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I was Youtubing some Ed Bickert videos and saw clips when he had a standard Tele neck pickup and some with a humbucker. I didn't hear that much difference in tone. Other than hum canceling, do you think this is a mod worth doing?
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01-02-2013 09:25 AM
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Depends on a) what you got.. and b) what you like.
I put an HB in the neck of my tele and an tele neck pu in the neck of my lead I
I then put the lead I in a case and stopped playing it and converted the tele into an Esquire.
Dont mind me...
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You can get a single sized humbucker if you don't want to route out the body of your tele. I have a SD Sweet 59 in my tele neck and it is a different sound.
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Not for me. A Tele sounds fine for jazz the way it is IMHO, no need for a Humbucker.
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Larry Carlton agrees with you.
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On Gen-U-Wine Fenders and most Tele Wanna Be guitars, I never met I pup that I liked. Both neck and bridge come out. I have a tradition Jerry Reid that are OK, a S&T Blues (memphis) and a Peavey Reaction EXP that I left alone, all the rest have HB's. For me the "lipstick" pup is too dead / lifeless, and the bridge is too "twangy" which is what they're supposed to sound like but I 86 em all for a more mellow and stronger sound at low volumes.
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My ideal, flexible, jazz Tele would have both a single-coil and a humbucker next to each other, around the "neck" position. (And no bridge pickup.) I like both kinds of tone, which settle for just one?
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I've always liked the clarity of single coil pickups. Humbuckers, even with a lot of high end boost on the amp, have always sounded muddy to me. Single coils have an extended high frequency response compared to most humbuckers, and it's much easier to get a mellower jazz sound by cutting the highs if they're there in the pickup than trying to boost what little highs are in a humbucker. Being somewhat of a recording fan, it always bugs me when there is a lot of hiss in the amplification like there often is when you boost the highs in a humbucker.
Properly made single coils can have a rich midrange to them, which helps in a jazz sound. Years ago I had a guitar with Bill Lawrence pickups. One person described them as "clean as a whistle with no character." But I quickly caught on to the fact that they had an almost flat frequency response - no unusual humps or dips in it. It took quite a bit of working with the amp to get the tone I wanted but it sounded quite a bit better to me that way than a guitar with more pronounced exaggeration of any frequencies.
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>>> he had a standard Tele neck pickup and some with a humbucker. I didn't hear that much difference in tone.
Shocking huh?
My Tele has normal Tele-shaped PU's and I can go from way fat to way jangle-y. I would not bother to change the PU unless you have a very serious AC him problem.
Chris (Man, logging in is very buggy - has the admin actually tried to log in in a normal way?)
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Ed Bickert's sound is hard to argue with, but I agree about the sublime clarity of a single coil. It's why--well, one reason why--I play a telecaster. Still, it can be a noisy pain in the @!$ in a bad room.
Come to think of it though, it seems odd that there aren't many jazz players who play SGs. Or Les Pauls for that matter. Solid body jazzers seem to gravitate to single coil Fenders--and then try to roll off the highs and rassle with the noise. Is it just the rock vibe of the Gibson solid bodies?
Tom
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I have PAF style humbuckers in both of mine but I've also had standard T-types as well as hum canceling T-types in the past (and the DiMArzio Area-T is both silent and very close to the single coil sound). My playing style tends to produce a very bright sound regardless of the pickup, so either will work for me. I decided to go with humbuckers in my current T-Types based more on the output levels than the tonal response. A normal T-type neck pickup is a very low output and I felt like I could get a better response from my rig by hitting the input a little harder. That being said, I am a fan of Tele's in the neck position both ways.
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It depends on what you want. My favorite tele is a partscaster with Don Mare 2324 pickups. Classic tele tone, with the neck p/u being remarkably versatile. Right up there with that one is another partscaster, this one with a HB in the neck. Only it's not a humbucker. I put in a minihum in a full-size case, Tom Short's undercover mini, along with one of Tom's single coils in the neck. It's a deluxe type, so there are two volumes. That turns out to be an essential part of the mix. With that p/u in the neck and a way to separately control volumes, this guitar offers a totally different tele experience. Neck and middle positions unlike anything else I've heard. A very versatile guitar.
That's one reason teles are so cool. You can change things up, experiment.
MD
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Gibson made the L5s solid guitar for jazzers
wasn't too popular though
Solid guitars still aren't that popular for straight-ahead Jazzers
(I know the notable exceptions .... don't bother listing them guys)
You don't have to put a HB in the neck of a tele
Ed Bickert did tho , I wonder if it was for sound or to keep the hum down a bit ?
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Try Seymour duncan P-rails ( P-90, SC and HB in one HB size pickup)
Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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To me, it ain't a "tele" with out single coils...
I've never had a problem getting a fine jazz tone out of the neck single coil on my tele...it's a stock american standard pickup from the mid 90's...one of the few things I haven't changed on that guitar
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I haven't had a chance to try out that pickup, and it looks too good to be true! The think is, I have but SC and HB pickups I really like and I doubt one uber pickup would make me as happy as each of these does individually. But maybe one day... Originally Posted by papaj77
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I want to put that pickup in my guitar (in the bridge) so I guess I will see how true it is. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
here is two links ( not jazz unfortunately )
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Dual volumes! Shows ya how much tradition hangs on to some of us players. I never thought of a two-volume control Tele but the concept makes sense. My next guitar - a partscaster of course - will most likely have that refinement. Thanks. Originally Posted by mad dog
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I like playing Teles with single-coils. If I have to play a guitar with humbuckers I have got plenty of them, so I don't need to put one in a Tele.
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Put an SD Seth Lover in my "Telelike" and it sounds sweet,very clear and defined if you want, or can get warmer and darker toning it down,but never muddy,even though I kept the 250k volume pot in place,also changed the bridge with an Sd Hot Stack,and mixed up they make it really sing,for Fordesque,Carltonesque,Sternesque kind of hotter stuff.
I don't share the Taliban feticist point of view, that a Tele must have singles,otherwise it's not a Tele....
Any axe can be suited for many tasks,"the Tele shape", it's tha Icon,(like a Strat or LP or SG...) then it can be modded as you wish,Leo did it as well....and they can make for a really better axe!
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As mentioned here and proven by countless guitarists, the Tele (I swear the T in Tele stands for Toolbox) can do jazz without breaking a sweat.... just like it can do Punk, Rock, Country, Metal...
Anyways, my personal preference is, if I were to build up a Tele, it would have a humbucker such as the Seth Lover or Imperial standard wind. MAYBE a Bare Knuckle Manhattan if I went single coil.
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This is actually a good idea. I have heard some good things about this pickup from those who have used it. The only style that I have heard this pickup ISN'T good for is modern metal... which isn't a problem for me. haha. Originally Posted by papaj77
If you get the special pickup rings for it (not cheap) you can change the pickup's configuration right there at the ring it self.
Top notch idea from Duncan.
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+1. My grandpa's mid to late 70s American standard tele sings with singles! If I wanted humbuckers on a solid body (and I don't play any other solid body other than the telecaster), I would get a Les Paul (which I wont get). Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Just my opinion, cheers!
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How about this option
5 way switching, vids a bit long but stick with it, this guy knows his eggs!!
Go to their website for more info on their tone shaper products, it's all to do with pot values.
Or there's this
Pete Biltoft Charlie Christian pickup, there's a lot of forum members that have this type of pickup (me included).
Or this!
Jazzmaster pickup for Tele without serious routing
Curtis Novak pickups, lots of choices there!!
I hope this helps.
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I've had both single coils and humbuckers, and I agree that the tonal difference is subtle, although I slightly prefer humbuckers for clean jazz.
However, you never know what the electrical system is going to be like at gigs. Some outlets and fixed lightling aren't properly grounded, and both can exacerbate the noise problem with single coils. On quiet, solo guitar gigs that can be a real problem. That may be the real reason why a lot of jazz players go with humbuckers.
As for Bickert, I think he'd still sound like Bickert if he played a baseball bat with strings. The real sound is in your hands.Last edited by Jonathan0996; 01-06-2013 at 01:03 PM.
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