Nashville Tele Build - Which Pickups?!?

[Retriarius]

I'm in the process of building a Nashville style Telecaster (3 pickups) from scratch. What do you guys recommend for Tele/Strat, mix/match, stock/after-market pickups? I know I want a great Tele bridge and neck (with a push-pull to put them together), but also a great Strat middle that works well with the others in positions 2 and 4. Also, this is my first post here, thanks for the add!

 

[Novatuc]

What pickups? is a very open ended question. What sounds do you want it to make? Using a super switch for Nashville switching will give you neck and bridge in the third (middle) position.

 

[wabashslim]

Until recently I had a Twang King set for N-B and a Twisted Tele middle. That was followed by a Wilde Tele 280 in the middle. (I prefer having a Tele middle pickup for appearance's sake but I have to get pickguards from Warmoth). IME you get the best quack if the middle is a bit stronger than the neck, or else it has to be raised up to interference level.

I have since replaced both N & M with Wilde Keystone Strats & I'm loving it. They mix it up with the TK bridge very nicely. Double-Strat pickguards are available at Guitar Fetish calling themselves "Nashvilles" which they really aren't.

 

[JL_LI]

I have a different take on the Nashville question. My avatar Telecaster started out as a Nashville. I now have N4 Noiseless pickups and couldn’t be happier. I love the pickups alone, in parallel, and especially in series which I use for jazz. I scratched my middle pickup itch twice, once with a CS ‘69 Stratocaster with it’s twangy low wind pickups and again with an American Standard Stratocaster, now with Ultra noiseless pickups. The Ultras are more chimey than twangy. They’re really two very different sounding guitars. I’m not a believer in a do everything guitar. My CS ‘69 comes close, but “everything” is asking a lot. A Nashville Telecaster tries to be that but what it loses in the process is too great, at least for me.

 

[Zepfan]

Cavalier Pickups

 

[OlDefGuy]

So many choices so little money……
The choices today are staggering, Fender makes good stuff and at the higher end you have Lollars, Fralins, Klein’s etc. I have used products from all of these winders and they all deliver the goods. The two players who started the aftermarket pickup market (Duncan &DiMarzio) make some good ones too. And a whole slew of up and comings are out there so I understand your dilemma. Give any of them a call they will be happy to discuss your project with you, after all they’re guitar geeks too. After years of chasing that rabbit down the hole I know what I personally like but that doesn’t mean it will be right for you.
Good luck with your project

 

[sjtalon]

Keystone Dlx., Fender CS69 Strat.

p/p neck on

 

[Retriarius]

What pickups? is a very open ended question. What sounds do you want it to make? Using a super switch for Nashville switching will give you neck and bridge in the third (middle) position.

What pickups? is a very open ended question. What sounds do you want it to make? Using a super switch for Nashville switching will give you neck and bridge in the third (middle) position.

As mentioned in the OP, I really want that classic Tele bridge and neck (with a push-pull to put them together), but ones who work well with the Strat middle in positions 2 and 4.

 

[Retriarius]

What pickups? is a very open ended question. What sounds do you want it to make? Using a super switch for Nashville switching will give you neck and bridge in the third (middle) position.

Also, are you saying the super switch kills the Strat mid in position 3 and gives you Tele neck and bridge together? Because that would be amazingly more convenient than the push-pull pot...

 

[Retriarius]

I have a different take on the Nashville question. My avatar Telecaster started out as a Nashville. I now have N4 Noiseless pickups and couldn’t be happier. I love the pickups alone, in parallel, and especially in series which I use for jazz. I scratched my middle pickup itch twice, once with a CS ‘69 Stratocaster with it’s twangy low wind pickups and again with an American Standard Stratocaster, now with Ultra noiseless pickups. The Ultras are more chimey than twangy. They’re really two very different sounding guitars. I’m not a believer in a do everything guitar. My CS ‘69 comes close, but “everything” is asking a lot. A Nashville Telecaster tries to be that but what it loses in the process is too great, at least for me.

I don't believe in a do-everything guitar, either, so I have a Les Paul for humbucker sounds, an ES-165 for hollowbody sounds, and I want a Telecaster for single coil sounds. It would be nice if my build sounded like a Tele, 100% of the time, but if I can achieve that inbetween sound on a Strat position 4, I'm not going to get an entire new guitar! My question isn't, "should I do this," it's just about what middle pickup works best with the other two.

 

[Blue Bill]

Welcome aboard, good luck with your project! I built a Nashville style Tele a few years ago. I used a Twang King bridge, a Fender Strat middle(can't remember which one) and a Fralin Tele neck. It sounds great, I get both Tele and Strat sounds, with a 5-way.

 

[nickmsmith]

I don’t believe in expensive pickups.IMO you’re mostly paying for hype, marketing and mojo. Only so many ways to creatively wind the same pickups.

But I would find a vintage wind middle pickup to pair with the dark Tele neck pickup. It will brighten up the middle positions.

 

[eallen]

Bill Lawrence Keystones come in a nashville set. I have a Nashville on process myself right now as well. You just can't go wrong with any of Bill's pups. Reals ones only available from Becky and Shannon at www.wildepickups.com.

Be cautious to get a set wound and with correct polarity to mix in all positions to avoid incorrect phasing, unless that is what you want.

Eric

 

[53Strat]

A few years back Fender put out a MIA Hot Rod 60's Telecaster. They used Twisted Tele Neck, CS Broadcaster Bridge and a Texas Special middle pickup.

They used a 5 way and S1 switch to get N + B as well.

I copied that selection, used a Push/ Pull Tone pot for the N+B and have never felt the need to question Fender's choice.

Look here:
Fender Vintage Hot Rod '60s Telecaster review | MusicRadar

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Had Rob@Cavilier build me a Nashville Lion(bridge), SRV Tiger(middle) and a Lion King(neck) pickup. Covers an immense amount of ground.

Plus a CRL 5way switch, CTS 250k volume pot and a no load Bourns push/pull to combine the neck/bridge combo.

Call Rob. He's a good hang and a wealth of knowledge.

 

[DavidP]

+1 on ordering a Nashville set of Wilde Keystones!!

 

[sjtalon]

Be cautious to get a set wound and with correct polarity to mix in all positions to avoid incorrect phasing, unless that is what you want.

What stinks about a Nashville is you can't have the best of all worlds noise reduction (NR) wise (RC/RP pup in the set) if you want 7 way. So on Strats, with a FENDER NR set, the neck and bridge are NORTH top and the middle south. So on 2 and 4 you have NR.

If a person wants the Telecaster option of Neck and bridge and NR with a Nashville, you would have to decide which "Strat" tone you prefer, usually Neck and middle (#4), then have those opposite for the NR, with the bridge opposite the neck.

When you do that, your middle and bridge will be the same polarity wise so no NR there. Not the end of the world anyway, some pups aren't that noisy like that, or if you don't use # 2 it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[Blue Bill]

What stinks about a Nashville is you can't have the best of all worlds noise reduction (NR) wise (RC/RP pup in the set) if you want 7 way. So on Strats, with a FENDER NR set, the neck and bridge are NORTH top and the middle south. So on 2 and 4 you have NR.

If a person wants the Telecaster option of Neck and bridge and NR with a Nashville, you would have to decide which "Strat" tone you prefer, usually Neck and middle (#4), then have those opposite for the NR, with the bridge opposite the neck.

When you do that, your middle and bridge will be the same polarity wise so no NR there. Not the end of the world anyway, some pups aren't that noisy like that, or if you don't use # 2 it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[Retriarius]

What stinks about a Nashville is you can't have the best of all worlds noise reduction (NR) wise (RC/RP pup in the set) if you want 7 way. So on Strats, with a FENDER NR set, the neck and bridge are NORTH top and the middle south. So on 2 and 4 you have NR.

That's good to know, I know the cancelation happens in 2 and 4 because the middle is opposite, I hadn't considered that bridge and neck have to be the same.

If a person wants the Telecaster option of Neck and bridge and NR with a Nashville, you would have to decide which "Strat" tone you prefer, usually Neck and middle (#4), then have those opposite for the NR, with the bridge opposite the neck.

When you do that, your middle and bridge will be the same polarity wise so no NR there. Not the end of the world anyway, some pups aren't that noisy like that, or if you don't use # 2 it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[nic'o'caster]

Welcome and enjoy the ride !

Long ago I transformed a MIJ 52RI into a Nashville by using a Twang King set for N-B and a generic vintage Strat middle pup made by Kent Armstrong, low output with staggered Alnico polepieces. At my surprise they worked well together and the fake Strat tones are not bad at all. I ended up wiring a 5 pos selector in combination with a miniswitch that adds various variations to the standard Strat wiring (neck and bridge in parallel like a standard Tele or all 3 pickups together which sounds hollow and quacky). I found the idea on the Internet but if I were to redo the job I certainly would use a super switch as 7 positions are way too much for a simple brain like mine !

I kept this guitar because it weighs less than most of the real Nashville Teles I have tried, and 4 positions are really good (N, B, N//B, M//B) !

PS : I shielded the cavities so noise is not a problem, and I have 2 positions that provide noise cancellation.