You wouldn't play the guitar with this p-up selected on its on, because it has volume but no weight to it, and you can't play it with both p-ups selected, because the TB6 clashes so badly with the JV. The JV on its own is tolerable, but it lacks both oomph and clarity.

I have a pair of Seymour Duncans in my ASAT [59' Humbucker at neck, Seymour Duncan Humbucker JB TB4 at bridge] and these seem really well-matched by comparison.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated -

Michael

[Telerocker]

Not an easy one, but I was thinking VHII-bridge and 55 stagger tele-neck. I have the VHII in an ash HSS-strat and it simply rocks. Very articulate, touchsensitive, huge brown sounds with harmonics jumping out when you dig in. Cleans up great too. It does well in bolt-on-guitars, It's about 8.9k and the 55-stagger-neck is about 7k. The neck has the uppermids emphasized but that's nice for cleans. It you want a bit more even balanced neckpickup look at the BG50- and BG52-necks. However the BG52-neck is quite stratty and has moderate output (5k). Another option would be the Countryboy-neck. I have no experience with it, other forummember will chime in, I hope. It's nearly 7k, but is has an AIII-magnet. I don't know how this balances with AV-humbuckers.

[BigB]

Hi all -

Can anyone recommend a balanced pair of BK pick-ups for a telecaster?

I want single coil at the neck and humbucker at the bridge.

That's a rather rare config for a Tele... I really dig the BGF52 neck but as Telerocker mentionned, it's rather stratty and not very hi output - well, don't let the DC reading fools you, it's not weak neither, to me it has a bit more push and roar than the Texas Specials, but still I wouldn't try to match it with anything hotter than a vintage PAF. Sorry, can't help much here :-/

[Telerocker]

The BG52-neck (BG50 old set) works for me, it's powerful enough, but I have a balanced tele-set. With a hb-bridge it might be a bit on the weak side.

[mickythesticky]

Thanks - this is very helpful as a starting point. I know its not a typical set up for a tele - but I really fancy having the versatility of this combination.

I like the VHII that you recommend, based on the sample audio, and the description. Seems like that [or maybe the Mule?] might be good options for my bridge humbucker.

I'm not so sure about the BGF52 - it does sound a bit too stratty for my tastes [in the sampler at least]. I prefer the Country Boy by comparison.

But now I'm wondering - given that the guitar is routed for humbuckers, maybe the Manhattan humbucker-sized p90 might make a good neck pick up? I like the sample clip of that. Anyone paired one of those up with a VHII?

Michael

[Telerocker]

But that changes a lot. Maybe you'd look into a Mule-set. I have this set in a St. Blues Missisippi Bluesmaster, which is a tele/les paul-hybrid, body and neck mahogany though. It's great for all classic tones, but Mules can do metal too if needed. They clean up great. I recommended the VHII bec it'seem to excel in bolt-on guitars. At least does in my strat.

[mickythesticky]

Hi

In case anyone else has a similar query, I should close this by saying that in the end I opted for 'The Boss' at the neck and 'The Mule' at the bridge. Works very well. The neck p-up is fantastic on its own, but with the bridge added in, there is a little more grit underpinning it.

[Telerocker]

Congrats!