A Fralin Big Single. A 5-way switch. A newbie.

[saemola]

Hello folks, I'm new to the forum.
I'm putting together my first parts-Tele from a USA Fat Tele body and would love your opinion.

I'm not seeking classic Tele tones and I'm definitely not after the "twang". I'm after something that would go well with a clean-ish finger-style playing, but with some character and mostly playing at the neck position only. I picked a Tele body because it's easy to mess with, doesn't have springs or other movable parts, and they're easy to come by for cheap.
I've been playing bass for over 18 years and I make a living with music, but I'm not a guitar player, so I'm pretty much a newbie as far as anything guitar-tech goes. I do have good soldering and building skills in general.
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As I was starting to educate myself on the subject of pickups in order to assemble a parts-Telecaster, I came across the Lindy Fralin Big Single: https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/big-single/
You can hear the demos of the pickup here: https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/big-single-mini/
Exact same pickup, smaller enclosure.
Another great demo here at 07:32. By the sound of it it could be the 42 gauge, but I could be wrong:


The Big Single has that clean sound but with that strong mid-range character that would go great in the neck. The 42 gauge is bright but not squeaky, bigger than a single coil but not muddy. Granted these are just online demos, but it's the precise direction I'm seeking.
However, there is something absolutely magical about that mid-range resonance of the 43 gauge neck demo on the Fralin website. I'm just a little scared that it might get muddy, as it does seem to take that direction at times through the demo. I really can't pick between the 42 and the 43 at the neck.

Here are the first questions for you:
- Does anyone have any experience with these pickups and would you say they sound in real life about the same way they sound in the demos?
- Ever managed to compare the 42 and the 43 gauge in the same guitar?
- Do you hear that much of a difference in the mid-range character between the two, or is it mostly in the body and the top end?

It's hard to figure out how much of that difference is in the pickups and how much is in the performance.

Moving onto the bridge.
I don't want to venture into any routing, so I decided to go with the Split Steel Poled there: https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/split-steel-poled-tele/
I like the thick midrange, almost P90-ish, and the lack of the squeaky Tele treble (sorry, is that heresy here?).

- Anyone experienced with this pickup? Is it true to the demos?
- Is it a good pairing with the Big Single?


Now, this is where things get weird and my ignorance seriously kicks in.
I wanted to keep this simple, but the electronics already has a 5-way pickup switch, so why not taking advantage of the two extra positions. I came across the "both pickups in series" mod, and I thought it would be cool to include that. Not sure how much I'm gonna us it, but the space is there so might as well. Then I thought:
- Would it be possible to use the 5th position to (depending on which one I take) make the midrange of the 42 sound more like the 43 or to make the 43 slightly thinner and brighter to sound more like the 42? Is there any resistor/capacitor/magic beans mods that would give me this sort of tonal palette for that one position?
- If not, do you have other suggestions on what to do with the extra switching positions?
- Am I just dumb?

Another reason to prefer the 43 is because the 42 requires a 250k resistance, whereas the Split Steel Poled requires a 500k, so (unless I REALLY understand nothing) when using both in parallel I'm gonna get a really dark tone.

Please destroy my plan.
Eager to hear your thoughts!

 

[DHart]

42, for the high-fidelity tones.

 

[saemola]

42, for the high-fidelity tones.

I’m not necessarily concerned with fidelity.
I want clean, but I do want some character. If I only had to go by that, it would be the 43 no doubt, but I’m scared it might be too muddy. I would need more demos to figure that out.

 

[MickM]

You don't want tele treble so go with the 43. Talk to Lindy for the rest. If he didn't want calls he wouldn't publish his ph. #. Good luck with yo' project.

 

[tfarny]

Couple of points jump out (I've no experience with any of these pickups):
Don't worry about avoiding "twang" - it's more a product of the playing style than anything inherent to a tele bridge pickup. You can twang or not twang on just about any style of vintage output bridge pickup.
The both-in-series mod is going to be straight mud - think the darkest humbucker you've ever played. It only works if both pickups are pretty low output, and even then it can be a little unbalanced. Since you're adamant about avoiding 'mud' save yourself the time and don't do this mod with these pickups. You may want a bass cut switch, a preset tone (like a .01 cap preset on the switch) or a half out of phase mod, however.
Don't go crazy about the demos - he's got a certain guitar, a certain amp, certain mic, and youtube compresses, and he's got a certain touch. It's only really for ballpark purposes. When you get it in your guitar and play it with your fingers through your amp it isn't gonna sound quite the same.
There are no rules about pot (or cap) values - the effect is pretty modest for pots (not for caps) and it's easy and cheap to experiment. In fact, both Fender and Gibson have used all manner of pots and caps over the decades. The orthodoxy (Fenders = 250k pots and a .045 cap, etc.) is just a rule made to be broken.

Most of these boutique guys have generous return policies, or if that doesn't work for you, you can easily resell name brand pickups on the used market for not much loss. Therefore I recommend taking the leap and not relying on internet advice for these kinds of questions.

 

[saemola]

Couple of points jump out [...]
Therefore I recommend taking the leap and not relying on internet advice for these kinds of questions.

Thanks for your thoughts.
I guess the “twang” is that hard picked, compressed, bridge pickup tone, isn’t it? I probably misused the term and really meant “thin, bright, bridge tone”.
Quite honestly, I wouldn’t even be considering mods if it wasn’t that the guitar already came with a 5-way switch. I’d probably use the series position very, very rarely. It might even make more sense I just have that position as a kill switch.
The out of phase combo I really dislike and know that would simply never use, so I never considered that.
Presets... I haven’t considered that either. This is going to be a 100% studio guitar, so I have zero need to quickly switch from one tone to another. So this is why I ended up asking about something that would give me a little extra versatility with the Big Single.
Unfortunately I live on the other side of the pond from Lindy and reselling these pickups is not going to be easy here in Italy, so testing out different pickups would be a very expensive game for me, as much as that would be my preferred method.
I did talk to one of the guys there, but I mostly got technical answers rather than aesthetic ones... which makes sense.
Like you mentioned, online demos will always be different from what the pickups are going to sound like in my guitar, on my amp, but from multiple demos it’s easy to understand what the defects of the pickups are. If for example I hear the mud in 5 demos out of 5, that probably means the pickup is muddy.
Just s stupid example, but that’s why I’d love to hear more.

 

[DHart]

I’m not necessarily concerned with fidelity.
I want clean, but I do want some character. If I only had to go by that, it would be the 43 no doubt, but I’m scared it might be too muddy. I would need more demos to figure that out.

You asked for our opinions. 42 for the high-fidelity is just what I would choose.

It's up to you to decide which you would prefer.

I doubt that the 43 would sound "muddy", but there are other factors involved with how a given pickup sounds: volume pot resistance, tone pot, capacitor choice, and most importantly... does the guitar you're putting the pickups in impart a "warm" character or a "bright" character to the tonal output?

If the guitar itself has a "warm" tonal character - go with the 42. If it has a "bright" tonal character, you might prefer the 43.

Any given pickup you choose can sound quite different when installed in one Tele vs. another!

Decisions, decisions. While you can consider the poll results, no one else can decide this for you - you've just got to do some analysis and make a choice - then see how it all worked out when its done.

 

[DHart]

I'm not seeking classic Tele tones and I'm definitely not after the "twang".

I'm after something that would go well with a clean-ish finger-style playing, but with some character and mostly playing at the neck position only.

Please destroy my plan.

Eager to hear your thoughts!

OK... just because that body has a humbucker rout at the neck position doesn't mean you can't use a Tele, Strat, or Mini-humbucker in that position. A standard Tele pick guard can be used, as well.

In the interest of keeping this simple, low cost, and likely very pleasing for your intent (clean-ish finger style playing, but with some character), why not put a set of modestly priced, but excellent quality Tele pickups in there? If I were you, I'd pass on those Fralin$$$ and go straight to a set of Tele pickups like these:

(link removed)

$50 plus shipping. That set will give you a beautifully clean neck position tone and some warm character from the bridge pickup. You can't go wrong. Play jazz, folk, rock, country, pop - with a pick or with your fingers - whatever you like this option can do it. Use your amp, possibly a pedal, for additional tonal character.

As for "twang", don't worry... twang comes from the player, not the pickups.

 

[saemola]

You asked for our opinions. [...] While you can consider the poll results, no one else can decide this for you

Of course, sorry if that came off rude, I’m very much interested in your opinion.
The poll is probably useless, but it’s bright and shiny and I thought it would bring more people to engage with the thread.

OK... just because that body has a humbucker rout at the neck position doesn't mean you can't use a Tele, Strat, or Mini-humbucker in that position.

Absolutely, but I actually came at this the other way around: I listened to several pickups, settled on the Big Single and THEN bought a body with the humbucker routing.
One thing most pickups I liked had in common is they were some form of bright humbucker. I was considering Filter’Trons for a while.
The Big Single just has a personality I really like in the mid range, and a pickup that cancels him is a big plus.
Also, I own a set of Fralin in my bass and they’ve been blowing me away for over 10 years.
The other thing is, I don’t think it makes sense to buy a set of pickups I can’t even hear a demo of, cheap as they might be. It’s a total shot in the dark.

 

[DHart]

Of course, sorry if that came off rude, I’m very much interested in your opinion.
The poll is probably useless, but it’s bright and shiny and I thought it would bring more people to engage with the thread.


Absolutely, but I actually came at this the other way around: I listened to several pickups, settled on the Big Single and THEN bought a body with the humbucker routing.
One thing most pickups I liked had in common is they were some form of bright humbucker. I was considering Filter’Trons for a while.
The Big Single just has a personality I really like in the mid range, and a pickup that cancels him is a big plus.
Also, I own a set of Fralin in my bass and they’ve been blowing me away for over 10 years.
The other thing is, I don’t think it makes sense to buy a set of pickups I can’t even hear a demo of, cheap as they might be. It’s a total shot in the dark.

No problem. I've tried a lot of pickups in more than a dozen Teles that I've owned and just wanted to offer a sincere opinion based on my experience. The Big Single will likely serve you well.

Lastly, also from personal experience, I would caution you to not put much faith in online/web guitar playing samples. I've found them to be quite less than marginally representative, for a variety of different reasons.

I wish you good luck in your quest.

 

[saemola]

Thank you.
I have decided to go with the 43.

I’d still love to know creative ideas for the extra two positions on the 5-way switch.
The ones I know I’m not interested are “out of phase” and “rolled-off tone preset”.

 

[regularslinky]

Call Lindy. His people are very friendly and helpful. They can walk you through the pickup choice and probably your wiring ideas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[saemola]

Call Lindy. His people are very friendly and helpful. They can walk you through the pickup choice and probably your wiring ideas.

I talked to them a few times. Very nice guys.
They helped me pick the Tele Split Steel Poled and convinced me to go either the 43.
I talked to them 3 times and I don’t feel like asking about the 5-way switch as that’s probably something I can find online as well.

 

[AJBaker]

Thank you.
I have decided to go with the 43.

I’d still love to know creative ideas for the extra two positions on the 5-way switch.
The ones I know I’m not interested are “out of phase” and “rolled-off tone preset”.

I suggest 'half out of phase', which is not the same thing as out of phase. A cap is put in series with one of the pickups which makes that position much fuller than normal half out of phase. On a tele, it makes the in-between position sound a bit like a strat.

A bass cut position might also be handy.

Here's a setup with both:
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/22967-mod-garage-the-bill-lawrence-5-way-telecaster-circuit

 

[saemola]

I have never heard of half out of phase before. I’m gonna check some samples of it. Thanks for the suggestion!
The page you linked also mention a -10% bass position, which is something I would like to experiment with, but I don’t see how it’s achieved. Other than the cap for the 1/2 out of phase, I don’t see much else.
But then again I can’t really read schematics...

 

[saemola]

The neck routing of this guitar is huge, it could accomodate a P90.
It is about 3.9x1.3 " or 99x33 mm.
Does any of you know of a humbucker ring that will extend far enough to cover the routing and be anchored to the body?
It should probably extend an extra 0.35" or 9,1 mm on each side of the humbucker, width-wise, to accomodate the screws.

The point of it all is I want to mount the pickup to the body and get rid of the pickguard.

Also, I went down the rabbit-hole of tonal option for the 5-way switch. I don't love the idea of phase reversal as it's not a kind of tone I would find very useful, but I found this video that shows the phase reversal IN SERIES and it's a very interesting sound. Narrow range of applications, it's more of an effect, but I found it really cool. Go to 10:52

 

[joealso]

I have the SP-43 in my Strat bridge. Love it. Almost a P-90 feel to it.