Telecaster pickups

[Thomme]

Ok, so... I'm'a little new to this whole single coil thing and I'd ask at Ultimate Guitar, but they do nothing but bandwagon on pickups, knowing that forum, I'd be told to upgrade amp before pickups and that GFS is "flat out terrible."

Anyway, for 6 years I used nothing but humbuckers (Duncan 59's and Dimi SD's) and now that I've grown up a little, I've got a tele, split my humbuckers and put my old strat back to stock with SC's and I'm a little confused by SC pickups, actually.

I've got this Squier Tele VM Thinline that I absolutely love, but I'd also love to upgrade the pickups in this thing. It's got the Duncan Designed pickups in it, and I'm a little concerned that I'm not getting nearly as good tone out of this as possible.

I used a Vox AC-30 or a Marshall JCM900 (clean ) with tubescreamer clones and an old Arion delay and I love the jangle and spank of the telecaster and stratocasters now-a-days. I'm hoping to get something a little more jangly for the Tele and I was thinking an Alnico V pickup would work well.

I've been eying the GFS vintage accurate pickups and looking into seymour duncans, but I'm a little confused by what sound what magnet will produce. So, for a good, jangley, pettyish, countryish tone, which pups would be my best choice?

Also, I'm thinking of doing the same thing to my epiphone strat. Right now, it's packing a duncan 59 in the bridge and an antiquity single coil in the neck (no middle) and I'm thinking of replacing the antiquity with a lipstick and the bridge with a filtertron style pickups (probably the GFS pups), or even putting the old Duncan Designed tele pickup into the strat, just to get more "jangle" out of the strat.

Thanks in advance.

edit: also, would getting a set of pickups out of the Fender RI Thinline be a good idea, I've spotted those on Ebay, but I can't quite figure out if they're nice or not.

[boris bubbanov]

Welcome, Thomme!

Have you, by any chance, got another Tele you could try out those Duncan Designed pickups in, other than your Thinline?

The reason I ask is; while the CIC Classic Vibe Teles have been getting overwhelming favorable reviews, I'm afraid the CIC VMs made down the street there have been less well received, and I found, reading all the posts, that different pickups did not really solve enough of the issues people were having with this model.

Those Duncan Designeds are built by Artec, the same outfit (and at the same location in S. Korea) that makes the very popular GFS premium pickups, so IMO those D Designeds shouldn't be treated as subpar items.

[Thomme]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Welcome, Thomme!

Have you, by any chance, got another Tele you could try out those Duncan Designed pickups in, other than your Thinline?

The reason I ask is; while the CIC Classic Vibe Teles have been getting overwhelming favorable reviews, I'm afraid the CIC VMs made down the street there have been less well received, and I found, reading all the posts, that different pickups did not really solve enough of the issues people were having with this model.

Those Duncan Designeds are built by Artec, the same outfit (and at the same location in S. Korea) that makes the very popular GFS premium pickups, so IMO those D Designeds shouldn't be treated as subpar items.

really? That's an interesting little factoid.

I bought the VM Thinline as a tele because I preferred the feel and look of it over the other squier teles. I'm a college kid, so, I gotta make my dollar stretch as much as possible, but, yes, it is in fact my only tele. Until this, I was a fat-strat/les paul guy. I gotta say, I'm not disappointed in the sound of the tele, but I feel like it could be better. I've got a Vintage Fender 3 saddle bridge on it (the brass improved tone, actually; playability and action became another question at that point, shims solved that problem) and I'm planning on slapping a perloid pickguard on it when I know which ones will fit it, but I'm always tweeking pickups (it's actually the only guitar/bass I have with original pickups that isn't "vintage").

I'm thinking, though, since GFS has so many "custom" wound pickups in their catalog, that a set of GFS might be an improvement, even if they are made in the same factory they're probably made to different specs. The bridge on the VM Thinline sounds rather harsh and the neck isn't as jangly as I remember thinlines (the MIM reissues) sounding, but I'm still happy with the guitar overall. This might be attributed to the Alder body vs. the Ash original, but, still. I was hoping a good, loose Alnico V would jangle up my neck position.

In anycase, given my prereqs, what would you suggest, pickup wise?

edit: wait, what issues are people having with the VM Thinlines? I think it's a fantastic guitar for the sub $300 price tag. I've yet to find any really faults with the guitar itself, just my own pickiness for tone at this point.

[boris bubbanov]

I like the 3 brass barrel mod - If I owned one and couldn't afford a 25.5 scale neck, that brass barrel mod would be job #1 also.

I'm not so much for changing pickups.

I can't be the one to recommend which GFS to buy, as while I have played some and liked some, played others and didn't like them, I haven't bought from Jay because:

1) I can't call him and chew the fat with him - e-transactions only, Paypal mandatory.

2) He just throws all these designs at you and you gotta decide which design is great, which is OK, and which one stinks. I would only sell the ones I felt were great, like Bill and Becky Lawrence do. Also, GFS sends out too many dead pickups and while they very cheerfully send you another right away, dead but brand new pickups bum me out really hard.

I could almost see going with the GFS business model, were his prices only 20 percent of the price of the Keystone. But they're virtually the same price.

[Thomme]

well, let's forget "GFS" as the only option. For optimal "jangle," which set of tele pups would work best.

[chris klein]

I would be on the prowl for a pickup manufactured with either Alnico 3 or Alnico 5 wound with Heavy Formvar magnet wire. You will find plenty of jangle in the Bridge (6-8k) output range and Neck (5-7k) output range.

Good Luck with your search.
-C

P.S. There are other options in magnets but I would stay away from anything Alnico 2. Thinking further, if you can find a Alnico 4 set of pickups that will give you some pretty jazzy tone's.

[chris klein]

I forgot to mention. You must go with handwound pickups. Machine wound pickups will kill any kind of jangle you will get with handwound pickups.

[notjustdrew]

My tele came stock with SD pro-alnico IIs in. I'm normally one to change pickups every month or so but havn't been able to bring myself to part with these. They sound so good, jangly but well balanced.

Although, mines an ashbody-maple neck, so quite a bright guitar. I don't know much about your model. If you're lacking in jangle, then alnico-V is a good bet. Seymour duncans are good, but as has been mentioned, anything handwound (ideally scatterwound) is worth paying for.

I don't know where you are int he world, but if you go to the UKs ebay (.co.uk), and search for 'catswhisker' pickups, there's this independant guy who will custom wind you a pup if you ask nicely and they go for about £40-£50. Scatter-wound, vacumn wax potted, differing magnets etc.
He wound me a humbucker sized p90 for the neck of my les paul and it sounds amazing, blows SD's phat-cats out of the water. I ran them up against my mates guitar with bare-knuckles in (which are very similar specs), and there was very little difference, despite half the price.

[Thomme]

Originally Posted by notjustdrew

My tele came stock with SD pro-alnico IIs in. I'm normally one to change pickups every month or so but havn't been able to bring myself to part with these. They sound so good, jangly but well balanced.

Although, mines an ashbody-maple neck, so quite a bright guitar. I don't know much about your model. If you're lacking in jangle, then alnico-V is a good bet. Seymour duncans are good, but as has been mentioned, anything handwound (ideally scatterwound) is worth paying for.

I don't know where you are int he world, but if you go to the UKs ebay (.co.uk), and search for 'catswhisker' pickups, there's this independant guy who will custom wind you a pup if you ask nicely and they go for about £40-£50. Scatter-wound, vacumn wax potted, differing magnets etc.
He wound me a humbucker sized p90 for the neck of my les paul and it sounds amazing, blows SD's phat-cats out of the water. I ran them up against my mates guitar with bare-knuckles in (which are very similar specs), and there was very little difference, despite half the price.

man, now I wish I was in the UK for those Cat Whisker pickups...

So, scatterwound Alnico V's are my best bet for good jangle?

The Rosewood/Alder combo of the VM Thinline makes for a fairly well balanced tone, IMO. I just want some more jangle out of it. I mean, my Epi strat's pretty jangley when I split the bridge HB and my 70's Ibanez strat copy has some great quacky jangle in positions 4 and 2, but the tele just doesn't quite get that same jangle.

[notjustdrew]

hmmm, you won't get that out of phase sound from a tele, unless you add a middle pickup. Maybe you're after a strat-ier sound?
Could also use an eq, play with amp settings (you've got the right amp for jangle anyway), try higher rated drop caps... pickup height is important aswell, I've found they mostly get bassier nearer the strings, so could try dropping and tilting abit?
A decent chorus is good for a jangle as well (although can get abit 80s).

I wouldn't stress too much about scatter wounding though, as I said I have seymour duncans in my tele and I wouldn't try anything else, they just work really well. So much better than duncan designed. I would suggest alnico v over II if your going for the pickup change though.

[Thomme]

Originally Posted by notjustdrew

hmmm, you won't get that out of phase sound from a tele, unless you add a middle pickup. Maybe you're after a strat-ier sound?
Could also use an eq, play with amp settings (you've got the right amp for jangle anyway), try higher rated drop caps... pickup height is important aswell, I've found they mostly get bassier nearer the strings, so could try dropping and tilting abit?
A decent chorus is good for a jangle as well (although can get abit 80s).

I wouldn't stress too much about scatter wounding though, as I said I have seymour duncans in my tele and I wouldn't try anything else, they just work really well. So much better than duncan designed. I would suggest alnico v over II if your going for the pickup change though.

I could actually use a 5 way switch to wire it so that I can get an "out of phase," noise, but I didn't think that that's how the strats get that sound in 2&4.

[tele salivas]

tv jones filtertron, very pricey, but there are other 'tron' pickups out there that will suit your needs at your budget,,,tron's are made for jangle

[Tele Fan]

Check out Bill Lawrence Keystones. Great reviews and low prices. http://www.billlawrence.com/

[Thomme]

Originally Posted by tele salivas

tv jones filtertron, very pricey, but there are other 'tron' pickups out there that will suit your needs at your budget,,,tron's are made for jangle

I wanted to stick with single coils, actually. The 'tron might end up as the humbucker in my epiphone, actually.

Originally Posted by Tele Fan

Check out Bill Lawrence Keystones. Great reviews and low prices. http://www.billlawrence.com/

after seeing this, I did a little digging and e-mailed Bill about his pickups, I can't find much concrete info on them, but I think those are gonna be it. Best for the bucks, it seems like.

[Thomme]

I hate to double post, but I guess I can't edit my last post.
In anycase, I did even more digging into the Lawrence Keystones and checked out some clips... it really doesn't sound what I'm looking for out of the pickups, a little too hot and tight, seems like they're great for lead playing, but I want jangle. I might be asking for too much out of a set of pickups that aren't boutique wound for me...

But, I think I might have it figured out: A Duncan 5-2 in the bridge to tame the lead tones and cool how hot the bridge sounds while providing tight low end response from the bridge pickup and a Duncan Alnico V rhythm (that word always looks so damn wierd when I type it!) for the neck to get good, bright jangle, in the middle position, this should provide me with a fairly close to ideal tone. Just I can't really find a retailer with both pickups for me to order, I might have to bite the bullet and hit up guitar world to order them for me (I hate that shop).

Looking into the pickups as well, it seems that I have to be careful what pickups I use with this bridge. Apparently the Fender ash-tray bridge is magnetic and some pickups react badly with it, but I can't really find any simple, "this is what happens" answers to that one.

Also: how are the Alnico V pickups out of the Fender MIA standards? I might have a chance to grab a set of those for around $50 and if they'd do, I might be interested in saving the buckaroos, after all, I've still got two pots, a jack, wiring, caps and a pick guard to buy for this thing.

[mwaym]

Just try some GFS pickups !!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are cheap..... and........... I love the ones I got for my strat.... plenty of "jangle" !!!!!

[Thomme]

Originally Posted by mwaym

Just try some GFS pickups !!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are cheap..... and........... I love the ones I got for my strat.... plenty of "jangle" !!!!!

the GFS are like 60-70 a set, the Lawrence are about the same, Duncans are about $120 a set, custom wound would run me about $150-200 a set, Fender Vintage is about $120 a set and Duncan Antiquities can be had for like $150 a set, sometimes. I just don't see a $60 set of pickups as "disposable." Besides, they would be my first "budget" pickups. Not really... my first "budget guitar" pickups, though, and I KNOW the big boys'll sound better, but I'm not sure how much. I might just cave and get the Alnico V set from GFS, though, they do look tastey for the money.