The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hello. If you were to spec a Jazz Tele build for chord melody, would you select a single coil or a humbucker for the neck position and why?

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  3. #2

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    You'll still sound like you either way. Compare Ed Bickert with his stock Tele pickup and then later with the Gibson humbucker he had installed. There is some difference but overall he still sounds like Ed with either of 'em to me.

    However, if playing solo buzz and hum are more noticeable so I would either go for a Tele style noiseless pickup or a PAF style. I have used the Dimarzio Area T formerly and the Wilde (Bill Lawrence) L280TN currently in one Tele, which was changed due to killing the Dimarzio with the slip of a screwdriver, and have another Tele with a Gibson Classic 57. Both sound great and whichever one I am playing, I don't find myself wishing I had the other one.

  4. #3

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    It depends on how you want to hear your chords, and string separation, and the amp you'll be using, and your picking technique: fingers, thin picks, thick picks ?

    So many options! Route for a hum bucker and start with a single coil, then proceed down the line of choices.

    I would vote for single coil.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
    I would vote for single coil.
    Me too. Consider a Lollar CC.

  6. #5

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    Too many options!! First: budget??

  7. #6

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    Leaning towards a Tom Anderson. Just not sure if I want it routed for a HB or not. The route would give me the option, but if I end up preferring a single knowing its under there will bother me.
    I play with fingers mostly thru Rick Hayes Vintage Sound blackface clones.

  8. #7

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    Buy a second Tele.

  9. #8

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    OK, then go for a P-90!

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    Buy a second Tele.
    It dawned on me this could easily, and rightfully, be taken as a joke. I assure you it is not. These days there are so many Tele and Tele-shaped object options, at so many price points, you can try any combo you like and not lose a lot of money if it doesn't work out. I only have one Telecaster, but it's perfect; but there was this time I put a Seymour Duncan Li'l '59 in the bridge position (Billy Gibbons was using them for the Antenna tour), and I only eventually put back the original pup b/c the SDL'59 was like, a thousamd times louder than the neck and my usual middle-position tones were out of wack. But it did sound fantastic and a friend of mine used it touring with a rock act for a year. I've got my eye out for a fixer-upper to put the li'l darlin' in, or maybe two of them. You don't know until you try, right? Worst case scenario, you end up with two Teles. Win - win, right?

  11. #10

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    shopping for some new wood lately, it did occur to me that, Yeah, if I won the lottery, I'd quit my job and have more time to shop and play a multitude of guitars. And then as I shopped, I realized I would never be totally happy with one, or another, or maybe two of each, and then three!!!
    It's not just GAS. And it's not silly fantasizing, It's the fact that there are so many great variations, and choices. And that's before you get to your favorite luthier, who can dazzle you with customized embellishments and features, tone woods, necks, and a fun time just hanging out in his/her shop.

    I have for many years, altered my guitars in the view of improving them. Pickup swaps are common chores here. I often feel that stock p/ups are not always the best choice, so I try to improve the beasts.

    I can say that, reading a lot of forums, and sharing info with techs and luthiers, plus my own experiments, the generally held beliefs are true in experience. But I do have my biases, and they are usually based on TONE. I.E. Shaw humbuckers in a '81 Gibson L5 CES were not the best match for the guitar. Neither were the pots (UGH!) Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers might have been made for this guitar, and so were 500K pots.

    All this to say that: you have to try some, lose some, read more, and go down the rabbit hole ( you will find company down here) and listen a lot while you learn a lot. Practice and playing can do more fore your soul.

    Best of luck and enjoy the journey.

  12. #11

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    I've asked this before and no one said yes -- has anyone mounted a single coil and a humbucker next to each other in the neck position? A Seymour Duncan P-Rails doesn't count.

  13. #12

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    Long ago I've installed DiMarzio twang king set on my japanese ash tele. They sound beautiful and rich, and the chord melodies on the neck pickup sound great too.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by h_rzr
    Long ago I've installed DiMarzio twang king set on my japanese ash tele. They sound beautiful and rich, and the chord melodies on the neck pickup sound great too.

  15. #14

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    So I just sold an Anderson tele. I liked the sound of it but it was a butterscotch blackguard, and if you are familiar with Andersons they dont have exactly that tone of an early fifties tele. The tone and look did not match imo. Plus I could benefit from a wider nut for fingerstyle.
    So two teles is the plan - a more traditional tele in butterscotch for that thing, and a custom Anderson for everything else.
    I really did like the tone of mine with singles, its just that a humbucker seems to be the default choice for the guitars that most Jazz is recorded with.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    I've asked this before and no one said yes -- has anyone mounted a single coil and a humbucker next to each other in the neck position? A Seymour Duncan P-Rails doesn't count.

    Kinda sorta but maybe not quite? You've probably seen this...Steve Morse's partscaster from his days in the Dixie Dregs.

    Jazz Tele neck pickup?-steve-morse-frankentele-png

    Stupid reminiscing old man side story: When I was at GIT in 1984, one day Steve Morse stopped by to give a seminar. It was sort of off-the-cuff. Someone from the school must have talked him into stopping by. He didn't have his guitar with him.

    So he sat ready to talk and play for about 150 guitar students. He says "Does anyone have a Tele body with a Strat neck that I could borrow?"

    And there I was! Johnny-on-the-Spot in the third row, with my own partscaster mashup.

    Except mine was a Squier Strat body with a Tele neck. It's like I was wrong twice.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by wengr
    ... not sure if I want it routed for a HB or not. The route would give me the option, but if I end up preferring a single knowing its under there will bother me. ...
    Be careful if you ever buy a Fender Tele, then, because many models are already routed for a neck humbucker.

    "Knowing its under there will bother me" strikes me as in the same vein as rejecting Heritage guitars because of the headstock.

    If it were me I'd certainly get it routed for a humbucker, so that I could change out the pickup later if I wanted to. I seem to like Fat Teles anyway, so there's probably a bit of a prejudice thing going on for me.

  18. #17

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    I have a single coil now and it work for me. But the best tele neck pickup I ever had was the Seymour Duncan Mini Humbucker that came stock in the now discontinued Hot Rod Tele. It really was the best of both worlds as far a clarity, no home, and tone.

    This pickup: Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Telecaster with Seymour Duncan Vintage Mini Humbucker 2007