T-51 Pickup Recommendations:

[tonefiend]

HFCers,

Last month, I bought a MINT condition T-51 butterscotch, with the original case even. In the past 20 years of buying and selling guitars, I've never seen a used guitar this MINT. It looks like someone bought it new and never opened the case. While I love the guitar's playability and quality, the pickups are stock and sound ok, but could be much better. Can anyone recommend some pickups that will make this guitar sing? I play just about all styles of music - except country and hardcore metal.

Please, let me know.

Tonefiend

[jaberwock]

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles

Jaberwock

[Gino]

I know there are lots of folks with lots of reservations against noisefree pups, but I'm more than happy with a set of Joe Barden Danny Gatton pups in Tele for more than a decade...Pricey, but very musical and versatile.

[Jakeboy]

Contact Aaron at Rumpelstiltskin Pickups and tell him Mark sent you. You simply describe the tone you are looking for and he winds it. Highly regarded on the Tele Forum. I have 2 sets of Rumpels...he is a single coil master....and his prices are the lowest with the exception of Bill Lawrence. Clips on the website are available.

Check him out. Beautiful T51, BTW....but you already know that! Lol

Mark

[kizanski]

Little '59.

[cynic]

If you have a Larrivee dealer near you, see if you can play one of their Bakersfield models. They have SD custom winds in them and are the best tele pickups I've played. SD would probably sell you a pair.

[holLoWskull]

If the pickup in the bridge is what's shown in the photo then I'm almost positive that somebody changed it out already. Most T-51's came with a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup, that one looks like a Quarterpounder. Lots of great pickup choices out there, try a bunch and find what works for you. I am on a Rio Grande kick lately, and I found that a Rio Tallboy tele pickup in the bridge worked well in my ash body/maple fretboard T-51.

[anotherfreak]

I put the Dimarzio Area set in mine and have loved it even more!

[peedenmark7]

why would you alter a mint guitar ? the factory pickups are great...though I didnt realize that a seymour QTR pound was factory ?

I'd go Armstrong.

[Bobby Marshall]

Another option is a James Tyler Alnico 3 Tele bridge pickup. Sounds awesome in my Fender MIJ JD Telecaster. Supposed to be very similar to a Broadcaster (1950 Tele) spec.

[Disturber]

If the pickup in the bridge is what's shown in the photo then I'm almost positive that somebody changed it out already. Most T-51's came with a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup, that one looks like a Quarterpounder. Lots of great pickup choices out there, try a bunch and find what works for you. I am on a Rio Grande kick lately, and I found that a Rio Tallboy tele pickup in the bridge worked well in my ash body/maple fretboard T-51.

Yes, that does not look like the original bridge pup. The T-51's came with the old version of the Duncan Broadcaster. They sound great to my ears. I tilted mine slightly towards the neck side to lose some of the treble bite. It's a great rock, country twang pup.

I put a Duncan Antiquity II tele neck in mine. Big improvement over the original Duncan. But, as I said, the original Broadcaster bridge is killer in the T-51.

For recomendations I'd say get a Duncan Ant II for the neck and and Ant I for the bridge, or an older Duncan Broadcaster. Thats a good budget option to get a set of great new pups for yer T-51.

[tonefiend]

Thanks for all the recommendations.

Tonefiend

[tonefiend]

I wanted to clarify my pickup request. My T-51 does sound killer. It blows doors on my 72 Fender Tele Custom. The sturdiness, craftsmanship, and tone make my Fender Tele seem like a cheap toy.

Overall, I was wondering if there was some other pickups that could have made it sound even better. Ya know, like. T-51/pickups match made in heaven kinda thing. With that, I recently bought a Bogner Goldfinger 45 with quad 6v6s and, wow, it kills. For now, I'm going to leave it as it is and see how it compares with the Talladega (non pro) coming my way.

Tonefiend

[guitaround]

Hi,

I have just replaced the neck pickup of my T-51 with a Keystone and for me it has just added what I was missing in the original SD, a bit more clarity and spank and it is a good match for the Broadcaster at the bridge.

[LordsoftheJungle]

lots of great choices out there:

+1 on the Bardens,,, they can pull off the blues/country/rock tones with ease.

Peter Florence Voodoo TE50s and TE60s,,, often found in Danocasters for a reason.

Fralin SP42 in the bridge,,, kinda tele, kinda strat, really nice

Harmonic Design Vintage Plus in the neck,,, P90ish and cost friendly

edit: almost forgot the Rio Grande Muy Grande,,, powerful with lots of jangle/twang

[cloakerz]

lollar pickups are outstanding in a tele.

[TheDan]

I use Harmonic Design '54 Special and Vintage Plus pickups in my Tele and love the sound. They have a higher output and are "bigger" sounding than most pickups I've tried but still retain that vintage Tele sound. Will cut through any mix with ease and twang

[jaberwock]

Harmonic Design Vintage Plus in the neck,,, P90ish and cost friendly

Second that, my all time favorite Tele neck PU; I had to wait about four months for it though.

Jaberwock