View Poll Results: What pickup would you prefer on a "jazz" Tele?
- Voters
- 141. You may not vote on this poll
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Single coil
79 56.03% -
Humbuckering
48 34.04% -
Other (please explain)
14 9.93%
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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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Originally Posted by medblues
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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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Originally Posted by Bezoeker
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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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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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Originally Posted by Bezoeker
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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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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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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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