How would it sound: bridge humbucker in a Telecaster?

[muziekschuur]

http://www.fender.com/products/prod_...7402321_md.jpg

There are at the moment three types telecaster with humbuckers. So it is a genuine guitar and with these Fender pickups a great guitar to play.


Muziekschuur

[tradarama]

www.jgguitars.com

[analogtodd]

I've never really dug the "Fender Humbuckers" from the 70's... I know someone will jump in and say BUT SETH LOVER.......

I know, but the fact remains, they don't sound the like a great PAF or something of that flavor.

Now..
A humbucker at a bridge position in a tele can be a really cool thing. I LOooooove big fat pickups on a 25.5" scale and maple fretboards... Really gets a tone you can't get with Gibson type guitars!

[big country]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...1635&src=00633

I have two strat noiseless pups in my avatar that read the top three strings and the other one reads the bottom three strings

they dont sound like strats so much but sound great

[absrec]

Originally Posted by RyanPitch

How would it sound: bridge humbucker in a Telecaster?

Kinda like a Les Paul, but not as good.

I say let a Tele be a Tele. If you're looking for more mids and less twang, use a Les Paul.

-Aaron

[rsadasiv]

Originally Posted by absrec

Kinda like a Les Paul, but not as good.

I say let a Tele be a Tele. If you're looking for more mids and less twang, use a Les Paul.

-Aaron

Pretty much - not that that is a bad thing. I have a SD Lil 59'er in the bridge of my tele, and I think it has a great GUITAR sound. If you are expecting a Telecaster or a Les Paul, you will be disappointed, but if you take it on it's own terms you will probably enjoy it (fuller/less twangy-trebly than a SC tele, brighter than an LP - actually, probably closest to an SG)

BTW, the actual humbucker that you install will have a significant effect on the sound. YMMV.

[Blast9]

Other alternatives: Something P90-ish:

Medium output, nice and fat but still tele-ish.

I use a Harmonic Design S90 which is pretty cool.

Apparently they can generally be microphonic though, despite being wax dipped.

[woomanmoomin]

I think there have been quite a few guitars like this in the British (so-called) indie rock scene in the last few years. I think I saw one of the guys from Franz Ferdinand playing one at some point. (Wooh, it's almost like rock music or something. ) I don't remember it sounding that midrangey, but I couldn't hear it that clearly (no fault of the guitar). I guess it sounded like a Tele on mild steroids. Not bad. Can't remember which amp they were using. Probably a Hiwatt or something. Available in red or white. For those too busy thinking about the colour scheme to know what to do with the instruments.

RyanPitch, in case you don't know, the humbucker would naturally have a much higher output than the single-coil pickup, so if you have been thinking of combining the two... well, this is one reason why the combination is not that common. How about a Fender Thinline TC90 (http://www.fender.com/products/searc...tno=0262300541) as a sort of compromise, with two P90-type pickups (somewhere vaguely between Strat-type single coils and humbuckers in terms of output/tone)?!!

P.S. Blast9... P90s!! Drool! Homer has Duff Beer, I have P90s.

[big country]

I put a P 90 in the neck of my Tele

along with a strat pup in the middle

american tele brige pick up

with a five way switch

and a left handed strat neck

mexican tele body

with a fishman bridge pup

It can sound like a tele, strat , gibson (kinda) and an acustic guitar all in one

[RyanPitch]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Tradarama, you never cease to amaze me by introducing me to new music products: thanks! I'm checking out his site now.

More specifically, let's say someone took a stock Gibson 498T humbucker and routed out a Tele and put it in the bridge position (forget about matching its output to the other single coil pickup, and I'm not really interested in the semi-hollowbodies).

Question: How is the alder or poplar or ash body and maple neck going to affect the sound as compared to the mahogany body and neck of a Gibson guitar? Will it sound more wimpy?

[big country]

Alder - Alder is the classic Stratocaster body material, though the original models were made of ash. Alder is easy to work with because it doesn't require a lot of pore fill. Alder has a full-bodied sound, but doesn't have quite the "bite" of ash.

"It's like the Chevrolet of hardwood," alder in semi-hollows too.

Ash - Twangy, porous, and heavy are words that describe ash, the classic ingredient of the Telecaster sound. It also has good bottom end.


Im not sure about poplar I know its good for crown and bass boardshttp://www.harmony-
central.com/Guitar/Articles/Guitars_Wood_And_Tone/

as for putting a humbucker in the brige you would have to get a bridge of

some sort. I always wanted to put a tunomatic in a tele ( the fishman kind )

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Blast9

Other alternatives: Something P90-ish:

Medium output, nice and fat but still tele-ish.

I use a Harmonic Design S90 which is pretty cool.

Apparently they can generally be microphonic though, despite being wax dipped.

G&L has a tele with P90's that sounds nice , just not like a Tele. Look if you dig the feel go for it, bolt on bodys will sustain alittle less, but if the feel is right and the sound is what you want why not.

[baikonour]

These fender humbuckers are pretty cool, I can't remember right now, but there's a story about the guy who designed them...The tele deluxe with those is pretty cool. (there's a thinline and a solid body version)
They are note as dark as the gibsons, but still have a humbucker sound.
lee ranaldo from Sonic Youth is a big fan, he put these on different guitars...

[el cochino]

I have 2 Teles with Seymour Duncan Hotrails in the bridge and play death metal with them. It sounds great and I prefer them to my LP and SG.

[tradarama]

Originally Posted by RyanPitch

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Tradarama, you never cease to amaze me by introducing me to new music products: thanks! I'm checking out his site now.

More specifically, let's say someone took a stock Gibson 498T humbucker and routed out a Tele and put it in the bridge position (forget about matching its output to the other single coil pickup, and I'm not really interested in the semi-hollowbodies).

Question: How is the alder or poplar or ash body and maple neck going to affect the sound as compared to the mahogany body and neck of a Gibson guitar? Will it sound more wimpy?

I have been through a ton of gear on the guitar/amp side.

Here is a thought on the wood...I've always found that a GOOD piece of mahogany/guitar will sound meatier than a good alder/ash/basswood guitar (both with humbuckers in the bridge). That being said...consider this:

EVH's tone (arguably the best rock tone of a generation) was with the latter...

Now consider that too dark an instrument will mush up your recording. People do like the maple for the snap. People like the alder/basswood/ash for the clarity. I do think that you may not hate the recorded tone even if you hate the live tone. You may want to try a couple of pickups....here are a few:

1. WCR Goodwood: This is a fat sounding humbucker. Some may think too fat.

2. WCR Crossroad: A bit less wound but powerful and thick.

3. Lollar Humbucker: Clear but fat

4. Fralin Humbucker: Very Clear and fat

5. Tom Holmes: Very nice but expensive if you can find them.

6. Duncan JB (a pretty cheap and easy place to start...but if you like it you'll LOVE the others above (any of them).

PS Peter Florance makes very nice pickups that are very clear and bright; however, they (to me) wound like a nonhumming P90 or Single. I have them in my JG guitar (mahogany) and they are nice but not a fat tone by far.


LASTLY: Try this little trick if you find the pickups too ice picky....buy a PRS brand push/pull Sweet Switch (tone knob)....get help wiring it (I can't help you there) and try it. Santana invented it (I'm not a huge fan of his tone but listen in) because it emulates the rounding of the tone that happens when you use a long guitar cord (another thing to try). I put them in all of my guitars and it really cuts off the white noise...$50ish trick that will do more than $1000 in gear can.

One last last trick: Buy a good cable....Tara Labs is good and will bring in clear lows/mids to add to nice highs (George L's /Whirlwind etc are thin sounding). Go to www.lavacables.com Great guy and honest.

Last Last Last: Go to RS Guitarworks and look up the "treble tamer" kit of pots/caps. I'm going to have that wired in my JG today and I'll report back. $60ish trick with results TBD.

[tradarama]

1. JGs are nice but good luck finding one (and if you do they're like $9k...but it just gives you an idea that YES tele w/ buckers is popular (they're the hottest boutique guitar out there).

2. Unless you really don't care about the Tele maybe you should try a ready made bucking guitar and replace the existing bucker w/ one of the good ones I recommended. I'd hate to see you hatchet a keeper guitar and get zero for it if you hate it.

You're probably in a hurry to try this but try to keep your financial senses clear too.

[RyanPitch]

Originally Posted by tradarama

I'd hate to see you hatchet a keeper guitar and get zero for it if you hate it.

Do you know offhand which humbuckers will fit in the bridge position, without routing, of one of those '90s American Tele Plus guitars that came with 2 lace sensors, side by side, in the bridge position? That way I wouldn't have to hack it up... But I've heard that, for example, Gibson humbuckers wouldn't fit in there.

You're probably in a hurry to try this but try to keep your financial senses clear too.

Eh, not in too much of a hurry. I'll wait for something good. Still haven't decided on amps. Although I'm going to sell my Bogner Ecstasy 101B... Too much amp for my needs.

[Daedalus77]

My main guitar is an '04 American Tele that I had modified with two SD Antiquity HBs and a Bigsby. I play alt.country / Americana (most of the time). It's a great guitar, but it has a unique sound—obviously not "true" Tele but also nowhere near a Les Paul. If I had to pigeon-hole it with comparisons I'd say it's most like an SG, but as it's alder and not mahogany, and has the Bigsby and a totally different scale length, that's not really accurate, either. Mostly I'd just call it cool.

[DeathMonkey]

My dirty little tele secret is the SD Li'l Screamin Demon - Seymour himself says that it's one of his favs for bridge position mini 'buckers in teles.

[dirren]

I have a HotRail in bridge and the original mic for neck on my '78. Pots are wired to be volume on both. Works well.

/Matt

[jmu]

Man, You should definitely go immediatly to TV Jones web site. That man produces new versions of vintage Filtertron pickups, found in vintage Gretsch guitars.

Dig this?

But, he also makes specific bridges for instaling them in telecaster!!

Finaly, You should watch movie that is showing You how does it sounds. It is huge, twangy, bity.

Go for it!!!thumbsup

[ewegogetemtiger]

this guitar sounds terrific

[Blast9]

Wow - stunner!

[skylabfilmpop]

I have a single humbucker thinline mahogany tele (MIJ body, rosewood allparts neck) sounds amazing, like a 335/tele hybrid!

[stainless]

Fender made a tele with a double coil/Humbucker style pup in the bridge for a couple of years... they were actually Lace sensors - I owned one.... I think they were called a Custom+ or something... apparently didn't sell well so they discontinued, but it had a great sound, coil tap switch in between the pots was stock- a Teal and a Red color-

I regert selling it but at the time had too many guitars (too many is when you have gits you don't play)

I currently have a SD Lil 59 in the bridge, and stacked chrome domes (Big Block config) in ther neck and mid

it screams

[janek 68]

It doesn`t have any sense to cut highs with any inventions .If you have very good amp nad very good pedal ( and proper speakers) you`ll have rich and dense overdrive with single coil in the bridge position.Listen to Keith richards contemporary live sound -ex Jumping Jack Flash or Pete Townshend Strat+Vibroking.I love these sounds and i use Hiwatt with Celestion Vintages with bridge single coil and Fulltone Fulldrive - there is amount of full mids equally to Marshall with Gibson.One additional tip - i use custom wound ceramic single pickup (6.5K).The best -rock sounding Telecaster with my setup is Nocaster from Fender.I`ve bought Nocaster set of pickups for my Partcaster not build yet but i would like to try mahogany body for even more mids.So humbucker doesn`t always mean fat sound and fat overdrive.

[Macky]

For anyone in the U.K. looking for Pickups,
I stumbled on "axetec" yesterday when checking out some PU for my thinline.
http://www.axetec.co.uk
There is a good selection of Humbuckers... great names.. e.g. Steam Hammer.. Rolling Mill
All have soundclips. bridge/mid/neck.. dirty/clean
Oh and 50% off buying online.

[AnthonySpinali]

I own a Schecter Custom Shop PT Dual Humbucker very similar to this w/ a rosewood neck

PT - Schecter Guitar Research

Bought mine new twelve years ago. It's a little heavy and thicker than an SG (or Guild S100 is that the right name?) in my opinion as I have owned all of them. I like it better than the Les Paul Standard and Bluesbird that I've owned because I find it stays in tune better and is far more versatile from a tone perspective. Mine has push/pull knobs to make each pickup single coil.

I play through a 1980 Marshall 2203 and the PT tends to sound like AC/DC when in the bridge position with full tone and full gain. I find I need an overdrive pedal for solos but that's more a statement about how I use my amp.

Just my ideas don't take them for gospel.

Ha just realized how old this post is! Well I hope this helps someone someday!

Anthony

[Joe Cole]

Modern Player Telecaster Plus
Pawn Shop Special Series Telecaster

These are two easy and low cost options