Telecaster Neck Pickup and Mods

[MochaFiend]

Hello!

I have a 2016 rosewood tele that I would like to use exclusively for jazz. I am thinking about replacing the neck pickup and adding a capacitor. I would like to stick with single coil so I don't need to perform any routing of the body or the pickguard.

There are a few pickups that folks tend to like for this purpose. Lollar "Charlie Christian" is out in front and not unreasonably priced, but I wondered if anyone has experience with Fralin, or Ron Ellis single coil, or Bare Knuckle, or Creamery.

Also curious if any other jazz telecaster players use a .22 or .47. I'm a little worried that .47 will leave me with mud, but maybe the pickups will provide enough note separation that the .47 is preferable?

I'm also considering changing the 250K pots to 500K pots.

I'd really like some input. The luthier says things like, "It's player preference" but that's kind of a tough sell when we're talking about potentially $1000 worth of pickups and labor if I don't like them afterward.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful reply. I did use the search feature, but did not find any posts quite like what I was looking for.

As a side note, I have a brand new Ultra Luxe (yes, I am a fan of ss fret wire) on its way so I can a/b the sonic qualities of the "silent" stackbucker standard neck compared to what I have now, stock single coil.

[Tal_175]

I installed Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro neck pickup on one of my teles. I love it. It's got very smooth highs, and big lows without sacrificing the single coil clarity.

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro™ Tele | Seymour Duncan

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I have Lace Alumitones in my Tele and love them. Mine are HB size - but the same pickup comes in SC and HB and I’m pretty sure they make a drop-in for Teles. I have 500 pots and a 33 cap in mine, and the tone pot gives it a wide range from fat & jazzy to modern sparkle. They’re not widely used, but FWIW Benson uses Alumitones in several of his guitars. They’re very versatile - I use this guitar for most blues and commercial gigs as well as any jazz dates to which I don’t feel like taking an archtop. It’s not quite as thunky as the darkest Martino or Bickert tones, but it gets mighty close.

I also have SS frets on my Tele. They do add a very slight edge that was obvious with SD ‘buckers but went almost completely away when I put in the Alumitones.

[andrew]

I went down a rabbit hole a few years back trying all sorts of different Tele pickups and mods in search of a jazzy tele tone. Here are some of the conclusions that I came to:

-The best jazz tones out of a traditional tele neck pickup all came from Alnico 2 or Alnico 3 magnets. Cross Alnico 5 off the list. The formula is low wind (think closer to 7k), Alnico 2, little to no wax potting.
-Look for more of a "blackguard" style pickup. I ended up going with the Lollar '52 (Alnico 2). With the volume and tone rolled down a little bit, it's squishy and smooth and jazzy.
-I'd stick the 250K pots. The higher the value, the brighter the sound. I like using a linear taper pot. You lose the ability to do volume swells, but the range of volume is much more gradual and controllable. None of that sharp drop-off when you go from 10 to 9.
-I also liked "50's wiring" (or the Fezz Parka mod, as it's sometimes known in the tele world). The tone control is connected to the output of the volume (middle lug) instead of the input (the way it normally is).
-Brass saddles help smooth things out.
-These require routing, but I found the modern Charlie Christians to be even jazzier than any traditional tele pickup could get. I tried the Lollar and the Vintage Vibe models in two different guitars and in those specific guitars, I thought the VV sounded a tiny bit better (cheaper too!). But of course, it's not a completely fair comparison because there's more to the sound of a guitar than just the pickups.
-After all that, I still like the sound of an archtop more for jazz than a tele. Don't get me wrong, the tele does a more than passable job, is more practical, and more versatile. But for straight ahead classic jazz, the archtops win in my book. And yes, I've heard Ed Bickert, Ted Green, Tim Lerch, and company do wonderful jazz things on teles.

[Cunamara]

My favorite telecaster neck pickups are both by Bill Lawrence/Wilde: the L280TN, which is a stacked humbucking pick up that fits into the standard neck pickup opening; the other is the Micro Coil, which I am really liking. I prefer the neodymium version to the alnico version. I use both of them with 250K potentiometers and 0.047 mfd capacitors (I think I have a 0.022 in one of them, but I would have to pull the control plate to verify. However, the .047 or .05 capacitor is traditional for the Telecaster, and they're not exactly famous for being muddy). I have found that with single coil pickups, 500K potentiometers end up sounding thin and shrill- the opposite of what I want in jazz. But some people like it.

Noisefree T Neck – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups

Micro-Coil T Set of two – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups

I also use Bill Lawrence's Telecaster wiring schematic, which includes running a 220K resistor from the bridge hot terminal on the switch to ground, which rounds off the harsh high end of the bridge pick up very nicely. I don't use the treble bleed circuit.

Tele 3 Way Wiring Diagram – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups

[entresz]

I can vouch for the Bill Lawrence Micro Coil. I had the Neodymium version and it was great. Still sounded very much like a normal Telecaster, but had a nice mid-range fullness that suited a jazz tone nicely. The additional benefit is it's a true single coil with almost no hum.

I've since replaced the neck pickup with a 70's Gibson T Top that I had sitting around. It obviously involved routing, but it sounds great too.

[ewall]

Is there a reason (other than degree of difficulty) why more of these mods aren't done (reversing the control plate)? They would seem to make far more sense to a player than the conventional switch plate design.

[jads57]

Another choice would be Blade SC design pickups by Becky Wylde, DiMarzio,etc. Besides the absence of 60 cycle hum, they are capable of much fatter tones akin to a regular humbucker.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Another choice would be Blade SC design pickups by Becky Wylde, DiMarzio,etc. Besides the absence of 60 cycle hum, they are capable of much fatter tones akin to a regular humbucker.

Before I switched to 7 strings, I put Duncan Hot Rails in my Tele. They did everything really well, and I loved ‘em. I’d wanted Bardens, but for some reason that I can’t remember now, I couldn’t get a pair when I needed them.

I don’t know if Hot Rails are still available. But if they are, they’re a great choice - versatile, warmer than I ever thought they’d be, silent on any stage, and at the inexpensive end of the price range (at least back in the ‘90s).

[Doug B]

I just installed my new Noisefree Tele Neck last week. So far so good!:-)

My favorite telecaster neck pickups are both by Bill Lawrence/Wilde: the L280TN, which is a stacked humbucking pick up that fits into the standard neck pickup opening; the other is the Micro Coil, which I am really liking. I prefer the neodymium version to the alnico version. I use both of them with 250K potentiometers and 0.047 mfd capacitors (I think I have a 0.022 in one of them, but I would have to pull the control plate to verify. However, the .047 or .05 capacitor is traditional for the Telecaster, and they're not exactly famous for being muddy). I have found that with single coil pickups, 500K potentiometers end up sounding thin and shrill- the opposite of what I want in jazz. But some people like it.

Noisefree T Neck – Bill and Becky Wilde Pickups

[Cunamara]

Happy to hear that it's working out for you! I think Bill 'n' Becky 'n' Shannon pickups are the best Fender style ones out there. Bill knew how to design for clarity without harshness. I am waiting for a set of Strat Microcoils to arrive (I like to tinker; that guitar currently has an L280 in the neck position and PAF-size L90 humbuckers in the middle and bridge. Sounds fine, but I want to see what this sounds like).

[garybaldy]

I installed Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro neck pickup on one of my teles. I love it. It's got very smooth highs, and big lows without sacrificing the single coil clarity.

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro™ Tele | Seymour Duncan

I've had one in my 1988 Am. Std. since 1998. Great pup and matches the original bridge nicely. The original fender neck was microphonic.

[Mick-7]

Before I switched to 7 strings, I put Duncan Hot Rails in my Tele. They did everything really well, and I loved ‘em. I’d wanted Bardens, but for some reason that I can’t remember now, I couldn’t get a pair when I needed them.

I don’t know if Hot Rails are still available. But if they are, they’re a great choice - versatile, warmer than I ever thought they’d be, silent on any stage, and at the inexpensive end of the price range (at least back in the ‘90s).

Lorne Lofsky said his sold-body had Cool Rails in it, so I suppose all temperatures of the pickup will work... well, maybe not the Lukewarm Rails.

[omphalopsychos]

People say “no alnico 5” but idk I went for a lollar special t for a neck pickup and it brings the mids for sure. Great for a jazz tele.

[D.G.]

A 4 position switch is a common Tele mod. I’ve never found the series position to be as useful as I could’ve hoped for, but YMMV.

[Hep To The Jive]

Hello!

I have a 2016 rosewood tele that I would like to use exclusively for jazz. I am thinking about replacing the neck pickup and adding a capacitor. I would like to stick with single coil so I don't need to perform any routing of the body or the pickguard.

There are a few pickups that folks tend to like for this purpose. Lollar "Charlie Christian" is out in front and not unreasonably priced, but I wondered if anyone has experience with Fralin, or Ron Ellis single coil, or Bare Knuckle, or Creamery.

Also curious if any other jazz telecaster players use a .22 or .47. I'm a little worried that .47 will leave me with mud, but maybe the pickups will provide enough note separation that the .47 is preferable?

I'm also considering changing the 250K pots to 500K pots.

I'd really like some input. The luthier says things like, "It's player preference" but that's kind of a tough sell when we're talking about potentially $1000 worth of pickups and labor if I don't like them afterward.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful reply. I did use the search feature, but did not find any posts quite like what I was looking for.

As a side note, I have a brand new Ultra Luxe (yes, I am a fan of ss fret wire) on its way so I can a/b the sonic qualities of the "silent" stackbucker standard neck compared to what I have now, stock single coil.

DiMarzio Area T served me very well for jazz, and any styles actually. I got it because I can only use noisless pickups, but it does sound great regardless.

Changing 250k to 500k pots doesn't make much sense to me though. Single coils need 250k, otherwise it's too shrill. Especially for jazz!

[Cunamara]

I had the Area T pickups in my Tele prior to the Bill Lawrence ones I mentioned above. The Dimarzios were good sounding pickups for jazz, maybe a touch less clear than the ones by Bill and Becky but very nice. Ed Bickert-ish. I killed the Area T neck pickup when my screwdriver slipped while adjusting the pickup height, damaging the lower coil.


I concur with keeping 250K pots in a Telecaster unless you really want to be bright and cutting like Albert "Iceman" Collins. As for .022 versus .047 capacitors, either is fine. You'll roll the .022s down farther than you would the .047s.

[Cunamara]

People say “no alnico 5” but idk I went for a lollar special t for a neck pickup and it brings the mids for sure. Great for a jazz tele.

There is more to the sound of a pickup than just what kind of magnet it has.

[omphalopsychos]

There is more to the sound of a pickup than just what kind of magnet it has.

exactly

[ewall]

So when it comes to the tone you want, (besides HOW you play the tele) how much of that tone is generated by the pickup choice vs the amp settings? In other words, if you chose to do no pickup swapping and simply fiddled with your amp settings and tone knobs, could you get what you want in terms of tone?

[Cunamara]

So when it comes to the tone you want, (besides HOW you play the tele) how much of that tone is generated by the pickup choice vs the amp settings? In other words, if you chose to do no pickup swapping and simply fiddled with your amp settings and tone knobs, could you get what you want in terms of tone?

Most maybe even all of it, serviceable enough for playing with other musicians as that tends to bury the nuances of tone under the sax, cymbal wash, etc. My first Tele was a Squier Affinity, less than $200 out the door with sales tax. It was a cheap experiment inspired by my discovery of Ed Bickert, to see if I liked playing a Tele. I did and it was fine. Tone knob at 50%, volume knob at 80% and voila, a cheap approximation of Ed's tone. The guitar was surprisingly "live" acoustically for a plank. Manufacturing tolerances were very good as is often the case with CNC milling machines. Thick finish, narrow neck (a but under 1 5/8").

I rehearsed and gigged with it stock for a year or so, then swapped in a new wider Warmoth neck and Dimarzio Area T pickups (hum is not my favorite thing). The neck cost more than the whole guitar did and between those and the upgraded pickups and electronics, I added close to 200% of the original cost! OTOH, zero hum, a great neck and really nice tone. I played it that way for years, then I killed the neck pickup adjusting the pickup height with a slip of the screwdriver. After a period of farting around, acquiring a second Tele, etc., the neck is on another Tele with a chambered alder body that is particularly resonant.

Now the Squier is back together as stock and I am donating it to a music academy, maybe to go to some young'in who can't afford a guitar. It sounds surprisingly good- volume at 80%, tone at 50%; tweed Deluxe style amp (so warm and bassy, which I think really suits Teles- the tweed Deluxe is the Telecaster of amps). It's a silly cheap guitar that is very functional and works fine, although is not particularly inspiring.