A Tele neck pickup to balance the bridge pickup?

davidge1 · August 14th, 2008, 01:01 PM

Does anyone make a Tele neck pickup that doesn't require any tone adjustment when switching from the bridge pickup?

I have a 50s Classic... I like the sound of the neck pickup, but I have to turn up the treble when I switch to the it in order to get it in the same range as the bridge pickup. What I've been doing is setting the amp to where it sounds good on the neck pickup, then rolling back the tone on the guitar when I switch to the bridge pickup. This sounds fine when the tone is clean, but using an overdrive pedal, the bridge pickup doesnt sound as good as having the guitar's tone control wide open. Plus, I'd just like to be able to flip the switch and not have to adjust anything. Are there any pickups that sound like a traditional Tele bridge pickup, only bright and loud enough to balance the bridge pickup?

tjalla · August 14th, 2008, 01:52 PM

The MIM stock pup ain't all bad. What I did with good results is disconnecting the tone pot from the neck PU, so that its loading the bridge and bridge+middle positions only. It costs nothing and takes all of 5 mins.

Option two (here we go again!) is the favourite of many here, myself included - the Dimarzio Twang King.

Amby · August 14th, 2008, 02:21 PM

The Dimarzio Twang King.
+1

Tele Fan · August 14th, 2008, 02:23 PM

The Tex Mex pups im ny Nasville Tele are fine and so are the stock ones in my American Tele.

davidge1 · August 14th, 2008, 02:34 PM

So if I had the Twang King neck pickup along with the stock bridge pickup, I wouldn't have to adjust anything when I switched between the two...it would have the same volume and brightness?

Strawfields · August 14th, 2008, 02:46 PM

Sorry if this sounds stupid but surely changing to neck is to get blusier tone...matching or increasing volume I could understand

davidge1 · August 14th, 2008, 02:50 PM

Strawfields...I dont want the same exact sound from both pickups... I just want to be able to switch between the two and get something in the same tone and volume range, as you would with a Strat, Gretsch or Gibson.

With the tone control wide open on my guitar (or most stock Telecasters), if you switch from a good tone on the bridge pickup over to the neck pickup, you get an extremely muddy sound.

Frontier9 · August 14th, 2008, 04:17 PM

Sorry if this sounds a bit dim, but I always figured that the standard operating procedure is as follows:

Adjust your amp to sound great with the neck pu, and roll the tone down a bit when you switch to the bridge clean and roll the tone back up a bit when using the bridge with some overdrive. That's pretty much what you are doing, I guess, but you just don't want to fiddle with the tone knob (which is understandable). Hmmm... maybe you could put in a 4-way switch and put a resister in series with the tone control on one of those positions to cut some treble while you are playing the bridge clean.

davidge1 · August 14th, 2008, 05:17 PM

Frontier9... Im really not all that concerned about having to adjust the tone knob... that's the way I've always done it, and it's not a big deal. My main problem is that I want to use a low-gain overdrive pedal that would be on all the time. The pedal sounds great when Im on the neck pickup (with the guitar's tone control all the way open), but when I switch to the bridge pickup and turn down the treble, the pedal doesnt sound quite as good.

RomanS · August 14th, 2008, 07:00 PM

Get a set of Fender CS Nocaster pickups - the bridge pickup, while still twangy, is a bit less bright than most vintage-style Tele bridge pickups, and the neck pickup from that set is probably the brightest Tele neck pickup ever - it's at least as bright as the bridge pickup, when you switch from the bridge to the neck position with the Nocasters, the treble frequencies stay pretty much the same, only the bass and mids get slightly fuller.

pbenn · August 14th, 2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidge1

Does anyone make a Tele neck pickup that doesn't require any tone adjustment when switching from the bridge pickup?

You might solve this problem with careful height adjustment....

woodman · August 14th, 2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidge1

So if I had the Twang King neck pickup along with the stock bridge pickup, I wouldn't have to adjust anything when I switched between the two...it would have the same volume and brightness?

sadly, there are no guarantees on stuff like this ... it might on one guitar, and might not on another. but at the excellent price on the TK, it's certainly worth a shot.

bradpdx · August 14th, 2008, 11:06 PM

I have never found ANY pickups that NEVER required a tone adjustment, unless they were humbuckers, in which case there is so little treble that I just leave it alone and full up.

On my Strat, I must still adjust the PUP tones when switching - always have. The stock arrangement of "no tone knob for the bridge" just doesn't work for me.

On my Tele, I have VanZandts that match as closely as I have ever found. I can play them with the same tone settings and it works fine - but the magic of the Tele is still enhanced by a bit of knob twirling. I just like the range of sounds that a Tele gets when you set the amp up bright and work the tone knob down - great color.

The only "trick" I use is a nickel-silver cover on the neck, and careful height adjustment. After that, it's a matter of taste.

August 14th, 2008, 01:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
davidge1 Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: USA Posts: 979	A Tele neck pickup to balance the bridge pickup? Does anyone make a Tele neck pickup that doesn't require any tone adjustment when switching from the bridge pickup? I have a 50s Classic... I like the sound of the neck pickup, but I have to turn up the treble when I switch to the it in order to get it in the same range as the bridge pickup. What I've been doing is setting the amp to where it sounds good on the neck pickup, then rolling back the tone on the guitar when I switch to the bridge pickup. This sounds fine when the tone is clean, but using an overdrive pedal, the bridge pickup doesnt sound as good as having the guitar's tone control wide open. Plus, I'd just like to be able to flip the switch and not have to adjust anything. Are there any pickups that sound like a traditional Tele bridge pickup, only bright and loud enough to balance the bridge pickup?

August 14th, 2008, 02:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tele Fan Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Louisville, Ky Age: 29 Posts: 1,680	The Tex Mex pups im ny Nasville Tele are fine and so are the stock ones in my American Tele. __________________ Life is better when you just make it up as you go along.

August 14th, 2008, 02:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
Strawfields Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2006 Location: Stirling, Scotland Age: 39 Posts: 740 3 Photos	Sorry if this sounds stupid but surely changing to neck is to get blusier tone...matching or increasing volume I could understand __________________ " A musician, if he is a messenger, is like a child who hasn't been handled too many times by man, hasn't had too many fingerprints across his brain. That's why music is so much heavier than anything you ever felt "- Jimi Hendrix 1969

August 14th, 2008, 07:00 PM	#10 (permalink)
RomanS Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Age: 37 Posts: 2,890 14 Photos	Get a set of Fender CS Nocaster pickups - the bridge pickup, while still twangy, is a bit less bright than most vintage-style Tele bridge pickups, and the neck pickup from that set is probably the brightest Tele neck pickup ever - it's at least as bright as the bridge pickup, when you switch from the bridge to the neck position with the Nocasters, the treble frequencies stay pretty much the same, only the bass and mids get slightly fuller. __________________ http://www.pbase.com/romans http://www.myspace.com/romans212

August 14th, 2008, 11:06 PM	#13 (permalink)
bradpdx Tele-Holic Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portland, OR Age: 50 Posts: 876 1 Photos	I have never found ANY pickups that NEVER required a tone adjustment, unless they were humbuckers, in which case there is so little treble that I just leave it alone and full up. On my Strat, I must still adjust the PUP tones when switching - always have. The stock arrangement of "no tone knob for the bridge" just doesn't work for me. On my Tele, I have VanZandts that match as closely as I have ever found. I can play them with the same tone settings and it works fine - but the magic of the Tele is still enhanced by a bit of knob twirling. I just like the range of sounds that a Tele gets when you set the amp up bright and work the tone knob down - great color. The only "trick" I use is a nickel-silver cover on the neck, and careful height adjustment. After that, it's a matter of taste. __________________ ---------- Tech Geek and Sensitive Artiste String bender ordinare!

August 14th, 2008, 01:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
tjalla Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,894 7 Photos	The MIM stock pup ain't all bad. What I did with good results is disconnecting the tone pot from the neck PU, so that its loading the bridge and bridge+middle positions only. It costs nothing and takes all of 5 mins. Option two (here we go again!) is the favourite of many here, myself included - the Dimarzio Twang King.

August 14th, 2008, 02:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Amby Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Stirlingshire, Scotland Age: 61 Posts: 244	The Dimarzio Twang King. +1

August 14th, 2008, 02:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
davidge1 Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: USA Posts: 979	So if I had the Twang King neck pickup along with the stock bridge pickup, I wouldn't have to adjust anything when I switched between the two...it would have the same volume and brightness?

August 14th, 2008, 02:50 PM	#7 (permalink)
davidge1 Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: USA Posts: 979	Strawfields...I dont want the same exact sound from both pickups... I just want to be able to switch between the two and get something in the same tone and volume range, as you would with a Strat, Gretsch or Gibson. With the tone control wide open on my guitar (or most stock Telecasters), if you switch from a good tone on the bridge pickup over to the neck pickup, you get an extremely muddy sound.

August 14th, 2008, 04:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
Frontier9 Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Sunny New Jersey Posts: 184	Sorry if this sounds a bit dim, but I always figured that the standard operating procedure is as follows: Adjust your amp to sound great with the neck pu, and roll the tone down a bit when you switch to the bridge clean and roll the tone back up a bit when using the bridge with some overdrive. That's pretty much what you are doing, I guess, but you just don't want to fiddle with the tone knob (which is understandable). Hmmm... maybe you could put in a 4-way switch and put a resister in series with the tone control on one of those positions to cut some treble while you are playing the bridge clean.

August 14th, 2008, 05:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
davidge1 Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: USA Posts: 979	Frontier9... Im really not all that concerned about having to adjust the tone knob... that's the way I've always done it, and it's not a big deal. My main problem is that I want to use a low-gain overdrive pedal that would be on all the time. The pedal sounds great when Im on the neck pickup (with the guitar's tone control all the way open), but when I switch to the bridge pickup and turn down the treble, the pedal doesnt sound quite as good.