Neck Humbuckers for Teles

[Jabberwocky]

Originally Posted by musicalbodger

Heavyblues, I'm sorry if you think that was mean, it wasn't mean at all, it was honest. There are things that work visually and things that don't. I'm a successful sculptor and gifted craftsman who has worked in wood for nearly 40 years. I have spent decades looking at what does and doesn't work visually and that neck humbucker doesn't.

Reasons.
1. It is placed in the centre of a magnificent form with wonderful colouring and figuring. It is highlighted by having the white mounting ring but is too small to take on the responsibility of being the focal point when surrounded by such visual power.

2. If the mounting ring were black, to match the neck pick up and switch then this wouldn't matter so much. The pickup would melt into the background and the wonderful figuring and colour of the body would be what the eye focuses on. A black mounting ring would also complement the black markings on the body and become one with the whole thing. As it is it just looks like a lump of gum stuck there, bearing no relationship to what it is part of.

As for that being objective, of course it's not, it's my view, but it's a view that is based on decades of experience and one learned through experience not the classroom.

Bodge

ps Just checked out your video and your humbucker looks good for the simple reason that it complements the white of the body and looks part of the whole.

Do you think it is placed where it is placed because that is where it SOUNDS good? It is a musical instrument, after all, not a wall-hanging.

I am not a gifted sculptor but I think that it looks good. Where else can it be mounted?

[kenbennett]

Originally Posted by uburoibob

..to you... But some folks love Tele pups that builders wind, like LSL, or Lollars or (fill in the blank) cuz stock ones aren't fine for them.

For me...
...as many posts in this thread have said, it ain't the sound, it's the hum...

Bob

Hey Bob,

I didn't mean to be rude and ignore this comment. I just didn't see it as so many posts were flying by.

Tone will always be a subjective quality. And in the old days pickup manufacturing was not as tightly controlled, so you had random ones that sounded bad or extraordinary while most sounded OK. Now, as you say, we can choose the exact qualities we want and expect the specialist to consistently deliver it.

Thankfully, we have now discerned that it is not the hum that bothered Dave the OP. He is looking for better tone. The problem is that there are so many choices. In the end Dave will decide for himself. All he can do is take everyone's reviews into consideration and make a wild guess as to which opinion might match his own.

Personally, because it is the easy thing to do, I would leave the luthier out of it and try some of the direct replacements before branching out into other form factors. However since Dave already owns three good pickups in the humbucker form factor, perhaps that is the way to go. Only he will know when he has it right for him.

KB

[MGI]

Originally Posted by musicalbodger

Sorry MGI, but that looks horrible. Whoever put that bucker in there has a very limited appreciation of line, form and aesthetics. Perhaps it might look better with a black surround to match the bridge pickup, but to me it looks like the visual ruin of a neat guitar. Proportions are wrong too for the size and shape of the guitar and the other hardware on there.
Sorry, it may sound good but it don't look good.

Well... This guitar was the most praised design in the NAMM Show booth, and especially this mini-bucker with cream ring, that perfectly compliment the amber color of the top. Praised not only by musicians, but also by renowned luthiers. So, I'm sorry, but I trust their tastes more than yours. And, yes, it sound just great for jazz, Alnico2 magnets, #42 wire, scatterwound, all the best. Original Tele neck pickup has too tiny sound, probably, it's good for the rhythm, but definitely not for jazz.

[musicalbodger]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

Do you think it is placed where it is placed because that is where it SOUNDS good? It is a musical instrument, after all, not a wall-hanging.

I am not a gifted sculptor but I think that it looks good. Where else can it be mounted?

Hey Jabberwocky, sorry to take so long to reply, been way too busy.

My point was not where the neck pickup is mounted. Obviously it's going to be placed where it is being a "neck" pickup, and I'm fully conscious of the fact that it is the SOUND that matters beyond anything else — apart from playability. My point was that it could look so much better if it were bigger, or if it were in a colour that complemented or reflected the rest of the beautiful looking guitar.

I'm glad you think it looks good, but it could look so much better.

[musicalbodger]

Originally Posted by MGI

Well... This guitar was the most praised design in the NAMM Show booth, and especially this mini-bucker with cream ring, that perfectly compliment the amber color of the top. Praised not only by musicians, but also by renowned luthiers. So, I'm sorry, but I trust their tastes more than yours. And, yes, it sound just great for jazz, Alnico2 magnets, #42 wire, scatterwound, all the best. Original Tele neck pickup has too tiny sound, probably, it's good for the rhythm, but definitely not for jazz.

MGI, as I said in the post to Jabberwocky above, apologies for not replying to your post sooner but I've been way too busy.

Great that the guitar got so much attention and praise. Although I'm a bit confused over your assertion that renowned luthiers and musicians all have a great appreciation and knowledge of the visual arts and design. I guess, working on that principle, you probably get your hair cut by an electrician, take your car to an accountant to be serviced and get your tax advice from the garbage man.

To my eye there are many great luthiers who make great sounding instruments but whose sense of form and design are somewhat lacking. This example, to my eye, is spoilt by a lack of cohesion in the design. The neck pup looks like an add on to what is, otherwise, a beautiful looking instrument.

I'm sure, as you say, it sounds great, but that wasn't my point.

[musicalbodger]

Originally Posted by heavyblues

that was mean


i hope your taste is objective. in that case i'll apologize.



(just kidding i swear)

heavyblues, it wasn't mean, it was honest. MGI put it up because he thought it looked great. I disagree. Perhaps I could have put it a bit more tactfully, but I'm getting too old to worry about other people's oversensitivity.

Actually it's not about taste. I could give you a whole page of reasons as to why it doesn't look good, starting with physics, the way the eye and brain work, proportion and the ancient Greeks appreciation of the Golden Mean, but this is a Jazz Guitar forum and a thread about teles & humbuckers, not the place for a dissertation on visual art.

And yup, my taste is as objective as they come.

[mattymel]

i love me some 60 cycle hum.

so worth it for the tone.

never played a gig where the hum was more noticeable than the drunk guy in the front. when recording its always been easy enough for me to find the "sweet spot" where it goes away. magnetic north or whatever that is. depends on the wiring where you are too. some places are just a lost cause. one of my old student's house hums like crazy WITH my humbuckers. and NO sweet spot ANYWHERE. drives me nuts. i spent half the lesson freaking out about it. strangely he quit.

that EH hum canceling pedal does work surprisingly well though. i notice a very subtle change in tone, but almost in a good way at least for jazz stuff. for rock...embrace the hum.

if i had 3 teles, i would have one stock, one with a lollar imperial humbucker, and one with a CC. all 3 have their place. but since i have only 1, gotta go with stock. it does 70% as well as what the other 2 do, and still rocks out. ooo aaah.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Originally Posted by MGI

Mini all the way!

That looks fine... but, IMHO, that guitar (aesthetically speaking) is screaming for a cream soapbar p90 in the neck position... and I'd do away with the black screws.

[pingu]

I've worked in the visual arts for 30 years ...........
I think that guitar would look better without strings on it.

I am an extremely objective type person
I very sorry if you have a problem with that

[life_with_a_song]

I got a partcaster "Tele" last year that with a GFS mini-humbucker installed at the neck. I was planning to re-sell it, and had never played a mini-hum before. Eight months later, I play this thing all the time, because it gets a great jazz tone. From what I read, this is a pickup that GFS worked to create that would have a "fat" sound--moreso that other minis.

Just my experience.

[MGI]

Originally Posted by Hoopskidoodle

That looks fine... but, IMHO, that guitar (aesthetically speaking) is screaming for a cream soapbar p90 in the neck position... and I'd do away with the black screws.

Easy to replace - mounting ring is the size of P-90. Pickup cavity too.

[Philco]

How fortunate that you guys are discussing this!
I'm just experimenting with this scenario.
The stock pickup were fine for me except on the high E and B.
Then it sounds a little to "Tele" (read "country"......or thin "splat")
With a set of 12 Chromes the 4 lower strings actually are exactly to my liking.

They "bounce" just like a fender should (and that's why people choose Tele"s for Jazz and change the pickups.......Tele's have a distinct body sound especially when picked near the front p'up)

So luckily for me I have a Luthier who will allow me to try some different p'ups.
The hum doesn't worry me that much but I'm thinking that a humbucker might be the way to go as far as tone is concerned.
At the moment I have put the Fender "noiseless" Tele p'ups in.
They are NOT noiseless. They are a little more quiet but still have a decent hum.
More importantly they sound ok but the volume of the high E string is very low and the B is loud. Probably designed for a different fret board radius than mine (9 1/2' I think mine is)
So I think we will push that E pole piece up and the B down and see if it works.
Actually I'm really tempted to buy a cheap Mexican Tele and start chopping into it to try different pickups.
Before I butcher my main Tele.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Originally Posted by MGI

Easy to replace - mounting ring is the size of P-90. Pickup cavity too.

That was the impetus for my having said it.

...that and my love of the un-muddled tones of single coil pickups.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Originally Posted by Philco

...So luckily for me I have a Luthier who will allow me to try some different p'ups...

I've been on the TDPRI forum too long. That statement literally shocked me.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Originally Posted by jzucker

People put up with the singles because of the tone. However, if you're playing out and recording you will quickly find out that the hum is undesirable.

Bowing out now.

I beg to differ. Single coil pickups hum like a mother in hollow-body jazz boxes. In a fully shielded Tele (with all long wire runs twisted), not so much. If you're recording and you want it to be dead silent, ground the bridge yourself with a wire, like so.



Personally, if I was going to do that, I'd ground it to the cable (right at the jack) and have the other end attached to a metal clip tucked inside the my pants at the waist. Then again, you could just go the Lace Sensors route.

[Wei-Ming]

Have you checked out Harmonic Design?

I have the Super Chrome - It's a single coil sized P90 and works well for jazz with the tone knob turned at half. Well, it's generally a warm sounding pickup anyhow.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Originally Posted by Wei-Ming

Have you checked out Harmonic Design?

I have the Super Chrome - It's a single coil sized P90 and works well for jazz with the tone knob turned at half. Well, it's generally a warm sounding pickup anyhow.

I have a Super-90 in the bridge position of one of my Teles.