neck pickup not strong enough

Hi all,
Pardon me if this has been asked,but i need some quick help.Its this Telecaster i'm gigging with nitely.Love the sound of both pickups,especially the bridge.The neck and middle positions are okay but i always thought could be much better if its louder and a tad bit brighter.I have already adjusted the heights of both pus so it would be max on the neck and min on the bridge but to no vail.Is this common on telecasters?Or the neck pu could be not original?Am i better off upgrading the neck pu to something else?Thanks!

I'm in the process of putting a full-size humbucker in the neck position on mine, for similar reasons. My MIM Tele came with the body already routed out, which I just discovered last night thanks to another thread on this forum. That tipped the scales for me in favor of doing the mod.

Traditionally the bridge PU on a tele is wound much more than the neck, hence much louder output. That way you retain the twang even in the middle position.

DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan both offer higher output neck pickups in the traditional single-coil size, so you may want to look into that. Some are even hum-cancelling to boot.

I don't know about the tele, but on Les Paul style guitars the metal pickup cover can often muffle the output. I don't know if it's possible to remove the pickup cover on the neck with the stock pickup though. I believe it's grounded into the circuit somehow. Maybe someone else here knows?

If you take the cover of the neck pickup and it will brighten up a bit. That of course will change the look of your guitar.

If you take the cover of the neck pickup and it will brighten up a bit. That of course will change the look of your guitar.

that worked great for me. there's a long thread on the subject (two actually), and 0le Fuzzy even posted a pic where the chrome cover was drilled/filed out to expose the pole pieces. here's the thread:::
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/69079-how-do-you-remove-teles-neck-pickup-cover.html?highlight=remove+neck+pickup+cover

that worked great for me. there's a long thread on the subject (two actually), and 0le Fuzzy even posted a pic where the chrome cover was drilled/filed out to expose the pole pieces. here's the thread:::
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/69079-how-do-you-remove-teles-neck-pickup-cover.html?highlight=remove+neck+pickup+cover

Hey Woodman I just read that thread you posted the link to. My neck p/u doesn't have a cover and I've never had problems with the E string catching have you?

I like that idea of Fuzzy's with the cover drilled out. I think that might look kinda cool. And since those covers are a dime a dozen even if you mess a couple up getting it right, no big deal.
I think I might have my next inexpensive project!!!

Hey all,thanks for the help,i may just try Fuzzy's method,cheers!

Hey Woodman I just read that thread you posted the link to. My neck p/u doesn't have a cover and I've never had problems with the E string catching have you?


no, never even once. the trick is to wind the coil with cloth tape out to the edge of the plate. besides, with the cover off, i don't run the pickup as high, so it's not a problem.

If you decide to change the neck pu, I recommend the Dimarzio Twang King. More powerful, brighter, more useful to me.

The good news is that most vendors have addressed this issue, and offer a pickup with a bit more push.

The trick is finding one with more output, but a tone that you like.

The crudest offerings typically have more winds of wire, which typically will kill more top end.

Some vendors, such as Barden and Harmonic Design, rely on magnets with a much higher output.

I've tried removing the cover myself, and sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.

As a matter of utility, I've gone to Strat neck pickups. But I don't think it's for everyone, and I certainly wouldn't recommend routing the body to fit one - in my case, my bodies are already routed for them. The advantage is that most Strat pickups have much more output, and there are thousands to try, and many are around 40 bucks or so. There are a few "Strat-oid" Tele neck pickups, but literally just a handful.

Probably your best bet would be to pick up some used ones at the Garage Sale here, or on eBay, give them a test drive, and sell the ones that didn't make the cut.

The good news is that most vendors have addressed this issue, and offer a pickup with a bit more push.

The trick is finding one with more output, but a tone that you like.

The crudest offerings typically have more winds of wire, which typically will kill more top end.

Some vendors, such as Barden and Harmonic Design, rely on magnets with a much higher output.

I've tried removing the cover myself, and sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.

As a matter of utility, I've gone to Strat neck pickups. But I don't think it's for everyone, and I certainly wouldn't recommend routing the body to fit one - in my case, my bodies are already routed for them. The advantage is that most Strat pickups have much more output, and there are thousands to try, and many are around 40 bucks or so. There are a few "Strat-oid" Tele neck pickups, but literally just a handful.

Probably your best bet would be to pick up some used ones at the Garage Sale here, or on eBay, give them a test drive, and sell the ones that didn't make the cut.

I'm using a Strat-oid neck pu from Guitarfetish. It's a drop in replacment. No cover. It's called a Fatbody and I think it sounds great. Not a full on Strat tone but enough of that deep, full, round tone to please my ears. And easy on the wallet.

When you're running a 4-way switch you need to run a ground from the neck p/u. Does anyone know a method for running the ground wire if the cover has been removed?

When you're running a 4-way switch you need to run a ground from the neck p/u. Does anyone know a method for running the ground wire if the cover has been removed?

That's not true -- the only reason that extra neck pickup ground lead is involved in the mod is *because* of the cover. If the cover is removed, you can safely ignore all references to an extra ground lead -- the switching will work exactly the same.

I'm using a Strat-oid neck pu from Guitarfetish. It's a drop in replacment. No cover. It's called a Fatbody and I think it sounds great. Not a full on Strat tone but enough of that deep, full, round tone to please my ears. And easy on the wallet.

It's funny you should mention this pickup. I installed one of these on the partscaster I finished on Friday. (which I will review and post pics of just as soon as my wife finds the camera)
At any rate, I was reading this thread to get some ideas about a new neck pup, because mine sounds bad. I really really like the fatbody bridge pup I got, but the neck one sounds like the tone pot is turned down half way when I listen to it. Do you have plenty of high end with yours boneyguy?

~Shawn
PS I got the overwound bridge pup, and the regular neck pup.

It's funny you should mention this pickup. I installed one of these on the partscaster I finished on Friday. (which I will review and post pics of just as soon as my wife finds the camera)
At any rate, I was reading this thread to get some ideas about a new neck pup, because mine sounds bad. I really really like the fatbody bridge pup I got, but the neck one sounds like the tone pot is turned down half way when I listen to it. Do you have plenty of high end with yours boneyguy?

~Shawn
PS I got the overwound bridge pup, and the regular neck pup.

My Fatbody neck has lots of high end. In fact alot of the time I find myself cutting some of the treble on that pickup. Maybe you've got something going on in the wiring? Or maybe you got a bad p/u from them.

Play around a bit more with it and check your wiring before you take it out of there.

My solution is to EQ my amp using the neck pickup. I push the highs a little. When switching to the bridge pickup, I roll off the tone knob. This, of course, doesn't mean diddly to anyone but me but maybe it is another approach to consider.

Dan

I'm using a Strat-oid neck pu from Guitarfetish. It's a drop in replacment. No cover. It's called a Fatbody and I think it sounds great. Not a full on Strat tone but enough of that deep, full, round tone to please my ears. And easy on the wallet.

This is great news, because one day my luck is gonna run out, and I'm going to end up with a Tele body that will only accomodate the stock neck pickup dimensions.

The reasons I went with the Strat pickup were to make up for the Tele neck pickup's shortcomings - back when I got hooked on it, there were no mini-Strat offerings. Now there are, but most of them are pricey, or kinda stray into other tonal areas.

I was curious if the FatBody would deliver, and it sounds like it does.

. Maybe you've got something going on in the wiring? Or maybe you got a bad p/u from them.


One of these MUST be the case! Wow...I hate trouble-shooting. I kinda suck at it. :oops:

One of these MUST be the case! Wow...I hate trouble-shooting. I kinda suck at it. :oops:

Well here's some encouragement. Be thankful there not humbuckers with 5 wires each and mounted in a hollow body so you have to work thru the 'f' holes.

There's really not to much to fiddle with inside a Tele with single coils. And the innards all very accessible.

Not that I'm much of an expert but I've come close to pitching a semi-hollow archtop out the window a time or two in frustration.

Good luck. I hope you get it sorted out easily.

neck P-up not strong enough ?
perhaps having the magnets recharged is your solution...
it's simple, (no mods/non invasive) and inexpensive too...for example, the rod magnets in Fender style P-ups are just rods of alnico, and aren't magnetically charged until after the P-ups have been assembled...

My solution is to EQ my amp using the neck pickup. I push the highs a little. When switching to the bridge pickup, I roll off the tone knob. This, of course, doesn't mean diddly to anyone but me but maybe it is another approach to consider.

Dan
Thats such a good idea. A very latteral aproach. Very clever.

My .02 cents. I found that the Texas Tele neck p/u to have significantly more juice, and much less muffled than most Tele neck p/u's. Never cared for the Texas Tele bridge, have no use for that one.

On my MIM an MIJ Teles, I disconnected the tone control from the neck pu so it affects the bridge pu only. I've heard that even with the tone control full up, it bleeds off some treble. It's a simple mod & allows me to optimize the bridge pickup and leave it alone. Of course, the neck pickup is no longer affected by the tone control, but it's an acceptable trade-off for me. This change improves things somewhat, but I would like to find a nice strong neck pu that looks stock..

On my MIM an MIJ Teles, I disconnected the tone control from the neck pu so it affects the bridge pu only. I've heard that even with the tone control full up, it bleeds off some treble. It's a simple mod & allows me to optimize the bridge pickup and leave it alone. Of course, the neck pickup is no longer affected by the tone control, but it's an acceptable trade-off for me. This change improves things somewhat, but I would like to find a nice strong neck pu that looks stock..

And this can be taken a step further. Replace the stock volume pot with a higher value. This will give you yet more treble for the neck pickup, but can be counteracted more with the tone control on the bridge pickup.

that worked great for me. there's a long thread on the subject (two actually), and 0le Fuzzy even posted a pic where the chrome cover was drilled/filed out to expose the pole pieces. here's the thread:::
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/69079-how-do-you-remove-teles-neck-pickup-cover.html?highlight=remove+neck+pickup+cover

I did the 'Fuzzy' mod on my p/u cover. Here's how it turned out.http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/84715-neck-p-u-cover-mod-pics.html

My solution is to EQ my amp using the neck pickup. I push the highs a little. When switching to the bridge pickup, I roll off the tone knob. This, of course, doesn't mean diddly to anyone but me but maybe it is another approach to consider.

This is exactly what I do, and it works perfectly for me. The added bonus is that with the tone knob rolled off for the bridge pickup, you can switch to the middle position without any adjustment (If you're playing with the amp EQ'd for the bridge pickup and have the guitar's tone control wide open, the middle position will be too muddy sounding).

Dont be afraid of your Tele's tone control. A Telecaster is probably the one guitar where they're very useful...and you'll see a lot of professional players using them when they switch back and forth between pickups.

If you decide to change the neck pu, I recommend the Dimarzio Twang King. More powerful, brighter, more useful to me.

+1. I would try this before anything else (drilling, cover removal). The Twang King and Fralin Blues Special neck pups both helped me with this exact problem. They both have good treble and volume with retaining tone and feel.

Or a Rio Grande tallboy for Tele. Before I bought mine, the dude from Rio told me that the tallboy was designed to sound like a strat neck pup because (his words, not mine) "that's what everybody wants anyway."

Sounds like the pup is toast pretty much either way unless fixed, so I'd:

Find the person I know who can get that cover off of there without damaging the winds; and
Have that person remagnetize it, to restore any output it may have lost. On Mr. Duncan's website, Q + A, numbers 400-425, he talks a lot about using means to remagnetize a pickup, assuming yours may have suffered that along the way.
Man, there's a lot of stuff on that website, whew. And maybe tone bypass the neck pup, while the guitar is apart.

I'll bet if the open pup sits back down lower again, and hoping you don't use nines or do monster bends, sounds like a fair gamble.

Bubbanov

Aha,Boris,i do use 9s and do huge bends:razz:
Those who mentioned about remagnetizing,is this a service available at guitar repair shops?or elsewhere?
Btw,currently when playing on neck and middle positions,i tend to pick harder and more aggresively and it works to an extend,i play blues,rock and funk anyway so its still okay.

So ironic, I went to use a MIM Tex Mex Tele neck pup today and it had gone dead flat, got pushed up against another stored pickup.

There's a lot of info on this on the Stew Mac website; the permanent magnets to use, the techniques; also.
Mr. Seymour Duncan's Q + A although intimidating in its breadth and depth, has a lot of additional hints, which I'll be reviewing myself.

Bubbanov