Adding a Humbucker

[Agave_Blue]

2004 MIM Standard.


I've been thinking about adding a Humbucker in the bridge position and leaving the single coil in the neck.

I've read that with Humbuckers you usually want 500k pots.

What do you do if you have a mix (1 of each H + S)? 250k pots or 500k pots?


Have not committed yet, just thinking about it.

[Agave_Blue]

Hmmm. The silence is deafening.


Perhaps:

- It's a dumb quesiton? Dumb idea?
- Been asked a thousand times?
- No one knows a "good" answer?
- I'm too new to deserve an answer? ;-)


Any help or a point in the right direction is appreciated.

[BritishBluesBoy]

Not a dumb question at all. It is more common to put a humbucker in the neck and keep the traditional Tele bridge though. You'll have to do some fairly major surgery on your body to make the humbucker fit in that slot whereas it is already routed for a hummer in the neck... Also you'll need a new bridge. Just a thought.

Have a look at the Seymour Duncan website for wiring diagrams. Lots of good info there.

[mgwhit]

Originally Posted by Agave_Blue

Hmmm. The silence is deafening.


Perhaps:

- It's a dumb quesiton? Dumb idea?
- Been asked a thousand times?
- No one knows a "good" answer?
- I'm too new to deserve an answer? ;-)

Been asked a thousand times. Search a bit. In short, there's no perfect solution.

If you really do put the humbucker in the bridge, I'd start with 500's. Unlikely that your neck single coil will be too bright.

[Jammin'John1]

Yea,it looses it's Teleness if there is no ashtray tele pup.
Of course the standard answer is that a 'bucker "needs" a 500k pot.
A 500 k pot helps the 'bucker to have more treble when it's wide open.
What I don't like is that when you turn down the 500k pot the trebles go away VERY FAST !
I prefer to use a 250k and turn the treble up a little on my amp. YMMV

mgwhit is right about "I'd start with 500's. Unlikely that your neck single coil will be too bright."

That's true and if you are the type of player that leaves your volume full up all the time that will work.

I constantly use the volume/tone on my Tele and I don't like how fast the sound gets muddy !


JJ

[68thinline]

One thing to look at is the spacing of the pole pieces on your humbucker. You'll want a "trembucker" for a fender-style bridge due to the wider string spacing.

[BritishBluesBoy]

What about one of these:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...ttle_59_for_t/

[Agave_Blue]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

What about one of these:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...ttle_59_for_t/

That's EXACTLY what I am thinking about. Or the single coil Quarter Pound.


Thanks everyone for the replies.

It'll be a while before I decide and change since I want to go to a 4-poisiton switch at the same time. So, I'll do the whole harness and pickup(s) at the same time.

[telesparkle]

i use 500k but is really depends on the type of pickup and the tone you are going for, i put a dimarzio tone zone T in the bridge position and it works well for 80's rock, it also sounds great in the middle position with the Area T neck. they also make the Fast Track T for a more traditional bridge pickup that is humbucking. i would not rerout the bridge pickup cause it's not really worth it, it changes the character of the tele too much.

[jrich99]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

What about one of these:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...ttle_59_for_t/

beat me to it.....

[teletyler]

Hello, I personally love 250k pots with humbuckers. They sound so warm.