# Favorite Telecaster Pickup Configuration...



## Jaaay01 (Oct 11, 2012)

Looking for everyone's input on your favorite Telecaster pickups, setups , etc...

This will help us when offering the new Telecaster build course through Conestoga College...

Pictures are always a bonus...
Thanks in advance...:food-smiley-004:

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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

There's a guy on ebay named Benson that hand winds pickups. 

I have one of his neck pickups and I love it. 

They're cheap too!


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

If I could I'd have Seth Lover Wide Range pickups in both positions. I got to use a set of those in a Starcaster for one glorious sounding evening, I'll never forget it. Since I can't I prefer a PAF or mini-humbucker (firebird style) in the neck and a hot bridge Right now I have an Anderson stacked humbucker in the bridge position but I could easily live with only the single coil sound and a GFS mini. As it is both are coil tapped and the standard 3 way vol tone control is how it is set up. I can do pretty much anything with that setup.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

I love minibuckers in the neck JOn Moore in the bridge


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I would prefer a three coil arrangement with two single coils and a humbucker. I'm not too fussy the way they are arranged as long as one of the single coils is in the bridge.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

Regarding pickups, as of quite recently, I'm a huge neck P90 fan. I put a Michael Reilander P90 in the neck with an SCN (Samarium Cobalt Noiseless by Fender) in the bridge and using a 4 way switch. The bridge is weak compared to the neck P90 and out of balance. I talked to Michael about this just before Christmas and coincidentally he was working on a bridge P90 prototype to compliment his neck offering. It is a traditional tele configuration and you wouldn't instantly know it's a P90. Anyway, I just ordered one last week and I can't wait to try it out. I have several teles and one Custom Shop Esquire and the partscaster I speak of above is the best sounding guitar I currently own (amoungst P90 and HB Les Pauls). 

On the topic of set-ups etc, first of all I prefer either a 9.5" fretboard radius or failing that at least a compound 7.25"/9.5". Medium jumbo frets (Stew Mac #049 or Dunlop 6150's are close). Relief around 0.025". Action at 4/64" all the way across. Of course these are personal opinions and preferences.

Obligatory photo (this was before the addition of the neck P90).


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Lately this has been my fav config for Teles:










I'm using a Lollar Regal in the neck hooked up to 1M pots (can't recall if the cap value) and the bridge is my beloved Seymour Duncan BG1400 Billy Gibbons Esquire pickup, wired to 500k pots and a .022 cap as well as a DPDT for switching between series and parallel wiring for the coils in the BG1400.

The Regal sounds amazing in the neck. Clear and articulate and with plenty of girth. Much nicer-sounding than any other neck HB I've owned. The BG1400 is a rip-roaring fire-breather of a pickup. In series mode, I can easily get all kinds of classic rock and hard rock sounds and when I switch to parallel, lighter stuff like Stones and Tom Petty are right there, nice and bright and spanky.


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## TheRumRunner (Sep 29, 2011)

Here's a thought, have the students "wind their own"!!!

Stewmac sells everthing they'll need and winders can be built, the interwebs are full of instructions.










DW


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## notjoeaverage (Oct 6, 2008)

Jaaay 

If it ain't broke don't fix it, the lipstick and the single coil, it's a classic.

Will you be able to get an ash body that would standout with a natural finish?


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## mugtastic (May 25, 2010)

blonde: klein low wind humbucker neck, seymour duncan vintage stack bridge (humless setup).

double bound sunburst: pickup wizard broadcaster style hand wound tele set (local and thoroughly awesome).


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

I had a tele with a seth lover in the neck: while it sounded great, I have Les Paul's so the sound was redundant...I prefer the single coil neck. it gets good Jimi tones as well

my fave tele bridge was a Lindy Fralin

I have a beater mexican tele that came stock with a set of Seymour Duncan's, they are excellent & underrated IMO. I also like the SD's that came in my '90's G&L Legacy, they compared favourably to a set of Fralin's vintage hots, so I sold the Fralin's!

mugtastic that is a nice pair of tele's!! :rockon2:


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

I like the cheap stock pickups in my Squier CV Custom.All I know is that they are Alnico V magnets


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

TV Jones!










If it's two singles, I really like Fralin Blues Specials.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

There are so many combinations I like. Anything resembling the original pickups is a no-brainer, but for variety I've had several variations. The Tele Deluxe wide range humbuckers (original or reproductions, not the new look-alikes) are great. Also a minihumbucker like a Seymour Duncan at the neck and a standard bridge pickup sounds good. I had a Tele with 2 Joe Barden rails (I don't know the model) that was pretty good. My Aerodyne currently has a cheap GFS rail bridge pickup and some sort of humbucking P-90 at the neck which is a nice combination.

Almost anything will work on a Tele, but if I was setting up my first one I'd get some decent quality original style pickups from Fender or Seymour Duncan.

Peace, Mooh.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

sulphur said:


> TV Jones!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ya you beat me to it. I Love Filtertrons in a Tele. YOu can still get a lot of Twang, but a whole lot else.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Gulp.. I so want to hear that.....simple layout. 



torndownunit said:


> Ya you beat me to it. I Love Filtertrons in a Tele. YOu can still get a lot of Twang, but a whole lot else.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

sulphur said:


> TV Jones!
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> 
> 
> ...


Thoses Tele are stunning!You got some nice weapons Sulfur!!!!!!!


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

EMG T set. Great sound and dead quiet.


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## ledfloyd (Apr 1, 2011)

These look very interesting. I have one of his RWRP strat pickups in my Partscaster (w/ P-90s in the neck & bridge) and it's great.


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