Jazzy - Twang - Bite (Neck - Middle - Bridge)

[Sean65]

Neck - Middle - Bridge

Hi Guys,

Am I asking too much from one set of PU's?

Neck = I'd like something that would give a passable jazzy tone in the neck position with the tone rolled off and a nice bluesy tone with the tone up. I have the grease bucket tone control.

Middle = This position for twangy country and rockabilly rhythms

Bridge = And something here with some bite and attitude.

I'd like the Lollar CC in the neck but I'm not sure I want to do any routing. Perhaps the Lollar Alnico 3's

Any suggestions?

[deluxe5D3]

Neck = I'd like something that would give a passable jazzy tone in the neck position with the tone rolled off and a nice bluesy tone with the tone up. I have the grease bucket tone control.

Middle = This position for twangy country and rockabilly rhythms

Bridge = And something here with some bite and attitude.

You're basically describing a stock off the shelf ordinary Tele here...

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by deluxe5D3

You're basically describing a stock off the shelf ordinary Tele here...

So of the 50 Teles in the current Fender line up they all have the same "stock off the shelf ordinary Tele" sound do they????

Thanks for your input, really useful comment.

[ludashoeless]

Originally Posted by Sean65

So of the 50 Teles in the current Fender line up they all have the same "stock off the shelf ordinary Tele" sound do they????

Thanks for your input, really useful comment.

dude....chill

[klasaine]

Vintage Vibes CC neck (A3 mags)



Zhangbucker 'paul bunyon' (A3 also)



With a 4-tet (Stolen Moments) but the sound quality is $h1te - skip to the solo at 3:56

[bigbandtele]

EMG T-set with an SPC does it all for me.

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

The main thing you want to look for is pickups with a vintage wind, and preferably A3. The middle position will sound better with no RWRP. I'd start with Fender OV's. They're affordable through Amazon.com.

Thanks Fezz. I'd just started to note that both the guitars you mentioned have alnico 3's.

"The middle position will sound better with no RWRP"

What's RWRP?

ORiginal Vintage, Nocasters and Lollars A3's are all shortlisted

[fezz parka]

Gives you hum cancelling in the middle position. Reverse wind reverse polarity. But it's just my personal preference regarding RWRP.

[fezz parka]

What guitar do you have?

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

What guitar do you have?

A recent American Special with the non CS Texas Specials. I've played with the pickup height to see what tone differences I'm getting but i'm hearing something I don't like, mainly in the bridge position.

There a slightly odd pickup, not to bad with gainer sounds but the cleans don't do it for me.

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by klasaine

Vintage Vibes CC neck (A3 mags)



Zhangbucker 'paul bunyon' (A3 also)



With a 4-tet (Stolen Moments) but the sound quality is $h1te - skip to the solo at 3:56

klasaine,

What are you playing in the second video at 3:15, sounds cool, Herb Ellis style jazzy blues. The CC pickup sounds nice. Thanks for sharing.

[klasaine]

It's a stock Bb blues ad lib.
I'm on the CC pickup. Volume and tone are wide opened through a 6v6 BF style amp set flat.

*I was initially thinking of getting a Lollar 'CC' but a very renowned Tele pkup specialist (who by his own personal request will remain nameless) recommended Vintage Vibes. You can select your magnet alloy - A2, A3 or A5 - and he (Pete Biltoft of V.Vibes) sends you an extra second set of mags - your choice, no extra charge.

The 3rd vid with the band my tone control is backed off probably 1/3 or slightly more.
The wiring and pots in that Tele are stock MIM circa 2001.

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by klasaine

It's a stock Bb blues ad lib.
I'm on the CC pickup. Volume and tone are wide opened through a 6v6 BF style amp set flat.

*I was initially thinking of getting a Lollar 'CC' but a very renowned Tele pkup specialist (who by his own personal request will remain nameless) recommended Vintage Vibes. You can select your magnet alloy - A2, A3 or A5 - and he (Pete Biltoft of V.Vibes) sends you an extra second set of mags - your choice, no extra charge.

The 3rd vid with the band my tone control is backed off probably 1/3 or slightly more.
The wiring and pots in that Tele are stock MIM circa 2001.

Thanks man, good shout. I like this quote from one of the reviews on the VVG website

"They’re super-smooth, sophisticated and complex and they’d be wasted on any guitarist who imagines that great jazz tone involves little more than rolling all the treble off a neck pickup and playing through a transistorized cube.”



They also have this article from Premier Guitar which is interesting reading.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazin...ow.aspx?Page=2

[andyjingram]

But it's just my personal preference regarding RWRP.

Hi Fezz, would you mind expanding on that? I've not yet heard of RWRP making any difference tonally.

[AJBaker]

Originally Posted by deluxe5D3

You're basically describing a stock off the shelf ordinary Tele here...

Yup. Your average vintage voiced tele will sound something like that. Actually, jazz, twang, bite is a pretty good way of describing a tele! Cool!

[Turtletwang]

Nocasters!

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by Turtletwang

Nocasters!

On the short list

[63dot]

Originally Posted by Sean65

Neck - Middle - Bridge

Hi Guys,

Am I asking too much from one set of PU's?

Neck = I'd like something that would give a passable jazzy tone in the neck position with the tone rolled off and a nice bluesy tone with the tone up. I have the grease bucket tone control.

Middle = This position for twangy country and rockabilly rhythms

Bridge = And something here with some bite and attitude.

I'd like the Lollar CC in the neck but I'm not sure I want to do any routing. Perhaps the Lollar Alnico 3's

Any suggestions?

Two of my teles had the good neck and in between sounds though the neck is a little anemic. They were staggered bridge single coil vintage teles, '65 and '68. They have a great surf tone at bridge but not really that much attitude or ability to work the distortion angle.

Another tele I had sported the darker flat pole piece bridge pickup and the sound was closer to having an attitude yet maybe not quite as strong as I would want it. It was a MIJ Squier tele from '90.

Finally, my '90 American Standard was just right. The neck was a little hotter than the vintage ones so it could do the blues with tone all the way up and jazz with tone rolled off. In between seems OK, though a tad bit dark for my tastes but it still is in the same sonic territory to do rockabilly well. And the bridge is very midrange heavy and has the output to back it up. If you dirty that thing up, other than the hum, it sounds closest to my PAF. Bass and midrange are pretty well represented and I think this set, off the shelf American Standard Telecaster pickups, is an inexpensive choice without having to get a luthier to put a bigger pickup in neck and have to fashion new pickguard. If you do that, you can get a full sized humbucker with four conductor wiring and put a push-pull knob to be able to get it more to a tele sound, but have the full sized humbucker for classic jazz.

All that being said, nothing compares for jazz to the Charlie Christian pickup and if you are dead serious about that sound, put it into your tele. You may also want to consider Bardens but that's also an expensive option but you won't have to rout anything out or change your pickguard.

[Sean65]

Originally Posted by 63dot

Two of my teles had the good neck and in between sounds though the neck is a little anemic. They were staggered bridge single coil vintage teles, '65 and '68. They have a great surf tone at bridge but not really that much attitude or ability to work the distortion angle.

Another tele I had sported the darker flat pole piece bridge pickup and the sound was closer to having an attitude yet maybe not quite as strong as I would want it. It was a MIJ Squier tele from '90.

Finally, my '90 American Standard was just right. The neck was a little hotter than the vintage ones so it could do the blues with tone all the way up and jazz with tone rolled off. In between seems OK, though a tad bit dark for my tastes but it still is in the same sonic territory to do rockabilly well. And the bridge is very midrange heavy and has the output to back it up. If you dirty that thing up, other than the hum, it sounds closest to my PAF. Bass and midrange are pretty well represented and I think this set, off the shelf American Standard Telecaster pickups, is an inexpensive choice without having to get a luthier to put a bigger pickup in neck and have to fashion new pickguard. If you do that, you can get a full sized humbucker with four conductor wiring and put a push-pull knob to be able to get it more to a tele sound, but have the full sized humbucker for classic jazz.

Thanks 63dot,

I getting the impression that the Alnico 3 feature in all the recommended guitars so far and that's what I'm trying to establish. Something versatile that can cover most bases.

The Nocasters seem to come in at about two thirds the price of the boutiques so they're looking likely

[63dot]

Originally Posted by Sean65

Thanks 63dot,

I getting the impression that the Alnico 3 feature in all the recommended guitars so far and that's what I'm trying to establish. Something versatile that can cover most bases.

The Nocasters seem to come in at about two thirds the price of the boutiques so they're looking likely

Are the alnico 3s hotter than that of vintage 50s/60s Fenders for the neck? My two old teles sound really nice but they lack the output in the neck. For rock and roll, I was never able to use the neck pickups alone and that was a shame.

Also, I used to have a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder set and while the bridge was too powerful and not so nice to listen to clean, the neck really could handle anything.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/4...FUkaQgodtFbR4w