New Tele Owner Here: Adjusting pickup height?

Hello folks :D

Well, I got myself a bona fide Tele the other day. It's one of the Muddy Waters Sig Tele's assembled in Mexico.

I was wondering about how to adjust the pickup heights for the two pups. The back one seems like it's set pretty close to the strings, and its volume level seem considerably higher than the neck pup.

I think I can see the screws to adjust the bridge pup's height, but I don't see any screws near the neck pup. Is that pup adjustable? Do I have to take the pickguard off?

Thanks in advance.

Yes. On older Teles, or those that are built like older Teles, the neck pickup is mounted on the body, not the pickguard. Take the guard off, and all will be revealed. The mounting screws of the neck pickup go through springs before they enter the body, so loosen the screws to raise the pickup, and tighten it to lower.

Yes. On older Teles, or those that are built like older Teles, the neck pickup is mounted on the body, not the pickguard. Take the guard off, and all will be revealed. The mounting screws of the neck pickup go through springs before they enter the body, so loosen the screws to raise the pickup, and tighten it to lower.

Thanks for the advice, Jim. :D

Welcome to my main hangout...careful here pal...you'll be pulling those stock pups out and looking at the hundreds of combos of replacement pups we all yack about (in the Pickup Joint).

Also, you'll find that a certain country picker with a pink '68 tele from West VA is held in high esteem around here :wink: (his guitar tech posts here too...).

So, you got a tele now...cool !

Glad you came by the tele pages...lotsa real useful info here too.

Take care,

John Kamer

Welcome to my main hangout...careful here pal...you'll be pulling those stock pups out and looking at the hundreds of combos of replacement pups we all yack about (in the Pickup Joint).

Also, you'll find that a certain country picker with a pink '68 tele from West VA is held in high esteem around here :wink: (his guitar tech posts here too...).

So, you got a tele now...cool !

Glad you came by the tele pages...lotsa real useful info here too.

Take care,

John Kamer

Hiya John :)

Nice to see a familiar "face" in this new (to me) venue.

I played the Muddy Waters Tele at band practice last night. Playing through my '73 Vibrolux Reverb ... sounded freakin' awesome. The other guitarist in my band plays an Ibanez 335 style guitar, so the Tele is a good contrast to his sound.

So far anyway, I'm pretty happy with the stock pups that came in the MW Tele ('62RI Tele neck pup and '52RI Tele bridge pup).

Oh ... and I'll try to be respectful of certain t-shirt wearin' country pickers around these parts. 8)