Replacement pickups for a Tele

[bek]

I have a great-sounding Tele (Washburn Laredo) with what I believe is called a "Broadcaster Set," which is an SD Broadcaster in the bridge and I think a '52 in the neck. I don't really know what the neck one is, but the thing sounds terrific; strong, detailed cleans and good driven tones. The Broadcaster is, as the name implies, kind of a benchmark for good bridge pickup tones. The neck pickup is really perfectly nice and great for jazzy stuff and rhythm work. That said, I swapped in a Big Bottom set from Rio Grande. The bridge is about the same as the Broadcaster, and the neck pickup is even better than the SD, sounding more in the direction of a P90. Better yet, they were silent, not too expensive and easy to find. I only took them out because they are GREEN SPARKLETOP (!!) and I couldn't handle it in the natural swamp ash Washburn. Anyway, Lawrence Keystones get a LOT of love over on TDPRI and they're cheap, too.

 

[capnjuan]

... I believe is called a "Broadcaster Set," which is an SD Broadcaster in the bridge and I think a '52 in the neck ... I swapped in a Big Bottom set from Rio Grande ... Lawrence Keystones get a LOT of love over on TDPRI and they're cheap, too.

Hi bek; thank you ... I tracked down the SD Broadcasters, the Rio Grandes, and the Lawrence Keystones ... they're all on my list to look at further. Yes, the Keystones surprisingly cheap :shock: Thank you.

 

[bek]

Hi bek; thank you ... I tracked down the SD Broadcasters, the Rio Grandes, and the Lawrence Keystones ... they're all on my list to look at further. Yes, the Keystones surprisingly cheap :shock: Thank you.

Anything Tele, go to TDPRI! I wouldn't hesitate to call Pete at VintageVibe, either. He is amazing (as others are, too), but amazingly fast and cheaper than I would expect. I have a set of his ultra-low-output Strat pickups (actually, and SSH set), and 'wow' is the word. I'm sure the Keystones are cheapest, but used pickups can be the best deal, and having a knowledgeable and capable guy like Pete or Don Mare or Jon Moore (ToneForDays) can give GREAT results. I have a set of Jon's humbuckers that just blow me away. Good pickups are good pickups, and you can always swap them out.

 

[MojoTooth]

Not sure how else to say it but mostly looking for a one order of magnitude upgrade ... a noticeable improvement ... J

Go with the Kinman Broadcaster set or Kinman 60's set. You won't be sorry. They are the best pups I have ever heard in a Tele. Worth every penny. In one word they are EPIC.

http://www.kinman.com/Shop/tele.php

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Harry and thank you. The guitar has a several-moving-parts problem which sums to lack of punch. It needs new strings, it has a loose ground wire - noticeable humbuzz ... (hands on strings, humbuzz goes away ... extensive testing, it's not the amps), and suffers from cynicismus proprietarian ... an owner's belief that the guitar was built down to a cost-engineered budget.

"... hotter '50's sound to it ... " makes sense; while not stodgy, nobody would accuse the Gibsons of being gainy. Some of this is prompted by the fact that the hbs in the RI SF3 are more lively, edgier, and attack-sensitive than the factory tele p/u's. I hadn't considered upgrading the controls and tone cap but since you mentioned it and for the modest bump in cost and time ... I don't mind opening the hood ... just not interested in doing it over and over chasing ineffable tone tweaks. I put the vintage Fender re-issues on my list. Thanks again.

 

[tele4tone]

I support the Lawrence pups.... They sound great.

FWIW the cheapo guitar fetish GFS pups are not bad. I have a dual blade in my tele bridge that sounds fantastic. I think they are worth the work and money.

Jeff

 

[coastie99]

And, if I remember rightly, Don has a pair of GFS p/u's in his restored Starfire.

I've got a pair in a project Heinelectro ...... same as Don's I think.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Cap, I have a ('98?) MIM Squier which I think was the precourser to the MIM Fender Standard...the pickups are exactly the same (son has a 2000 Fender). I have tried a number of pickup sets in her, more as a soldering exercise than disatisfaction with the sound.

There are tons of p'ups out there. I have tried a set of Lace Sensors (not bad, but need 500K pots), Fender Vintage Reissue (great, but pretty noisy with my basement flourescent lights) and Seymour Duncan Vintage Stacks for Telelcaster (STKT1n and STKT3b)...in there presently, sound great but don't sound particularly noiseless in my application...great sound though.

If I were still fishing, I would be going after Harmonic Design (great people) or Bill Lawrence' Keystones, from reports great p'ups AND great people...

But to tell the real truth, the OEM p'ups in both my Squier and Tom's Standard were really OK...

 

[capnjuan]

Thanks Bill; the Lawrence Keystones are on my list. I'm not too concerned about noise ... I see it as just part of the deal with single-coils.

 

[mrfjones]

I build a few teles and I haven't read a bad suggestion on here yet but I will add that I love the voodoo pickups.

 

[capnjuan]

Thank you; will look into them ... other than talk at length with a friend of Gilded's, I haven't made a move yet. His suggestion was to deal with some minor issues before messing with the originals ... He's not the first person to say that the factory p/u's aren't that bad ... that whatever faults I think I'm finding may be moderated by doing some housekeeping. I don't mind doing the housekeeping but was trying to avoid the need to open the hood again in the event I didn't get what I was looking for. Thanks again.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Cap, don't know what housekeeping you are refering to, but a tele is actually simpler than most as you can access the electronics without taking off the strings.

In my unconsidered opinion, I would replace the volume and tone controls with good CRL's if yours does not already have them (mine had import mini's, don't remember what Tom's has), and change out the p'up selector switch with a four way...(the hb option is really pretty neat) or to a proper (good) three way...Tom has had the local tech rewire his so that the switch is a three-way, but the center is hb as opposed to parallel). Not much else to do unless you want to insert a treble bleed cap or change the tone cap.

Another p'up I heard about years ago but don't know if they are still out there are "Velvet Hammers." Always meant to try those but never got to it. I think that Red Rhodes was involved with them...

 

[capnjuan]

Hi Bill and thank you for your suggestions. There's a loose ground that needs fixed, the strings are deadish, the action needs to be adjusted, and the pickup and magnet heights need to be piddled with. A good friend of Gilded's and very credible guy Jim Muirheid suggested that, given the guitar has several cooties, I ought to get the cooties straightened out before kicking the factory p/u's under the bus. He isn't the only person out there who thinks well of the factory p/u's ... that is, unless the guitar is well-set up, I might be selling them short. And ... as if I needed another variable, the hbs in the Starfire sound like they were made for my farty old Gibson amps; as Harry pointed out, it isn't clear that the Gibson preamps are hot/gainy enough to showcase the p/u's.

As Bob Seger put it: "... working on mysteries without any clues ..." Yes; will upgrade the controls and probably the cap and do the treble bleed cap mod. Thanks again. John