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.
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.
A multi-part conversation, both vocal and musical, between Nigel Price and Peter Bernstein. Filmed during Peter's most recent London visit with Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart in April 2024.
Part 1
To be honest, I'm so early on the road, I don't really know what I like yet. I love blues stuff that I've been hearing so far and also digging some of the beboppy blues stuff I've heard.
Learn songs you like man. What do you like? Fusion, Louis Armstrong Hot Fives, late Coltrane? Give a little more info on your tastes and it'll help. Also, did you analyze the stuff or just...
I watched the first 8 minutes. It's cool, I like that he emphasizes playing the guitar and not getting hung up on theory. It's basically the opposite of what I expected. A lick by lick breakdown...
The Parker stuff, did you transcibe it, or did you find notation and learn it?
If the latter, I think a great next step would be to learn some stuff by ear. I've always found Paul Desmond to be...
Nigel Price chats with Peter Bernstein
Today, 04:10 PM in The Players