Tone Specific Pickups - Jazz Tele, Strat

[Bach5G]

I just came across these today, never heard of them before. Here is the Jazz Tele demo:

There’s also a demo for the Strat.

These sound pretty good. Not cheap though.

It helps that the guy doing the demo can actually play.

[Greentone]

Good neck pickup sound!

[ugarte]

uh oh, here we go

[Cunamara]

Good neck pickup sound!

Really? Wow, tastes vary. I thought it sounded terrible for jazz, better for an SRV blues tone. But I think part of the problem was that he was badly overpicking the strings, like someone used to .013s being handed a giutar with .010s. I could hear the strings slapping into the frets, a sound I dislike a lot.

[Greentone]

Cunamara,

Agreed. I attribute much of your response--as you do--to the picking style (and the setup of the guitar). The guitar could use a heavier gauge string and a higher action to avoid the slap/spank that plagues so many Fenders set up light and low. (Of course, for funk you will want to exploit this kind of setup.)

I was just listening to the tone of the pickup, not the noise contributed by the player. I like the tonal response of that pickup...but not the response of the bridge pickup.

[rio]

I though the neck pickup sounded quite nice although I was judging on the notes and chords that weren’t overplucked and spanking against the frets. And I mean no offense to the player in the video - I know some people like that sound or perhaps he was used to heavier strings (I might have that smash problem if someone put a guitar with .009s on it in front of me with low action) but I can’t evaluate tone when the strings are spanking. Still a usable demo though and from what was clear sounding I would like to try the neck pickup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Hucktwist]

I just bought a set of these and stuck them in a Squire Bullet tele with a basswood body. They’re astounding! Clear, warm and dynamic. You can squeeze out every single nuance of a strike or a bend. I love them. Regarding the jazz vs. blues sound, I think they’d be great for either. Perfect for a Steely Dan cover band, where you do triple-duty between jazz, rock, and blues. If you play with your fingers, like Jeff Beck, you’ll really get your money’s worth because they reflect every little dynamic change. They’re just extremely clear, but meaty too.

[pauln]

Cunamara,

Agreed. I attribute much of your response--as you do--to the picking style (and the setup of the guitar). The guitar could use a heavier gauge string and a higher action to avoid the slap/spank that plagues so many Fenders set up light and low. (Of course, for funk you will want to exploit this kind of setup.)

I was just listening to the tone of the pickup, not the noise contributed by the player. I like the tonal response of that pickup...but not the response of the bridge pickup.

I also agree - he's picking way too hard. I play jazz on an old Strat and I can assure everyone that the "jazz sound" comes when you loosen your grip on the pick and let the strings deflect it a bit as you play... this makes the "plink-plink" character of a clean Strat disappear and become replaced by a more dull attack from the pick dragging and releasing the strings more slowly, letting the vibration of the string set up properly without being disrupted by too hard picking. Hard picking with lighter strings actually kills tone and sustain because the attack is disruptive and the vibration in the string does not establish normally.

Haven't most of us learned by now that the primary influence on tone and playability is the pick you choose and your method of picking?

[mad dog]

Maybe it's just me ... regardless of how good these p/us are or are not, I find the idea of genre specific pickups pretty much a head scratcher. At least when it comes to teles.

[Hucktwist]

I kind of understand why they’re being marketed as Jazz pickups, but I think they’re more versatile than that. And I think we’re talking about jazz tele players rather than more traditional jazz box players. There’s a lot more clarity in the treble range, bit still fat. These aren’t so much like an Ed Bickert sound. But I do think someone like Tim Lerch could really make some stuff happen with these. They really mostly kind of remind me of the sound of Walter Becker’s solos in the later Steely Dan stuff, which I’m pretty fond of.

[rabbit]

Tone is largely in the hands, eh?

[Hucktwist]

I agree that it’s largely about the hands. Great players (which I’m not) can make an unplugged semi-hollow sound totally pro. I like to practice a lot unplugged for that reason. But when I do plug in, I find it really enjoyable to have pickups that are really responsive, and reflect and enhance what I’ve been practicing when I’m not plugged in.

[Socalbill]

Tone is largely in the hands, eh?

Yea, let’s hear a demo with Tim Lerch playing that pickup. He makes a stock Tele sound perfect. Maybe a stock Tele is perfect?

[LtKojak]

Jazz doesn't come in-built in the p'up's.

It's a musical language. Can't be bought, only understood and learnt, and not everybody will ever be able to "speak it".

[Hucktwist]

I agree that “the tone” is not “the music”. But it does tend to be an important part of the musical performance. In listening to a fair number of jazz guitarists over the years, I’ve noticed that there is a certain tonal range which seems to be preferred. To my ears, this neck pickup has a lot of the richness that I associate with that “classic jazz guitar tone”, but with some additional clarity, that I don’t always hear. I like the overall sound of both pickups, and while I think they might be of interest to that very specific group of people who want to play jazz on a Telecaster, I think they are well suited to a variety of styles. Maybe instead of marketing them as “Jazzy Tele”, they should just call them “Very Good Sounding Pickups, Which Would Work Well For A Variety Of Styles”.????

[TLerch]

interesting thread, to their credit they called it "Jazzy" Which we all know means resembling something that sorta sounds like some non jazz persons idea about a kinda slightly jazzy sound you know, "jazzy". I'll drop these guys a line and see if they will send me a set so I can try to make a video with some heavier strings on a tele. (strings can make more difference than the pickup)
all the best
Tim

[Socalbill]

interesting thread, to their credit they called it "Jazzy" Which we all know means resembling something that sorta sounds like some non jazz persons idea about a kinda slightly jazzy sound you know, "jazzy". I'll drop these guys a line and see if they will send me a set so I can try to make a video with some heavier strings on a tele. (strings can make more difference than the pickup)
all the best
Tim

Hi Tim,
That would be great if they are willing. I have really appreciated your videos on your various Telecasters, and especially one I saw recently with you on a stock tele talking about tone, strings and pitch. Very helpful as I am transitioning to Telecasters for back reasons. Thanks
Bill

[Greentone]

The Telecaster is the nearly perfect electric guitar. I own mainly archtop guitars, but I play a Telecaster daily and have done so for more than 40 years.

With good strings and action, a Telecaster will sound jazzy with a wide variety of pickups.

I eagerly await Tim Lerch's comparison.

[Woodstove]

I just put these in my tele. I like them a lot, especially the neck pickup and the combination which can get a great funk sound. Before putting them in I tried to contact Tim Lerch by PM and offered to send them to him for review but didn't hear back. Here's a sample of the neck pick up, TI flats 0.12. It's a composition of mine, kind of an etude called "Sometimes When We Dream". (thus the somewhat heavy reverb!). PS one immediate positive compared to the Texas Specials was that the Tone Specifics are MUCH quieter without a constant low level single coil hum ....Peter

I should mention the amp, it was the Amplified Nation Overdrive Reverb I got recently. It's pretty amazing.

Dropbox - Sometimes Tele.wav - Simplify your life

[ewall]

Has there been any follow-up on these pickups? I'm contemplating switching out at least my neck p/u on a Nashville tele clone (Alvarez) which currently has 3 single coils, 5 way switch. Can you mix and match or is it best to buy all 3 p/u? And they are pricey.