View Poll Results: What pickup would you prefer on a "jazz" Tele?
- Voters
- 82. You may not vote on this poll
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Single coil
46 56.10% -
Humbuckering
26 31.71% -
Other (please explain)
10 12.20%
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Rail humbucker.
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02-13-2021 02:29 PM
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I think it depends on how the Tele fits into the person's music. I have nice archtops with humbuckers and single-coils. So when i bought a Tele, I wanted it to BE a Tele. I didn't want it to sound like something else.
BUT... if someone already plays a Tele, loves the feel, loves the touch--and there is a lot to love there!--but has decided they want to play some jazz and so they want a bit more of a traditional jazz tone, i can see how they'd think a humbucker could be the right choice. I'd still encourage them to try to see how far they can get with the regular Tele pickup, though. These guitars and pickups all have a kind of "gestalt" that I like to work with.
I would encourage anyone that jazz can be played wonderfully on a stock Telecaster type guitar. Going to heavier, flat wound strings will bring you much closer than changing the pickup.
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I’ve got a MIM FSR Tele. I’d like to try the Nocaster pickup (just need the neck pickup) but the cheap crappy ceramic that came with it sounds so good.
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Duncan Phat Cat works great for me in this solid Korina G&L Bluesboy. It's like a noiseless P90.
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Has anyone tried the noiseless Wilde tele pickups or the twin blade?
Noisefree T Neck – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups
L-48TL – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups
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In my opinion, putting a humbucker on a Telecaster is sacrilege.
But I'm sacrilegious. My latest Tele acquisition is a Modern Player Short Scale Tele, and it only comes with one humbucker and one single coil. Practicality overcame dogma, in this case.
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Humbucking P-90 design.
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That’s a confusing answer. P90s are single coil.
Originally Posted by medblues
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I’d tell Pop to have his son listen to recordings of several jazz players who use Telecasters, choose his favorite tone, and go with whatever pickup they use. My vote would be Ed Bickert, but I’ve read he started with a single coil and switched to a Gibson PAF in 1978. His tone was great with both. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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Just stop thinking about this. Take your Tele and turn the tone down some on whatever you have in there, and play.
I tried everything from a vintage Tele single coil to a Benedetto B6 in the neck position.
In the end, it does not matter.
Turn the tone down as needed and start playing.
I currently have a SD Quarter Pounder (fat single coil) in there and it sound perfectly fine.
But so does everything else.
EDIT: But I understand that “thinking about this” is the whole idea of a forum. It is just that the strings, pick, and player matter so much on a plank used for jazz. The PU seems almost immaterial. Love my basic Tele with who-cares-what PU in there.
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This really is the best post in this thread, the "answer", IMO. Originally Posted by Bezoeker
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The scenario is building a Tele, so there is no "there" there, to begin with. You have to choose. Originally Posted by Bezoeker
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I voted single coil, and yet I do have a Schecter Tele with 2 humbuckers. Eventually will swap them out for different humbuckers that are less muddy. The partscaster I built has a Fender Noiseless in the neck, and I also like P90's. Might have to build a Thinline Tele with those...hmmmm.....
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Based on experience, I think the SD ‘59 works extremely well as a tele neck pup for jazz. I am currently building a T with a CC in the neck and their BS bridge... a la Tim Lerch. Never had luck with traditional Tele neck pups getting my tone. Others swear by them... just preference. Good luck with your search.
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I agree with Cunumara's suggestion of stacked humbuckers. I have JBLs in the middle and neck positions of my 1986 Charvel Model 4 and in the neck position a great jazz sound is readily accessible, but I also think P90s would be great
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I definitely get the scenario. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
So sure, plop a Benedetto B6 in there.
But since this raises the more general question while we are on the subject - just turn down the tone, get a fatter pick, maybe some serious strings, and start practicing.
But thanks for the reminder that the discussion is really about starting from scratch.
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I agree with you! On TDPRI, the guy who is building a guitar is somewhat hamstrung because, while he knows CNC, he's not a guitarist. He was asking all sorts of questions like why is there fret radius... Originally Posted by Bezoeker
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Hi BDHL, Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
In my view there is absolutely nothing better that someone coming from NO EXPERIENCE and trying to make guitar music happen.
They will ask the questions that need asking - especially the ones that we all think we know the answers to, but really do not
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Why is there FB radius is a great question.
And my overused lumpy knuckles can answer that as I try to barre a chord.
And “why are there wound strings” is great too.
Nothing is better than a new person shaking it up with questions.
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New views on old questions expose the difference between the lame comment “everything matters” vs. the more useful “each thing matters, and here is how and why”.
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Which neck PU for jazz on a Tele might be the perfect question.
In the end, you can get the job done every bit as well on a thin and weedy vintage single coil and a mega-fat Benedetto B6.
But actually experiencing this shows you all sorts of usable info along the way.
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That is simply lovely- thank you! Originally Posted by ruger9
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I've got a somewhat weird recommendation; Wilkinson 60's WVT. They are alnico 5, and can be bought new for about 40 eu a pair. I got a pair for my partscaster. I wanted something cheap just to be able to complete the guitar, that had alnicos instead of ceramics. Initially I was a bit dissapointed with them. They are described as 60s sounding pickups, which usually means they got a bit more bite to them, and is best suited for blues and rock tones. That's not how I experience them at all. Even with both volume and tone all the way up, they sound pretty dark. Not what I was going for with this build.
However, after spending some time with them I'm actually begining to think that they might be really good jazz pickups. If you're into that classic, dark jazz tone, but with a single coil flavour, they might be the perfect match for you. I prefer a clearer, more modern tone, so they are still not for me, but I definitively see how they could serve a purpose. I'm hoping to be able to make a demo of them within a few weeks.
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I have a voodoo labs pedal power +2 and I have the hum debugger plugged into the courtesy outlet. It Is just perfect! Originally Posted by alltunes
I actually just finished putting together my pedal board. Hum debugger, polytune 3 with buffer on, then my pedals (in some flux at moment) ending with Strymon Flint. Good stuff....
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I hate hum and noise, so when i had a local luthier build me a custom telecaster i wanted a neck humbucker. I also didn't want something too fat sounding since i didn't want a muddy sound. I find it's often easier to fatten a sound than get rid of muddiness.
So my luthier reccomended a humbucker from Amber pickups called "spirit of 59" that has aged alnico 5 magnets. It is very clear sounding, but still has enough fatness. And theres no noise. I have a tele single-coil bridge pickup in it, but i rarely use that on it's own. When i use both the humbucker and the single-coil together it sound almost "Gretch like" for some reason.
Here is a clip when i use my tele with Amber spirit of 59 with a Morgan pr12 amp head into a Two Notes Captor for IR speaker emultation.
I'm really happy with the way it sounds.
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Originally Posted by PatrickWD
Very nice arrangement of FMTTM! Well done! 
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A real good
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Of course diversify your teles. Don't put humbuckers on all of your teles. Put single coils on some of them, and humbuckers on others.
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Has anyone here stuck two "neck" pickups on one Tele? Like a humbucker and a single coil right next to each other? Originally Posted by Tal_175
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If you get a 21 fret neck, there is actually room to put an extra single coil pickup flush to the neck.
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Talk about Tele sacrilege, two neck pickups and no bridge pickup.
One of them PAF.
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A Telly needs everything but a Humbucker. Wait...to me no guitar needs a Humbucker
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Like Seymour Duncan P-rails maybe? Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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mmmaybe. I think of that as a compromise pickup. Compare it to your favourite humbucker plus your favourite single coil. Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
Like Seymour Duncan P-rails maybe?
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It's a truism that everyone's tastes are different. This thread certainly proves it !
And, for the record, I voted:
I've owned multiple guitars with P90s and Fender single coils, but I've never heard anything that can touch a good humbucker. IMO, sonically, they are the creme de la creme of pickups and, in addition, noiseless. What's not to like? Right now I have one electric left with single coils , that I keep just to say that I have a P90 guitar, but if I had to sell one, that would be the one.
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That‘s a good thing. Diversity rules. Originally Posted by darkwaters
It's a truism that everyone's tastes are different. This thread certainly proves it !
And, for the record, I voted:
I've owned multiple guitars with P90s and Fender single coils, but I've never heard anything that can touch a good humbucker. IMO, sonically, they are the creme de la creme of pickups and, in addition, noiseless. What's not to like? Right now I have one electric left with single coils , that I keep just to say that I have a P90 guitar, but if I had to sell one, that would be the one.
Personally the only Humbucker I‘m able to play is a good Filtertron, but nothing beats the sonic integrity of a good Singlecoil. To my ears and my playing.
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The archtop Johnny Mac plays in the Dexter Gordon movie appeared to be an archtop with a Telecaster neck pick up. I think that is an interesting idea that I would like to try. Originally Posted by marcwhy
A friend of mine is a fantastic (and semi-well known) luthier; he always recommends a tele or other single coil pickup for his jazz guitars, but guitarists typically reply, "Huh? I need a humbucker for jazz!"
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I have the L280TN pickup in two guitars and like it a lot. It is dead silent in regard to hum. It's a bit airier, clearer than a traditional Tele neck pickup. I also have the Strat version of that pickup in my Stratocaster; the tone, to my ears, seems closer to a polite P90 than to a Strat or Telecaster neck pickup. Originally Posted by curbucci
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You are right! 3:34: Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Just to add - the white ash Tele above started with a SD Alnico II Pro tele pick-up, then a SD Seth Lover, then a Biltoft CC Rider, then finally a SD Mini-bucker (pictured). None were bad. Originally Posted by DRS
This
Best of both worlds - humbucking power but with clarity of a single coil.
I wanted a bit more drive than the traditional Tele neck pup
The Seth Lover was a bit to dark and fat.
The CC was a bitter fatter than the SD Tele but didn't do it for me.
The SD Minucker was the best of all worlds. Power and clarity. No hum.
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I think Country/Session guitarist Brent Mason use the same minihumbucker in his guitar. He gets a great sound on his few jazz tunes. Originally Posted by DRS
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Originally Posted by DRS
Wouldn't you want something less scooped and more mid-range heavy in the neck?
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Great looking tele. I am trying to live with my single coil in the neck, as I do like the clarity, but I had a SD minibucker in the neck of an old tele I previously sold and I loved it
Originally Posted by DRS
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I notice SD has a couple minihumbuckers. If you believe their EQ diagrams, the one with the most mids is the "Custom", which is the hottest, I think -- hotter pups usually have more mids. If it's not hitting your amp too hard, that could work out well. Originally Posted by Lobomov
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I‘ve done a hot rod wiring on the Neckpickup of my Thinline, bypassing the tonecontrol. Sounds fantastic. A lot more transparency, overtones to die for and the pickup reproduces the tiniest nuances.
You need a very dynamic right hand to tame this raw beast. But the tone is worth it.
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I've been away but you still draw me back!
Teles and neck pickups is a subject that will run and run and......
So I voted 'other'.
Let me explain, single coil pickup with a 4 way switch. Choice of series or parallel for both pickups, so in essence traditional or faux humbucker twin pickup selection.
So the question is, what single coil?
For me its a Vintage Vibe CC Rider in a humbucker size. Larger coil area and AlNiCo II magnets, nice.
So that would be that until I tried a G&L Tribute ASAT Bluesboy with a rather nice AlNiCo V and that awe inspiring tele sized MFD bridge pickup. I love that humbucker but the bridge was quite microphonic.
So what to do....
Dipped in wax.
Better.
But the pots were 250k which is too dark for the humbucker.
So what to do.....
Split pots, 250k and 500k in one, two pots and seperate caps and treble bleed caps and it is hitting far above its weight.
Telecasters, the modders delight.
Every guitar player must have one, its the law, didn't you know?
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Wow. This Tim Lerch is terrific. I was not at all familiar with him. Originally Posted by dlew919
He has tons of great material out there.
Thanks for sharing this!
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I like a clearer tone. Think Johnny Smith and not Wes Montgomery. I can add mids galore with my amp if I so choose. Originally Posted by Lobomov
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For a few years starting in 1997 the Fender American Standard Telecaster included the “Delta Tone” system, which basically includes a no-load pot and a hot-wound bridge pickup. The no-load pot is bypassed at full rotation. Back it off slightly and it’s back in the circuit, like a normal pot set to 10. You can install the pot in any Telecaster and have the no-load capability without adding any other switches or circuitry. The part is still available and an easy non-invasive mod. Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
250K No Load Solid Shaft Potentiometer | Fender Parts
When the volume pot is at maximum, I prefer the tone with the tone pot in the circuit (not bypassed). Based on a bit of googling, I think that’s because a Fender pickup without the 250K ohm load across is has a resonance peak centered around 4000 Hz. The 250K pot flattens that peak.
But I usually play with the volume pot rolled back a bit, and operating that way I don’t hear so much of a difference between the no-load tone pot engaged vs. disengaged. Telecaster pickups were designed to have some resistance across them, and I feel that’s how they sound best, but the no-load pot does no harm and it does give you the option of a little more treble.Last edited by KirkP; 03-02-2021 at 02:18 PM.
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I would want a Firebird neck pickup for jazz. It’s brighter than a normal humbucker and gives more clarity from string to string.
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