neck HB / middle pos. question

[spauldingrules]

Alright - I'm close to building my 2nd tele. I have an old MIM that I love, but it's not really gig worthy. However, my favorite position is the middle position. Does this sound totally different with a vintage neck HB as opposed to the regular tele neck pickup? I only like vintage wound pickups, and I love the sparkle and depth of the middle position clean. So... should I go traditional or maybe try for a neck HB (which I can always change if I don't like)?

[wetland10]

It's going to sound different. I'm not educated as to the technical specifics of it, but I have a tele with a HB in the neck and my favorite position is the middle position. It will not sound anything like your current middle position.

Wayne

[BlueJim]

I wired a 4-way switch with a neck HB to get
neck hb / hb + bridge / neck coil split + bridge / bridge
settings. I think it's a great set of sounds, but no it's not the same as two single coils on a standard Telecaster.

[PJ]

Just finished-up a neck-hummer Tele and the middle-stop (now that I'm done) was worth the price of admission. Unlike any other vintage-spec Tele. Nice and jangly.
Almost Ric-like. Just a great Fender tone I haven't found in any other model. Fabulous.

[leonard d rock]

i tried a hummer in the neck. the middle position did not sound great since my hummer was way to powerful to complement the sc in the bridge. the neck alone or the bridge alone was great. somebody here suggested using a lower or low powered humbucker so it won't overwhelm the bridge. remember that the mid position is a 50-50 mix (series) between the two pups.

ldr

[telo]

How about a five-way switch? I have a Telecaster Special (the one with a tapped humbucker in the neck position). The options are:
bridge,
bridge & split neck HB
bridge & full neck HB
split HB
full HB

FWIW, my favourite sound is bridge & split neck HB.

[PJ]

Yes...my neck hummer is adjusted pretty low. About the same volume from both at a set amp volume, but the bridge and neck hummer balance very well.
And sound terrific together. BTW - my bridge pickup is a Duncan Stacked vintage-type, so it also (technically) has two coils. This might have something to do with good balance.

[mellecaster]

Scuse me Please...but I have never understood this recent (post internet) myth that a Guitar w/ 2 pickups, needs to have such a critical balance between the two ?....Some excellent middle switch sounds can be had with Pups of differing strengths ...and when used separately...well that's what the Volume knob is for (unless you are one of the 90% that keeps both knobs on 10 all the time)

[randomhitz]

I have a strat that has a neck/bridge combo available on the switch. I like the overall result better when I wired the HB in parallel within itself rather than series. Lower output but brighter, more single coil sound that works better with the bridge pickup. It's easy to audition the two options if your HB is four wire. It's a fatter sound that using a split coil option on the HB

[PJ]

I think balance is more important for using the pickups separately, so you can switch between them without needing to adjust volume. But, you're right it's not essential. I think balance is a good thing with a neck humbucker, because you want to get a (somewhat) even balance between the two. But, I suppose it's more a function of the pickups being used.

[chknpckn]

I have a Fralin P-92 in one of my Tele's. It's adjusted pretty low and the middle postion sounds great. No it doesn't sound the same as a regular Tele, but it's perfect for the band I play in. I don't use the neck only position very much because it's to dark for the music I'm playing currently, but if I was in a blues or jazz group I'd use it all the time. I'd maybe go for a P90 or a mini humbucker instead of a full size humbucker. I had a Strat pickup in a Tele for a while which is also a good combination.

In response to the post about pickup balance I think it depends on your needs. I want the bridge pickup to be a little louder because I use it for leads and I need a little volume boost so it will punch through the mix. If you use the middle position a lot, you probably want a good balance so one pickup doesn't overpower the other. I like to have three distinct sounds, not two that sound pretty much the same and one that sounds totally different. That's me though, your mileage may vary.

[BlueJim]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

Scuse me Please...but I have never understood this recent (post internet) myth that a Guitar w/ 2 pickups, needs to have such a critical balance between the two ?

I think the word is "preference".

Why this preference? Well for my setup I don't have separate volume knobs so it's important to me to get reasonably close to the same volume so that the combined settings aren't too much like one pickup alone.

Even if you have independent volumes, I think pairing pickups is still important from the perspective of getting a combined timbre that pleases you. For example, the Peavey generation I have originally had an OK bridge and pretty unpleasant (to me) neck HB. I replaced the neck with a Seth Lover which sounded great and the bridge was still OK but together they didn't work for me. It was like two separate guitars in one (and not in a good way).

So I spent a little time on the phone with Becky at Wilde pickups and purchased an L-90 HB with an L-290. The pairing is great - definitely a HB neck and still very characteristic Tele sounds at the bridge, plus the two blend very well. And, I get very similar volumes from the two when I lower the neck a bit.

BTW, I highly recommend Wilde pickups.

[Jason R.]

I paired a Duncan HB in the neck (SH-1) with the Jerry Donahue in the bridge. The HB is a relatively average output for humbuckers while the JD is hotter than avg making the two well suited for each other.