Best tele pickups for classic rock?

Hey guys.

I'm looking to upgrade the pups on my Tele. I mainly play classic rock/arena rock (Kansas,The Jam, Boston, Europe, Queen). My budget is little over $100, if that's possible. I'd like to stay as low as possible, though.

If at all possible, please post sound samples or a testing video or something along with the pups you have suggested.

Thanks in advance.

I can't post the exact pages because its a flash-based site, but if you check dimarzio.com I really like the super distortion for classic rock. You can hear some samples of the full size HB (KISS - rock and roll all night) and the strat size (queen cover - I want to break free.) They do make a tele bridge size model as well.
Of course you'll blow most of your budget on 1 p'up, but it'll do what you seek. Maybe add a push/pull pot for splitting it, it might be all you need.

You may want to take a look at the GFS "Lil Puncher" series. They are a twin blade style humbucker in a single spaced PU. I had an SX loaded with those for a minute. While they were not my vibe (more "roots" rock) they would nail that gain-y 70's/80's arena rock sound. They are a bargain too at around $60 for the pair. There are a handful of different voiceings too; 'modern", "lead", etc. There are sound samples on the guitar fetish site.

Bare Knuckle Pickups
Blackguard Flat 50s

Great sound clips.
These are true rock pickups

Spendy but just buy the bridge pickup

The amp makes a big difference as well, more significant than pickups, when trying to get a classic rock sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCMN5OQvQJM

Check out the sound this Marshall Class 5 combo amp makes with a stock Tele, no pedals. The Tele comes on around 6:00.

I am new to this whole thing,does anybody are to walk me through how to start my own Thread or question page like this one?

have to agree with jbdrumbo; for "classic" rock, a "classic" amp is where most of the action is...any number of pickups from cheap to fancy will sing or growl as you wish when you pump them through one.....

I am new to this whole thing,does anybody are to walk me through how to start my own Thread or question page like this one?

Welcome to the site.

Just decide which forum/topic your question/thread belongs in. Open that forum and at the top of the page of other threads you'll see the words "New Post". Click on that and it will set you up with a screen that will allow you to title your post and room to type in whatever you want as a thread starter. Easy as that. :grin:

What era of "Classic Rock" would be my first question? 60's/70's/80's/90's?

If you're talking about single coil pickups I still favor the more vintage tonality of Nocasters, OV's, A V's, Keystones and the like. But those aren't over wound "hotter" pickups like some might prefer to over drive an amp into break up and distortion.

If that's what you're looking for then "hotter" pickups like Texas Specials, Bare Knuckles, Humbuckers or Stacked Humbuckers may be more of what you want. Do you want a great clean sound with a little break up or a pickup that can play nasty and dirty?

I'd also agree about the amp. Fender clean with 20w-40w and something to push it into overdrive or a Marshall stack or half stack that can blow out windows? Those are pretty much the mainstays of Classic Rock amplification.

A closely guarded secret.... Lace.

Bawdy: The Super Distortion sounds great! I assume the Strat model sounds the same as the Tele model?

ad: The Lil Punchers look great, and for the price, I shall probably get these. Do the XL Lil Punchers fit Chinese made Squiers?

Webfoot: Those Blackguards sound awesome!

jbdrumbo: That amp sounds amazing, just the tone I'm looking for. Shame I don't have £500 to spare for one.

Soulman: 70s/80s era classic rock.

Thanks, guys

I'm having great tonal success with CS Nocaster pups in one, and CS Texas Specials in another. Through a Bogner Shiva.

+1 on the BK Flat 50's, I have a set in my Baja.

ad: The Lil Punchers look great, and for the price, I shall probably get these. Do the XL Lil Punchers fit Chinese made Squiers?



Thanks, guys

I can't see why not...shoot them an email, they are pretty good about getting back.

The description for the Lil Puncher "Modern Vintage" set says "They mount to virtually any real, copy, clone tele ever made with ABSOLUTELY NO MODIFICATIONS- even to the pickguard."

Hey guys.

I'm looking to upgrade the pups on my Tele. I mainly play classic rock/arena rock (Kansas,The Jam, Boston, Europe, Queen). My budget is little over $100, if that's possible. I'd like to stay as low as possible, though.

If at all possible, please post sound samples or a testing video or something along with the pups you have suggested.

Thanks in advance.

Rob Distefano pups they are just great, i have a esquiere whit a Cavalier Lion(bridge) and 2 strats 1 with his SRV Cavalier Tiger and another with 50s Cavalier tiger. Just a pieces of work he really know is work. www.frettech.com

I really love the pickups that came stock in my LsL, but you would have to sweet talk Lance into selling you some.

I also really like Zexcoil pickups in my Telemaster. I have the Hot Alnico 3 bridge and a Throaty Bucker w/ silent split in the neck. The Throaty Bucker is Strat sized and I use a 4way switch and a push-push tone pot to "tap" the neck.

Not only are they quiet, but they are super dynamic, sound great and no ice pick! I also think they look cool, but I can see some being offended by the non-traditional look.

there is an adventure over every hill -- Pooh

Bawdy: The Super Distortion sounds great! I assume the Strat model sounds the same as the Tele model?

ad: The Lil Punchers look great, and for the price, I shall probably get these. Do the XL Lil Punchers fit Chinese made Squiers?

Webfoot: Those Blackguards sound awesome!

jbdrumbo: That amp sounds amazing, just the tone I'm looking for. Shame I don't have £500 to spare for one.

Soulman: 70s/80s era classic rock.

Thanks, guys

Thanks for the clarification Monty. Ok, my playing is basically the same era as yours with some 60's soul thrown in. I love the Nocasters for their versatility. Clear and full for chording, nasty enough bridge for decent soloing, edgy enough for some great funk stuff when needed. I also have a 4-way in one Nocaster equipt Tele and that will beef up solos and drive the amp harder for power chording.

That said I don't play with a lot of distortion. Just a little over the edge of breakup on solos and occasionally I'll kick on an overdrive pedal or use a boosted solo channel on my amp for heavier overdrive. If that's as far as you go the Nocasters would be fine but for more than that you'll probably want a hotter pickup.

There are a lot of guys who like the Texas Specials just for the reason. They still retain their true Tele personality but they'll get a whole lot nastier when you ask them to. I don't have any experience with some of these other brands so I'll defer to those who have.

Good Luck with the hunt Monty. :grin:

Thanks, Soulman.

I've been playing a lot of Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads stuff over the past few days, so the amount I use distortion has skyrocketed. I'll likely either be ordering the Nocasters (the only time I use a gain setting of over 5 for my dist. is when playing Ozzy/Rhoads) or the Lil Punchers. I could possibly be ordering these on Wednesday, depending on how the next few days turn out.

I use D.Allen pups in my guitar, specifically a Hot Vintage in the bridge. Here's my dirt sound with my amp and a big muff.

http://youtu.be/yDzt8qEs5O0

mini pearly gates for rock

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/telecaster/pearly_gates_fo/

Pearly Gates are a tad expensive, but they sound great. They'll be on a list for future upgrades.

The sound you can get from those D.Allens is great, but they, too, are a tad expensive.

A friend of mine is getting rid of a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails bridge pickup, so I'm likely going to grab that from him, after checking sound demos online.

I have a question, though; can I mix and match pickups? Like, use this Hot Rails bridge pickup with a Lil Punchers neck pickup?

Just got to watch certain mfg switch polarities on you...mfg a vs mfg b

One great option that wouldn't cost much but would give you a really awesome rig would be to,

** Install a Dimarzio "Super Distortion" full sized humbucker in the neck of the tele - new pickguard required; and couple this with a,

** Seymour Duncan Jerry Donohue Alnico II Pro single coil tele bridge pickup; or a Seymour Duncan plain lower output Alnico II Pro single coil tele bridge pickup.

I would wire these up with the correct tone circuit value pot, possibly a 300kohm - see the Seymour Duncan site for wiring diagrams. Remember that Seymour Duncan pickup wires, hot and ground need to be hooked up reversed when combining with other manufacturers pickups for them to sound right. This is explained in the wiring instructions. Plus you have Seymour Duncan tech support free.

These two pickups will give you a range of tones that will blow your mind. The "Supe Distortion" will have all tha classic rock overdrive close at hand, without ice pickingly biting treble frequencies ripping up the tone.

When you switch to the Jerry Donohue tele bridge single coil you will get beautiful Alnico II tone in a little hotter version than the optional, also excellent, Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro bridge tele pickup. These are tele pickups that sound like real tele bridge pickups should sound like and they will contribute to you having a tonal palatte to draw upon when playing the guitar - going from the full humbucker roar of the "Super Distortion" to the sweet and beautiful clear and clean Fender telecaster bridge pickup sound. Using these two sounds, along with the middle switch position will give you the ability to draw upon some of the greatest sounds in rock history. With a little practice you will be able to draw tonal beauty out of these pickups that will make you wonder why you didn't try this sooner, most likely.

Lastly,

** Get as NOS, brand new Vox VT30 "Chromie" hybrid amp for 200 US dollars, new. This amp is capable of producing stunningly beautiful amp tones that will give you some of the best overdriven, pushed tube amp sounds, that you could want - and all from a relatively cheap amp.

Those pickups and that amp are capable of providing many a rock enthusiast with thousands of hours of beautiful sounding self gratification. You could spend many years and thousands of dollars searching the world over before finding a rig this satisfying.

There are those that would still not be happy with this awesome rig, but for home and small venue use, this riig would have lit up the eyes of many an old timer way back when he was starting out on some dingy farm down on the delta or in some tired factory town in some European city.

We live in the golden age of amps and that VT30 "Chromie", along with a tele with those awesome pickups, is capable of putting a smile on many a players face, all cork sniffing aside.

Estimated cost: 70 for the Dimarzio "Super Distortion", 10 for the pickguard, 70 for the Jerry Donohue Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro tele bridge pickup, 10 for a 300kohm pot and miscellaneous. Do the work yourself and have a totally awesome tele for a 160 dollar well spent upgrade.

Add 200 for a new amp capable of plenty of classic rock sounds with some good reverb and delay and you have a totally great rig for 360 dollars.

Your tele, if it is a MIM standard, will sound unrecognizable and be one of your favorite guitars, if not your favorite. The "Chromie" amp will get almost all your playing time.

Hey, to each their own, but for me, this would be some great advice I could give to someone looking for a ticket to ride with some serious rock and classic rock tone.

People will be trying to "steal" that guitar away from you, so you better keep a good eye on it, and the amp too.

I hope this helps. I don't have this exact set up, but I do have a "Super Distortion" niclel covered in a LP Standard Plus Top and I have a NOS VT30 "Chromie". I also have a MIM standard tele with the Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro tele pickup set in it and it sounds so beautiful that I'm presently modifying my Fender Nashville tele with Seymour Duncan pickups - an Alnico II Pro covered neck pickup non-reverse wound non-reverse polarity, a middle flat pole piece strat Alnico II Pro RWRP pickup and a Jerry Donohue Alnico II pro bridge pickup. I'm waiting on the middle strat pickup cover and the NON RWRP covered neck tele pickup. All the pickups will be black or chrome and this should move my Fender Nashville Telecaster into the super beautiful sounding category.

Yeah, don't forget to get an amp that is capable of some serious tone, like the discontinued, but NOS Vox VT30 Chromie. You can spot these a mile away by the chrome BBQ grill, grill covers. The older AD30VT amps are also "Chromies" but do not, in my opinion sound as good as the newer VT30's. Even the smaller VT15's are awesome, but a little smaller, with eight inch speakers but all the same functions and they sound great, but just not the equal to their big brothers or sisters, the VT30's. The VT50 is bassy but can be tamed and the VT100 would be totally awesome. Try to find them at discontinued, close out, NOS prices. I got my VT30 for 165 out the door, brand new. I might even pick up a VT15, but I like the bigger, louder, VT30.

Again, good luck and be prepared to spend a "little" money for some premium gear and you will get stuff that puts the GFS, etc., "so called" bargain stuff to shame. There are some good pickups out there though, some of which have been described on this forum. The premium brands like the SD's don't cost much more and have excellent "return" and exchange programs, so if you don't find the exact pickup you want you can try others. This is a valuable option in itself. I have never been dissatisfied with a Seymour Duncan or other premium pickup. No affln.

I hope you build up a really nice hot rodded tele, that earns you many accolades and congratulations.

Seymour Duncan plain lower output Alnico II Pro single coil tele bridge pickup.

Couldn't agree more. I had APH-1 in my Epi Dot and it screams classic rock. I wanted that sound in my tele so I put APTL-1 in my tele and it delivers. I notice it has tighter low end than APH-1 in my Dot which is a plus. Sounds great with Vox and Marshall amp. It pairs well with SD '59 or SM-1 in the neck position (I prefer the later).

Lollar Vintage Ts.

I've had Fralins Blues special Bridge and a 5% over wound stock neck in my '78 and couldn't be happier. Growls, moans, sighs, screams, chimes, bites, spanks, twangs, etc. just with varying pick and wrist attack.

Hey guys.

I'm looking to upgrade the pups on my Tele. I mainly play classic rock/arena rock (Kansas,The Jam, Boston, Europe, Queen).
Thanks in advance.

Well, the players in those bands used all sorts of pickups
'buckers' Burns Tri-Sonics, .. or even those 'weedy' Rickenbacker types ;)

What pickups do you have now? In what way do they let you down?
Bearing in mind the diversity of your required sounds - might it be possible to get close to some of those sounds with a bit more attitude in your playing style , rather than a hardware upgrade?

Really, I'm not trying to be a jerk here at all, just that sometimes throwing cash at something is actually not the answer. Especially if it is not clear what the 'right' answer might be. I mean Europe and The Jam?
I'm not familiar with much by Europe - just the 'radio hits' , but I suspect that is a big stretch?

Why make it more complicated than it is? The stock ones in the Classic 60's is all you need. I don't know if you can buy them separately though.