Author Topic: tele custom pickups? (Read 6355 times)

sam123abc · « **on:** July 08, 2006, 12:24:24 AM »

Hi im building a telecaster custom ((with the humbucker ni the neck and the single in the bridge)) and i was wondering if bkp do a set for this guitar as i love bkp and would love to have them in :) thanks, sam

38thBeatle · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2006, 07:52:18 AM »

Hi welcome to the forum. Presumably you are looking for traditional rock sounds with this- there are a number of options, could you say what sort of music you are into. I am not an expert on humbuckers but if you are seeking the classic sound of an old one then a Mule or Stormy Monday would be a good choice- the guys here will correct me if I am wrong. For the bridge, classic Tele would be Country Boy ( it beefs up nicely believe me) but some of the guys here have Brown Sugars, Yardbirds, Boss's etc and will be able to chip in. The latter pups, to varying degrees, introduce hotter or thicker tones. At the risk of having the regular guys ribbing me for my repetitveness, if you haven't already, consider getting a 4 way swich to give you extra option of pups in series.

Tellboy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 08, 2006, 10:06:17 AM »

Welcome to the forum. As 38thBeatle has said there is a great range of BKP Tele pickups. I have a Boss set which are considered "vintage hot" on the products page. I'm delighted with them - they have a great sound across the whole guitar volume pot range but you might want something with more or less output (although all the range seem not to loose the tele sound whatever the output).

I think the neck humbucker choice will depend to a certain extent what bridge pickup you go for. If you are unsure I would phone/email BKP and have a chat with Tim. He will often do a special wind in this situation so that the neck HB and bridge SC are balanced.

And got to agree with 38thBeatle on the 4 way switch. :)

Elliot · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2006, 10:08:26 AM »

In a tele custom I would be sooooo tempted to go for a Mississippi Queen (i.e. humbucker sized P90) in the neck - in fact had I not spent all the money I could justifiably spend on GAS I would do it :D

sam123abc · « **Reply #4 on:** July 09, 2006, 12:00:11 PM »

thanks guys, i play loads of music but now i am trying to focus on more things like john frusciante, the red hot chili peppers, pink floyd etc. However i could find myself playing much heavier music but i have other guitars for tht im not a great fan of p90's for some reason i much prefer the covered humber ((i really like the look of the fender humbucker which they have on the guitar is there any way i could have 1 like thishttp://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0137502306)) thanks again

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #5 on:** July 09, 2006, 03:48:27 PM »

Here's my Tele Custom. The stock wide-range humbucker sucked SO back and sounded NOTHING like the originals I scoured ebay I found the real thing. afaik, there is nobody out there making accurate repros of these pickups so it's down to finding an original or getting Tim to rewind a reissue one. the construction of the reissues is apparently different too, so it's never gonna give the 'true' wide-range 'bucker tone.

One tip to getting the WR humbucker to sound 'right' is using 1M pots like the originals did - the stock 250k pots in my guitar were waaaaay too bassy (so were 500k pots).

Upgrading the bridge to a steel custom-shop type with brass saddles really helped the tone of the guitar too.

sam123abc · « **Reply #6 on:** July 09, 2006, 09:40:33 PM »

*to ebay!* thanks tho saved alot of time in research what websites did you go to to get all the mods for your tele becasue i really want it to sound awesome can any of you give me some tips on what hardware to put into my guitar as ime a bit of a noob when it comes to that kinda stuff.

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #7 on:** July 09, 2006, 10:46:02 PM »

I didn't go to any website to pickup that info - its just stuff I've learnt over the years.

The Fender USA-made steel bridge with brass saddles REALLY makes a difference, makes it sound like a real-deal Tele. The stock bridge is 'ok', but the upgrade one is defo worth the cash. It's the same bridge that the USA-made vintage series Teles have.

fwiw, I wouldn't necessarily say the wide range humbucker is a must have - I'd sooner have a nice single coil in the neck for those Hendrix (or Frusciante) moments. In its defence though, I would offer that nothing else really sounds like it imo.

As an alternative, I'm planning on trying a Gretsch-type pickup in the neck position on my Tele. There are some nice repros knocking around that would really spice up a Tele (TV Jones for instance).

:twisted:

PhilKing · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2006, 12:25:42 PM »

I think that in order to get the Fender pickup with a BK sound, you would have to go the rewind route. BK has many great pickups that would work in the neck position, but they will all be standard humbucker size (you could get double rows of screws, which would change the tone to give more bottom). I would only look at 3 for matching though, Stormy Monday, Mule or MQ (P-90 in HB size mount). I used a Slowhand in the neck with my Brown Sugar, and a mini-Mule with a Pile Driver. I like the sound of these in the neck more than the stock tele neck pickup.

sam123abc · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2006, 08:13:43 PM »

right ime now debating with myself as to go with the classic tele look and go for two singles or the custom? what do you think with the type of music i play what do you think will suit me best?

edit: ime starting the build like really quite soon too so i need to think quick

38thBeatle · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2006, 09:35:39 PM »

In spite of the name, Country Boys would do it but you might want some more output so you could perhaps get Brown Sugars . I have not tried them though. If I had another Tele I'd probably get them or maybe Yardbirds. though I can honestly say the Country Boys have delivered for me live on many an occasion.

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2006, 10:20:07 PM »

for the styles you've mentioned I would personally go the trad-Tele route with two single coils.

:twisted:

sam123abc · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2006, 06:19:51 PM »

yea me too now how about one witha wnie red body, cream bindings, normal white 2-ply pickguard and a strat ((maple)) neck? or if i can do a sunburt one i'll do one exactly like that but with a sunurst body, 'cus sunburst is the sexx

ill have a look around for some sound clips of the brow sugars, country boys and yarbirds pickups and ill post with a decision

EDIT: decided at long last :) goin for brown sugars should be awesome ((not long till i start makin this beast ))