any cons to a neck humbucker?

[JRod]

Hello, folks. I've been playing acoustic guitar for a while (steel strings) and I'm now looking to get my first electric. After trying out a few different models, I I'm looking to get a telecaster. I like them for the looks and for the comfort. I know very little about electrics, though, so I'd be grateful if you could help me out on this: should I get a traditional single/single, or a tele with an humbucker on the neck? I want to play classic pop, jazz, and bluesy rock 'n roll (early seventies rolling stones, for instance). I like a neck humbucker better for jazz, the single sounds too bright to me. I love the single on the bridge position, though... What are the cons of trading the neck single coil for an humbucker? Will I loose any kind of tones?

Thanks for your help.

[mowcheeba]

Humbucker works great in the neck position, however I prefer a P90.
You will lose the famous middle position(neck+bridge) which is a great sound.
I use a 4-way switch to get som humbuckerish sound instead altough
I am thinking about P90 for the neck.
You also might have to change to 500K pots if the guitar doesn't come with them. The standard 250K pots make the humbucker too dark sometimes.

[zombywoof]

After decades of playing stock Teles, I finally went and got me one with a humbucker in the neck position. I love it. Mine has a 5-way switch and the the humbucker is wired so that when it is tapped it is in "half tapped" mode - the bass comes from both sides and the treble only from the screw side (thank you Chris).

As a previous post said though, a P90 in the neck ain't a bad choice either.

[JRod]

So, using one of those non standard wiring schemes is it possible to obtain a balanced sound with both pickups on? You see, one of my fears is that the humbucker would overpower the bridge single coil.

[cacibi]

Having recently done this myself - here are my obvservations:

1) Could be hard to fit the humbucker in a tele which did not come with one stock, so - you have have to not only make the pickup cavity bigger - but deeper as well.

2) As some one mentioned - you may lose hum-canceling in the middle position, but - your neck pickup will be hum-canceling anyway - so you sort of break even there.

3) It is sometimes hard to match or balance the outputs, humbuckers usually being higher output. My solution to this was to get a Lollar low wind Imperial for the neck - as it is wound around 7k, easy enough to match with most tele bridge pickups.

4) Again - as someone already mentioned - you will likely need to switch to either 500k pots, or stacked concentric pots so that the neck pickups is not too muddy.

5) You'll need a new pickguard....obviously.

[Rich Rice]

I'd say go for the 'bucker, and split it like Zombywoof's.. Works great. You will likely need to open up the body to fit it, but it is a worthwhile task with many rewards.

[bowlfreshener]

The only con I can think if is that you will never look at your other guitars the same. I now have 3 Teles with neck humbuckers, because the single coil bridge and HB neck pickup make for a tasty combination...Or at least for me they do...

[jhundt]

the humbucker is wired so that when it is tapped it is in "half tapped" mode - the bass comes from both sides and the treble only from the screw side (thank you Chris).

can you (or anyone else) please explain this further? Maybe post a wiring diagram?

[Telarkaster]

Originally Posted by JRod

You see, one of my fears is that the humbucker would overpower the bridge single coil.

Welcome JRod! Yes, you have a very good point. That's why I like the AVRI 52 Hot Rod with the mini humbucker in the neck. It balances out very well with the bridge pickup.

A Baja has the 4 way selector and S-1 switch, you might want to check that out too. Especially if you like big necks.

The other disadvantage of having a humbucker is that I actually like the single coil neck pickup sound. But I might be in the minority...

[jwells393]

Cons to a neck humbucker? Because of the added weight, you may end up playing like this.

......

.....and as a side effect you may end up looking like this........

......

[jjz28]

Originally Posted by JRod

So, using one of those non standard wiring schemes is it possible to obtain a balanced sound with both pickups on? You see, one of my fears is that the humbucker would overpower the bridge single coil.

I have the same MIM Tele Special as Zombywoof(I think), 5way, splittable HB. With half the HB you still get the traditional neck pup sound. I love it. You get all the traditional Tele tones plus full HB alone(LP kinda tones) or HB plus bridge, very versitile. As far as the HB overpowering the bridge, find the sweet spot when adjusting the bridge first then match the HB accordingly to your ear.

[Pete Galati]

Originally Posted by jwells393

Cons to a neck humbucker? Because of the added weight, you may end up playing like this.

......

Years of playing a Les Paul had nothing to do with that!

But 5 minutes with a neck humbucker in a Tele, crumbled his spine like tin foil!

It was worth it though.

[SMPTE]

Originally Posted by jwells393

At the end of the world, it'll be Keith Richards, cockroaches, and that Telecaster. And he'll be snorting the cockroaches.


But seriously.. Have you given any thought to a Charlie Christian pickup? or a P90?

[Joe Chaney]

how about a singlecoil size bucker like the GFS lil' puncher?

[Ira7]

Originally Posted by Joe Chaney

how about a singlecoil size bucker like the GFS lil' puncher?

I was gonna say the same thing--I got this in my Squier:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...ntage_stack_f/

[Tedecaster]

I put a 4-way in a Tele with a split HB at the neck.

I get:

Bridge
Bridge & HB-split (sounds alot like a stock Tele middle)
Bridge & HB (think Keith)
HB

I'm pretty happy with the variety & the simple switching pattern. I could have gone 5-way with a position for the split HB alone but it would have complicated things, in my mind.

[JRod]

Originally Posted by jwells393

Cons to a neck humbucker? Because of the added weight, you may end up playing like this.

......

I'd never get my legs straight again, and I'm half his age.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies. I will see if I can try a P90, but I haven't seen them around. All things considered, though, I think the neck humbucker will suit my needs.

[Pete Galati]

Originally Posted by SMPTE

At the end of the world, it'll be Keith Richards, cockroaches, and that Telecaster. And he'll be snorting the cockroaches.


But seriously.. Have you given any thought to a Charlie Christian pickup? or a P90?

The Charlie Christian Tele neck pickup is an interesting idea. A few guys have built them like that. That Tomkins Tele Redd Volkaert just got has one.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...kins-tele.html

But that's been done enough times.

What would interest me more would be to use a reproduction of the "Alnico Staple Pickup" that you'd find in the '50s Les Paul Customs.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...aple_pickup_r/



The Duncan Custom Shop is the only place I'm aware of that make these right now. Someone else might do it though.

I haven't seen anyone use one of those in a Tele yet.

[eryque]

I'm curious to know about that Rice semi-split job too. Doesn't sound possible to get just the bass out of a coil unless it's actually two coils, so underneath that humbucker cover it would have to actually be 4 coils.

I've only heard one humbucker that sounded anything like a Tele neck pickup when it was split, and that was the stock humbucker on my California Fat Tele. As a humbucker it was muddy, but I liked the single coil sound. Every other humbucker I've tried just sounded thin and flat when split.

I used to try to set up my #1 so that the output of the e pickups balanced (neckbucker, Tele neck in the middle, and standard bridge), and ultimately found that the compromise in tone for each pickup wasn't worth it. Now each pickup sounds its absolute best and I couldn't be happier. I deal with the difference in output either by adjusting the volume, adjusting my picking, or turning on/off my overdrive pedal.

Most times I play I get compliments on the way I sound and play that I really don't deserve, and most of the time it's because I'm wailing away and letting that humbucker do its thing the way it should.