tele neck pickup - why it sound so dark and cloudy?

orenitamar · June 21st, 2008, 03:50 PM

why does the tele neck pup sound so dark? is it a familiar problem or just my guitar suffering from it?
thank you for your answers.

robt57 · June 21st, 2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orenitamar

why does the tele neck pup sound so dark? is it a familiar problem or just my guitar suffering from it?
thank you for your answers.

'the tele neck pup' ??

Welcome BTW. Could you clarify that? Every Tele you've played? heard? the one(s) you have? Mine are chimey, and robust. except my 72 rewound neck PUP, which is less so, but not dark to my ears.

Ciao

Jellecaster · June 21st, 2008, 04:03 PM

The AV52 and Nocaster have dark neck pups because they use the vintage wiring that Leo devised before the existence of the electric bass. All of my other Teles sound fine...

usc96 · June 21st, 2008, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellecaster

The AV52 and Nocaster have dark neck pups because they use the vintage wiring that Leo devised before the existence of the electric bass. All of my other Teles sound fine...

I have a nocaster, and I just don't use the neck pick up. How difficult is it to rewire? Any links to a video (you tube maybe?) showing how to do it?

Telemarkman · June 21st, 2008, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orenitamar

why does the tele neck pup sound so dark? is it a familiar problem or just my guitar suffering from it?
thank you for your answers.

What you hear is not the neck pup with a tone control, but the neck pup with the treble rolled off. The Telecaster was wired this way until 1967 (!)

You either have a '52 RI, a CS '51 Nocaster, a '62 Custom Telecaster, a CS '63 Tele or a real vintage (pre-'67) Tele. If not, I guess you have a problem ...

robt57 · June 21st, 2008, 05:16 PM

I'm learning...

red57strat · June 21st, 2008, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usc96

I have a nocaster, and I just don't use the neck pick up. How difficult is it to rewire? Any links to a video (you tube maybe?) showing how to do it?

The middle switch position (neck pickup alone without tone control) on a Broadcaster/nocaster is one of my favorite Fender guitar sounds. It's not dark at all.

Doug Ferguson · June 21st, 2008, 05:50 PM

The neck PU's on the tele models Telemarkman points out are, but most others are warm and creamy. It may well be the model you have. Rewiring it to get a warmer tone isn't too difficult idf you're handy with a soldering iron.

RomanS · June 21st, 2008, 05:52 PM

If your Tele has modern wiring (not the 50s wiring with the cap that automatically makes the neck pickup sound bassy/dark), and it is still too dark, try a neck pickup with a cover made from German silve/silver nickel - the chromed brass cover on traditional neck pickups is largely responsible for swallowing a lot of treble frequencies; Tele neck pickups with silver nickel covers (like the Fender Nocaster CS, or the German made LeoSounds pickups) will sound much more open, trebly, transparent.
You can also simply remove that brass cover from your neck pickup to make it as open sounding as eg. Strat neck pickups - but then you should protect the coil from damage with eg. some tape or something...

Joe-Bob · June 21st, 2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orenitamar

why does the tele neck pup sound so dark? is it a familiar problem or just my guitar suffering from it?

I think it's just you. You might want to have your hearing tested, there could be a problem.

Alnico Sunburst · June 22nd, 2008, 11:55 AM

It's funny, but when I first saw this question, my thought was "relative to bridge pickups, [b]all[b] neck pickups sound [i]dark[i]."

What does "dark" even mean? Lower in volume? Less treble? Tone knob has no effect on it? Or that through a big muff pedal with the tone rolled off it sings "oooohhhh oooohhhh" on soloing on the 12th fret, sending icy chills through you?

Compared to? The bridge pickup on the same guitar? (no doubt singing "ehhhh ehhhhh" through the aforementioned big muff) Or a second, different guitar, which frankly, I'm shocked you haven't told us about. :)

Maybe all you need to do is raise the neck pickup relative to the bridge pickup. Or lower the bridge pickup and leave the neck pickup alone. If volume isn't the issue, maybe tilt it more toward the thinner strings or a bit more away from the thicker strings, as this would brighten things up - in a relative way.

(Disclaimer: I do not advocate guitar relativism for the most part because it can be a slippery slope. The Telecaster is the benchmark - the base reference, if you will. The absolute against which all other guitars are referenced.)

June 21st, 2008, 03:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
orenitamar NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: israel Posts: 9	tele neck pickup - why it sound so dark and cloudy? why does the tele neck pup sound so dark? is it a familiar problem or just my guitar suffering from it? thank you for your answers.

June 21st, 2008, 04:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jellecaster Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Hampshire, USA Age: 40 Posts: 2,085	The AV52 and Nocaster have dark neck pups because they use the vintage wiring that Leo devised before the existence of the electric bass. All of my other Teles sound fine... __________________ It was born at the junction of form and function...

June 21st, 2008, 05:16 PM	#6 (permalink)
robt57 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Lost Yankee in Nashville Age: 51 Posts: 3,217 18 Photos	I'm learning... __________________ Leo's Great, Leo's Good, let us thank him for our... Twang!

June 21st, 2008, 05:50 PM	#8 (permalink)
Doug Ferguson Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Indianapolis, IN Age: 55 Posts: 1,557	The neck PU's on the tele models Telemarkman points out are, but most others are warm and creamy. It may well be the model you have. Rewiring it to get a warmer tone isn't too difficult idf you're handy with a soldering iron. __________________ If you get hung up on just guitar players, you've missed something.... Don't ever get to a point where you just gotta be a guitar player. You hear something, go try to get that note and sound as much like that as you can.-Buddy Guy

June 21st, 2008, 05:52 PM	#9 (permalink)
RomanS Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Age: 36 Posts: 2,713 14 Photos	If your Tele has modern wiring (not the 50s wiring with the cap that automatically makes the neck pickup sound bassy/dark), and it is still too dark, try a neck pickup with a cover made from German silve/silver nickel - the chromed brass cover on traditional neck pickups is largely responsible for swallowing a lot of treble frequencies; Tele neck pickups with silver nickel covers (like the Fender Nocaster CS, or the German made LeoSounds pickups) will sound much more open, trebly, transparent. You can also simply remove that brass cover from your neck pickup to make it as open sounding as eg. Strat neck pickups - but then you should protect the coil from damage with eg. some tape or something... __________________ http://www.pbase.com/romans http://www.myspace.com/romans212

June 22nd, 2008, 11:55 AM	#11 (permalink)
Alnico Sunburst TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Victoria, BC, Canada Age: 34 Posts: 13	It's funny, but when I first saw this question, my thought was "relative to bridge pickups, [b]all[b] neck pickups sound [i]dark[i]." What does "dark" even mean? Lower in volume? Less treble? Tone knob has no effect on it? Or that through a big muff pedal with the tone rolled off it sings "oooohhhh oooohhhh" on soloing on the 12th fret, sending icy chills through you? Compared to? The bridge pickup on the same guitar? (no doubt singing "ehhhh ehhhhh" through the aforementioned big muff) Or a second, different guitar, which frankly, I'm shocked you haven't told us about. :) Maybe all you need to do is raise the neck pickup relative to the bridge pickup. Or lower the bridge pickup and leave the neck pickup alone. If volume isn't the issue, maybe tilt it more toward the thinner strings or a bit more away from the thicker strings, as this would brighten things up - in a relative way. (Disclaimer: I do not advocate guitar relativism for the most part because it can be a slippery slope. The Telecaster is the benchmark - the base reference, if you will. The absolute against which all other guitars are referenced.)