Telecaster Love Thread, No Archtops Allowed

[Cunamara]

IMHO the Wilde/Bill and Becky Lawrence L280 noiseless pick ups are the best drop-in replacements for the sake of fat tone and clarity.

The Dimarzio Area T pickups are a close second. They might get you closer to the classic Ed Bickert pre-PAF tone, if that's what you're looking for, than the Wildes. Having used both extensively, I prefer the Wilde pickups.

Both of those have a bit of humbucker compression; if you really like the true single coil sound, the Wilde Microcoil pickups for the Telecaster are outstanding. While they are a true single coil, they pick up less noise due to the smaller coil not offering as much antenna. There are two versions, one with I presume a ceramic bar magnet and one with alnico polepiece magnets; I prefer the sound of the ceramics (the alnicos are a little too Stratty for my tastes).

In my case, I have found that I like adding a resistor in parallel between the hot output of the bridge pickup and ground to sweeten/round off the highs just a little bit and make it less spiky. There are wiring diagrams on the Wilde website and also Lindy Fralin's website has a very nice page on this. Basically, this makes the bridge pickup think it is seeing a lower resistance pot, say 100K, while the neck pick up thinks it's seeing 250K. Folks who belong to the icepick school of Telecaster bridge pickups would probably hate it.

[iowa]

Thought I would share. Aerodyne Telecaster. Stock pickup replaced with CC in P-90 case and upgraded bridge pickup. Both by Pete Biloft at Vintage Vibe pickups.

[Cri75!]

IMHO the Wilde/Bill and Becky Lawrence L280 noiseless pick ups are the best drop-in replacements for the sake of fat tone and clarity.

The Dimarzio Area T pickups are a close second. They might get you closer to the classic Ed Bickert pre-PAF tone, if that's what you're looking for, than the Wildes. Having used both extensively, I prefer the Wilde pickups.

Both of those have a bit of humbucker compression; if you really like the true single coil sound, the Wilde Microcoil pickups for the Telecaster are outstanding. While they are a true single coil, they pick up less noise due to the smaller coil not offering as much antenna. There are two versions, one with I presume a ceramic bar magnet and one with alnico polepiece magnets; I prefer the sound of the ceramics (the alnicos are a little too Stratty for my tastes).

In my case, I have found that I like adding a resistor in parallel between the hot output of the bridge pickup and ground to sweeten/round off the highs just a little bit and make it less spiky. There are wiring diagrams on the Wilde website and also Lindy Fralin's website has a very nice page on this. Basically, this makes the bridge pickup think it is seeing a lower resistance pot, say 100K, while the neck pick up thinks it's seeing 250K. Folks who belong to the icepick school of Telecaster bridge pickups would probably hate it.

Thanks for the advice.
I ordered a Di Marzio Area T dp417. It is on the way.

[jumpnblues]

Thought I would share. Aerodyne Telecaster. Stock pickup replaced with CC in P-90 case and upgraded bridge pickup. Both by Pete Biloft at Vintage Vibe pickups.

How do you like your Tone Master Deluxe reverb? I like the heck out of mine. Superb jazz amp.

[pingu]

a question for tele people

which material is brighter sounding
for tele saddles please

steel or brass ?

[Blkat]

a question for tele people

which material is brighter sounding
for tele saddles please

steel or brass ?

As a rule, the harder the material the brighter the sound. So everything else being equal... steel will be brighter.

[pingu]

thanks

does anyone know a source of
a softer material for
traditional 3 piece tele saddles
(Ive got brass on there at the moment)

maybe Nylon or plastic of some
sort ….

[ruger9]

thanks

does anyone know a source of
a softer material for
traditional 3 piece tele saddles
(Ive got brass on there at the moment)

maybe Nylon or plastic of some
sort ….

Brass is the "warmest" of the metal saddle materials. If you are still finding the guitar too bright, maybe you're not a tele person. The only other thing I know of to tame trebles would be graph tech and/or nylon saddles, but IDK if they make 3-saddle tele saddles or not, I know they make 6-saddle (indiviual string saddles).

Also, an old trick is to take a piece of heat shrink tubing like they use in electronics, and put it on string, over the saddle. I know Joe Bonamassa was doing that for awhile to tame the trebles on his E & B strings.

[Hammertone]

… The only other thing I know of to tame trebles would be graph tech and/or nylon saddles, but IDK if they make 3-saddle tele saddles or not, I know they make 6-saddle (indiviual string saddles). …

Graph Tech does make 3-barrel tele saddles. Model 8163 in their catalogue.

[pingu]

1342247[/URL]]Graph Tech does make 3-barrel tele saddles. Model 8163 in their catalogue.

would they be darker sounding than
brass ?

[pingu]

1342247[/URL]]Graph Tech does make 3-barrel tele saddles. Model 8163 in their catalogue.

these ….

I think I need to use uncompensated barrels
as as i want to use wound third
TI jazz swing set
with the intonation set up
they end up in a fairly straight line
as my picture below shows

[chris32895]

Even using a wound 3rd the two barrels flanking the middle would still need to be compensated for really good intonation. This is the reason 6 saddle bridges are preferred by many.

[Gilpy]

I had most of a Telecaster in parts, so I got a new MJT body and Biltoft Tele+5 pickups and finished it today.
The Flounder “Clamcaster”!

Sounds and plays real good!
Body is lightweight pine so the guitar weighs 7lb. Ibanez knobs!
I like to hit my pedals and amp with a hotter signal, so this is what I use:

It not only boosts but allows you to thicken up the tone if desired. Great sounding pedal.