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Any Preferences For Tele Neck HBs?


crunchee

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The two Fender Teles I own (a 2014 USA-made Ash-bodied "Sandblasted" Tele model based on the "Special"/"Performer" line, and a Fender parts Tele with a circa 2010 American Standard Ash Tele body and MIM Baja Tele 50's neck) both have standard HB-sized factory body routings in the neck position, even though they came with standard factory stock single-coil neck pickups and pickguards.  Kinda nice that Fender gives that option, though they don't seem to advertise it, and I wouldn't have known about it without checking under the pickguard.  Anyway, I've got a used Gibson Burstbucker 1 with nickel cover that's been living in my parts stash for a few years, that might be a good candidate in the neck position for one of those guitars.  Or not.  Does anybody here on the board have a Tele or Partscaster with a HB in the neck position?  What brand/model HB?  How do you like it?  Any preferences on HBs in the neck position in Teles, or in Teles in general?  TIA!  :)

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I really like my Burstbucker 1 in the neck (ETA: of a Les Paul).  If you already own it, what's to stop you from a little experiment?

OTOH, I really (also) like the TV Jones Classic in the neck of a 25.5" scale guitar and they've still got blems on sale.

FTN-UVCHM-USP-2__94548.1596666871.jpg?c=

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Yeah, if you’ve got a spare pickup to try, I’d toss it in there first to see if you’d like it. 
 

otherwise, I’d have @JGravelin wind me something...

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Hard to go wrong with a Lollar Imperial. But I would test the one you have in hand before popping for a new one.

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3 hours ago, LordsoftheJungle said:

How about a mini-HB or Firebird? It's a cool sound in the neck. You'd need a special pickup ring or pick guard probably but still... a noiseless Kinman in the bridge kinda rounds things out.

I might, though the SD FB PUs in the Hamer Eclipses I once owned kinda turned me off of those.  Yeah, I know, other FB PUs aren't necessarily the same, especially in sound!  They are a bit brighter than a regular HB though, aren't they?

2 hours ago, django49 said:

Hard to go wrong with a Lollar Imperial. But I would test the one you have in hand before popping for a new one.

+1!  I saw HamerDave's post from this evening; so, even before you mentioned them here, I had looked up how much they cost (new and used) online.  Yikes!  :blink:

42 minutes ago, topekatj said:

What in tarnation is that telegraph apparatus on the south end of that Tele? 

Looks like a Hipshot String Bender...funny thing is, the Hipshot website has a listing for them but no photo!  I did find this, though (click on the first photo below the header for a demo video):

http://www.chubbuckguitars.com/blog/2015/7/bending-bs-pushing-gs-dropping-ds-hipshot-b-bender

 

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1 hour ago, crunchee said:

I might, though the SD FB PUs in the Hamer Eclipses I once owned kinda turned me off of those.  Yeah, I know, other FB PUs aren't necessarily the same, especially in sound!  They are a bit brighter than a regular HB though, aren't they?

 

They're brighter, sound like a Gibson Firebird for sure though that lends itself to some tele tones IMO. Love how they sound on this b3 phoenix:

 

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5 hours ago, LordsoftheJungle said:

They're brighter, sound like a Gibson Firebird for sure though that lends itself to some tele tones IMO. Love how they sound on this b3 phoenix:

 

Oh my god...   I love that thing...

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Try the Burstbucker. If it isn’t bright enough, you can try a 500k volume pot. You will just need to use your tone pot more is all.The BB1 is slightly underwound so it may be a perfect fit.

If the Gibson bucker doesn’t work, a Firebird type mini surely will. Gravelin or Rumpel will wind you what you want the old-school way. Bird mini is great in the neck position.

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My personal fave it the Duncan ‘59N, because I like the fat, woofy sound.  For people that don’t like the woof, the Duncan Jazz, Seth Lover, or Antiquity are common and well-liked Tele neck pickups.  You definitely don’t want anything hotter than a vintage-voiced HB, or it will overpower the Tele bridge.

My main Tele presently has a Duncan Firebird mini in it, but that’s because my “other” Tele is a Schecter PT partscaster with a ‘59 set it it.  Hence the mini HB, to give me something different.  If I only had one guitar (perish the thought) it would be a Telecaster with an STL-1 bridge and ‘59 neck.

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I love the Lace sensor in my 1995 Fender Telecaster Plus!  Mine has a Blue sensor in the neck, which is a 1950s humbucking sound anyway, but with a humbucker sized routing, you could put in a Lace Dually.  These are amazing pickups!  You can pair whatever two Lace sensors you want, and run either one, or both, with zero hum.  I have a Purple-Emerald combo in a Strat, and it is great.  Purple gives P90 tone, the Emerald gives SRV/Grissom tone, and the combo gives you humbucker tone.  

Don't be put off by the looks:  nowadays you can get them with Deceptor covers so they look like regular humbuckers.  Personally, I like the look of the separate coils.

https://lacemusic.com/products/lace-sensor-dually-purple-emerald-humbucker

Blue-Gold is another great combo:  Gold is the 1950s single coil... with zero hum, Blue gives 1950s humbucking tone, and the combo is an aggressive PAF.  Gold Lace sensors were all the rage in the 1990s before Fender pulled the plug.  Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Buddy Guy all used them.  Why did Fender stop using them?  I think that Fender thought, "Why are we sharing money with Lace when we can make pickups ourselves?", and their attempts with their Noiseless pickups (really just stacked single coils) and N3 did not match Lace sensors at all, in my opinion.

https://lacemusic.com/products/lace-sensor-dually-blue-gold-humbucker?_pos=7&_sid=bf159b4f8&_ss=r

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12 hours ago, LordsoftheJungle said:

They're brighter, sound like a Gibson Firebird for sure though that lends itself to some tele tones IMO. Love how they sound on this b3 phoenix:

 

 

6 hours ago, Travis said:

Oh my god...   I love that thing...

The day Joel posted that video I saw it and called CME, and actually got Joel.  He was more excited about it than even I.  He said he owned three of them in different pickup configurations.  I himmed and hawed over the neck measurement (0.87 on the one he was playing in the video; they were typically thinner, IIRC) and decided to pass.  It did push me to investigate a more bespoke alternative with a thicker neck: K-Line (St. Louis) builds a T-Style with Firebird pickups and raised center called the "Truxton Byrd." 

IMG_6558_zps6k8wtzx2.jpg

...and offers a trem!

xnzobednsvce28lngg2p.jpg

At any rate, I still think the TV Jones is the way to go, but the reviews over at TDPRI of the Firebird pickup in the Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Tele are all positive (and those guys definitely know their Teles!).  LOVE those in black!

bigDSCN5142.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

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22 hours ago, crunchee said:

The two Fender Teles I own (a 2014 USA-made Ash-bodied "Sandblasted" Tele model based on the "Special"/"Performer" line, and a Fender parts Tele with a circa 2010 American Standard Ash Tele body and MIM Baja Tele 50's neck) both have standard HB-sized factory body routings in the neck position, even though they came with standard factory stock single-coil neck pickups and pickguards.  Kinda nice that Fender gives that option, though they don't seem to advertise it, and I wouldn't have known about it without checking under the pickguard.  Anyway, I've got a used Gibson Burstbucker 1 with nickel cover that's been living in my parts stash for a few years, that might be a good candidate in the neck position for one of those guitars.  Or not.  Does anybody here on the board have a Tele or Partscaster with a HB in the neck position?  What brand/model HB?  How do you like it?  Any preferences on HBs in the neck position in Teles, or in Teles in general?  TIA!  :)

Video somewhat related to your original question...

 

 

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