Replacing pickups on a tele

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shredhead7

shredhead7

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I have a B-Bender that I love playing, but to be honest, it sounds too Tele (imagine that!). The problem is the bridge pickup squeals when there is any sizable amount of distortion and the neck pickup isn't hot enough. I guess I'm looking for a strat sound, with the bonus of having a b-bender. This is my first Tele, so I don't know if the bridge is hot or microphonic because of the steel plate, but can I just switch this out for an HS-2 or 3? I'm looking for some nice hum canceling single coils that aren't super hot rodded, but aren't going to feedback when I'm playing with some gain.
 
GFS Fatbody tele neck has a very characteristic stratty tone. No neck tele mud there. Fralin SP42 works well for me in the bridge whether clean or with gain. No issues with squeal. There is the 60 cycle hum though.

If you want noiseless and want to keep the tele tone, go for the Dimarzio Area Hot Tele bridge and the Area neck. That'll keep the tele vibe without the noise and give you some extra punch over stock. If that's not enough, Dimarzio makes a few other side by side humbuckers that will fit with more output. I have no experience with the Chopper, etc. only with the Area's. I have however had EMG's, GFS, and a few other side by side Seymour Duncan's in the bridge slot at one time or another. Lil' 59 was good, but you lose any tele character. Hot Rails was too hot and the EMG while being clean and noiseless, was a bit weak.

Like any guitar, it's going to be trial and error until you find what works with your guitar and amp. Hopefully this will help you start. A good tele sounds great, but it may take some time to get there.
 
Thanks for the tips, I think that I will order up some of the Area's and try those out.
 
The 2 tele pickup sets I always go to are the Rio Grande Muy Grande set or Wilde (Bill Lawrence) Keystones. The Wildes are quieter, still have that tele twang, but get rocking. The Rio Grande are smoking and ready to rock.
 
shredhead7":3e1jvm5n said:
I have a B-Bender that I love playing, but to be honest, it sounds too Tele (imagine that!). The problem is the bridge pickup squeals when there is any sizable amount of distortion and the neck pickup isn't hot enough. I guess I'm looking for a strat sound, with the bonus of having a b-bender. This is my first Tele, so I don't know if the bridge is hot or microphonic because of the steel plate, but can I just switch this out for an HS-2 or 3? I'm looking for some nice hum canceling single coils that aren't super hot rodded, but aren't going to feedback when I'm playing with some gain.
Click to expand...
before you switch out the pickups, try running a noise gate in front of the amp first. ISP Decimator is the way to go.
 
Plus one on the Area's. Bridge kicks ass in mine!
 
I dunno...I put a Bare Knuckle Piledriver in the bridge of my Tele...
It's cool.
More gain, but still twangy.
 
ConcreteVampire":3v64dqf2 said:
Plus one on the Area's. Bridge kicks ass in mine!
Click to expand...
are the Area Hot bridge different from the Area 51? The Chopper T is supposedly the same but hotter output than the Area?
 
mightywarlock":2uy7wqnc said:
I dunno...I put a Bare Knuckle Piledriver in the bridge of my Tele...
It's cool.
More gain, but still twangy.
Click to expand...

The Fralin Steel Poles are in the same league tonally with these. So is the Rio Grande Dirty Harry. Very pissed off tele tone. I listened to alot of clips and the are all similar, just a slight different flavor. I think any of them would work for me, but I went with the Fralin and am happy.
 
I have a Chopper T, like Kotzen, in mine and it sounds pretty awesome. Very Tele like, but heavy with no noise. Maybe a little more mids. Not too much treble, but you can definitely still get the tele vibe when you want it. I have it in an Esquire build yet it is very versatile and can get rock, blues or country tones with no noise.
 
I kinda had the same problem, put in a
Lil59 in the bridge with a coil tap on tone
And that was my ticket
 
Another +2 for the Chopper T, I really liked it in a old Tele I use to have.
I found it rocked nicely under gain but still keep the Tele vibe to it.
 
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