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Thanks everyone. We do include a sheet with the pickups explaining what I basically posted before plus more. However, literally thousands of customers have used various types of bridges with our noisefree pickups over the years, including the old-style ashtray bridge, but that particular combination of the "vintage" bridge and a modern noisefree pickup occasionally requires some extra attention to setup or some minor modifications like adding extra mounting holes and screws to the front of the bridge plate -- and, even with a traditional single-coil, those ferrous bridges aren't ideal for high gain and/or distorted playing. Historically, that's one the chief reasons brass Tele bridges became such a frequent mod as that sort of playing started to become more popular. (Btw, Glendale is the choice of our customer in the e-mails I posted above. There are many other makers of non-magnetic bridges, including Fender too.)
The Telecaster is a wonderful, historic instrument and many love it so much they want to keep theirs much like the original from the '50s which is just fine, but it's also a lot like going into a Chevy dealership and insisting on a car built just like the Chevys of 1952 -- then expecting it to perform under 2007 driving conditions! Can you imagine thousands of heavy, awkward '52 Chevys, however gorgeous, on the California freeways trying to keep up with all the cars designed and built fifty years later?
The original Tele design is an enduring classic and will always have its respected place in music history, but the improvements made over the years to bring the Tele into our "modern, high-volume, effects-heavy stage environment" are also worth serious consideration. The Tele simply wasn't designed with those factors in mind -- they didn't even exist back in 1952!
When you make the move to noisefree pickups, you've taken the first step toward modernization of your Tele. Going back to the Chevy analogy, putting a modern engine in a '52 Chevy is problematic because a transmission designed a 50 years ago isn't going to just bolt up to the new powerplant and give you all the performance that engine can deliver -- the modification process has to be completed to get that sort of result. The same goes for "dropping" noisefrees into an otherwise "vintage" guitar -- depending on your playing habits and requirements, other changes may very well be needed. (Our Keystone Singles bridge pickup for Teles is a less radical "engine swap" and offers considerably lower hum levels than standard single coils.)
That brings up another issue: our industry's guitar techs. There are many knowledgeable people who work on guitars -- after all, Bill's initial American reputation was largely based on the meticulous setup and modification work he did back in his New York days. Our best techs do a great service, really helping players get the most from their instruments. Unfortunately, unlike the building and automotive trades, the guitar industry has not established any real criteria for the title "guitar tech" -- in fact, anyone can simply buy a bunch of tools and declare himself a guitar tech. Even a sushi chef has to meet rigorous knowledge and experience requirements before he can assume the title of “master” sushi chef! I wish our industry could offer that level of assurance to guitar players too, but for now that is simply not the case. In practical terms, that means that the knowledge and skill levels of those who call themselves "guitar techs" are pretty much all over the map -- some are genuinely great, some perfectly adequate, and others are just glorified string changers.
Any questions, please let me know.
All the best,
Becky
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