Humbuckers for Tele

[Gitfiddler]

I have a Fender American Tele that has spent most of its life in a case. It has one of the shreddiest necks i've ever played, but the pickups are, well, tele pickups. I have thought of selling the guitar, but am considering a pickup upgrade to something more suitable for heavier styles. I had a Kotzen tele for a bit and didn't love the Chopper T and Twang King combo. I know a lot of folks love those pickups in a tele, but I would like something with a bit more juice.

Any suggestions, beyond the chopper and twang king for a tele? I have a full-size dimarzio super distortion in the bridge of a strat and love it. Have any of you tried a SD super distortion t, tone zone t, or a hot rail for a tele? Suggestions for a neck pickup? I haven't removed the pickguard, but i believe the bridge only allows single-sized pickups and the neck may allow a full-size pickup

thanks!

 

[godgrinder]

The Lil 59 was surpringly suffient in my tele. I like the Hot Rails too but I haven't tried one in a tele.

 

[SDMF38]

I e got a tone zone t in mine and it’s great. I thought about getting the chopper and just went for the tz and I’m happy I did.

 

[thenine]

^
Same here. I have a Tele with Dimarzio Area T Hot and one with Tone Zone T and the TZ wins by a mile. Quite happy with it and no plans to change. I also changed the bridge on that one to individual steel saddles and the Area T Tele remains with the 3 brass saddles bridge. I perceive a tonal difference with these bridges. The 3 brass saddles traditional bridge is no bueno for heavy styles IMO.

So I have a Tele for heavy and one for classic rock, hot blues. More is better.

 

[GOHOINC]

I really love a duncan alnico ii pro humbucker in a tele bridge position, tele neck pickup is magic as is... I have a duncan custom shop pearly gates for tele in one now but prefer the alnico ii pro over it. The pearly for tele is a little dark/muted compared to the full size alnico ii. I found hot rails to be a bit too much or too harsh for my tastes. If I had it to do over, if I'm stuck with a tele bridge and stacked humbucker vs full size, I'd recommend ordering a custom shop design your own. Mj @ duncan has knocked it out of the park with two single coil sized humbuckers or strats I have gotten in the last two years. I described the tone I wanted and she nailed it. I wound up with both having alnico v magnets, one is a rail design about 13k the other is a pole design about 17k.

 

[Devin]

Duncan Hot Rails bridge and Dimarzio Twang King neck


I've also owned the Chopper T and Tone Zone T and neither of them sounds much like a proper hot humbucker.....Hot Rails does in my experience

Chopper works pretty well as a neck pickup though if you absolutely must have both positions be humbucking

 

[Fiesta Red]

Try the Arcane 50s Experience bridge. It's what Luxxtone puts into theirs. They have sets for sale on eBay right now

 

[blackba]

Have you thought of just putting in a push pull pot to run the pickups in series? Worth trying and certainly cheaper than new pickups. I really like this option on my otherwise stock American pro tele.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/08/15/4-way-switching-push-pull-pot/
not sure you can fit two humbucker sized p90s but in my contemporary MIJ tele from the early 80s, loving the TV jones TP90s in humbucker mount. They really scream.

 

[Subsonic73]

I agree with Devin, I've tried that combo (SD Hot Rails bridge with the Twang King neck) and that's a really good combo.
I also really like the SD Quarter Pound tele neck, lots of character in the mids and considerable output for a Tele neck pickup.

 

[Devin]

I agree with Devin, I've tried that combo (SD Hot Rails bridge with the Twang King neck) and that's a really good combo.
I also really like the SD Quarter Pound tele neck, lots of character in the mids and considerable output for a Tele neck pickup.

I haven't used the QP for tele, but I definitely love the QP for strat. I'd assume they're fairly similar. They work great when paired with really hot buckers