Singlecoil-Humbucker for Telecaster Neck

[ginod]

Hello,

The last time, i have recognized, that i really think, that the most important pickup for a telly is the bridge Singlecoil Pickup. It gives me the typical twangy Country Sound. But i am a Jazzguy too. The Most time i use an Archtop, but sometimes i miss the more sustain darker Jazzsound of an more solid body instrument. So my idea is to give my telly a hum bucker on the neck like Ed Bickert.

The Problem is, that i don't want to cut wood out of the guitar to make space for the hum bucker. So i search a good jazzy single coil Humbucker for the Telly Neck Position. Anyone advises, tipps for a good single coil Humbucker Pickup for Telly ?

Thank you very much

[ruger9]

Here's the problem, I think:

You'll AT LEAST have to buy a new pickguard, because you get a humbucker-sounding singlecoil, you will need to buy a strat-sized pickup, which is larger than a tele neck pickup. I have no idea if your guitar's rout will have to be enlarged to do this.

At that point, you might as well just rout the neck pickup cavity, buy a new pickguard with a HB-sized hole for the neck, and buy a real HB neck... the choices are endless. And it looks cool too.

Otherwise, these are likely your best bet, but it's still a single coil....

The Quarter Pound for Tele Rhythms custom overwound coil provides a powerful midrange that cuts through any mix without sounding bright or brash. This makes it a rhythm beast with huge sounding chords, and full, fat lead tones.

Quarter Pound Tele – neck | Seymour Duncan


Vintage Vibe VT-N-BL $99
Even chopped-down Charlie Christian pickups require some routing work. This scatterwound CC sound-alike has a blade polepiece and large magnet assembly, but it fits into a regular Tele body and pickguard. Sounding fat and loud, it’s also clear, exceptionally smooth, woody and jazzy.



Personally, I'd go for the Vintage Vibe CC...

[TH]

Have you considered a new pick guard and a mini humbucker? Many tele's are routed in the body to fit the larger pickups, even a full sized humbucker, but in a Warmouth I put together not too long ago, I used a pickguard that fit a Duncan antiquity II mini humbucker with a tele sized '59 bridge (which is standard tele size but double bobbin for humbucker). It was a winning combo for the guy who I was putting it together for. Interestingly, it's got that tele focus on the attack but the warm horn-like sustain that works for jazz.

David

[Alder Statesman]

Which Tele do you have? Mine is routed for a humbucker. Most modern ones are routed so you can swap out pups to your heart’s content.

If you want to use your existing pickguard, the N3 and N4 noiseless pups which the same dimensions as single coil from Fender are essentially stacked humbuckers. They slightly color the twang you want with a hint of humbuckers. They are quiet as their name infers.

[Greentone]

I have been the Humbucker route in the neck position. Love it.

I don't do that anymore. I don't have any problems getting a good jazz sound from a single coil Tele pickup.

[blackcat]

DiMarzio Area T?

[docbop]

I have the SD 'Lil 59 in one of my Tele's. It's a humbucker the size of a Fender Strat pickup.

Another thing you might want to try is what Fender is doing on a lot of Teles with a 4-position switch and the extra position puts both pickups in series. On mine it gets a big sound more like you're looking for.

[ruger9]

Another thing you might want to try is what Fender is doing on a lot of Teles with a 4-position switch and the extra position puts both pickups in series. On mine it gets a big sound more like you're looking for.

That's not a bad idea. I never found series useful for blues or rock, but for jazz tones it actually might work quite well... good call!

[Alder Statesman]

I have the SD 'Lil 59 in one of my Tele's. It's a humbucker the size of a Fender Strat pickup.

Another thing you might want to try is what Fender is doing on a lot of Teles with a 4-position switch and the extra position puts both pickups in series. On mine it gets a big sound more like you're looking for.

+2. The S1 switch on American Deluxes and Elites accomplishes this, too. Adds a wide pallet to a Tele’s tone.

[Cunamara]

Ed Bickert spent a long time with the stock Tele neck pickup, about 15 years, before switching to the humbucker around 1975 or so- just after his first album with Paul Desmond, I believe. You can find video of him playing with the stock pickup and he sounds exactly like Ed Bickert. From what other Torontoan guitarists have told me, Ed switched pickups to make string balance easier rather than because of being dissatisfied with the tone. Tele pickups used to be voiced for a wound third string, don't know if that is still the case.

I put the Dimarzio Area Ts in one of my Teles- a Squier Affinity, no less- and was very, very happy with the sound. Roll the treble off 50% and instant jazz tone. My quietest guitar is a Tele!

[Bach5G]

I was pretty impressed by a Barden Tele neck pickup recently.

[Greentone]

The Barden is quite good. I gigged for a while with a MIJ Tele with Barden pickups installed. Exceptional.

Still, my favorite is a Rumpelstiltskin White Rope single coil neck pickup. It's a faithful copy of a Fender '57 pickup.

[Zedism]

I had the same problem. On the recommendation of another forum member here, Kris, I bought a pair of APG T-size humbuckers and haven't looked back. I have them wired for parallel and series, the parallel is the best, most usable split coil sound I've ever had in a guitar and the series jazz tone on the neck pickup is fat and warm. Shipped from Poland to Australia it took about 2 weeks and was very cheap overall I remember.

TELEBUCKER NECK DUAL TONE (TBDT-N) << AP Guitars

[ginod]

thank you all. Amazing tipps to find the right decision here. A Mini Humbucker or Humbucker isn't possible because my body is not made for any other size than single coil on the neck. So the only way is a single coil sized hum bucker for the neck.

I play in a rock cover Band also. So i need the neck pickup for singing lead sound too.

[guido5]

A DiMarzio Pro Track is a strat pickup so it will take a small amount of pickguard adjustment (or a $25 Warmoth pickguard), but it should fit the route in the body. This pickup had a really nice PAF quality to it and splits well. I think it would give you the versatility you are looking for in the right size package...

Seymour Duncan makes a rail style humbucker for tele neck that shouldn't require a pickguard mod but I haven't used it yet so I can't comment on the sound.

[medblues]

Joe Barden Tele neck, no hum and covers Jazz and other styles well. No mods required. Expensive though.

[Hep To The Jive]

Yes, DiMarzio Area T is the best for jazz IMO. And I tried a few.

[rhoadsscholar]

You should check out Fender's 4th generation noiseless pickups for a Tele (same size/look at tele pickups) They finally got it right. You can buy the Neck, the bridge or both.

To try them out, make sure you play a Telecaster Elite first (they come stock with that guitar).

[Tivoli]

You should check out Fender's 4th generation noiseless pickups for a Tele (same size/look at tele pickups) They finally got it right. You can buy the Neck, the bridge or both.

I only see these pickups sold as a set. Can you tell me who is selling them separately? I just need the neck pup. I already have a Seymour Duncan Little '59 in the bridge.
Thanx

[Greentone]

You can get a Rumpelstiltskin White Rope or Black Rope neck pickup as a single pickup. IMO, the White Rope is the best neck pickup for the Telecaster, ever.

I have played the Fralin, SD, Lollar, Fender, etc. The Rumpelstiltskin just sounds sweeter. I never come off the neck pickup anymore--when playing jazz, country, rock, blues, you name it. This pickup is addictive.

[Frank67]

DiMarzio Area T pickups are very good

[guido5]

You can get a Rumpelstiltskin White Rope or Black Rope neck pickup as a single pickup. IMO, the White Rope is the best neck pickup for the Telecaster, ever.

I have played the Fralin, SD, Lollar, Fender, etc. The Rumpelstiltskin just sounds sweeter. I never come off the neck pickup anymore--when playing jazz, country, rock, blues, you name it. This pickup is addictive.

Seems the names changed at Rumpelstiltskin. Do you know which one was the White Rope? The Black Knight is the current name for the Black Rope, and there is a White Knight which seems to follow that convention, but...

[lammie200]

I think that Lace makes a humbucking Tele neck pickup that fits a standard route. I like the Lace Holy Grails that I have in my Strat FWIW.

[wierdOne]

Dude... about 15 years ago I was bitten by the telecaster bug... I joined the TDPRI, started tinkering.. ended up building 4 or so parts casters and tried every single noiseless/humbucking pickup I could find... in retrospect... I had a TON of fun, and threw away about a ton of dollar bills on them.. This list isn't a "definitive" list by any stretch of the imagination.. but.. it may help..

For starters.. I wasn't particularly looking for any pickups that could give me a "humbucker" sound.. more so... just being dead quiet on a gig and usable...

I can't remember all of the pickups, but... the ones that stood out to me are:

Joe Barden... super clean.. super hot... from ice pick to smooth jazz.. I think I liked these with 500k pots...

Kinman tele set.. super soulful, and incredibly easy to dial in a pleasing sound.. If you google them now, it looks like they've updated to a modern design with a circuit board etc... the pickups I had were totally analog (i think), and sounded really nice.

D'marzio Area T's.. surprisingly awesome... like the kinmans... only I remember them being super punchy compared to the kinmans..

Seymour Duncan lil' 59's... these were the most "colored" of the group... but awesome none the less.. huge mids..

Q-tuners.. At the time they didn't make a single coil sized production version, but now they do.. amazing hi-fi pickups.. big fat flat signal you can eq how you like... Harmonics for days... I may try some again now that i'm not as sloppy of a player... I remember hearing ALL of my mistakes with these pickups..

Harry Haussel blade pickups (like joe bardens)... I traded a pedal for these on the TDPRI board, and ended up loving these the most out of any of the pickups... I will probably try to get another pair of these. They weren't ice-picky like the Joe Bardens.. VERY usable. had them wired up to a 4 way switch that reversed the polarity of the pickups in the 4th position.. made it super punchy.

Fender Noiseless.. these were surprisingly not bad from what I remember... boring.. but not bad...

In the end, as with most cases of GAS... I didn't stop when I should have (when I had the Harry Haussel's)... I ended up settling on a set of EMG-T's, and have had them in my telecaster for over a decade. I don't necessarily like them... They require a 9v which fits into the regular control cavity, but... I haven't changed my 9v since installing the pickups, and I gig the guitar ALOT.... I guess they don't draw much current.. in any case, they're just clean. No noise.. I don't have to fight with them to get a decent tone in any playing situtation. They are a bit sterile though, and for what it's worth... i've been thinking I need to change them out for something else..

Here's a pic of the only telecaster I kept from the "telecraze" years... it's got the emg-t's...