Pickups balancing on CIJ `62-72´ telecaster

telbert twang · August 8th, 2008, 04:35 AM

Hi

I have a japanese tele :

http://fenderjapan.co.jp/fender/2008...ele/tl62us.htm

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/IMGP7843.JPG

3 piece alder body, rose fretboard. The description on it´s certificate says "`62-72´ with US vintage pickups" . It is a very nice guitar in overall - flawless finish , very comfortable neck (needed to "scotch brite" its glossy sticky poly neck´s backside though), smooth 250 pots (appropriate big casing) , .047 cap and treble bleed cap. Only crappy thing seems to be the plastic cased pup switch, but it started to work well after tearing apart, tensing the contacts and lubricating it insde.

Its pickups are claimed to be the US ones (even the wires are clothed ones) neck one is screwed straight into body, instead of attach onto pickguard. I like the sound of both of them very much - the neck one is extremly clear, glassy-like and kinda 3D tone as they say (weaker output on the same time), the bridge one can get pretty raw and microphonic as well if desired - cool.

There is a small mismatch with their balancing, however:

on the same amp settings - the neck sounds best when tele´s volume maxed and tone turned down a little , while the bridge one likes volume turned down a bit and tone maxed, as it cannot reach the trebles the neck offers.

Anybody experienced similar?

Is there a trick to get them easily more balanced , or just go on with messing the volume and tone ?

Every comment is welcome, thanks in advance!

Telbert

telbert twang · August 9th, 2008, 08:10 PM

up...

no coms?

BritishBluesBoy · August 9th, 2008, 08:12 PM

Have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups?

telbert twang · August 9th, 2008, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

Have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups?

every way every screwturn...

carlos · August 12th, 2008, 04:04 PM

It seems your pickups have come with different output. I don't think there's anything else you can do except experimenting with pickup height and your own picking. To me these pickups sound very good indeed and I see you feel the same, so don't worry too much and just give'em some time until you learn to tame them!

telbert twang · August 12th, 2008, 04:30 PM

hi mr carlos, thanks for answering.

yeah, it is a pretty good tele. It has a little different setup at the moment, the real flatwound strings and pretty low action (and i never use a pick) , so it might benefit from a better suitable set up somehow... ?

And both pups ARE great sounding, it´s just the pups differences as described in my first post.

(i play it through Laney VC-15, PVC50/410 and microcube)

one thing i thought was that perhaps change the value of the treble bleed to bigger value, or even try the "fezzparka´s" 50 LP mod in wiring but i would like to not to leave it much from stock...

another one (pretty stupid i guess?) - dampen the neck pickup attachment by drilling the screw holes bigger , pressing something inside (like cork) whereto screw the pup screws , to loose the bodys trebly resonation, but that is probably too crazy and can´t undo later :-)

seems that the easiest way is to get used to still mess around with the tone and volume.

do you have the exactly same model? You haven´t noticed the difference in output or brightness of it´s pickups?

carlos · August 12th, 2008, 05:59 PM

The one I've played was a 52 model but it seems pickups are the same. Maybe the bridge was a bit louder than the neck, but I really didn't notice then... it didn't bother me. I loved its sound cranked when chording. Now I have one of these neck pups lying around and I'll probably end up getting the bridge too.

A bigger value cap will get you more brightness in both pups, and then you'd have to tame the neck tone. Maybe it would work for you if you use more the bridge. Is the neck pup mounted with tubbing or springs? People say you get more microphonics with springs, if that's the case you could try tubbing instead. As for the cork experiment I guess you may be right it'll damp a bit the sound. I had a neck pup mounted in the pickguard and noticed the sound got a bit more clear when screwed to the body (I prefered it that way). The cork thing could be undone by refilling with wood... but be careful not to drill through the back of the body!

telbert twang · August 13th, 2008, 03:02 AM

it is a 62 reissue, the neck pick up is scrwed straight into boy, no relation with pickguard. It should have alnico V pups inside.

August 8th, 2008, 04:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
telbert twang Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Estonia Posts: 198 40 Photos	Balancing Pickups (CIJ `62-72´ ) Hi I have a japanese tele : http://fenderjapan.co.jp/fender/2008...ele/tl62us.htm http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/IMGP7843.JPG 3 piece alder body, rose fretboard. The description on it´s certificate says "`62-72´ with US vintage pickups" . It is a very nice guitar in overall - flawless finish , very comfortable neck (needed to "scotch brite" its glossy sticky poly neck´s backside though), smooth 250 pots (appropriate big casing) , .047 cap and treble bleed cap. Only crappy thing seems to be the plastic cased pup switch, but it started to work well after tearing apart, tensing the contacts and lubricating it insde. Its pickups are claimed to be the US ones (even the wires are clothed ones) neck one is screwed straight into body, instead of attach onto pickguard. I like the sound of both of them very much - the neck one is extremly clear, glassy-like and kinda 3D tone as they say (weaker output on the same time), the bridge one can get pretty raw and microphonic as well if desired - cool. There is a small mismatch with their balancing, however: on the same amp settings - the neck sounds best when tele´s volume maxed and tone turned down a little , while the bridge one likes volume turned down a bit and tone maxed, as it cannot reach the trebles the neck offers. Anybody experienced similar? Is there a trick to get them easily more balanced , or just go on with messing the volume and tone ? Every comment is welcome, thanks in advance! Telbert __________________ tt Last edited by telbert twang; August 8th, 2008 at 08:36 AM.

August 9th, 2008, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
telbert twang Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Estonia Posts: 198 40 Photos	up... no coms? __________________ tt

August 9th, 2008, 08:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
BritishBluesBoy Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Age: 40 Posts: 4,622 62 Photos	Have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups? __________________ BBB.

August 12th, 2008, 04:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
telbert twang Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Estonia Posts: 198 40 Photos	hi mr carlos, thanks for answering. yeah, it is a pretty good tele. It has a little different setup at the moment, the real flatwound strings and pretty low action (and i never use a pick) , so it might benefit from a better suitable set up somehow... ? And both pups ARE great sounding, it´s just the pups differences as described in my first post. (i play it through Laney VC-15, PVC50/410 and microcube) one thing i thought was that perhaps change the value of the treble bleed to bigger value, or even try the "fezzparka´s" 50 LP mod in wiring but i would like to not to leave it much from stock... another one (pretty stupid i guess?) - dampen the neck pickup attachment by drilling the screw holes bigger , pressing something inside (like cork) whereto screw the pup screws , to loose the bodys trebly resonation, but that is probably too crazy and can´t undo later :-) seems that the easiest way is to get used to still mess around with the tone and volume. do you have the exactly same model? You haven´t noticed the difference in output or brightness of it´s pickups? __________________ tt

August 13th, 2008, 03:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
telbert twang Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Estonia Posts: 198 40 Photos	it is a 62 reissue, the neck pick up is scrwed straight into boy, no relation with pickguard. It should have alnico V pups inside. __________________ tt

August 12th, 2008, 04:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
carlos Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: en la cantina Posts: 154	It seems your pickups have come with different output. I don't think there's anything else you can do except experimenting with pickup height and your own picking. To me these pickups sound very good indeed and I see you feel the same, so don't worry too much and just give'em some time until you learn to tame them!

August 12th, 2008, 05:59 PM	#7 (permalink)
carlos Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: en la cantina Posts: 154	The one I've played was a 52 model but it seems pickups are the same. Maybe the bridge was a bit louder than the neck, but I really didn't notice then... it didn't bother me. I loved its sound cranked when chording. Now I have one of these neck pups lying around and I'll probably end up getting the bridge too. A bigger value cap will get you more brightness in both pups, and then you'd have to tame the neck tone. Maybe it would work for you if you use more the bridge. Is the neck pup mounted with tubbing or springs? People say you get more microphonics with springs, if that's the case you could try tubbing instead. As for the cork experiment I guess you may be right it'll damp a bit the sound. I had a neck pup mounted in the pickguard and noticed the sound got a bit more clear when screwed to the body (I prefered it that way). The cork thing could be undone by refilling with wood... but be careful not to drill through the back of the body!