Fralin split steel pole bridge, anyone have one?

[OttoCorrect]

Talking about this pickup:

Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge by Lindy Fralin - P90 for Tele.

Big, Bold, Beefy. Our Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge Sounds Like a noiseless P90 For Your Telecaster. Fast Shipping, incredible Customer Service.

www.fralinpickups.com

I have an Esquire that I basically use as a Les Paul Junior, playing rock on it while giving my best Johnny Thunders impression. It currently has a DiMarzio Chopper T in it, which I like very much, but then I discovered the above Fralin pickup exists.

I used to have a p90 styled Tele bridge pickup in a different guitar, it was from Rose pickups back when they were operational. I absolutely loved it, but these days I need something hum cancelling. No compromise on that, gotta be hum cancelling. As such, while I know there’s more than a few p90 tele bridge style pups out there, this Fralin one was the first I’ve seen designed to be hum cancelling!

So who’s got one? What are they like? There’s precious few examples out there on YouTube for me to check out, and it’s a bit pricey to just go for and try, but I do love a good p90 and I am wondering if it’s worth it to try it vs. just be content with my Chopper T.

 

[Jumbotronic]

I have one, and couldn't be happier. Bandmates think that's a magical pickup, and I tend to agree with them. I'm not great at describing pickups, but I think Fralin's description is about as accurate as you'll get. They're definitely p90-like, kind of in between a single and a humbucker. Do high gain and cleans well. I've heard really good things about the Chopper T and almost put a set of Choppers in my strat, but don't know whether you'd like the Fralin more--probably just a matter of taste, rather than anything objectively better about either.

 

[OttoCorrect]

I have one, and couldn't be happier. Bandmates think that's a magical pickup, and I tend to agree with them. I'm not great at describing pickups, but I think Fralin's description is about as accurate as you'll get. They're definitely p90-like, kind of in between a single and a humbucker. Do high gain and cleans well. I've heard really good things about the Chopper T and almost put a set of Choppers in my strat, but don't know whether you'd like the Fralin more--probably just a matter of taste, rather than anything objectively better about either.

The Chopper T is an interesting pickup, b/c of the ceramic magnet it’s got a quick attack and there’s a bit of a rude midrange squak to it when played with gain that reminds me of some p90 character, but it’s pretty tight and less open than a true single coil would be. I liken it more to a mini humbucker, there’s still some of that bucker compression going on but not as much as anything full size, and it’s not wound as full or hot as many other buckers. It’s a rather special and singular pickup that way, and I genuinely like what I’m getting from it with my Esquire set up. But the memory of that p90 style pup I had and Fralin’s amazing reputation have me super curious about his hum cancelling version of a p90 tele bridge. Maybe I’ll be blessed enough to find a used one somewhere and I can take the plunge.

Pics of the guitar w/the Chopper T in it, if anyone is curious. It’s from Big River guitars and I love the arm and belly carve:

 

[Ron R]

I don't have that one, but I've now owned vintage hots for a strat and split rails for a Tele, and both sets have been excellent. Lindy's descriptions have been spot on as well. I would not hesitate to pull the trigger on any given Fralin pickup.

 

[Jumbotronic]

The Chopper T is an interesting pickup, b/c of the ceramic magnet it’s got a quick attack and there’s a bit of a rude midrange squak to it when played with gain that reminds me of some p90 character, but it’s pretty tight and less open than a true single coil would be. I liken it more to a mini humbucker, there’s still some of that bucker compression going on but not as much as anything full size, and it’s not wound as full or hot as many other buckers. It’s a rather special and singular pickup that way, and I genuinely like what I’m getting from it with my Esquire set up. But the memory of that p90 style pup I had and Fralin’s amazing reputation have me super curious about his hum cancelling version of a p90 tele bridge. Maybe I’ll be blessed enough to find a used one somewhere and I can take the plunge.

Pics of the guitar w/the Chopper T in it, if anyone is curious. It’s from Big River guitars and I love the arm and belly carve:View attachment 1394709View attachment 1394711View attachment 1394713View attachment 1394715View attachment 1394717

They show up used on reverb occasionally, so keep an eye out!

(Nice guitar.)

 

[OttoCorrect]

(Nice guitar.)

Thank you. I am very pleased with it. The neck is the right kind of thick for me, the fretwork was excellent, and I can’t believe how great a tele body with comfort carves feels. Once I dialed it in with 11s it plays like a dream. I can’t go back to the classic slab style now, anything Tele style going forward will need to have arm and belly carves.

Plus Big River was very generous in working out a good price on this one. I just asked and he accommodated. It’s not every day you can get a USA made, nitro finish boutique build for under a grand, but this one was well under that. He’s a pretty cool guy over at Big River.

 

[Mark Fogleman]

Talking about this pickup:

Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge by Lindy Fralin - P90 for Tele.

Big, Bold, Beefy. Our Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge Sounds Like a noiseless P90 For Your Telecaster. Fast Shipping, incredible Customer Service.

www.fralinpickups.com

I have an Esquire that I basically use as a Les Paul Junior, playing rock on it while giving my best Johnny Thunders impression. It currently has a DiMarzio Chopper T in it, which I like very much, but then I discovered the above Fralin pickup exists.

I used to have a p90 styled Tele bridge pickup in a different guitar, it was from Rose pickups back when they were operational. I absolutely loved it, but these days I need something hum cancelling. No compromise on that, gotta be hum cancelling. As such, while I know there’s more than a few p90 tele bridge style pups out there, this Fralin one was the first I’ve seen designed to be hum cancelling!

So who’s got one? What are they like? There’s precious few examples out there on YouTube for me to check out, and it’s a bit pricey to just go for and try, but I do love a good p90 and I am wondering if it’s worth it to try it vs. just be content with my Chopper T.

Warmoth has this on YT. Sounds great to me:

 

[OttoCorrect]

Warmoth has this on YT. Sounds great to me:

Thank you, that was helpful! I didn’t come across that when I was looking for videos. I must have overlooked that result. It does sound really great, I may have to check one out!

 

[OttoCorrect]

Nabbed a split steel pole 43 used on eBay over the weekend! Saved about $50 over getting one new, not the most amazing deal I’ve ever got on a pickup but still preferable to paying full price for a new one. I will report back once it’s installed with my impressions. Thanks everyone!

 

[OttoCorrect]

Put the split steel pole in this weekend, had about an hour of playtime at decent volume. It’s a nice clean pickup, good balanced eq. Seems like it’s got a little more lower mids and less upper mids than the Chopper T that I took out. Nice single coil feel, but without the noise of course. With some drive/distortion it’s a little looser in the low end than the Chopper T, but that is not a surprise, the Chopper T is a very tight sounding pickup. I will give it some break in time, it’s not a world of difference from the Chopper T but it is different in some ways.

If I had a nitpick right now, it would be that the split steel pole is almost too polite or mannerly. It’s very clean and well behaved, and I don’t know if that’s exactly what I’m looking for or not. It’s a high quality pickup, for sure, but the Chopper T could do good cleans and get wild too, this one doesn’t have the same attitude. I’ll admit that’s a stupid and rather esoteric way to describe the pickup, but I’m failing to find better words. The tone is great but it responds a bit too politely when I’m trying to get more rawk out of it.

These are just my first impressions, the steel pole may grow on me. Or I may be back to the Chopper T with the understanding that it is the right one for this guitar. Who knows? Time will tell.

 

[Jumbotronic]

Put the split steel pole in this weekend, had about an hour of playtime at decent volume. It’s a nice clean pickup, good balanced eq. Seems like it’s got a little more lower mids and less upper mids than the Chopper T that I took out. Nice single coil feel, but without the noise of course. With some drive/distortion it’s a little looser in the low end than the Chopper T, but that is not a surprise, the Chopper T is a very tight sounding pickup. I will give it some break in time, it’s not a world of difference from the Chopper T but it is different in some ways.

If I had a nitpick right now, it would be that the split steel pole is almost too polite or mannerly. It’s very clean and well behaved, and I don’t know if that’s exactly what I’m looking for or not. It’s a high quality pickup, for sure, but the Chopper T could do good cleans and get wild too, this one doesn’t have the same attitude. I’ll admit that’s a stupid and rather esoteric way to describe the pickup, but I’m failing to find better words. The tone is great but it responds a bit too politely when I’m trying to get more rawk out of it.

These are just my first impressions, the steel pole may grow on me. Or I may be back to the Chopper T with the understanding that it is the right one for this guitar. Who knows? Time will tell.

You might play around with the height a bit. Could be raising it somewhat would make it more rude.

 

[OttoCorrect]

You might play around with the height a bit. Could be raising it somewhat would make it more rude.

I’ll putz around with it and see what happens. It’s not far from the strings as is, but sometimes minor adjustments yield just the right improvement.

It’s also possible I’m adjusting to the eq profile. The Chopper T has some high mids that I can only describe as “enjoyably obnoxious” when matched with the right kind of gain. Think first wave British punk, like Steve Jones, scrappy and rude, that sort of thing. This pickup isn’t voiced that way, and that’s alright. It sounds good with gain, but it’s definitely not the same profile. I just gotta adjust to that and figure out if I want that or not.

 

[OttoCorrect]

Chopper T is back in, the Fralin Steel Pole is now up for sale. Tried them back to back and the Chopper T wins the day. Both good pickups, but this Esquire is for rockin’ out and the Chopper T is the better fit for that particular job.