difference between mexican tele pickups as opposed to its american counterpart?

[Supersonic]

Yup. Latter day Fenders and Squiers didn't use a CuNiFe humbucker until very recently when Fender began to produce them again.

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View attachment 19859

Yeah, one of those is 1/2 of what my whole Tele cost. Crazy. Not gonna lie though, it'd be pretty cool to have one...

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

What Tele has "lipstick" pickups? I thought that was a Danelectro or custom Strat thing? They are a completely different animal than a normal Tele neck pickup.

I was referring to the neck pickup, frequently referred to by its "lipstick" cover. If that's an error on my part, I apologize.

 

[phonepi]

Yes ! Lipstick pickups : another surprisingly good sounding items... I used them on several of my projects, usually from the brand ARTEC.

Below on my "Lefty Custom Improbable Danelectro Fake Edition" projects :

On my modded Harley-Benton MS-60LH-VW "Tornado" :

On my "SuperCharger" project :

That said, I would not use a Lipstick on a Tele : what for, finally ? Aren't the Tele pickups already a mighty fine combination ?

I wouldn't replace my factory Squier CV50 pickups set, for sure, as I find them simply excellent !

But it's me, OK ?

P

 

[soulman969]

Yeah, one of those is 1/2 of what my whole Tele cost. Crazy. Not gonna lie though, it'd be pretty cool to have one...

I was thinking about one for my Tele with that Kent Armstrong Rag Top P90 in the neck position but I learned the size of a CuNiFe isn't the same as a standard humbucker which then may require some body modifications I'm not prepared to do right now.

The other questions is would I gain that much? That Rag Top is far more like a mini humbucker tonally and actually very little like a true P90. It's fairly transparent and open sounding. It took quite awhile to find a good bridge pickup match but I finally found one in a Wilde L-48TL twin blade. High output and super clean sounding. So it creates a nice balance with the Rag Top when both are used.

 

[soulman969]

That said, I would not use a Lipstick on a Tele : what for, finally ? Aren't the Tele pickups already a mighty fine combination ?

Despite agreeing that lipstick pickups are often seriously undervalued members of the pickup world they'd probably fair much better as a set of three on a Strat. My jam buddy as a Squier Surfcaster with three of them I love. He's gonna will it to me if he dies before I do.....LOL.

The pickup combination of a Tele and it's attachment of the bridge pickup to the bridge plate is most of what gives a Tele it's own unique tonal qualities. It's more or less it's own thing and far more versatile than some give it credit for. It has worked for most any musical genre.

But to me the key to getting great overall tone from a Tele is to use a neck pickup that is very crystalline and transparent. It not only makes the neck pickup soloed a favorite but it's essential to getting a good sound out of series wiring without too much mid range mud.

Neck pickups I've had experience with that fit the bill for that are the Fender CS Nocaster, Wilde Keystone and Micro-Coil, Onamac Full Blues, and the the DiMarzio Twang King. There may be others as well that I have no experience with so I can't recommend them. All but the Twang King are reverse wound/reverse polarity to the bridge so they will hum cancel in parallel and series modes. The Twang King must be ordered special that way to work with other bridge pickups.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

If you're intent on fitting humbuckers to a Tele, consider the SD Hotrails set or possibly a Little 59 in the bridge and something else in the neck. The Little 59 is sized to fit the standard Tele bridge plate.

I've got one of my Teles with a set of Tele sized Hotrails, and believe me they are H-O-T hot, and another with a Little 59 bridge and a Vintage Stack in the neck.

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

*cough* I'm not so sure about that.

How about "play it first"? You might find you *gasp* like it as is.

thats what im hoping for. i tried to play one at guitar center and the strings were so rusty i couldnt even play it

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

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.

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im gonna have to check Wilde out. Teles with binding look so nice.

 

[soulman969]

If you're intent on fitting humbuckers to a Tele, consider the SD Hotrails set or possibly a Little 59 in the bridge and something else in the neck. The Little 59 is sized to fit the standard Tele bridge plate.

I've got one of my Teles with a set of Tele sized Hotrails, and believe me they are H-O-T hot, and another with a Little 59 bridge and a Vintage Stack in the neck.

Yup, those would turn a Tele into a fire breathing rock dragon.

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

That's the way I would do it.

A four way switch, IMHO is a far better way to do the series/parallel thing, bit be aware you'll need a flat needle file to elongate the switch slot about 1/16th at either end, otherwise you won't get the full throw on the switch.

Also be aware that you need to separate the lipstick cover ground from the pickup ground. There's usually a little jumper you can cut or de-solder. You then need to add a third wire as a separate lipstick cover ground. File away a bit of the chrome from one of the fold-over tabs and solder the new ground to the exposed copper or brass. Far easier than trying to solder to chrome, and you won't see it when the pickguard is in place. The pickup ground goes through the switch, bit the lipstick cover ground must go to ground on a pot casing, not through the switch.

You get:

P1 - bridge
P2 - bridge and neck parallel
P3 - neck
P4 - bridge and neck series.


If you wanted to, you could add one, but only one, push-pull pot for the tone. You can't add two because the bottom of the control cavity has a ridge under the volune pot. You can use the push-pull to phase flip the bridge, as a hotshot to bypass the volume and or tone, or something else.

View attachment 19857

thats sweet. whats the difference between parallel and series

 

[soulman969]

i guess you have to be a certain skill level to ask a question

While it's not uncommon to suggest what Raiyn did I can also say that if someone has done their research and feels stock may not what they want stay with doing some added research into upgrades makes sense.

 

[soulman969]

thats sweet. whats the difference between parallel and series

Series joins the separate coils of the neck and bridge pickups in a way that produces a fatter tone just like a humbucker does with it's side by side coils. Volume will also be increased.

That's another advantage of the Wilde pickups. They sound terrific played in series which gives you a fourth tonal option for the Tele. The wiring is a bit more complex but there are many wiring diagrams online that can guide anyone through it.

 

[soulman969]

im gonna have to check Wilde out. Teles with binding look so nice.

You'll find some YouTube videos of both Keystones and Micro-Coils.

Here's one for Micro-Coils. Note that he begins on the neck pickup and how clear and transparent it is. Few others will match that.



Here's one with the Keystones I have in that double bound with more gain and overdrive.



Hope this helps.

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

Series joins the separate coils of the neck and bridge pickups in a way that produces a fatter tone just like a humbucker does with it's side by side coils. Volume will also be increased.

That's another advantage of the Wilde pickups. They sound terrific played in series which gives you a fourth tonal option for the Tele. The wiring is a bit more complex but there are many wiring diagrams online that can guide anyone through it.

thats one brand i never heard of. im definitely gonna keep em in mind if i need to upgrade. i found that this klon klone can correct small subtleties that certain pickups lack

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

You'll find some YouTube videos of both Keystones and Micro-Coils.

Here's one for Micro-Coils. Note that he begins on the neck pickup and how clear and transparent it is. Few others will match that.



Here's one with the Keystones I have in that double bound with more gain and overdrive.



Hope this helps.

those sound really really good. wow

 

[soulman969]

thats one brand i never heard of. im definitely gonna keep em in mind if i need to upgrade. i found that this klon klone can correct small subtleties that certain pickups lack

Probably because Becky never advertises Wilde much if at all but most players on TDPRI and StratTalk are very well aware of who Bill Lawrence was and his contributions to the musical world.

You can find many threads or mentions in threads of just about all of his pickup designs. The Big Boys like Larry DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Lindy Fralin, Jason Lollar, Kent Armstrong and others have the businesses they have today because Bill created the market for replacement pickups. Larry DiMarzio and Kent Armstrong Jr apprenticed with Bill in NYC many years ago and Seymour Duncan has always had huge respect for Bill and what he did for the marketplace.

Bill was also a top flight jazz guitarist for years although more so while still in Germany where was known as Billy Lorento. Always unhappy with others pickup designs he began his lifelong quest to create what were in his opinion the perfect pickups. 1) They should be a transparent as possible so as not to color the player and guitar, 2) They shall not hum, and 3) They should be made with the best materials the best winds and should be available at affordable prices for every player.

Not spending $$$ on advertising is how Becky keeps prices down depending solely on reputation, referrals, and word of mouth to promote the brand. She and daughter Shannon do all the work as well so there's no huge payroll to meet. Much of my knowledge about pickups comes from Bill's writings and teachings. When he was still alive and healthy players could call him up and speak with him on the phone. He was always happy to share his knowledge and experience with others.

I have no chips in the game at all but can say this with complete faith. I don't believe you'll find better Tele pickups for the price anywhere.

 

[soulman969]

those sound really really good. wow

Can't wait to find the time and energy to install the Micro-Coils in my blonde Tele. Everyone whose played them say they're even better than Keystones and that had to take some doing in my mind.

Wish the guy playing the Keystones had included more clean playing because they are gorgeous sounding that way as well. Very pure and transparent but with a bridge that can twang as good as you like.

 

[Raiyn]

What other Fender humbucker do you believe is it's equal? Of the top of my head I can't even recall another Fender produced humbucker that was of their own design but a WRH that would be suitable in the Tele neck position.

I may have misread the post. I read it as you were saying that the Wide Range Custom Deluxe Tele was the only humbucker guitar worth a damn - which I disagree with.

I can only say for certain that I didn't like the Squier SQR Atomic pickups that came with my Jag. For "hot" pickups they just struck me as lifeless.

i tried to play one at guitar center and the strings were so rusty i couldnt even play it

What? At a Guitar Center? I'm shocked! Absolutely shocked I tell you.

Unfortunately, the store is the worst place to really make a sound judgement on a guitar. You're not playing your rig, and you're competing with a store full of folks like yourself and random jabronis playing for attention. At the store, you're looking at how it feels, is the neck within the realm of possibility of adjusting, are the frets gonna carve you like an Easter ham, are there high frets? - that sort of thing.

i guess you have to be a certain skill level to ask a question

No, it's not that, but you've been asking a •lot• of upgrade questions lately - a number of which were upgrades for the sake of upgrades or solving problems that you speculate might be an issue. I wouldn't spend money on major components without sitting with the guitar and trying it on your rig.

I'm an admitted serial modder, and even I sit with a bone stock guitar for a while and make my decisions off of the baseline I get from actually playing the thing. Any mods I "pre-plan" don't mess with the stock tone. Stuff like a jack, or shielding don't have an effect on tone -drastic or otherwise. I let the guitar tell me what it needs.

I keep saying after these gut jobs that I oughta just buy a husk and start from there because that way I wouldn't have the pile of take-off components (that often enough end up in someone else's guitar but not the point) and I'd have a clean slate from the start.

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

Series joins the separate coils of the neck and bridge pickups in a way that produces a fatter tone just like a humbucker does with it's side by side coils. Volume will also be increased.

That's another advantage of the Wilde pickups. They sound terrific played in series which gives you a fourth tonal option for the Tele. The wiring is a bit more complex but there are many wiring diagrams online that can guide anyone through it.

im considering the fender 50s vintera. it comes witha custom shop twisted tele neck pickup and it has a v shaped neck.

but can i vouche for the humbucker that the fender jagstang comes with, cuz it sounds pretty amazing

 

[Töñə ÇH@$əR]

I may have misread the post. I read it as you were saying that the Wide Range Custom Deluxe Tele was the only humbucker guitar worth a damn - which I disagree with.

I can only say for certain that I didn't like the Squier SQR Atomic pickups that came with my Jag. For "hot" pickups they just struck me as lifeless.

What? At a Guitar Center? I'm shocked! Absolutely shocked I tell you.

Unfortunately, the store is the worst place to really make a sound judgement on a guitar. You're not playing your rig, and you're competing with a store full of folks like yourself and random jabronis playing for attention. At the store, you're looking at how it feels, is the neck within the realm of possibility of adjusting, are the frets gonna carve you like an Easter ham, are there high frets? - that sort of thing.

No, it's not that, but you've been asking a •lot• of upgrade questions lately - a number of which were upgrades for the sake of upgrades or solving problems that you speculate might be an issue. I wouldn't spend money on major components without sitting with the guitar and trying it on your rig.

I'm an admitted serial modder, and even I sit with a bone stock guitar for a while and make my decisions off of the baseline I get from actually playing the thing. Any mods I "pre-plan" don't mess with the stock tone. Stuff like a jack, or shielding don't have an effect on tone -drastic or otherwise. I let the guitar tell me what it needs.

I keep saying after these gut jobs that I oughta just buy a husk and start from there because that way I wouldn't have the pile of take-off components (that often enough end up in someone else's guitar but not the point) and I'd have a clean slate from the start.

i took that outta context. this post got alot of replies. your advice is valid and always has been