Töñə ÇH@$əR
Active Member
im in the market for a telecaster, and wanted to someones take on the pickups and there differences. but im interested in any and all info from anybody with first hand knowledge
difference between mexican tele pickups as opposed to its american counterpart?
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Noodling Guitars
Well-Known Member
Disclaimer: I haven't bought a new MIM telecaster in years.
This is one of those things that is really subjective just because the manufacturer (Fender) puts out so many variations.
Based on my personal inventory, the things to note about the Mexican tele pickups are:
- they use plastic bobbins (purely cosmetic)
- most (or at least a good number of models) won't come with baseplates (incl. the Mexican made pickups they installed in the Hwy1 series)
- depending on the year they could be ceramic or alnico magnets
- output varied over the years
On my American teles, the materials will generally be constructed with standard vintage spec'd fiberboard flatwork and alnico magnets, with baseplates. Output is all over the place and varies year to year and model to model. I have ones that came stock with Duncans too.
At the end of the day, they all do the tele thing, but you're just going to have to try and see which one sounds best to your ears.
This is one of those things that is really subjective just because the manufacturer (Fender) puts out so many variations.
Based on my personal inventory, the things to note about the Mexican tele pickups are:
- they use plastic bobbins (purely cosmetic)
- most (or at least a good number of models) won't come with baseplates (incl. the Mexican made pickups they installed in the Hwy1 series)
- depending on the year they could be ceramic or alnico magnets
- output varied over the years
On my American teles, the materials will generally be constructed with standard vintage spec'd fiberboard flatwork and alnico magnets, with baseplates. Output is all over the place and varies year to year and model to model. I have ones that came stock with Duncans too.
At the end of the day, they all do the tele thing, but you're just going to have to try and see which one sounds best to your ears.
If you're looking at new or newer models Fender has returned to using the same basic Alnico pickups they're used in the past. They're decent middle of the road stuff although I find the neck pickup to be a little too dark and muddy for my tastes. Some older models used hotter wound ceramic pickups that were less transparent and more mid focused.
Some US models have pickups that are marketed as being vintage specific but IME the only truly outstanding Tele pickups Fender produces are their CS '51 Nocasters which run $219 new or around $150 used if you can find them.
As far as I'm concerned if you want some of the best Tele pickups ever produced just replace whichever pickups are in whatever Tele you buy with a set of Wilde Keystones or Micro-Coils. I've been playing Keystones for over ten years and just rec'd a set of Micro-Coils for my blonde Tele. I had Nocasters in that one before and sold them a while back with the intent on replacing them with the Micro-Coils.
These are the pickups designed by master pickup guru Bill Lawrence whose really the Godfather of aftermarket pickups. He's pretty much the guy who started it all back in the '70s designing and winding his own models while still working for Gibson and later on Fender. Bill passed away in 2014 but his wife Becky and daughter Shannon now run the company and hand produce and market all of Bill's designs.
And now the really good part. Either set will only cost you about $100 because they sell direct not through distributors or retailers or they would sell for twice that price or more. But Bill always insisted of doing things this way to keep his products priced so they could be easily purchased by anyone. They are the best Tele pickups I've ever played.
Anyway I've been playing Teles for a very long time and while I'm no expert by a long shot I have had a pretty fair amount of experience with the breed and Tele pickups.
What else would you like to know?
Link to Wilde; https://www.wildepickups.com/
Some US models have pickups that are marketed as being vintage specific but IME the only truly outstanding Tele pickups Fender produces are their CS '51 Nocasters which run $219 new or around $150 used if you can find them.
As far as I'm concerned if you want some of the best Tele pickups ever produced just replace whichever pickups are in whatever Tele you buy with a set of Wilde Keystones or Micro-Coils. I've been playing Keystones for over ten years and just rec'd a set of Micro-Coils for my blonde Tele. I had Nocasters in that one before and sold them a while back with the intent on replacing them with the Micro-Coils.
These are the pickups designed by master pickup guru Bill Lawrence whose really the Godfather of aftermarket pickups. He's pretty much the guy who started it all back in the '70s designing and winding his own models while still working for Gibson and later on Fender. Bill passed away in 2014 but his wife Becky and daughter Shannon now run the company and hand produce and market all of Bill's designs.
And now the really good part. Either set will only cost you about $100 because they sell direct not through distributors or retailers or they would sell for twice that price or more. But Bill always insisted of doing things this way to keep his products priced so they could be easily purchased by anyone. They are the best Tele pickups I've ever played.
Anyway I've been playing Teles for a very long time and while I'm no expert by a long shot I have had a pretty fair amount of experience with the breed and Tele pickups.
What else would you like to know?
Link to Wilde; https://www.wildepickups.com/
Last edited:
Noodling Guitars
Well-Known Member
So ... is the MIA better or worse than the MIM ...
If only talking pickups - I really have no idea. I initially got into MIAs purely because of the 22 frets and satin necks...
Frankly, if I'm to let go of any guitars at this stage, the first to go would be my MIA teles (excluding my Highway 1s). The MIAs are nice... but nothing that makes me feel like they're impressively nice.
Cozmik Cowboy
Well-Known Member
Buy a Tele. Play it. See what you think. If you don't like the stock p/ups (and I'd surprised if you didn't) get a set from Lindy Fralin.
And if you play with a distortion pedal or high-gain amp, don't worry about it at all; once that's in the mix, nothing about the guitar matters much.
And if you play with a distortion pedal or high-gain amp, don't worry about it at all; once that's in the mix, nothing about the guitar matters much.
ThreeChordWonder
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I swapped the original pickups on my 2020 Player series for Fender 4th generation noiseless ones. I shouldn't have bothered. Compared to the originals they simply don't have that Tele twang.
If you buy a Player Series, keep the ones that come with it and see how you like them.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a Player Plus, which comes with noiseless pickups and a few other things, unless you REALLY want the rolled edge fretboard.
Better, IMHO, to buy a regular Player, and upgrade the pickups if you want to to aftermarket ones of your choice. Other things, like fitting your own locking tuners or a 4-way switch (or a push-pull if you must) to give you series / parallel switching can be done for beer money costs later.
If you buy a Player Series, keep the ones that come with it and see how you like them.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a Player Plus, which comes with noiseless pickups and a few other things, unless you REALLY want the rolled edge fretboard.
Better, IMHO, to buy a regular Player, and upgrade the pickups if you want to to aftermarket ones of your choice. Other things, like fitting your own locking tuners or a 4-way switch (or a push-pull if you must) to give you series / parallel switching can be done for beer money costs later.
ThreeChordWonder
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2022
- Messages
- 190
- Reaction score
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I swapped the original pickups on my 2020 Player series for Fender 4th generation noiseless ones. I shouldn't have bothered. Compared to the originals they simply don't have that Tele twang.
If you buy a Player Series, keep the ones that come with it and see how you like them.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a Player Plus, which comes with noiseless pickups and a few other things, unless you REALLY want the rolled edge fretboard.
Better, IMHO, to buy a regular Player, and upgrade the pickups if you want to to aftermarket ines of your choice. Other things, like fitting your own locking tuners or a 4-way switch (or a push-pull if you must) to give you series / parallel switching can be done for beer money costs later.
If you buy a Player Series, keep the ones that come with it and see how you like them.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a Player Plus, which comes with noiseless pickups and a few other things, unless you REALLY want the rolled edge fretboard.
Better, IMHO, to buy a regular Player, and upgrade the pickups if you want to to aftermarket ines of your choice. Other things, like fitting your own locking tuners or a 4-way switch (or a push-pull if you must) to give you series / parallel switching can be done for beer money costs later.
I
I know, just pulling your leg.If only talking pickups - I really have no idea. I initially got into MIAs purely because of the 22 frets and satin necks...
Frankly, if I'm to let go of any guitars at this stage, the first to go would be my MIA teles (excluding my Highway 1s). The MIAs are nice... but nothing that makes me feel like they're impressively nice.
Cozmik Cowboy
Well-Known Member
Why, oh why do we not have a face-palm emojis on this site? That was awful.Buy a Tele and install Epi pickup.
Have a... Telephone
Well played, Sir!
Cozmik Cowboy
Well-Known Member
Oh, I forgot -if you put a humbucker, P-90, Filter-Tron, etc., in it, it ceases to be a Tele (especially if you put it in the neck position, which is where Tele magic lives!)
More expensive.......So ... is the MIA better or worse than the MIM ...
If only talking pickups - I really have no idea. I initially got into MIAs purely because of the 22 frets and satin necks...
Frankly, if I'm to let go of any guitars at this stage, the first to go would be my MIA teles (excluding my Highway 1s). The MIAs are nice... but nothing that makes me feel like they're impressively nice.
The main thing about a solid body Tele is that it's a very basic guitar. It's very hard to actually screw one up now that virtually every company who produces them uses CNC machines to produce "the bones".
The rest then become the "oraments" and "tinsel" on the Tele Tree.
They're so easy to work on by design that whatever you don't like can be replaced by something you do. That simple modular concept is what allowed Leo to produce then initially with semi-skilled labor. They're like a 6 cylinder late '50s/early '60s Chevy with "three on the tree". Simple to produce and painfully easy to repair or modify. I've done quite a few.
Even a $200 version is a very playable guitar although most are begging to be modified or upgraded. I can take a Squier CV and turn it into 90% of what a CS Nocaster is and actually did with a 2006 Nashville body that was close enough to my actual CS Nocaster to fool the guys I played with. It's the blonde Tele I have now.
My suggestion is this. Buy the one that "feels" the best. The most expensive part to change is the neck and it's something that in itself can't be modified unless you're a master woodworker. All of the rest can be customized as you like.
Lemme step in here if it's OK.
This is why I suggested Keystones or Micro-Coils which are the quietest single coil pickups you'll ever play. Bill's motto was "thy pickups shall not hum" and you won't lose any of the character that makes a Tele sound like it does and is supposed to.
And rolling a fret board edge isn't a big deal. Anyone can do it once you know how it's done and there are a ton of videos on that and several ways to do it some easier than others. I've done it with all of mine. IMHO the best way to own a Tele is to learn how to work on it yourself and it's not all that hard or I wouldn't have been able to do it.
Ask me to rewire an Epi hollow or semi-hollow body and I'll hang up on you. Ask me to rewire a Tele and you can stack those up outside my door. They are that easy to work on.
Can you really do that? If so one of mine is slightly longer than the other. How much do you charge for the repair?
Another reason why I suggested Wilde pickups. The neck in a Keystone is almost Strat like crystaline and transparent. Same with a Micro-Coil. That's always been Bill Lawrences special talent. Creating very transparent pickups so the sound of the player and his guitar are what you're hearing not some manipulated voicing of a pickup.
However, one can put other neck pickups in if they wish. Then it just becomes a Tele custom style like the '70s versions with humbucker. I have one with a humbucker size Kent Armstrong P90 in the neck. It's much different sounding but then it was intended to be. It's a great player for blues rock because it has a "heavier" sound.
But overall I love my two single coil versions the best. This is the one with Keystones that I play most often. The body is from a Squier CVC. That's all that remains of what it once was. Everything else has been replaced by me so it's not that hard to do because I'm no genius.
Did I pull the wrong one ?Can you really do that? If so one of mine is slightly longer than the other. How much do you charge for the repair?
