Why the HB in the neck instead of bridge?

[Scotty 2]

I have a "78" Tele Custome with bridge single,,neck humbucker.It has tone and vol controls for each.And has a 3 way selecter switch.I bought this in "79" and have played it live and on many recording sessions. If you don't think this guitar is cool,,,just check the values of a collectable 78 Tele Custome,,,in VERY GOOD condition. I don't play it much any more.Saving it to pass it down later.

[Crafty Fox]

I'm building a Thinline at the moment (started NC lacquering today) which will have a Gibson mini at the neck and Fender's new Super55 at the bridge. Like many other scratch & parts builds it's really an experiment. I do have a USA '52 RI which retains original p'ups (but with a few mods) which is my favourite guitar. Anything else is exploring other tangents. And fantastic fun!

[bingy]

Because it's like two... two... two guitars in one!

[zosofan]

I don't presently have a hummer in the neck position of my Tele but it's a mod. I'm planning on shortly.
The simple reason is that the stock neck pickup on my imported tele SuCkS and there's times when I need that humbucker sound and I don't feel like switching guitars. (and since I never use the stock neck p/up anyways,)

[Scotty 2]

Originally Posted by Telenator

Real men only need one pickup!

But REAL musicians use two...You know,,for that tone that the real
MEN can't get with just one pickup..

[TimMcNelly]

Originally Posted by TeleKato

This thread will be complete when someone posts their Esquire with a HB in the bridge. I'll keep checking back ....

I made a tele for a guy who wanted just that. I did, however, keep the look of a bridge pickup by making a fake one out of wood and a nail cut up and glued in as "pole prices". True story. I still wired it with a three way. Humbucker/split/out of phase. It sounded great. But it didn't sound like a tele.
Tim

[TimMcNelly]

Sorry, quick browsing makes me miss details. The one I made had just one HB in the neck and a fake single in the bridge.
Tim

[jimraygilliam]

This is the most versatile guitar I own. Jason Lollar Charlle Christian is unbeatable!

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by Tonemonkey

Appears that Keef and Albert have selected the Bridge pup .......... sooo, thats why they put the HB in the neck, in order to retain the Tele bridge pup.

Yeah, I don't think Albert and Keith use the neck bucker much at all. Makes you wonder why they even have it in there.

An issue I didn't see mentioned about neck buckers in teles is the pot values. Teles come with 250k pots, which are good for single coils, but make buckers sound dark (500k pot is better there), creating a huge tonal difference between the neck and bridge and requiring large eq adjustments when changing between them (although together they can sound fantastic). At least thats been my experience. I recently installed a Lollar El Rayo bucker in the neck (replaced a Duncan '59), which is considerably brighter than most buckers. I also installed an ACME Tone Shaper, which has a 500k pot for the bucker and resistors that dial it back to 250k for the the bridge and coil-splitting positions. In addition, you can adjust the capacitor values from .015uf, .022, .033 and .047, or any combination. Works great. I have the cap at .022 and The El Rayo sounds more like a P90 with the tone all the way up, but roll it down half way and you get a more traditional bucker tone. Very versatile. I get a neck tone with more body than the usual tele neck pup without being dark or muddy.

[TeleDrifter]

[teleamp]

it's easier to cut a hole in the pickguard

[Tele60x]

Some people believe that the Tele sound comes from the Tele bridge . Putting a humbucker in the neck is to give the best of both worlds.

[TeleDrifter]

Originally Posted by TeleDrifter

hate it he my pics don't open. what am i doin' wrong??????

[caliban335]

I had no success putting a humbucker in the neck position of a Tele. With one tone and volume control, it seems the neck pickup always dominated the bridge. I finally tried a humbucker that was underwound and designed to be in the neck position and that worked out really well.

A more recent experiment worked out exceptionally well. I had a set of three pickups wound for use together in a J D Tele; a single, traditional bridge pickup and two mini-humbuckers. I had a five way switch installed with the following selections:

* bridge
* bridge & middle
* bridge & neck
* neck & middle
* neck

The minis blend well with the bridge pickup. They have more presence than a "standard" tele neck pickup, but don't overwhelm the bridge pickup. The in between tone when the bridge & neck are selected is really special.

I have to admit that none of my Teles have a "standard" neck pickup, as I have a Lollar CC, a "Twisted Tele" from a Baja, and a Strat in the neck positions of the other three I own. I just don't care for the tone, but that's just me.

[xtrajerry]

Originally Posted by teleamp

it's easier to cut a hole in the pickguard

[bluescube]

Cuz Terry kath thought it was cool.

[Telenator]

Originally Posted by caliban335

I had no success putting a humbucker in the neck position of a Tele. With one tone and volume control, it seems the neck pickup always dominated the bridge. I finally tried a humbucker that was underwound and designed to be in the neck position and that worked out really well.

A more recent experiment worked out exceptionally well. I had a set of three pickups wound for use together in a J D Tele; a single, traditional bridge pickup and two mini-humbuckers. I had a five way switch installed with the following selections:

* bridge
* bridge & middle
* bridge & neck
* neck & middle
* neck

The minis blend well with the bridge pickup. They have more presence than a "standard" tele neck pickup, but don't overwhelm the bridge pickup. The in between tone when the bridge & neck are selected is really special.

I have to admit that none of my Teles have a "standard" neck pickup, as I have a Lollar CC, a "Twisted Tele" from a Baja, and a Strat in the neck positions of the other three I own. I just don't care for the tone, but that's just me.

People seem to know us (Telenator) mainly for our CuNiFe WRHBs, but we also do our MOD1 which is 8k and a very good match to many single coil bridge pickups.

It's an excellent choice for guys who play Tele Customs but, like you, find that the current WRHB offerings are just too hot at 10.6k

You can get your Tele Custom WRHB modified for $85 and it will sound best using your existing 250k pots.

Not many folks are aware of this.

[brookdalebill]

A humbucker fixes a Tele's fatal flaw.
Tele neck pickups sound weak, thin and noisy, IMO.
The first guy I saw with a neck 'bucker on his Tele was Roy Nichols.
Worked great for him!

[quonsar]

I have a '62 Telebration and I love that single coil neck pickup. This means that I will just have to buy ANOTHER tele to check out a HB in the neck. Poor, poor me!

[MASONish]

My 52 Hot Rod Telebration Tele has a SD 59 bucker in the neck & it's ohh so sweet!! Very sweet sound on the one piece maple neck!