Pickups for American Nashville B-Bender Tele?

[Tycho]

I don't know why I never did this before, but last night I did a side-by-side comparison of the three Teles in our house: an American Nashville B-Bender; a CIJ '50s reissue with Bigsby; and a standard Mexican Tele.

The results were a bit surprising, to me, anyway. The Mexican was the brashest, with the most "rock" edge in the bridge pickup, but the neck was quite uninspiring. The CIJ was much darker and more midrangey in the bridge than the other two, but still with a lot of edge. (I should mention that I replaced the bridge PUP in this one with a Fender Vintage Tele -- I think that's what it's called, I can't remember.)

The Nashville was clearly the most complex sounding, with a nice bright bridge and a much better neck than the other two -- but the surprise to me is that it was quieter than the other two and, for want of a better term, much more "polite" sounding. It sounds great nonetheless, but it got me thinking. If I wanted an edgier sound in the Nashville bridge, what would be some good recommendations?

[Chet Johnson]

I'd change the two tele pickups to Fender Texas Special tele pickups. They'll go perfectlywith the Texas special strat thats in the middle already.

[eugenedunn]

Well, the Nashville has hum cancelling action when the pickup selector is in positions 2 or 4......

I replaced the neck pickup in my American Nashville B-bender with a Lollar P90. It is really a fat sounding pickup.... perfect for single note solos.....

I use positions 2 and 4 for most rhythm work. Check out my gallery for photos of that guitar and the custom cut pickguard for the P90. I also reversed the control plate and controls for access to the volume knob with pinky finger.

[Tim Bowen]

Perhaps not first call for Tele purists, but I still really dig the Harmonic Design pickups in my Nashville B-Bender. The '54 bridge has slightly stronger mids presentation and less spank and high end presence than many traditional/vintage/Fender-type Tele bridge pickups (including the Lollar Vintage T that I have in my '52 RI, which is an awesome sounding pickup in its own right). But it's sort of six of one, half dozen of the other for me, as I usually wind up backing down the tone knob to 3/4 or less with really twangy sounding Tele bridge pickups anyway. In any event, the HD '54 has no trouble delivering Bakersfield spank and it gets along WAY better with gain than most traditional single coil Tele bridge pickups I've played. The HD '54 neck is detailed, focused, and articulate, not the muddy and congested tone that some folks grouse about with Tele neck pickups. I put a HD "mini-strat" in the middle postion; I only use it in position #2 for a fake strat ducktone, but it's among the best at this that I've played.

Generally, this HD set has slightly higher output, or at least more perceived volume, than most traditional/vintage-style offerings (always a good thing in my world). In switching through positions on a five way switch, there's a nice volume balance. Maybe not everyone's cup o' tea, but definitely a good fit for me personally. Probably the most versatile and useful pickup set that I've had in a Tele.

[Tycho]

Interesting recommendations, thanks all.

I have Harmonic Design P-90s in a Les Paul 40th Anniversary and they sound great.

[Don Miller]

When I had an Am Std bender tele..the two pickup version, I put a Velvet Hammer TBX in the bridge, and at first a Fender 54 custom shop strat pickup and then a VH S-2 in the neck. I also replaced the stock .022mfd tone cap with an .047 mfd. I put the Am Std pickups in another guitar...and ABed them with the hammers... they did not compare well with the Velvet Hammers

When Mike Nihlen was building my Nashville West, I sent the Velet hammers back to him to install...andI put a Fender Vintage (the 52 RI pickup, I beleive) in the bridge and an old 57/62 strat pickup in the neck...and I really liked that combination