How are the Nocaster Pickups???

[Shelby21]

Im looking at a new set of pickups and was suggested to look at nocaster ones. How do they sound??? loud for some good rock?? or smooth, is there a set out there i should look at thats really good for old school 70's rock style

[casterway]

I have a set of '51 Custom Shop Nocasters in my MIM tele, and my buddy who owns a '52ri, plays it and says "Man, I love these pickups!"

Beautiful pickups, clean smooth, and will raunch out. Lots of twang too.

I think the Texas Specials are more rock sounding.

[Stubee]

I've got a set in a '50s Classic. Sound great. Loved them absolutely at first and still like them even though that guitar hasn't got much play time the past few months (an AV'62RI moved in). The Nocaster neck pup is, IMO, a wonderful sound for a Tele. I dial the tone back on the bridge, but do on any Tele I've played much. Good clean tones, sound good loud, not sure if they're exactly what you want for '70s rock but very good pups.

Do a search here on Nocaster or in the pup forum, you'll find lots of opinions.

[rhinocaster]

I love the Nocaster pickups.

The neck is smooth and warm and a "bit" woofy. Not nearly as much as actual Fender Tele pickups from the same period, but darker than most other Tele neck pickups you're going to find.

The bridge is a jewel. It sings and stings and gets dirty in a really good way.

Here's the great thing, for a truly classic Tele sound, you need a combination that these two pickups provide. To me, the middle position on a great Tele should sound like a bridge pickup with a little thick neck sound added. It shouldn't be a balance sound with each pickup contributing 50%. The Nocaster pickups do this extremely well.

The thick sounding neck pickup sound is great on its own. Jazzy tunes can be covered and when you hit an overdrive pedal, you can get some very convincing hollowbody sounds from the guitar.

I really like these pickups.

[Big Mike Simpson]

I put Nocasters in the Pinecaster I built and they sound amazing.

(Nocasters with Callaham bridge and a pine body)

[yegbert]

I have a Nocaster neck pickup in a Tele paired with a Fender AV '62 Custom bridge pickup, wired with a 3-way switch and 250k pots to the Fender modern wiring spec.

This Nocaster neck pickup has the most clear and trebly sound of any Tele neck pickup I've played.

[ajgus]

How are/Are these much different than "Broadcaster" pups? I've been thinking about a set for a new build...

[Spunky99]

I have the CS 51' Nocasters in 2 Teles and I love them.
Custom Poplar 1.5" body

03' Highway One

[Bonneville Bruce]

I have the CS '51 Nocaster in the bridge of my '69 Tele Thinline reissue. It does "sing and sting" as the above poster stated. I want miximum twang from this instrument, think Marty Stuart and the Hellcasters, and this pup delivers through my Fender Blues Jr. amp. The neck is a CS '68 that is not as hot, and the two blend wonderfully.

[experience]

I have nocaster on my Nocaster "home made first partcaster" and it's amazing !!! it sounds really greats !

[Durtdog]

Disclaimer: I think I'm one of a very few on this board who does not think the Nocaster pickups sound "amazing" or even very good.

For 70s rock, I would recommend something stronger, Texas Specials or a Duncan Quarter Pounder. Twang is not the sound of 70s rock, more like humbuckers.

[Jellecaster]

I think that the Nocasters are the best Tele pickups made - period.

But I wouldn't use them for rock. I really don't like the Texas Specials, so I would either recommend the Samarium Cobalt, which have the advantage of being totally noiseless, or go with something from Seymour Duncan.

[newtwanger]

Unfortunately, threads like this often result in this:

Originally Posted by rhinocaster

The neck is smooth and warm and a "bit" woofy. Not nearly as much as actual Fender Tele pickups from the same period, but darker than most other Tele neck pickups you're going to find.

Originally Posted by yegbert

This Nocaster neck pickup has the most clear and trebly sound of any Tele neck pickup I've played.

This is like asking what color was that tele and one person replying "white!" and the other saying "black!".

OK, not quite since everyone agrees on what black is and what white is, but as to what "warm", "twang", "smooth", "clear" are, well.......... see above.

I bought a set for $120 and will be trying them out. If it's not what I want, well eBay will take them for $100 (or even $120) and I'll be out $20(or $0) but I will have my own opinion on them.

[Shelby21]

great info some from all the stuff i read basically

nocaster==not for rock,,,

thats my purpose so i would look for something else then?

[rhinocaster]

Originally Posted by newtwanger

Unfortunately, threads like this often result in this:






This is like asking what color was that tele and one person replying "white!" and the other saying "black!".

OK, not quite since everyone agrees on what black is and what white is, but as to what "warm", "twang", "smooth", "clear" are, well.......... see above.

I bought a set for $120 and will be trying them out. If it's not what I want, well eBay will take them for $100 (or even $120) and I'll be out $20(or $0) but I will have my own opinion on them.

It's pretty weird isn't it?

[yegbert]

Originally Posted by newtwanger

Unfortunately, threads like this often result in this:

This is like asking what color was that tele and one person replying "white!" and the other saying "black!".

OK, not quite since everyone agrees on what black is and what white is, but as to what "warm", "twang", "smooth", "clear" are, well.......... see above.

I have six Teles that are sitting out of their cases on a rack, ready to be plugged and unplugged in seconds. One has the Nocaster neck. The others have: 1) Fender OV; 2) Fender Classic Series; 3) Squier Standard (Mighty Mite, AlNiCo); 4) SD APTR-1; and 5) SD Antiquity. All those Teles have 250K pots and modern wiring. Those are the pickups I have most recently (within the past month) been comparing to the Nocaster, all plugged in to the same SFDR with the same speaker. My impression is that all those other neck pickups are warmer / darker / less trebly than my Nocaster neck pickup.

rhinocaster, what other specific neck pickups have you A/B'ed with a Nocaster neck pickup, that you found darker sounding than the Nocaster? I am just puzzled how the two of us could have such a different experience with that pickup.

[sanhozay]

There are so many great winds available that it is almost impossible to pick a turd. The Fender folks make fantastic stuff and their Nocaster offerings are stellar. I personally have used Lollar, Harmonic Design, Fralin & Seymours Ant's with exceptional results. One of these days I gotta give Mare & SD pickups a try. Again, it's just win/win these days.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by yegbert

I have six Teles that are sitting out of their cases on a rack, ready to be plugged and unplugged in seconds. One has the Nocaster neck. The others have: 1) Fender OV; 2) Fender Classic Series; 3) Squier Standard (Mighty Mite, AlNiCo); 4) SD APTR-1; and 5) SD Antiquity. All those Teles have 250K pots and modern wiring. Those are the pickups I have most recently (within the past month) been comparing to the Nocaster, all plugged in to the same SFDR with the same speaker. My impression is that all those other neck pickups are warmer / darker / less trebly than my Nocaster neck pickup.

rhinocaster, what other specific neck pickups have you A/B'ed with a Nocaster neck pickup, that you found darker sounding than the Nocaster? I am just puzzled how the two of us could have such a different experience with that pickup.

I totally agree with your experience - the Nocaster pickup is rather bright and trebley for a Tele neck pickup (part of that due to the cover being made from German silver, unlike other Tele pickup). Actually, too bright for my taste - I'm going to replace mine with something brighter... I think the Nocaster neck pickup is good for players who'd prefer a more Strat-like neck pickup tone - the Nocaster neck pikcup is kinda half way between a Tele and a Strat neck pikcup tone, probably great for dirty bluesy stuff...

What's weird, though, is that the Nocaster bridge pickup is darker than most vintage style Tele pickups (on my Thinline, the bridge pickups is almost as bright or dark - depends on where you're coming from... - as the neck pickup); that's why I think it might actually work very well for a 70s classic rock tone, since it is smoother, less trebly than vintage Tele pickups.

And if you wire your Nocasters with a 4-way-switch, the 4th (both pickups in series) position is great for fat, VERY humbucker-like tones (much closer to a real HB-tone than other Tele pickups in series mode).

[Dacious]

I don't have Nocasters but I have heard them and I think they fit somewhere like this from brightest-darkest:

Telecaster MIM Classics (with 1 meg pots) trebliest/twangiest/airiest (mine has a bridgeplate which makes it less 'scatty' sounding and a bit more focussed. Measures about 7kohm DC

Tele OV52 - as above, a bit more organic and 'full' with some crunch Measure high 6kohms

Nocaster - pretty middy - some twang, some bark, a little darker and crunchier again. Measure about 7neck/9 bridge

Broadcaster bridge (in my CC Thinline) - very full, almost P90ish, little twang lots of bark, hard to get much clean. There's Tele there, but it's almost obscured. Haven't measured but I'd bet about 10K. Through high gain it sounds grunty as a pig, not like a Tele bridge at all.

TurksArse Specials aren't really in any of the categories to me. They are not really twangy, but seem engineered to sound like a tubescreamer is permanently on. Not to my taste in any way - YMMV.

60's/70's rock, yes. Late 70's rock you'd be better off with at least one hummer and 80's rock two hummers. A Tele with a 4-way will do a facsimile if not a good imitation of the thickish sound of many humbuckers into the right amp.

Blues rock, blues, R&B (real 60's-70's, not the current boyband/girlband pop) country rock or any permutation of those you can get can be filled by pretty much any Tele alnico pickup.

I have to say: I don't know it's cover composition or specifics but the Twisted Tele neck pickup out of the CS Thinline which I believe also comes in the Baja is simply the best Tele neck pickup I've heard. It is Tele, but it is clear and very punchy and responds very nicely to tone/volume controls and playing nuances. It isn't Strat or wannabe mini-hummer or anything else. But it's very good.

I think a lot will depend on the pots you use as to how dark. Also, steel barrels will sound quite different to brass. Then there are the imponderables of neck/body wood, tuners, finish etc. My own view is with lots of windings the pickup flavours the guitar and not vice versa.

[rhinocaster]

Originally Posted by yegbert

I have six Teles that are sitting out of their cases on a rack, ready to be plugged and unplugged in seconds. One has the Nocaster neck. The others have: 1) Fender OV; 2) Fender Classic Series; 3) Squier Standard (Mighty Mite, AlNiCo); 4) SD APTR-1; and 5) SD Antiquity. All those Teles have 250K pots and modern wiring. Those are the pickups I have most recently (within the past month) been comparing to the Nocaster, all plugged in to the same SFDR with the same speaker. My impression is that all those other neck pickups are warmer / darker / less trebly than my Nocaster neck pickup.

rhinocaster, what other specific neck pickups have you A/B'ed with a Nocaster neck pickup, that you found darker sounding than the Nocaster? I am just puzzled how the two of us could have such a different experience with that pickup.

I'm puzzeld as well. I've owned several Fender CS Nocasters and I currently have the Nocaster neck pickup in my two pickup Esquire. I've played about a dozen or so Nocasters and I've found the neck pickup to have the qualities I described in all of these guitars. I've A/B'd the Nocaster pickups with Lindy Fralin, Suhr, Anderson, Lollar, Barden, Kinman as well as other Fender Custom Shop pickups.

I don't find the Nocaster neck pickup to be blessed with too much high end. It's one of the things that I love about it.

Obviously I have a very different experience than you do, but there you go!

[postjob62]

Hope this hasn't been covered but is there a regular Nocaster pickup set and then a different set referred to as "Custom Shop" Nocaster pickups?

Or are they all called 'Custom Shop"?

[Dacious]

Nocaster/Broadcaster are all Custom Shop. Pretty much anything in Tele pickups with cloth covered wiring is Custom Shop.