Best Tele Bridge Pickup for Les Paul sounds of Led Zeppelin?

[GratefulDean]

I’m in the planning stage to add a single coil sized Pearly Gates to the bridge of one of my Tele’s and an Antiquity HB in the neck.

I want a Les Paul without a Les Paul neck.

 

[old wrench]

I've experimented quite a bit with trying to get a single-coil to sound like humbucker.

You can get close, as long as the scale lengths are the same, but when you have a substantial difference in scale length - like 24.75" versus 25.5" - or Gibson versus Fender scale lengths - there will always be some difference in the tone - even when using the same pickup.

The funny thing about Jimmy Page is that many of us thought he always played Les Pauls, because that all that we did see him play - I saw Led Zepplin twice, and Page played a Les Paul for the whole show, both times.

The Tele 4-way switch thing, with the neck and bridge in series, is one of my favorite Tele tones.

The series position brings the Tele close enough to a "humbucker" tone for many of my likes.


.

 

[Starless7791]

The Beck/Page Tele was a mid 60's model.
Both pickups were the same polarity and same wind direction. Page wired it to have both pickup in series in the middle position. It was also out of phase since the pickups were the same polarity and wind direction.

Can I ask how you know this? I just got a Page mirror tele, and I don't think mine is this way, but I'd like to swap it if that's how Jimmy had it. He rarely seemed to use the middle though, in pics from the era.

 

[drmordo]

I’m in the planning stage to add a single coil sized Pearly Gates to the bridge of one of my Tele’s and an Antiquity HB in the neck.

I want a Les Paul without a Les Paul neck.

I like your plan but also...

 

[Zepfan]

Can I ask how you know this? I just got a Page mirror tele, and I don't think mine is this way, but I'd like to swap it if that's how Jimmy had it. He rarely seemed to use the middle though, in pics from the era.

He got the Tele from Beck when Beck left the Yard birds. I thought it was a mid 60's guitar, but someone on here said it was a late 50's.
In a magazine article, Page said he had wired the 2 pickups in series in the middle switch position which gave a OOP tone since both pickups were the same polarity and wind direction.
Sometimes he used the middle, sometimes he didn't. I think he used it more in the earlier days of Led Zeppelin.
He later said that a luthier in England had returned the guitar to original wiring and appearance without being told to do so and he didn't touch it again for years.
Similar thing happened to Ritchie Blackmore's original Strat.

Can I ask how you know this? I just got a Page mirror tele, and I don't think mine is this way, but I'd like to swap it if that's how Jimmy had it. He rarely seemed to use the middle though, in pics from the era.

 

[ElvisNixon]

A blackguard Tele P.U like the ‘51 and the tone knob at about 3/4 and the volume at about 8/10. As said above, a good 2 or 3 knob Tone Bender circuit into a crunchy snarly amp will get it done.

I have a couple LP’s that I don’t play out with. The Tele gets me there and I’m one of those people who say a great PAF can sound like a great blackguard Tele.

Just my .02