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What do you use? Should I buy a tele with a Humbucker or go with stock single coil? Something else?
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04-23-2015 01:11 PM
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I tried a thinline with the humbuckers last week at the guitar shop. It sounded jazz acceptable to me. Surprisingly good for what I consider a twangy country guitar (no offense). I now wish I would have compared it to the other pickup configurations while I was there. The semi-hollow body might have contributed too. You could always have a coil tap added if you cant make up your mind. Go from humbucker to a single coil with the flip of a switch.
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If you think of a tele as just a twangy country guitar, hang around here a bit...this is the unofficial home of the jazz telecaster
Originally Posted by Frethack
Kidding aside, the neck pickup on a tele gets great jazzy tones, one need look no further than Ed Bickert for proof of that...and the tele really has become one of the solid bodies most often seen as a jazz guitar. Might even go back to it's roots--the tele was designed for Western Swing players.
To the OP...just play a bunch and see what you think. I use a completely stock (it's one of the few things about my tele that is) Fender single coil pickup in the neck of my tele...I get a lot of compliments on my tone. More than on my playing, most times
Anyway, to illustrate: Here's my tele going for a traditional jazz tone--
Same tune, brighter, bluesier tone:
And going for a more modern, spacey thing
All same neck pickup.Last edited by mr. beaumont; 04-23-2015 at 02:13 PM.
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Ditto on a standard single coil neck pickup. I have a set of Lollars in my butterscotch blonde / blackguard Warmoth Tele clone. I think they're the "Vintage T" models.
I have a Gibson humbucker on another Tele and I don't like it nearly as much; it's heavier sounding and has less air and character. The single coil combined with a solid ash body and vintage styled parts is the best combo of tone and mojo in my personal opinion.
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Lots of options mate.
I'm all for Charlie Christian type single coil, this is mine....
Or this...
Bill Frisell got De Armond type single coils
This turned up on a search, Duo Tron?!?
Curtis Novak does a 'No rout' jazzmaster pickup
I bought a Telecaster for my Charlie Christian pickup, but then again that pickup will sound great in any guitar. I chose the Tele for its modding potential. I've harped on about the whole Tele project in other threads, but it's not finished yet!
The modern Teles have humbucker routs in the neck position and the USA ones have a Nashville rout as well.
I would experiment with different types until you find the right one.
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Ed Bickert played a Telecaster with a stock single coil and his tone was pretty good so I don't think you need to change anything. Just noodle around on your amp & guitar to find the tone that you like!
Also, Mr.Beaumount is your telecaster shielded? Because it doesn't seem to have that annoying hum my (stratocaster) has...
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Well, Ed's had a humbucker in there for about 40 years
...but there's video online of him playing his tele with the single coil...he sounds pretty much exactly the same.
My tele has that black shielding paint inside...it helps some, but in higher gain situations or places with flourescents or bad wiring, I still get the hum. It's usually pretty correctable just by changing the angle in which I'm sitting in relation to the amp.
I have an electro harmonix "hum debugger" that I use for some of the country gigs I do where I'm cranked up loud. I feel like it affects my tone a little, so I only use it if necessary, but it works.
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I have Bill Lawrence noiseless pickups in my Tele, a twin blade at the bridge and a 202 stacked at the neck, great pickups, no noise and the neck pup is well suited for jazz.
When my Tele was stock it sounded like a radio with the dial between two am station, my house built in 1935 exacerbated the problem. In addition to replacing the pickups I shielded the cavities with copper tape, no noise, very quiet now.
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Nice tone! OK I am buying one. Speaking of jazz telecasters is that a custom neck? It looks kind of wide and flat or is that the camera angle? Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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The Wilde by Bill Lawrence (RIP) stuff is great. I'm a big of fan of his stuff and his wiring schemes: Home Page Originally Posted by ESCC
I have three Korean-made Teles all loaded with those pickups -- one with Keystones (the most vintage sounding), one with L-45Ss (the widest range) and one with a L-200TN/TL set (sweet/meaty and a bit on the stratty side). You can't really go wrong with any of Bill's designs and the cost won't break the bank. Having said that I find most stock Fender US pickups are fine.Last edited by wildschwein; 04-23-2015 at 08:16 PM.
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Good eyes! Originally Posted by Frethack
Warmoth "boatneck" 1.75" nut, 11-16" compound radius, ebony on maple.
It's awesome.
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honestly I cannot explain why but a number of things sound good in there.
I have a wide range hb from the 70s.. a little brighter than a normal paf-style but it sounds pretty good.
I have tried an early 70s TTop and it is THE best hb I have ever owned
I have a lollar special T tele pickup in another guitar.. love it. I cannot recommend that pickup enough
I have also tried a stew mac golden age HB in my tele. The stewmacs are great pickups for guitars you are trying to sell
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Actually...i think you're on to one of the best things about the tele.. a lot of different pickups DO sound great...tele's the ultimate hot rod.
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Yea ... I have a P-90 in the neck of mine and it's great.
Tele's are great in that they have a wonderful unique signature tone that's unmistakeable on the one hand and on the other they're just a tried and true slab of wood with a neck and you can do anything you want to them. Can't go wrong.
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if you go with a humbucker, try something unpotted. it'll pick up more acoustic vibe.
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I have an ash Tele with a Duncan Minibucker and a chambered Tele with a Biltoft CC Rider. Like them both.
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Ash Tele, maple neck. Bill Lawrence OBL from the late 80s in neck position. Originally it was supposed to be the bridge PU in a rock guitar, and it produces a quite mellow but very clear tone. Maybe because it is wired to a 250k pot (should be 500k for HU, iirc). Works very well with Chromes. For gigs in small clubs with questionable electricity installations, a HU is nice to have...
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This guy gets a great sound out of his Lollar CC. Especially how chords sound warm but still with note separation.
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I bought a humbucker sized CC pickup handmade by a guy named Travis Morris on ebay ("tmm95"). It was a drop in replacement for the humbucker that was there before, and was only 80 bucks (got most of that back when I sold the humbucker). I like it a lot better than the humbucker, but have not played out with it or anything; it is not my number one guitar. But it was a cheap way to sample a CC sound, and looks cool. To my ears, no pickup will make a tele sound like an archtop, it is its own thing. So I'm not getting 50s Farlow or Kessel tone or anything like that.
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My personal choice, but not necessarily your own, after putting together a DIY Tele about 18 months ago, I tried a few neck pickups, I found that I prefer the low output vintage type pickups with Alnico2 magnets. The modern high output Tele neck pickups didn't sound good to my ears.
Yes, the modern high output pups have more volume, but you can always turn the volume up on the amp or pedal to get more volume with the low output vintage type Alnico2.Last edited by GuyBoden; 04-25-2015 at 07:03 AM.
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He does, that's Tim Lerch, he participates in the forum every now & again. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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For those in the know, is there any remarkable difference between a thinline Tele and a solid body Tele to get a nice jazz tone?
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No. Thinline is a little ligher than a solid body Tele. Maybe experiments with different saddles or bridges do difference in sound. Originally Posted by eblydian
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+1, although some people think they save the denser slabs for thinlines, so they may be even heavier! Originally Posted by kris
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small differences but be forwarned that a tele is inherently slightly neck heavy so any changes such as chambering, hollow body, tummy cut, heavy tuners, etc., can make for an uncomfortably balanced instrument Originally Posted by eblydian
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