Hey all I have a 2000 American Deluxe Strat that has the vintage noiseless pups in it. I have loved the guitar for 20 years now but have always thought about getting a humbucker for the bridge position. Anyone have the little 59 in the bridge? How do you like it? How does it balance with your single coils?
Little '59 opinions?
- Thread starter Bigpernz
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
dannyh
Friend of Leo's
I had one in a Strat years ago. I liked it by itself (quite a bit), though it no longer sounded like a Strat, even with the coil tap. Also it overpowered the other pickups pretty substantially. Duncan makes some Neck/Middle pickups that are supposed to be a match with the L59 (Duckbuckers, maybe? Can’t recall the name exactly), but I’ve never tried them. For a heavier thing though, I liked the Lil 59 a lot. Not exactly like a PAF or the like, but still pretty cool.
Crafty Fox
Tele-Afflicted
I have a Lil 59 in a Thinline I built some years ago and I am very happy with it.
However, my neck pickup is Gibson mini humbucker which matches very nicely. I also think I installed 500K pots and a .022 capacitor.
However, my neck pickup is Gibson mini humbucker which matches very nicely. I also think I installed 500K pots and a .022 capacitor.
EspyHop
Tele-Holic
I had one in my #1 Tele for a long time. It was a great pickup.
I own a Godin Session Custom that started out with the Godin in-house HB that I liked a lot when played with the hot bridge pickup, but was a little muffled alone. When the newer models were released, they came with the Lil '59 instead of their house brand so I followed suit and upgraded. It was a much more open and articulate pickup.....and I hated it. Alone it was very nice, but it didn't pair nearly as well with the hot bridge that was on that guitar and sounded bad in any other position except on the bridge.
The following year, Godin went back to their in-house pickup and so did I.
I guess my point is that alone it sounded really good and was supposed to compatible with a lot of bridge pickups, but it sure didn't go well with mine....at least to my ears. So, approach the decision carefully and don't just pull the trigger based on the HB alone, but rather consider how it will pair with the others on that guitar.
The following year, Godin went back to their in-house pickup and so did I.
I guess my point is that alone it sounded really good and was supposed to compatible with a lot of bridge pickups, but it sure didn't go well with mine....at least to my ears. So, approach the decision carefully and don't just pull the trigger based on the HB alone, but rather consider how it will pair with the others on that guitar.
gregulator450
Friend of Leo's
I don't own one, but a good friend has the little 59 in a tele. It sounded awesome to me. I recommend that pickup to anyone looking to drop a single coil sized humbucker into a bridge position. Fantastic pickup to get a little more oomph from a tele!
bgmacaw
Doctor of Teleocity
I'll offer an opposing, somewhat unpopular, opinion.
In a Strat bridge position, I think the Lil' 59 really bad, perhaps my least favorite pickup ever. It's lacking in harmonic richness as compared to a full size humbucker, especially in the upper mid ranges. This results in it not doing well in a typical band stage mix without some help from creative EQ-ing. Split, it's pretty useless, weaker sounding that a regular Strat bridge. I've seen a number of people struggle trying to get this pickup to work for them. It did OK when playing at home alone but really fell apart in a live band situation and required a lot of tweaking to get it to work when recorded.
A 2000 American Deluxe Strat probably has a swimming pool rout (check to make sure). If so, you could swap in a new pickguard with a full size HB bridge and single coils that complimented it while putting your original guard aside intact.
In a Strat bridge position, I think the Lil' 59 really bad, perhaps my least favorite pickup ever. It's lacking in harmonic richness as compared to a full size humbucker, especially in the upper mid ranges. This results in it not doing well in a typical band stage mix without some help from creative EQ-ing. Split, it's pretty useless, weaker sounding that a regular Strat bridge. I've seen a number of people struggle trying to get this pickup to work for them. It did OK when playing at home alone but really fell apart in a live band situation and required a lot of tweaking to get it to work when recorded.
A 2000 American Deluxe Strat probably has a swimming pool rout (check to make sure). If so, you could swap in a new pickguard with a full size HB bridge and single coils that complimented it while putting your original guard aside intact.
arlum
Friend of Leo's
I'm not a fan of the Lil 59. To my ears it always sounds loud and squashed. Just not my cup of tea.
985plowboy
Poster Extraordinaire
It really depends on what you are going for.
I wanted it to hit the front end of a tube amp harder for early breakup, which it did.
But...
A lil ‘59 is Loud as compared to a stock Tele neck pup.
Really unbalanced my guitar.
I also lost some classic tele bridge vibe and tone.
I decided to go back to stock and buy an overdrive pedal.
I wanted it to hit the front end of a tube amp harder for early breakup, which it did.
But...
A lil ‘59 is Loud as compared to a stock Tele neck pup.
Really unbalanced my guitar.
I also lost some classic tele bridge vibe and tone.
I decided to go back to stock and buy an overdrive pedal.
arlum
Friend of Leo's
I'd look into a Chopper T like Richie Kotzen uses in his signature Tele.
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/richie-kotzen-telecaster/0255202532.html
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/richie-kotzen-telecaster/0255202532.html
I'm going with this approach. Just bought a HSS pickguard now comes the fun part, figuring out which pups I want to put in it and how I want to wire it up. I'll keep my vintage noiseless pickguard all together in case I want to swap it back in someday.
ahiddentableau
Friend of Leo's
Balance is going to be an issue if you want to use a humbucker with vintage output SC pickups in the neck and middle. How much it matters depends on you and how you play, your setup, the tones you're going for, and (especially) how much/if you toggle between bridge and other positions during songs, etc. I'm not saying it's a dealbreaker by any means but you should think about how you're going to manage it.
My first guitar was a Squier Affinity Tele. First Mod was the Tele Lil 59 and really really liked it. My Strat has a Seymour Duncan in it, but to be honest, it's been in there so long I can't remember if it's a Lil 59 or JB...either way, it sounds great to me.
darkwaters
Friend of Leo's
I have one in my Tele and love it. I have it paired with a low wind, full sized humbucker. It should work with a hot single coil.
