Upgrade fever

KDOG · March 30th, 2008, 06:08 PM

So, I just got my Yamaha Telecaster ( 102S ) and now I want to start making some changes. From the looks of it everything on the guitar is box stock original. This being a budget guitar, I'm sure Yamaha didn't put optimal pickups into this guy when they designed and built it, so I guess a good place to start might be the pickups. There are so many choices I don't know where to begin. The guitar has an alder body and a maple neck and a bubinga finger board. Is it compatible with all the off the shelf tele pickups? As you can guess I am pretty green about all this stuff, and could use all the help I can get.

marantz1300 · March 30th, 2008, 06:19 PM

I had one.I gave it to a niece for Christmas. I found the pickups to be pretty good,nice tone.But they were fullsize humbuckers in mine.Telecasters normaly have single coils and I dont think you'll be able to fit them in your yamaha.If i was you i;d enjoy the yamaha and save for a real fender telecaster if thats what you really want.

odiemann · March 30th, 2008, 06:55 PM

Ignore the call of the sirens. Upgrade your practice time, it's cheaper.

Gibson · March 31st, 2008, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KDOG

So, I just got my Yamaha Telecaster ( 102S ) and now I want to start making some changes. From the looks of it everything on the guitar is box stock original. This being a budget guitar, I'm sure Yamaha didn't put optimal pickups into this guy when they designed and built it, so I guess a good place to start might be the pickups. There are so many choices I don't know where to begin. The guitar has an alder body and a maple neck and a bubinga finger board. Is it compatible with all the off the shelf tele pickups? As you can guess I am pretty green about all this stuff, and could use all the help I can get.

I would say first off, play the guitar for a few weeks. If you find something about the guitar you don't like, then think about customising.

It may already be great as it is? Stock doesn't necessarily mean bad...

But especially when it comes to choosing pickups, you need to know what you don't like about the pickups you have (thru a decent amp) and what sound you want from a new set before you buy. Otherwise you'll become bogged down in the huge amount of choice out there.

Tom S · March 31st, 2008, 01:21 AM

I bought a 102S when they first came out about 13 years ago or so, for $209 brand new. At the time, there was nothing in its price range that was anywhere near it in terms of playablity. That guitar had a great neck for the money.

I still have it, and still play it. I still haven't found a budget guitar that beats it. It will of course accept any tele pickups available that fit the single-coil size, assuming you don't have a full-size humbucker model (haven't seen one). I put a Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II (I think) in the bridge. I don't know if it really needed it, but I was into experimenting at the time, and wanted something with a little more output. I also installed graphtek saddles, but they weren't necessary either. I planned to change the neck pickup, but never did. Didn't see the need.

The guitar really required no changes IMO. Still plays great...better than some more expensive guitars that have come and gone.

The body shape is a little different of course, so you can't change it cosmetically with standard pickguards. But who cares? Enjoy yours.

Oh yeah, I had to replace the input jack about a month ago.

Ronkirn · March 31st, 2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Ignore the call of the sirens. Upgrade your practice time, it's cheaper.

Such wisdom, and at 41.....

Ron Kirn

odiemann · March 31st, 2008, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Such wisdom, and at 41.....

Well it's like the main character "Heist" said "I'm really not that smart, I just imagine what a smart person would do and I do that." There are a lot of smart people on this forum to help me imagine.

bobthecanadian · March 31st, 2008, 11:17 AM

Yeah, I had me one of them there Yamaha Tele things. Loved it. If it hadn't been stolen I'd probably still own it.

Bob

March 30th, 2008, 06:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
KDOG TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: san pedro Posts: 16	Upgrade fever So, I just got my Yamaha Telecaster ( 102S ) and now I want to start making some changes. From the looks of it everything on the guitar is box stock original. This being a budget guitar, I'm sure Yamaha didn't put optimal pickups into this guy when they designed and built it, so I guess a good place to start might be the pickups. There are so many choices I don't know where to begin. The guitar has an alder body and a maple neck and a bubinga finger board. Is it compatible with all the off the shelf tele pickups? As you can guess I am pretty green about all this stuff, and could use all the help I can get.

March 30th, 2008, 06:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
odiemann Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Denver Age: 41 Posts: 1,406	Ignore the call of the sirens. Upgrade your practice time, it's cheaper. __________________ It just got better, I think

March 31st, 2008, 11:17 AM	#8 (permalink)
bobthecanadian Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Taipei, Taiwan Age: 42 Posts: 1,540	Yeah, I had me one of them there Yamaha Tele things. Loved it. If it hadn't been stolen I'd probably still own it. Bob __________________ It don't mean a thang if it ain't got that TWANG!!!

March 30th, 2008, 06:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
marantz1300 Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: london england Posts: 108	I had one.I gave it to a niece for Christmas. I found the pickups to be pretty good,nice tone.But they were fullsize humbuckers in mine.Telecasters normaly have single coils and I dont think you'll be able to fit them in your yamaha.If i was you i;d enjoy the yamaha and save for a real fender telecaster if thats what you really want.

March 31st, 2008, 01:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
Tom S Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,211 49 Photos	I bought a 102S when they first came out about 13 years ago or so, for $209 brand new. At the time, there was nothing in its price range that was anywhere near it in terms of playablity. That guitar had a great neck for the money. I still have it, and still play it. I still haven't found a budget guitar that beats it. It will of course accept any tele pickups available that fit the single-coil size, assuming you don't have a full-size humbucker model (haven't seen one). I put a Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II (I think) in the bridge. I don't know if it really needed it, but I was into experimenting at the time, and wanted something with a little more output. I also installed graphtek saddles, but they weren't necessary either. I planned to change the neck pickup, but never did. Didn't see the need. The guitar really required no changes IMO. Still plays great...better than some more expensive guitars that have come and gone. The body shape is a little different of course, so you can't change it cosmetically with standard pickguards. But who cares? Enjoy yours. Oh yeah, I had to replace the input jack about a month ago.