Best PAF Style Humbucker for Telecaster Neck

[Kevin Darty]

With all the numerous PAF Humbucker "copycats" and "hot" variations out there, what do you think works best for the neck of a Telecaster?

I see a lot of people putting the Duncan Antiquity PAF (aged Seth Lover) in the neck of a Tele but is that really the best out there?

I personally think that genuine wind for wind build-ups like the Antiquity might not necessarily be good because they include all the flaws and otherwise bad qualities of the originals.

A lot of Pickup makers out there do more wax potting and other methods to reduce noise, which can be a good thing and can be a bad thing depending on your taste.

There are also a lot of "boutique" pickups out there all with high boutique prices and then there are some amazingly good budget priced pickups out there such as Stew Mac and GFS.

I'm big into the blues but also play hard rock. Something a little hotter than a traditional PAF may be best but it has to deliver when overdriven and it has to sing when played clean.

Here is a few of the Pickups I have been looking at:

• GFS Fat Pat
• Rio Grande Barbeque Bucker
• Seymour Duncan Antiquity
• SD Tone King

For those of you that have a Humbucker in the neck of your Tele, what have you tried and what are your thoughts?

 

[musicalmartin]

I've got a set of Tonerider Rocksongs in my Epiphone .very good versatile sound .A real toneful bark for blues and a natural clean sound right down to a soft Jazzy schmooze all on the neck pup.I rarely play the bridge . The bridge version is a nice hot rock tone . .They also do a less hot PAF set . its worth a try before embarking on more expensive options .The build quality is superb .If they ever make guitars watch out .

 

[fernando]

I'm very happy with a plain S.D. Seth Lover.
I specially love the parallel and single sounds (I'm using a 3 pos switch)
It sounds almost acoustic when switched and closer to the bridge's level.

The lack of wax potting let the pickup have a broader freq response on the high area and I love that. "Air". It's not quaky or uncontrollable because of not being potted. Of course, if you play with very high gain amplification might became microphonic and too prone to feedback. At the level I play I only see advantages about it.

 

[TelZilla]

I tried a Seymour Duncan antiquity in mine, which was a great sounding pickup, but too loud for my use with a Fralin Blues in the bridge. I couldn't find two realtive Pup heights that worked well.

I ended up using a SD Phat Cat (basically a P-90 in a PAF housing). It plays much nicer with a tele bridge pup. And it sorta splits the difference between a real PAF and a single coil.

You might want to look into getting something custom wound to better match the output of whatever you have in the bridge. I know Fralin will do this. I bet Lollar, etc would be happy to help you. Probably kinda expensive, though...

 

[6942]

Do you want a vintage-style PAF......around 8K output?

Dimarzio PAF is always a good choice.

Steve

 

[fakeocaster]

frailin or lollar are the best ive used

 

[wetland10]

I have the SD Seth Lover model and think it is great. Didn't see the need to spend extra for the Antiquity.

Wayne

 

[Kevin Darty]

You might want to look into getting something custom wound to better match the output of whatever you have in the bridge. I know Fralin will do this. I bet Lollar, etc would be happy to help you. Probably kinda expensive, though...

You hit on something I totally forgot to even ask... for those of you who have a PAF Humbucker in the Neck, what Bridge Pickup are you using.

As some of you have mentioned, there can be some problems with matching what on its own might be a "perfect" pickup with a "mate" that might not work out too well together.

Also, another important factor for me is to be able to do coil-tapping to go between the usual Humbucker sound and a Single-coil sound.

Thanks to all for your suggestions... good stuff all around

 

[refin]

It does depend on the bridge pickup,if you want them to match in volume.
I have never been able to totally match the volumes with stock pups.

 

[cacibi]

Low Wind Lollar Imperial is great for matching with a tele bridge.

 

[BB]

Ahhhhhh, what is 'Best'........man, that is so subjective. What may be best for me certainly may be not best for you.

As far as what has worked well for my needs, I can offer some suggestions. The Lollar Imperial ( as suggested above ) is a splendid pickup. Seth and antiquities have also done the trick quite nicely. The Dimarzio PAF Classic is also very nice. I much prefer it to the VV PAF's I've tried.

I have a custom wound Manlius bucker that is just fabulous. I had Jon Moore wind a few that were unpotted, A3 mags and unbalanced coils that just sang.

However, the one that is currently speaking to me is a Pure Handwound from Zhangliqun. A5 mags wound to 7.5K.......perhaps the very 'best' neck bucker
( for this particular tele and what my old ears like to hear ) I've had the pleasure to use. Wonderful clarity, very articulate and touch responsive......best of all, beautiful tone. Oh yeah, it also plays well with the bridge pup. The middle tone is seductive.

If you're in the budget realm, don't overlook the Toneriders. Exceptional pickups for the money. Also, check out the A5 12 pole ( around 8.5K ) from Kent Armstrong. A real sleeper pickup for the neck of a tele.

Good luck on your search!

 

[Kevin Darty]

Ahhhhhh, what is 'Best'........man, that is so subjective. What may be best for me certainly may be not best for you.

No kidding... I knew I was going to get a lot of different responses but that's what I was looking for

I myself know about Rio Grandes, Kinman's, SD, Lindy Fralin, GFS and all the big name brands but the great people of TDPRI have been good at pointing me to other things I may have never heard of.

Keep it up, this is great

 

[mark norwine]

My #1 has a voodoo in the bridge and a mid-60's T-top Gibson in the neck. Perfect!

 

[BB]

No kidding... I knew I was going to get a lot of different responses but that's what I was looking for

I myself know about Rio Grandes, Kinman's, SD, Lindy Fralin, GFS and all the big name brands but the great people of TDPRI have been good at pointing me to other things I may have never heard of.

Keep it up, this is great

I always say that for me, I enjoy the journey as much as getting to the destination. There are so many talented winders that fly under the radar. If you can buy used, you'll be ahead of the game as you can usually sell what doesn't work for you for what you paid.

Some say that pickups are just magnets and wire and they are more than happy with stock or low cost offerings. I say great! Whatever works....everyone is different and has their own ideal of tone that works for them. It's all good!

As a blues based player myself, my needs are different than those that pluck the chicken or rock hard......researching and trying things that bring that ideal tone to reality is a joy for me.

I've been blown away by low cost pickups and I've been dissapointed in high cost botiques, but more often than not, pickups from small winders who take time to listen work best for me. Still, putting pre-conceived notions aside and listening with YOUR ears is the key......at least is is for me.

 

[Geoff738]

Anyone here try or even know of a winder that has tackled this application (namely a PAF style in the neck of a Tele, that works with a Tele - bridge pickup).

I'm guessing there probably aren't enough folks looking for this to justify a mid to large size winder specifically trying to tap into this market, but maybe someone out there has considered it?

Or are all the PAF winders just thinking LP/ Gibson?

Has anybody tried contacting winders who make excellent single and double coils and talked to them about this? I'm wondering if going with Lollar or Voodoo, to name two that I'm considering for just such a project (or insert winder of your choice who makes both single and double coils) and seeing what they recommend to work together in a Tele?

Cheers,
Geoff

 

[BB]

Anyone here try or even know of a winder that has tackled this application (namely a PAF style in the neck of a Tele, that works with a Tele - bridge pickup).

Yes...the forementioned Zhangliqun, zhangbucker@yahoo.com has a full size
"Telebucker" that is specifically designed for the neck slot of a tele. I have not tried one myself, but if it's anything ( and I'm sure it is ) like his other pickups I have tried, I have no doubt he nailed it.

 

[GilmourD]

Got the neck pickup in my Red Tele custom wound by Bryan from BG-pups.com. It's an underwould BG Bucker that's nice and bright with some Strat-like overtones.

 

[Stuco]

The best? Well a genuine gibson PAF of course.

If you can't afford that, try a seymour duncan or if your on a budget try gfs.

 

[Del Pickup]

I have an SD Seth Lover in the neck position and SD Broadcaster pup in the bridge and they seem to work well together although it took a while to get the volume balance between them.

I was about to post a question here about whether I can wire them in such a way as to get an out of phase tone from them as well as the usual variations when I came across this thread so I thought that I may as well ask the question here!

Is it as simple as installing a 4 way switch to replace the 3 way or is it more complicated?

 

[Kevin Darty]

I have an SD Seth Lover in the neck position and SD Broadcaster pup in the bridge and they seem to work well together although it took a while to get the volume balance between them.

I was about to post a question here about whether I can wire them in such a way as to get an out of phase tone from them as well as the usual variations when I came across this thread so I thought that I may as well ask the question here!

Is it as simple as installing a 4 way switch to replace the 3 way or is it more complicated?

Rothstein Guitars is a great resource for wiring diagrams for mods like what you are talking about.

Check out their Tele Mods page here:

http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_diag_tele.html

Not sure if this is exactly what you were looking for but here is a 4-way with Phase Reversal mod from Rothstein's site:

FENDER 4-WAY TELECASTER WITH PHASE REVERSAL OPTION

Thanks for posting about your Duncan's... those are up on the top of my list as well... but after creating this thread I'm now considering some Lollar's as well.

I'm glad so many have commented here, there are a lot of options so its great to hear about everyone's experiences