Recommend me a humbucker

I have a Baja Telecaster. Although I like to use the neck pickup when playing clean, I also need some more 'oomph'. I would like to get some more 'les paul' leadtones from my Baja. Classic rock, blues and rock tones.

Which humbucker do you recommend?

An original Fender WR or a Gibson mini-HB are the only 'buckers I personally like.

If you want to get LP 'lead' tones shouldn't you be replacing the bridge pup instead of the neck? :confused:

Without a doubt the best PAF clone is being wound by Wolftone. The Dr.Vintage is the closest to the real deal you will ever hear..un freakin believable note bloom, clarity and attack..
http://www.wolfetone.com/productsandpricing.html
I would rate the RS/Fralin True 60's a very close second, but some prefer them over the wolftones.
http://www.rsguitarworks.net/rsstore/product_info.php?cPath=30_58&products_id=375

If price is a issue and you still want a hand wound, Jeff at high order builds a sweet pickup. His Alnico 3 or 4 Asymmetric Wind is WAY better than any Duncan or Dimarzio for about the same cash.
http://www.highorderpickups.com/

great tone..

a filtertron is nice also..

Seth Lover is a great sounding Tele neck pu, I'm going to try a Duncan Jazz neck humbucker as soon as I get in the bucker pickguard, I've read a lot of good reviews on that one too.
Mini buckers sound good if you don't get a real hot one, not the same as a full size humbucker sort of inbetween a Tele/Strat and full size bucker.

The SD Jazz is a great neck humbucker on a Tele. Myself, I still prefer either the Fralin PAF (underwound a little), or a Fralin Unbucker.

My choice would be the SD "Seth Lover-model".

Also, you might want to check out this comparison of different PAF replicas:

http://www.legendarytones.com/vinpicup2.html

Best of luck with your humbucker-shopping! :smile:

I put a Gibson T-Top Hummer in the neck position on my beater Tele, and I'm getting cool T-Rex, Mick Ronson sounds out of it. I'm having lots of fun with it.
mp

["Without a doubt the best..."]


You may well be right, but I'd be careful with statements like that on a discussion forum like this. I honestly don't know what's "the best" but that kind of statement can invite uhhh, let's just say intense discussion. Having said all that, I've heard the same exact thing regarding the Lollar Imperial. Anyway, JMHO, YMMV.

Tom

I like intense discussion:grin: I've been a LP player for 30 years before I even picked up a Tele. I've tried just about every pickup under the sun, from the name brands to most of the custom winders. please, don't take my word on it..search the LPF for wolftones, or Dr.V's, or Dr.Vintage..you'll find many multiple page threads with sound clips, comparisons, blind test. Hands down, authentic PAF tone!
No knocks to the wonderful people on this forum, but if you really want to know about PAF Humbucker tone, talk with the guys on the Les Paul forum..Humbuckers ARE our tone. When I want to learn more about teles, tele pickups,etc I come here!

We live in a wonderful time were there are many good pickup winders building some of the best pickups ever. Wolftone, Fralin, High Order, Bare Knuckle, WB's 67-07 vintage .....too many to pick a store bought..

just my .02 worth

We live in a wonderful time were there are many good pickup winders building some of the best pickups ever. Wolftone, Fralin, High Order, Bare Knuckle, WB's 67-07 vintage .....too many to pick a store bought..

just my .02 worth

Amen to that brother!

I have a Baja Telecaster. Although I like to use the neck pickup when playing clean, I also need some more 'oomph'. I would like to get some more 'les paul' leadtones from my Baja. Classic rock, blues and rock tones.

Which humbucker do you recommend?Why not just get a Les Paul? A Tele will NEVER sound like a Les Paul. The bridge is too different.

The SD Jazz is a great neck humbucker on a Tele.

+1

I finally tried a SD Jazz in the neck of an SG and love it. and my first thought was that it would be the one I'd try first if I ever got the urge to have a HB in a tele in neck position.

Why not just get a Les Paul? A Tele will NEVER sound like a Les Paul. The bridge is too different.

+1
I agree. Guitars are tools. I love my Les Pauls and I love my Teles, but sometimes I need my Strat!...I've always been a firm believer of using the right tool for the right job.

As much as I've commented about some great pickups out there today, petebradt is 100% right...a Tele will never sound like a Les Paul. Now if your looking for that cool Keith Richards neck tone...go for a PAF in the neck of your Tele...if your going for that Clapton woman tone, or a Jimmy page neck tone it's time to purchase an additional guitar for your line up!! :lol:

Howdy,

I have SD 59s in my '80 ES-335 and like them. Admittedly I'm a single-coil kinda guy, but these p/u's certainly do the job for me.

Eggman

My favorite was a Fralin HB wound to 7.0 ohms.

Why not just get a Les Paul? A Tele will NEVER sound like a Les Paul. The bridge is too different.


No, it won't give you the exact sound, but it will get you in the vicinity depending on the guitar and pickup.

I have real pafs, t-tops, duncans, dimarzio, gfs, zhang, timbuckers, etc.

In my personal experience, a heavy alder tele with an Alnico-2 paf-style humbucker in the neck got me a very convincing LP woman lead tone.

Again from personal experience, due to the tele long scale and bolt-on construction, a neck humbucker with Alnico2 magnet sounds better to my ears.

jon moore winds really nice open, clear sounding humbuckers. have him do a unmatched paf alnico 2 for the neck, unmatched paf alinico 3 or 4 for the bridge.

im very happy with mine in a epi 335 studio dot. larry carlton all the way to my ear. really nice for jazz/jazz rock/blues.

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

I put a Seymour Duncan Antiquity into my Tele and it is pretty damn sweet. I wholeheartedly recommend them!

http://halfalien.com/coppertele_superchamp.jpg

Why not get a real Gibson humbucker? I put a Gibson 490r in my Highway 1. It's the same pickup they put in the new Les Paul Silverburst reissues. It's made for the neck position and works well with the stock Tele pickup at the bridge because they have similar characteristics: both are vintage-style Alnico II pickups with a slightly hotter, more distortion friendly tone. I get a real beefy tone on the neck, the classic Tele twang on the bridge, and an SG/Tele-like tone with both of them on. And you can get a real Gibson on Ebay for about $60-70.

The SD Antiquity is a winner in my book as well.
I'm 100% pleased with mine.

:cool:

I put a Gibson Burstbucker 2 in my 88 American Standard Tele. The tone is amazing.

+2 on the SD Jazz. I have a Parker (I know, I know ... ) loaded with a Jazz in the neck and a SD JB in the bridge. It is marriage made in humbucker heaven, IMHO. But of course, I almost never put my Tele down to pick it up! LOL!

My vote would be a SD Seth Lover or Antiquity.

seymour duncan anitquity series are beautiful sounding pups. they some in lowish output which makes them great for blues. also the gibson burstbucker one is a low alternative. seth lovers have a great tone as well as sd alnico 2's. if you are playing blues, i would go for underwound, seymour d seth's because they use top end materials and are low output to allow for clarity but still have the clean be driven hard.

Are there any singlecoil-sized humbuckers (like the seymour duncan ST59-1) that will give me the same kind of tone MarkV wants? That crunchy, les paul-like distortion? I want to mod my Highway-One tele without spending too much money...

Another Duncan Seth Lover fan here. My G&L Bluesboy has one in the neck and it sounds great to my ears.

I put a Gibson Burstbucker 2 in my 88 American Standard Tele. The tone is amazing.

Burstbucker 1 for the neck. The Duncan Antiquity's are great too.

Bare Knuckle pickups are def sweet. I am just about to fit 2 Gibson PAF's to my tele. Aiming for as near as possible to Les Paul sound, I just cant get on with gibson necks. A big hello to all oo.

Why not get a real Gibson humbucker? I put a Gibson 490r in my Highway 1.
I used Gibsons in this Tele build a few years ago. My humbucker phase passed shortly after and I eventually installed P90's in their place.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-1/1241521/YFCCU-ar2004.jpg

I tried a friend's SG Jr the other night, he'd replaced the P-90 (what!?
sacrilege!!) with a Lollar Imperial.. I was BLOWN AWAY and now I gotta
get me one of those pups for something inna HB-style..

I don't even know how to describe the tones I was getting with a 50w
Marshall rig - but they were heavenly, for sures.

I'm not a big humbucker fan, but i bought 2 hummers for a 335 epi dot from jon moore and really luv em!

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

just to spice it up a little, im throwing in my weight behind the GFS dream 180. threw one in the neck of my tele a year ago and you couldn't pay me to take it out now. it's a cross between a p-90 and a filtertron, with a bit of paf thrown in for good measure. beats me what that's supposed to mean, but they sound great to me.

Somebody has to try a Wolfetone Dr.V in a Tele.