replacing pickup on tele 72 deluxe

JEMC · April 19th, 2008, 02:25 PM

Hello,

I want to replace the wide range buckers on my tele dlx, but the problem is, these are bigger than normal humbuckers. Is there anyway to make normal humbuckers fit into my tele? thanks in advance

Newfie_J. · April 19th, 2008, 05:15 PM

There are replacement pickguards that fit regular sized humbuckers.
I think WD makes them. Try changing the pots to 500K first before deciding to change pickups. If you havent already done it you will notice a big differance in sound. Not so muddy. Good luck.

JEMC · May 10th, 2008, 08:08 AM

Yeah I switched them to 500k long time ago, but I still wanna replace them. Can I also just add pickup ring instead of replacing the whole pickgaurd?

jivetrain · May 10th, 2008, 10:16 AM

this subject is coming up a lot lately. you seem disinterested in fooling with the wide range humbuckers any further, so i don't know if this will appeal to you but it's the best fix for the muddiness of the pickups. most people who tried this have agreed that it made the sound 10x better. any questions you have will probably be answered in that thread so give it a thorough read

Wardpike · May 10th, 2008, 10:35 AM

I'm with JEMC. I think the wide-ranges leave a lot to be desired, soundwise, and would go with either a replacement pickguard, or new pickup mounting rings for new pups.

What do you want it to sound like?

My strongest recommendation is get a brace of Tom Holmes HBs, my trout, and then use the coil connecting wire to create coil splitters...sending the bridge one to ground (with a switch) and the neck one to hot (with a switch). Then you will have nice smooth HBs with good tele tones available with the flick of a switch.

I hope I've been helpful.

Wardpike · May 10th, 2008, 10:35 AM

and oh yes, let me know if you want a wiring diagram.

Cheers,

Ward

JEMC · May 10th, 2008, 10:37 AM

thanks for the advice!

truth is my music style changed quite a bit, I used to play punk but nowadays I'm only playing metal. TBH I'm not using the tele deluxe nowadays but I recently stumbled on the jim roots signature, which inspired me to mod my own into a metal guitar as well(pls don't flame me for wanting to use a tele for metal). So I'm thinking of putting some duncans in it. Oh and thanks for the offer, but I installed pickups before so I know how to.

Wardpike · May 10th, 2008, 01:06 PM

DUDE! Who would ever flame you for playing metal??? Metal is country's close cousin!! PLUS, Metal and Country are the two last bastions of truly progressive guitar playing and exploration, IMHO.

I started out playing country as a kid, and when I hit my teenage years and Van Halen and Randy Rhoads entered my psyche, I went totaly metal for many years... but went back into country over the past 15 years again and I see complete synergies between the two music forms.

And as John 5 has demonstrated, you can be both a country and a metal player and do it all on a Tele!!

Cheers, fellow head-banger.

jivetrain · May 10th, 2008, 02:24 PM

well if you're playing metal the wide ranges probably aren't for you. i think they sound great for playing clean once you've done the mods to them, but i've never used them with distortion.

TELE_BLUES · May 10th, 2008, 06:02 PM

I took mine from a mim apart for a look see and was surprised to see they're just standard sized humbuckers with a waxed cloth surrround to make 'em fit in the larger size covers

JEMC · May 31st, 2008, 05:30 PM

Hey guys I'm back!

So I finally got some time on hand to mod my tele deluxe. But I have one last question: Can I put mounting ring(like those found on gibsons LP) on my tele's pick gaurd, and put the new humbucker in there?

April 19th, 2008, 02:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
JEMC NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: the netherlands Age: 20 Posts: 4	replacing pickup on tele 72 deluxe Hello, I want to replace the wide range buckers on my tele dlx, but the problem is, these are bigger than normal humbuckers. Is there anyway to make normal humbuckers fit into my tele? thanks in advance

April 19th, 2008, 05:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Newfie_J. Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: North Bay Age: 28 Posts: 172	There are replacement pickguards that fit regular sized humbuckers. I think WD makes them. Try changing the pots to 500K first before deciding to change pickups. If you havent already done it you will notice a big differance in sound. Not so muddy. Good luck.

May 10th, 2008, 08:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
JEMC NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: the netherlands Age: 20 Posts: 4	Yeah I switched them to 500k long time ago, but I still wanna replace them. Can I also just add pickup ring instead of replacing the whole pickgaurd?

May 10th, 2008, 10:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
jivetrain Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 383 4 Photos	this subject is coming up a lot lately. you seem disinterested in fooling with the wide range humbuckers any further, so i don't know if this will appeal to you but it's the best fix for the muddiness of the pickups. most people who tried this have agreed that it made the sound 10x better. any questions you have will probably be answered in that thread so give it a thorough read

May 10th, 2008, 10:35 AM	#5 (permalink)
Wardpike Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St. John's, Newfoundland Age: 43 Posts: 585	I'm with JEMC. I think the wide-ranges leave a lot to be desired, soundwise, and would go with either a replacement pickguard, or new pickup mounting rings for new pups. What do you want it to sound like? My strongest recommendation is get a brace of Tom Holmes HBs, my trout, and then use the coil connecting wire to create coil splitters...sending the bridge one to ground (with a switch) and the neck one to hot (with a switch). Then you will have nice smooth HBs with good tele tones available with the flick of a switch. I hope I've been helpful.

May 10th, 2008, 10:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
Wardpike Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St. John's, Newfoundland Age: 43 Posts: 585	and oh yes, let me know if you want a wiring diagram. Cheers, Ward

May 10th, 2008, 10:37 AM	#7 (permalink)
JEMC NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: the netherlands Age: 20 Posts: 4	thanks for the advice! truth is my music style changed quite a bit, I used to play punk but nowadays I'm only playing metal. TBH I'm not using the tele deluxe nowadays but I recently stumbled on the jim roots signature, which inspired me to mod my own into a metal guitar as well(pls don't flame me for wanting to use a tele for metal). So I'm thinking of putting some duncans in it. Oh and thanks for the offer, but I installed pickups before so I know how to.

May 10th, 2008, 01:06 PM	#8 (permalink)
Wardpike Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St. John's, Newfoundland Age: 43 Posts: 585	DUDE! Who would ever flame you for playing metal??? Metal is country's close cousin!! PLUS, Metal and Country are the two last bastions of truly progressive guitar playing and exploration, IMHO. I started out playing country as a kid, and when I hit my teenage years and Van Halen and Randy Rhoads entered my psyche, I went totaly metal for many years... but went back into country over the past 15 years again and I see complete synergies between the two music forms. And as John 5 has demonstrated, you can be both a country and a metal player and do it all on a Tele!! Cheers, fellow head-banger.

May 10th, 2008, 02:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
jivetrain Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 383 4 Photos	well if you're playing metal the wide ranges probably aren't for you. i think they sound great for playing clean once you've done the mods to them, but i've never used them with distortion.

May 10th, 2008, 06:02 PM	#10 (permalink)
TELE_BLUES Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: new york Posts: 420 32 Photos	I took mine from a mim apart for a look see and was surprised to see they're just standard sized humbuckers with a waxed cloth surrround to make 'em fit in the larger size covers

May 31st, 2008, 05:30 PM	#11 (permalink)
JEMC NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: the netherlands Age: 20 Posts: 4	Hey guys I'm back! So I finally got some time on hand to mod my tele deluxe. But I have one last question: Can I put mounting ring(like those found on gibsons LP) on my tele's pick gaurd, and put the new humbucker in there?