Strat Pickup In a Tele???

Just a quick question. Can a strat size pickup be put in the neck position on a telecaster without removing wood? I know I'll need to alter the pickguard. Thanks!!

Depends on what type of body.

Depends on what type of body.

New MIM standard.

You should be good to go. It should be routed to accommodate a humbucker. Take the pick guard off and have a look to confirm, though, just in case.

It won't fit in the pickguard if you are using a standard Tele one.

It won't fit in the pickguard if you are using a standard Tele one.

I knew I was going to have to replace the pickguard, but I want to get a black one anyway (the stock white one doesn't look very good on my guitar). I just didn't want to buy a pickguard and pickup if it wouldn't fit without routing.

Gotta rout the pickgaurd, Sometimes not the body though, All my Teles have neck position strat pickups.

It may fit if you take its cover off.

Me, I got tele pickups in a strat.

GFS Fatbody. Very Stratish sound. No need to route the pick guard. I have one in one of my Tele's and I really think it has a fabulous, clean tone to it.


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Alnico-Fatbody-Oversized-Polepiece-Tele-Neck-Pickup_p_76.html

GFS Fatbody. Very Stratish sound. No need to route the pick guard. I have one in one of my Tele's and I really think it has a fabulous, clean tone to it.


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Alnico-Fatbody-Oversized-Polepiece-Tele-Neck-Pickup_p_76.html

I like the price...do you leave them exposed or put the chrome cover on them?

I like the price...do you leave them exposed or put the chrome cover on them?

They don't come with a cover, nor do I know if the standard neck cover fits. It looks badass with the huge pole pieces.

I believe that just might be the one I choose. Thanks!

OK, I just pulled the trigger on the Guitarfetish pickup. Thanks for all the help with this.

an uncovered strat pup will fit a tele pickguard. that's a fave combo for me - the twang and growl of a good tele bridge pup and the bluez tone of a strat neck pup.

http://frettech.com/cavalier/lion-tiger-tele.jpg

that's a fave combo for me - the twang and growl of a good tele bridge pup and the bluez tone of a strat neck pup.

The mullet of pickup combos!:lol:

I actually just put an uncovered Strat pup in my tele neck position. No routing, no pickguard mods. Sounds AWESOME.

Uncovered strat pup sounds great.

Choose one with a fairly high output , IME, as you may end up wanting it set relatively low.
Why? - well, otherwise the top e tends to snag itself under the 'lip' on the edge of the bobbin - if you dig in by any measure.

I had that problem with a GFS Fatbody neck pup also.
I had to wind it with tape (bicycle handlebar cloth tape is good) to reduce / negate the lip. (definitely worth the effort)

That said, a covered strat pickup will fit in the route of your MIM I believe.
They are usually 'bucker routed I'm sure.
Enlarging pickguard 'hole' is not a big job. Dremel and sandpaper wrapped around a dowel and 10 mins of your time ;)

Too bad you already pulled the trigger on the pup... Harmonic Design makes a Tele size Strat pup : Scroll to the bottom of the page http://harmonicdesign.net/allpages/teles.html

Got the Guitar Fetish pickup installed today and dang it HONKS. Absolutely love it. Changed out the pickguard to a black one and did the Fezz Parka mod too. Very happy with the end result.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b303/elmicko2002/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG00582-20120128-2012.jpg

Isn't that what Jerry Donahue does? Strat pickup in the neck, Tele in the bridge? Good combo... Not to my taste though, I'm afraid I'm with Roy Buchanan on this one... The Tele's neck pickup has a charm all of it's own.

This thread answered all my questions. Thanks for all the awesome advice, even though it was indirect. I'm gonna try to squeeze in a dimarzio injector in the neck of my new mim and put a seymour duncan quarter pound in the bridge. I play heavier/harder music so the higher outputs in both should compliment each other nicely. Love the way the exposed poles in the neck look!

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=112370&stc=1&d=1328442639

The new MIM Tele's have the neck position opened up for a humbucker.

This is a DiMarzio true velvet pup and a guitar fetish pick guard. Great sound mix I'm lovin it great strat sound for me too.

Got the Guitar Fetish pickup installed today and dang it HONKS. Absolutely love it. Changed out the pickguard to a black one and did the Fezz Parka mod too. Very happy with the end result.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b303/elmicko2002/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG00582-20120128-2012.jpg

GORGEOUS, I gotta tell ya! You confirm my suspicion that the black guard improves the look of the MIM 3SB. Kind of a 'purist' on the pups, but y'all make a case for trading the neck coil. Not entirely sure what's being gained in the sound w/ the swap..."bluez tone", but is that up to the pup? Really? Not that well-versed on strat sonics, I guess.

GORGEOUS, I gotta tell ya! You confirm my suspicion that the black guard improves the look of the MIM 3SB. Kind of a 'purist' on the pups, but y'all make a case for trading the neck coil. Not entirely sure what's being gained in the sound w/ the swap..."bluez tone", but is that up to the pup? Really? Not that well-versed on strat sonics, I guess.

Thanks, I'm really happy with the way the black guard looks on the copperburst. It's funny, the store I bought the guitar from isn't lit very well. Old building, high ceilings and flouresent lights so I thought it was standard two tone sunburst with no woodgrain until I got it home. Got it under some bright lights at home and saw all that copper metalic on it and almost popped wood!!! It is really pretty.

As far as the pickup goes, it's not what I was expecting...but it's a LOT better. It's fat with plenty of low end chunk but it's still tele twang. Almost like a bridge pickup. The middle position is really sweet and bright. I now have three positions of twang...inspired me to name the guitar Twangalicious.

GFS Fatbody. Very Stratish sound. No need to route the pick guard. I have one in one of my Tele's and I really think it has a fabulous, clean tone to it.


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Alnico-Fatbody-Oversized-Polepiece-Tele-Neck-Pickup_p_76.html

I have GFS fatbody pups in one of my guitars. The neck pup even has the top of the cover removed. It still doesn't sound as lively, to my ears, as a strat pickup.

Edit: I just ordered a GFS pickup guard cut for a strat pickup and an overwound RWRP staggered GFS strat pup. So, in a week or so, I'll know which is better, again to my ears, for sure.

I can attest that an aftermarket nickel silver cover fits a GFS Fatbody. I recommend a piece tape be put across the tops of the polepiece to eliminate any chance of an electrical connection between the magnets and cover. I poured a little melted paraffin into the cover to dampen vibration in the cover. Reconnect ground or run a separate one. Poof!! you've got a snappy little pickup that looks dead stock! Sounds great to my ears! The Fatbody bridge pickup is another matter. I bought 1 each of the two available winds. Ithought they both sucked! Maybe I'll try rewinding or at least swapping out the crappy brass baseplates.

putting metal cover, grounded or not, over any transducer will attenuate the high/treble end. ever wonder why leo stuck that metal cover on the tele neck pup?

'Cause he invested in a deep draw stamping machine and wanted to use it? I personally think he was addicted to machinery and manufacturing more than he ever was to guitars!

I put a chrome plated plastic Strat pickup cover on mine to make look more Tele like.....just aesthetics.

leo designed the tele neck pup for bass tones, not treble. the idea was to have an electric guitar with a steel guitar bridge pup for lead tones and a neck pup that offered more rhythm/baritone tones that *could* possibly replace having a band lug around an unamplified double string bass. metal covers over transducers attenuate treble - more so if you add in a selectable neck pup .05uf cap (which was later dropped). this is also true in the 70's and 80's when guitarists were pulling the metal covers off their les paul paf humbuckers to allow for more treble tone at higher volumes. within a short time, leo created the precision bass and bassman amp, but the covered tele neck pup was never updated.

leo designed the tele neck pup for bass tones, not treble. the idea was to have an electric guitar with a steel guitar bridge pup for lead tones and a neck pup that offered more rhythm/baritone tones that *could* possibly replace having a band lug around an unamplified double string bass...

Weren't the earliest Teles (Broadcasters or whatever) even wired to emulate a bass? Isn't that how the '52 Reissues are still wired. (I could have this all backward. I'm writing this from memory of having read it somewhere.)

an uncovered strat pup will fit a tele pickguard. that's a fave combo for me - the twang and growl of a good tele bridge pup and the bluez tone of a strat neck pup.

http://frettech.com/cavalier/lion-tiger-tele.jpg

Dohhh! I wish that I'd read this post before I ordered a Tele pickguard with a Strat neck pickup hole.

Do you wrap the windings in string, tap or something similar?

Weren't the earliest Teles (Broadcasters or whatever) even wired to emulate a bass? Isn't that how the '52 Reissues are still wired. (I could have this all backward. I'm writing this from memory of having read it somewhere.)

yeah, look at the 3-way switch esquire/nocaster wiring - ugh, what terrible loss of treble tone! yuk!

Dohhh! I wish that I'd read this post before I ordered a Tele pickguard with a Strat neck pickup hole.

Do you wrap the windings in string, tap or something similar?

in that above pic, i wound the strat pup's coil with the same string i used when i made the tele bridge pup. these dayze i just use a wrap of matte black tape over the strat neck pup's coil, for coil wire protection. the main thing is to use a strat pup in the tele neck position - it has a much better bobbin footprint, and that nice strat neck tone - than an uncovered tele neck pup. if you want to use a covered strat pup, then for sure the tele pickguard will need a bit of template routing.

in that above pic, i wound the strat pup's coil with the same string i used when i made the tele bridge pup. these dayze i just use a wrap of matte black tape over the strat neck pup's coil, for coil wire protection. the main thing is to use a strat pup in the tele neck position - it has a much better bobbin footprint, and that nice strat neck tone - than an uncovered tele neck pup. if you want to use a covered strat pup, then for sure the tele pickguard will need a bit of template routing.

Next time around, I'm going to try it your way with an uncovered Strat pickup in a Tele pickguard... if possible, mounted to the body so it won't have adjustment screws showing. This time, since I'd already ordered the pickguard, I kept the cover on.

I love the tone of the the Strat neck pup. It's a huge improvement (for what I want) over all of the Tele neck pups that I've tried.

... I love the tone of the the Strat neck pup. It's a huge improvement (for what I want) over all of the Tele neck pups that I've tried.

the original functional design of covered fender tele bridge pup is loooong obsolete, a good 6 decades at least. a strat pup in a tele neck pup rout is far more functional these dayze.

GFS Fatbody. Very Stratish sound. No need to route the pick guard. I have one in one of my Tele's and I really think it has a fabulous, clean tone to it.


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Alnico-Fatbody-Oversized-Polepiece-Tele-Neck-Pickup_p_76.html

That sounds like a great option.

Back in the day, I had a set of Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounders in the neck and bridge as a direct fit on a '70s tele. They got the higher output I desired but they were very dark sounding which was great for distortion but not so pleasant clean. What would be great is a higher power, but bright tele sounding set of replacement pickups.

imo, it's not at all about "higher power" or "overdrive", it's about knowing what it takes for a single coil pickup to clean up the ice pick treble and boost the mid-range a tad. the real power is in yer amp, not yer guitar.

imo, it's not at all about "higher power" or "overdrive", it's about knowing what it takes for a single coil pickup to clean up the ice pick treble and boost the mid-range a tad. the real power is in yer amp, not yer guitar.

In theory I know this is true, but for humbuckers I was in a band where we could never solve an issue.

Here's what always happened:

With a couple of Marshall 100 w. tube amp heads and 4x12 cabs, the guitarist got a punchy and powerful sound from his guitars with EMG 81s in them and when he tried to replicate that sound with other passive humbuckers, the sound lacked the same authority. The song would suffer and the whole vibe would disappear.

No matter how the amp was set, something was missing without the EMGs. Then he plugs in one of his various guitars with EMG 81s and then, presto, all that punch comes back in any setting. I know Metallica swears by them, as does Zakk but donning the EMG 81 in a variety of amps seems to be a trouble free way of achieving that exact tone. Some ceramic magnet passive humbuckers can come close but that percussive thump is missing.

...it's about knowing what it takes for a single coil pickup to clean up the ice pick treble and boost the mid-range a tad...

+1

...and that is precisely what it does. It also, IMHO, makes the neck pup viable on its own for more than Bebop.

I have no issues with a Tele neck pickup where Jazz is concerned. Although, I'm really GAS-ing for a BSB Blackguard Tele w/ a Lollar Charlie Christian pickup in the neck for Jazz purposes.

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