Early 1982 / 52 Re Issue: tone / wiring or Cap problems?

I recently received my second hand early 82/52 reissue purchase (my first Tele) and I am not getting the sounds I expected please help if you can.

I Have triple checked the wiring diagram in the manual and all is 100% correct for the vintage 52 setting (it is also undisturbed original factory wiring).

Here’s what I am getting:

Switch in Top position = Neck Pickup only (tone control not working) a real thick muddy tone off sound with no definition its like listening to my guitar from under water! YUK! I hate this sound!

Switch in Middle position = Neck Pickup only (tone control is working) a good quality clean sound very usable *** However when I use this position for overdriven lead I get masses squeeling of feedback! This is reduced by turning down the tone control but it still remains largely unusable for overdriven soloing***.

Switch in Back position = Bridge Pickup only (tone control is working) a good quality clean sound very usable very tele and twangy but powerful (very satisfying)!.

Is there something wrong here??? As I can only really use the neck pickup for all my overdriven sounds?

Do you think maybe a capacitor has blown? (I have some spare NOS Fender 1960’s circle D 50v .1mfd ceramic disk Caps) maybe I can replace the big fat oblong one and get a better sound on the neck pickup?

Any help or suggestions would be very gratefully received

Thanks
Lee

As far as the squealing is concerned it could be that the cover on the neck pickup is loose and vibrating when you play loud. The pickup then picksup the vibrations and they get amplified and you have microphonic feedback. You need to make sure that cover is secure.

You can try bending the tabs on the bottom of the pickup to tighten the cover on the pickup.

If that doesnt do it there are some other tricks you can do like take the cover off and drip some wax into the inside of the cover and then put it back on the pickup. If all else fails you can "pot" the entire pickup in wax.

It sounds like those are the correct switching options for the "stock" 52 tele.

-Tim Pruitt

The cap is probably fine, although many people prefer a .05 (.047) tone cap in a tele.

You should consider rewiring the switch so you have
Position 1 - neck pickup w/ tone control
Position 2 - neck + bridge w/tone control
Position 3 - bridge pickup w/tone control

This is the way teles were wired after '52 and the way most teles are wired today.

-Tim Pruitt