Lollar Charlie Christian Pickup for Tele-Neck Position

**NSJ** · 10-14-2009, 05:15 PM

Anybody got 'em? What do you think?

Does it matter what type/year Tele it is? Worth swapping out the stock? Comparison with a humbucker?

FYI, I have a '52 reissue, which has a very peculiar setting in the neck position. Actually, the neck position is actually the middle setting.

Lollar Charlie Christian Pickup for Tele-Neck Position-tele-lollar-charlie-christian-jpg

Lollar Charlie Christian Pickup for Tele-Neck Position-tele-lollar-charlie-christian-jpg

**Anandbhat** · 10-14-2009, 05:17 PM

I have the lollar CC for my semi hollow AS73 and love it.I think there is a demo of the PU for the Tele neck on U tube.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 10-14-2009, 06:25 PM

It has quite a different sound from the stock Tele pickup. I'm thinking about putting together a custom Tele next year with a CC neck pickup. It needs a deeper and wider (side to side) route than the std neck pickup.

A number of other pickup winders make a CC pickup, too, including Vintage Vibe and Seymour Duncan.

I second the recommendation to search youtube for demos. Tim Veitch (cp?) has several demos, including one with a Tele set up with three CC pickups. (Well, the bridge is the matching BS pickup.) Yowzah!

**msr13** · 10-14-2009, 08:57 PM

I had a tele that I put a Lollar CC in the neck position. I had to rout the slot out. Lollar gives very good instructions for doing this and has also produced some very helpful Youtube videos. They will also provide a template for the pickup slots if you need. I didn't trust myself and had a tech do it for me. So worth it! The sounds that came out of that thing were phenomenal. My suggestion would be to get a matching pickup for the bridge. Either another CC (Lollar makes one now for the bridge), or one of their other tele pups. The disparity between the stock bridge and the neck was huge. I didn't think the bridge sounded all that bad until it sat next to the Lollar.

Just ordered a CC humbucker from them for my 175 along with a matching Imperial in the bridge. More standard size in the humbucker line. I will let you know how they sound once I get them.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 10-14-2009, 10:32 PM

Everyone I've heard from who's gotten a Lollar or VV Charlie Christian pickup has been blown away by them.

I'm thinking of only having one pickup on my Tele (a CC in the neck position). I never use a bridge pickup! But this "reverse Esquire" gets the response "???" on the Tele forum. I guess a twangless Tele is an oxymoron.

Archie · 10-15-2009, 07:49 AM

A Thinline Tele with just a neck pickup might just be the ultimate jazz guitar.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 10-15-2009, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Archie

A Thinline Tele with just a neck pickup might just be the ultimate jazz guitar.

I was thinking of ordering not a thinline, but a chambered out mahogany body. Resonant and warmer than a thinline.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 10-15-2009, 02:33 PM

I turn 49 next month, and I was thinking of this guitar as a 50th birthday present for myself! That's the source of my patience. That and I don't have the money right now.

A few comments on your ramblings:

Fret wire: You can definitely choose the size you like. Vintage Tele frets are tiny. I'm leaving toward a medium jumbo, which is a standard Gibson size.

Radius: That another thing you have complete control over if you order a neck. The Fender catalog drives me nuts because I see the frets I want, the radius I want and the neck contour I want, but they're split across three different necks!

Neck contour: You didn't mention it, but neck contour is a bigger factor in neck feel than fret radius. I'm leaning toward a 1" fatback.

Bridge: I'm confused by your comment. A LP bridge is a tune-o-matic, which are usually teamed up with a stop tail piece, so no through-the-body stringing. You have to be careful with T-O-Ms on a Tele because they often so tall than the neck has to be angled away from the body (the usual On a Tele is for a neck that is nearly parallel to the body). This angling requires an angled neck pocket and perhaps some shimming. I'm leaning toward a Strat-style hardtail bridge:

ABM: (string through body):

ABM Top loader:

Hipshot:

Schaller:

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 10-15-2009, 02:40 PM

One thing to decide: with the string-through-body option, use standard ferrules or a ferrule block?

**rio** · 10-16-2009, 01:44 AM

This is not cooncerning the CC pickups but I swapped out my stock Tele pickups for Lollar Special T's and they are really great. I was considering the CC pickup for the neck but wanted to keep it standard single coil in the end and don't regret it, it really has become a versatile guitar. But I mainly wanted to write just to say that Lollar makes great pickups.

**gpmedium** · 01-23-2010, 10:32 AM

Here's an interesting idea along what you guys are talking about.

It has a Twisted Tele neck pickup, a wooden bridge and piezos.

I don't think this Tele would have too much twang.

**regiboyd** · 09-26-2010, 05:53 PM

I know this post my be old, but I wanted add one for the newbies, like myself. I always like the look and sound of the CC pickup. I also realize that no two guitar will sound alike. I viewing the Youtube videos regarding the Lollar CC pickup, I decided to take the plunge. It was a good decision. I am very pleased on how things turned out. One member mentioned a reverse Esquire - Only one pickup in the neck position. It came out fine. Although some may say its a one-trick pony, but the one-trick is amazing. I have included photo of the end result.

**SamBooka** · 09-26-2010, 07:02 PM

I just repaired the exploded tailpiece on my ES165 with a sheet of brass from a hobby shop. Getting cocky enough that I think I could make a tele bridge plate without the pickup hole. I dont have a CC in the neck. I have a gibson 71-72 HB. the bridge is the stock 74 Tele and .. well.. it just aint doing it for me.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 09-26-2010, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by regiboyd

I know this post my be old, but I wanted add one for the newbies, like myself. I always like the look and sound of the CC pickup. I also realize that no two guitar will sound alike. I viewing the Youtube videos regarding the Lollar CC pickup, I decided to take the plunge. It was a good decision. I am very pleased on how things turned out. One member mentioned a reverse Esquire - Only one pickup in the neck position. It came out fine. Although some may say its a one-trick pony, but the one-trick is amazing. I have included photo of the end result.

Nice! Is that a mahogany body?

**nic** · 09-26-2010, 09:49 PM

Interesting that this thread would be resurrected today. I just discovered the CC pickup-Tele combination and decided I had to have one.

Yesterday I bought a Fender Blackout Telecaster with the GC 15% discount they were running. The Blackout has three pick ups with the neck and middle pickups being the "lipstick" single coil.

I tried to buy the CC Lollar pickup today but apparently they only take American Express, I'll have to work that out with them on Monday.

As soon as I have the guitar and the pickup I'll think about doing the installation myself and then chicken out and take it to a tech.

Hopefully it'll turnout well.

**SamBooka** · 09-26-2010, 10:17 PM

Yeah.. check that out with Lollar. I bought my p90 from them with MC.

**Steve Z** · 09-27-2010, 08:52 AM

The Lollar CC definitely sounds great on the YouTube demos I've heard. I wish I was brave enough to route my G&L ASAT and give the CC pickups a try. I'll stick with the stock pickups for now but maybe someday...

**ChuckR** · 04-14-2013, 01:09 PM

I've been thinking about building a tele with one of these. Any new thoughts from the group? Anyone else put one in? I'm looking to augment my archtop for playing jazz. I would like a guitar that is easier to move around and quite frankly I won't be as concerned about taking out of the house as I am with my expensive archtop.

**Playerizor** · 04-14-2013, 02:46 PM

I did it, worked great. I put it in a new MIM Tele that had a middle pick up. It was wired so if I had both the middle and the CC pick up on it would cancel the hum and still have the full warm tone.

**teleman3726** · 04-14-2013, 02:50 PM

I think I will buy one of these and stick it on one of my teles.
I remember watching Tim's videos when he put them in his Nocaster and - while the guy would sound amazing playing a gutbucket - they really sounded cool.

**ChuckR** · 04-14-2013, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by Playerizor

I did it, worked great. I put it in a new MIM Tele that had a middle pick up. It was wired so if I had both the middle and the CC pick up on it would cancel the hum and still have the full warm tone.

What was the middle pickup? A Strat single coil or a tele bridge?

**richinva** · 04-14-2013, 03:35 PM

I have a Lollar CC in the neck on a Partscaster. (Duncan '59 bridge that I don't particularly like). Very sweet sound, also plays nice a bit dirty, but especially syrupy goodness when played clean. Tim Lerch sent me a DVD a few years back showcasing his Tele with the CC and I had to have one. Glad I did. The reason I chose the Tele is that it's far and away the easiest guitar to play that I have.

Hope this kicks a fence sitter........

Rich

**landondeh** · 04-17-2013, 11:47 AM

I've had the chance to play the lollar cc in one of my teles for a while (just a high-quality partscaster)....it really is as nice as everyone says. However, I found that I prefer my Budz Deepdish P-90 for jazz in my tele neck. Same warmth and smoothness, but I found the Budz to have a bit more definition. It also sounds great with overdrive (for some bluesy moments) which the cc didn't really do (imho.) I would add the deep dish as one to consider.