American Pro Deluxe and Lollar Regals

[Peckhammer]

I received a pair of Lollar Regals in trade for some guitar repair work. I have a couple Deluxes and decided to put the Regals in one of them. Thought I'd pass on a few things I discovered in doing this.

First, the bridge pickup route needs to be enlarged. I made an 2" x 4" MDF rectangular template to do this. I placed it on the left edge of the original pickup cavity, and 1/16" below the lower edge. Pretty simple process using the router.

Everything else was straight forward. The wire route could have benefited from a little more room -- especially where the wires travel past/under the bridge pickup -- but I got everything in place without too much fuss. I also used a custom WD pickguard which fit the pickups and screw holes in the body perfectly.

The only thing else to mention is that the bridge should probably be changed to accommodate the wider pole spacing. A fender vintage hardtail bridge with 2 7/32" string spacing seems about right, but will probably put the 1st and 6th strings darn close to the edge of the fret board. Rutters makes a vintage 3-barrel hardtail with 2 1/8" spacing. It might just get in under the wire. Not sure. The picture doesn't show it well, but the first string is not over the bridge pickup pole at all.



Despite the bridge issue, The pickups sound Regal. It's an impressive and rich sound. I raised the two poles under the 1st string to balance the sound a bit. You could probably get along without a new bridge. Since the holes for the existing bridge were not drilled quite straight, I will probably probably plug the holes, redrill and install a vintage style bridge. Hope this information helps those considering such an upgrade.

 

[vintageampz]

I hope the hell that aren't "original" Deluxe's you put those Lolar's in!
Nothing sounds better than an all original Telecaster Deluxe, Thinline or a Custom, like mine (pictured). The original Fender "Humbucker" as usd in the Deluxe (which has 2), Thinline and Custom (which had 1 and 1 regular FR single coil) and the ones for the "Telecaster Precision Bass" were designed by my friend Seth Lover, and who was at that time a "former" and fellow Fender employee and close friend of Leo's. Seth Lover was the INVENTOR of the Humbucker (as Gibson amd many others used) and no one better for Fender to have design a very special one for use on several models including a bass.

Sorry, buy those Lollar's ain't got nuthing on original 60's or 70's Fender Seth Lover's HB PuP's.

I worked for Fender from 1975 - 2000, from Floor Luthier Supervisor to Production Mgr Imports.

From my collection: a '68 Fender Thinline with double Seth Lover HB, a 73 Fender Telecast Custom with one Seth Lover and one Leo Fender Full-range Single-coil at the Bridge and a 1976 Fender Telecaster Precision Bass. All 100% original. (I made with others, the Custom and Tele P-Bass. The 68 Thinline belonged to Forest White who gave it to me)

 

[Peckhammer]

I hope the hell that aren't "original" Deluxe's you put those Lolar's in!
Nothing sounds better than an all original Telecaster Deluxe, Thinline or a Custom, like mine (pictured).

I just happen to notice your post. Those are some wonderful guitars you've got there. I also envy your work experience!

The guitar I installed the Regals in was an American Professional Deluxe, probably a 2018. Now that you can buy the CuNiFe WRHBs again (if you can find them in stock), I may swap out the Lollars. I've got a set of the Fender pickups on order (currently back ordered), which will be going into a Starcaster reissue. If they sound as good as the originals, I'll get a second set for the Deluxe.

 

[agnumann]

Thanks for the information! I screwed up the bridge pickup on my am pro tele deluxe and thought to replace the pickups with the CUNEFE wide range pickups. I actually went ahead and bought the pickups, just got them today. Now I realized that they don't just pop in easily. Sigh. I could do the route, though. I worry about a bit about the strings not aligning with the pole pieces, but maybe it isn't such a big deal really...