Twisted Tele Neck Pickup?

[Bruce Kiely]

Hello, all.

Nice to be back, after quite a long hiatus. I hope and trust all is well with you all.

What the heck is a Twisted Tele pickup?

What do they sound like?

As always, all opinions welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers,
BK

[Sleph]

never heard of such an animal....maybe it's one that's into kiddy porn!?

[Telenator]

A Twisted tele neck pick up uses the longer magnets from a jazz bass pickup and is wound to make the pickup a bit brighter than a regular Tele neck pickup. I believe it was developed by Alan Hamel. The result is a neck pickup that is closer in tone to the bridge p'up giving the guitar a more balanced sound when you through the switch from bridge to neck position.

On many Teles, not all, the tonal disparity between the neck and bridge p'ups is so great, it requires some fiddling with the tone knobs on the guitar or the amp to get things back in balance. With the twisted Tele p'up, the guitar is more balanced. I have played a few of these and think they sound awesome. It's a very good solution to a very old problem.

Twisted Tele neck p'ups are now standard on certain Custom Shop models.

[BrianF]

I think the Baja Tele's have these too? BTW I believe Alan used to sell this his Tall Boy neck pickup...

[Reno Sepulveda]

Yes the Baja Classic Player features the Twisted Tele Neck PU. I like it combined in series with the bridge pickup and less so in the standard standalone or parallel mode.

One thing I like about Telecasters (and this puts me in the minority for sure) is the neck pickup all by itself it has a smokey, jazzy tone that I love. I don't want it bright. If I want bright I'll go to the bridge PU.

[sidneystreet]

Originally Posted by Telenator

A Twisted tele neck pick up uses the longer magnets from a jazz bass pickup and is wound to make the pickup a bit brighter than a regular Tele neck pickup. I believe it was developed by Alan Hamel. The result is a neck pickup that is closer in tone to the bridge p'up giving the guitar a more balanced sound when you through the switch from bridge to neck position...

I have the Alan Hamel version of the Twisted Tele which he calls the Tall Neck, and have it paired up with Hamel's Broadcaster bridge pup. Telenator describes it very accurately. The neck pup is brighter and louder than a standard neck pup. It is very strat like, and sounds great on its own or in combination with the bridge. I like it a lot.

From a couple of lengthy auditions of the Baja tele, I would say the Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele and Broadcaster pickups are quite similar, although the Hamels really do have a sweeter midrange and more depth. Of course, the Fenders are "actually" available (in the Baja anyway). I'd call that a big advantage.

[jubjub]

I've heard the Twisted Neck pu in a couple of tele's and I realy love the sound. The Hamel sounds great.
Does anyone one have any idea where I might pick one up?

[MulliganChebichev]

Don't forget the J5 telecaster :D

[fabiomayo]

Never heard of that pickup either... Sounds interesting...

A related question, if I may. Anyo tried the YoGeorge mod? It should
make the neck pickup brighter....

[Rock on]

Originally Posted by Reno Sepulveda

Yes the Baja Classic Player features the Twisted Tele Neck PU. I like it combined in series with the bridge pickup and less so in the standard standalone or parallel mode.

One thing I like about Telecasters (and this puts me in the minority for sure) is the neck pickup all by itself it has a smokey, jazzy tone that I love. I don't want it bright. If I want bright I'll go to the bridge PU.

how many leads do the baja pups have?

[stephent2]

Originally Posted by jubjub

I've heard the Twisted Neck pu in a couple of tele's and I realy love the sound. The Hamel sounds great.
Does anyone one have any idea where I might pick one up?

That is the $50K question, eBay maybe. It seems Mr. Hamel has disappeared (and taken some folks $$s as well). I keep waiting for a happy ending to this story, I get little glimmers of hope here and there, but nothing substantial yet.

Sad really. I've got a low output P90 and standard "B" bridge set specially built for me from Mr. Hamel that is outstanding, balanced and clear, great combo on a tele, very versatile, and I love his Tall Neck as well, best out there in my opinion.

[jubjub]

Originally Posted by stephent2

That is the $50K question, eBay maybe. It seems Mr. Hamel has disappeared (and taken some folks $$s as well). I keep waiting for a happy ending to this story, I get little glimmers of hope here and there, but nothing substantial yet.

Sad really. I've got a low output P90 and standard "B" bridge set specially built for me from Mr. Hamel that is outstanding, balanced and clear, great combo on a tele, very versatile, and I love his Tall Neck as well, best out there in my opinion.

what a bummer. That pu sounds outstanding.

Nothing gets my back up like people that don't deliver after taking peoples money. Just paid $300 for an original Fender Blender on Ebay, and they guy won't return my emails, but was more than happy to take my money.

Sorry, I digress.

OK, I want a tall boy, or twisted tele


Can anyone tell me the following

1. Impedance/dc resistance

2. wire gauge

3. Magnet size/composition/strength

4. cover composition

5. magic mojo factors

If the custom shop won't sell em, I'll get someone to make one.

[Kelsey]

I played a few of the 2006 CS LTD 52 Tele relic in copper metallic, which has the Twisted Tele neck and Broadcaster lead pickups. I loved the Broadcaster, but I'm on the fence about the Twisted Tele. It still didn't sound as good as the CS Strat neck pickups I played at the same sitting, nor as good as the SD 59 neck HB in another CS Tele I tried at the time. Moreover, in gaining brightness it seems to lose some of that wonderful middle/combined pickup Tele tone and the smokey neck tone that some Teles have. However, it does sound good in series with the Broadcaster in the Baja Tele.

I can't say for sure, but I suspect that the CS Texas Special Tele neck pickup is pretty close to the Twisted Tele in a pinch.

[jubjub]

I guess what I'm keen on is that I heard the twisted neck tele do the best SRV tone I've ever heard from a tele. Very cool. It only measured 5.7 K as well, so low enough to retain all the lovely top end, but so much mid range punch and clarity.
Realy great. That's what I'm after. I love what I've got at the moment so it's going to need to be very special to replace it, and the twisted is the only thing I've heard that's a contender.

[bajabuster]

The Twisted has three wires

[Pierce]

voodoo pickups have done this pickup for years...

[Ringo]

My buddy has a MIM Baja Tele, which I like a lot. I love the tone of the neck pickup.
But I don't think Fender uses the same pickup for the Baja as they do on their Custom Shop Twisted Tele.
I was looking at some pictures of a CS Twisted Tele pu on eBay and it had long alnico magnets that protruded out of the bottom of the bobbin.
I've seen pics of Baja Tele neck pu and those magnets were flush with the bottom of the bobbin, like most Tele neck pu's.

FWIW I got one of the Highway One alnico lll Tele neck pu's and it sounds great, I have mine wired up with a 4 way switch to get the series combination, a cool 335 type tone IMO.

[boris bubbanov]

Ringo, thanks for the insight on that, I'm wonderin' if our Bajas have a production 'equivalent' pickup of the CS twisted tele handwound pickup.

I hear Don Mare makes an excellent pickup closer to the twisted tele than any other currently available, so: closer to the Baja neck pup or the CS version?

Taking baby steps, learning some means of distinguishing these things visually and by ear, got a lot of catching up to do.

Bubbanov

[Flashback]

In my Baja I always feel like I have a strat pup in the neck. I find myself using it alot. Usually going from position 4 in and out of phase for lead tones. And the neck alone for rhythm. First Telecaster where I actually ride the neck pup more like a Strat.

Its an awesome pickup for sure.

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by Reno Sepulveda

.......
One thing I like about Telecasters (and this puts me in the minority for sure) is the neck pickup all by itself it has a smokey, jazzy tone that I love. I don't want it bright. If I want bright I'll go to the bridge PU.

Dear Abby,

Yeah. Exactly. Maybe I don't understand the 'twisted' idea but why would you want both pu's to sound similar tonally. What's the point of that. Isn't that why you have two pu's , so that you can get 2 very distinct tones?

Confused in Canada!!

[boris bubbanov]

Boneyguy, I played a very pretty to look at ash 60th anniversary tele, and the difference between the neck, the middle, and the bridge, even with the tone up for the neck and rolled off for the bridge, was way too big. Maybe it was that guitar, I was playing through a PV classic 50 2x12, an amp I know well, and there were voids, tones I couldn't readily find even fooling with the amp dials.
Again, maybe this was just the one guitar, but the neck pup was impossibly dark and the bridge at ten was searing, not really in a good way.
This was an NOS guitar, very tasty to look at, maybe that tells us something was just not right; wish I'd spent more time playing the others I'd seen in the past.
There could be a little more space between the pups in the Baja, but I don't think the in series out of phase sound comes out right if the pups are too dissimilar. YMMV.

Bubbanov

[BluesOwl]

Got it goin' on in my Teles. SRV-ish if you want. Very strattish.
Finally am using some pups wound by RockinCarl (TDPRI-er) that are intentionally strattish

But I tried Rio Grande Tall Boy and Harmonic Design Mini-Strat Pup for Tele Neck and both of those are great too!

Don Mare is offering a Stratish Tele neck pup too.

Considered other strat features...like pickguard mounting of the pup. I think it makes for a brighter sound

I'll bet the Twisted Tele is great. If they have enough to offer it on Bajas, it would seem they could offer them loose.
maybe its a exclusivity strategy to sell guitars.

I'm in kind of a "loop": trying to get a good-for-blues strattish sound on a Tele neck pup setting and conversely: added a blender circuit to a strat to blend the neck and bridge pups together to get a Tele sound

[studiodunn]

I live on it in my baja...great pup!