Telecaster Guitar Forum - View Single Post - Fred Stuart Bakersfield set for tele + Glendale & RedPlate

the-tone · June 23rd, 2009, 02:32 AM

I finally got my Stuarts custom '60 pups installed in my Tele, and replaced my Callaham bridge for a Glendale Blackguard bridge with the screamin' '59 saddles. Here is a small review, and a video of me noodling in my PJ's early in the morning.

Fred Stuart '60 Bakersfield pickups.
I been dying to get these puppies installed in my Tele, and it was no disappointment. I wanted a Tele that was versatile. One I could do Country, Blues and Rock with, without any real compromise. All there really is to say here is that the dynamics, harmonics and touch sensitivity of these pickups are simply incredible. I like to always have the clean & natural tone of my guitar shine through no matter what pedal or how much drive I use. I always use the guitars volume and tone to shape my sound and I use a pick and finger picking combined. To me it is a must to have a guitar where I can shape my sound as I need to with the way that I attack & pick the notes. These pickups allowed me to do all that. The tone is simply gorgeous. It can be sparkling clean, with piano like bass notes and crisp highs. If I hit it with a little drive and boosts the mids a little on my amp, it transforms into the lowdown and nasty blues. For an alder Tele with a rosewood board maple neck, I believe that it could not be any better. Thanks again to Fred for winding me this Bakersfield Tele set. It's everything I need out of my '60 Telecaster. I ordered the bakersfield set, cause I wanted to be sure it was not wound to hot for my taste. I really wanted that low-wound tone. It has the perfect blend of wood & steel, and I think you can hear it in every note.

The Glendale Bridge;
I did like the callaham, but found it to be borderline brittle in the highs, with my setup and how I like to run my amps. It was also hard for me to get the in-between position to sound right. It was to bassy. I wanted a more '60 sounding Tele, with a useful in-between and neck position. The Glendale hit the spot. I did loose a little bit of bass, but gained a lot more of my guitars natural tone and character. To me, this was a no-brainer. With the Stuarts & this bridge, my Tele sounds just like I hear it in my head. As soon as I hit a simple G chord on my Tele, I felt my guitar vibrate in a way it had not done before. I literately felt every note I played sustaining through the guitar into the side of my body. It really surprised me, cause I did not think I could get anything more out of my Tele acoustically. The tone was more musical & nuanced. It pretty much opened up my guitar and the in-between position finally sounded right. Now, my pickups make a 100% sense. They are perfectly balanced, and I could NOT have achieved that with good pickups alone. It took the right bridge to balance it all out. Thanks to Dale for such a killer product. I should have bought this bridge long ago. It was a really important missing piece in the puzzle. I could easily have missed it, cause I already had a great quality bridge to begin with. I got this bridge cause I knew something was not quite right, and I had to be sure. That's why I gambled and ordered the Glendale. Thank again Dale, you have that S*** down!!!

The video takes of clean, going to more gritty and then with some drive. It's recorded with my IMac, so sorry for the not so Hi-Fi sound quality. I really wish the audio quality would be better, there's so much lost!!! kinda frustrating. I figured that some might still prefer a decent clip versus no clip at all.

Here's the video link: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=59457709
Thanks for reading guys. Again, I appreciate it very much.

June 23rd, 2009, 02:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
the-tone TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 95 20 Photos	Fred Stuart Bakersfield set for tele + Glendale & RedPlate I finally got my Stuarts custom '60 pups installed in my Tele, and replaced my Callaham bridge for a Glendale Blackguard bridge with the screamin' '59 saddles. Here is a small review, and a video of me noodling in my PJ's early in the morning. Fred Stuart '60 Bakersfield pickups. I been dying to get these puppies installed in my Tele, and it was no disappointment. I wanted a Tele that was versatile. One I could do Country, Blues and Rock with, without any real compromise. All there really is to say here is that the dynamics, harmonics and touch sensitivity of these pickups are simply incredible. I like to always have the clean & natural tone of my guitar shine through no matter what pedal or how much drive I use. I always use the guitars volume and tone to shape my sound and I use a pick and finger picking combined. To me it is a must to have a guitar where I can shape my sound as I need to with the way that I attack & pick the notes. These pickups allowed me to do all that. The tone is simply gorgeous. It can be sparkling clean, with piano like bass notes and crisp highs. If I hit it with a little drive and boosts the mids a little on my amp, it transforms into the lowdown and nasty blues. For an alder Tele with a rosewood board maple neck, I believe that it could not be any better. Thanks again to Fred for winding me this Bakersfield Tele set. It's everything I need out of my '60 Telecaster. I ordered the bakersfield set, cause I wanted to be sure it was not wound to hot for my taste. I really wanted that low-wound tone. It has the perfect blend of wood & steel, and I think you can hear it in every note. The Glendale Bridge; I did like the callaham, but found it to be borderline brittle in the highs, with my setup and how I like to run my amps. It was also hard for me to get the in-between position to sound right. It was to bassy. I wanted a more '60 sounding Tele, with a useful in-between and neck position. The Glendale hit the spot. I did loose a little bit of bass, but gained a lot more of my guitars natural tone and character. To me, this was a no-brainer. With the Stuarts & this bridge, my Tele sounds just like I hear it in my head. As soon as I hit a simple G chord on my Tele, I felt my guitar vibrate in a way it had not done before. I literately felt every note I played sustaining through the guitar into the side of my body. It really surprised me, cause I did not think I could get anything more out of my Tele acoustically. The tone was more musical & nuanced. It pretty much opened up my guitar and the in-between position finally sounded right. Now, my pickups make a 100% sense. They are perfectly balanced, and I could NOT have achieved that with good pickups alone. It took the right bridge to balance it all out. Thanks to Dale for such a killer product. I should have bought this bridge long ago. It was a really important missing piece in the puzzle. I could easily have missed it, cause I already had a great quality bridge to begin with. I got this bridge cause I knew something was not quite right, and I had to be sure. That's why I gambled and ordered the Glendale. Thank again Dale, you have that S*** down!!! The video takes of clean, going to more gritty and then with some drive. It's recorded with my IMac, so sorry for the not so Hi-Fi sound quality. I really wish the audio quality would be better, there's so much lost!!! kinda frustrating. I figured that some might still prefer a decent clip versus no clip at all. Here's the video link: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=59457709 Thanks for reading guys. Again, I appreciate it very much. __________________ http://www.myspace.com/jacobwpetersen http://www.youtube.com/thetone1975 Last edited by the-tone; June 23rd, 2009 at 06:01 PM.