Full size or stacked Humbucker? in neck of telecaster

[zeke54]

I've always been an Esquire guy , never had much use for the Tele neck pups . Back in the '80s I had a Strat that I put a 'bucker in the middle position , after seeing Townsend put them in his LP deluxes mid position. Didn't use it much . Back to topic ... I recently put together a Squier Tele that I bought a body for 10 years ago with spare parts I had , put a DiMarzio Tone Zone I had in neck position . Really a great combo with the Tele pup . I've used stacked buckers in the past and I found they are lacking overall compared to full size buckers . Only issue would be if you had to enlarge the pup cavity . Try a stacked one or a hot rails . Might be what you like !

 

[Raising Arizona]

I would normally say HB, until I bought a chopper-T and stuck a splitter on it… it’s just the best of both worlds and trust me it has HB tone/output and pop the tone knob and you gotz single twang

 

[MAS Tequila]

Full size

 

[robt57]

Mini HB vote here...

 

[schmee]

Minibucker in the neck.

 

[radiocaster]

I gad never thought about a third option of the mini Humbucker, Anyone know of some good sound samples of a minihum in a tele?

Since you put it that way, I'm beginning to really doubt you know what a stacked humbucker actually is.

 

[mandoloony]

It's sort of a wierd question, really, since a stacked Tele pickup typically tries for a totally different sound from a conventional ("full size") humbucker. And, as if I haven't been annoying enough, my favorite pickup in a Tele is probably the Fralin Twangmaster - a full-size humbucker that sounds more like a hum-cancelling Tele pickup .

 

[paulblackford]

Warmth…fat tones….Duncan Custom Shop Jazz…for….well…Jazz tones.

How do you like the Duncan Jazz? I've been thinking of a Jazz for a while, but people keep telling me that they aren't good for...Jazz! They always recommend an alnico 2, but I always find them too squishy on the attack. How do you like the jazz?

 

[trandy9850]

How do you like the Duncan Jazz? I've been thinking of a Jazz for a while, but people keep telling me that they aren't good for...Jazz! They always recommend an alnico 2, but I always find them too squishy on the attack. How do you like the jazz?

I like it just fine….but I can understand people who might feel differently.

It does tend to be a little bright…but then again I’m a big Duncan JB and 59er’ guy…which tend to be a little darker anyway….those two pickups are what I’m mainly used to in most circumstances.

If I had to do it all over I would have went with a Duncan Antiquity in the neck position….but I’m not sorry about getting MJ to custom wind the Jazz that’s in there right now.

 

[electroman]

How do you like the Duncan Jazz? I've been thinking of a Jazz for a while, but people keep telling me that they aren't good for...Jazz! They always recommend an alnico 2, but I always find them too squishy on the attack. How do you like the jazz?

I had a Japanese telecaster back in the 90s with a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup. Here is a link to a tune from a CD with that guitar. It would sound very different now because I was using solid state amps then and now it's tube amps only. I was going through a Lexicon LXP5 for reverb.

 

[Gaylord Amsterdam]

Since you put it that way, I'm beginning to really doubt you know what a stacked humbucker actually is.

Mini Humbucker Versus Firebird Guitar Pickups: What's the Difference? - Humbucker Soup

The Mini Humbucker versus Firebird question is a popular one. Learn the difference between these two vintage style pickups.

humbuckersoup.com

These two are what I was thinking of.

 

[radiocaster]

Mini Humbucker Versus Firebird Guitar Pickups: What's the Difference? - Humbucker Soup

The Mini Humbucker versus Firebird question is a popular one. Learn the difference between these two vintage style pickups.

humbuckersoup.com

These two are what I was thinking of.

Those are not stacked, neither are any of those strat sized ones with 2 blades or two rows of polepieces.

Stacked means one coil is on top of another, giving a single coil sound, but with hum cancelling. They look like regular single coils in every way, unless you look at the bottom.

 

[Gaylord Amsterdam]

Those are not stacked, neither are any of those strat sized ones with 2 blades or two rows of polepieces.

Stacked means one coil is on top of another, giving a single coil sound, but with hum cancelling. They look like regular single coils in every way, unless you look at the bottom.

Yes, we are now discussing Full sized, Mini and stacked Humbuckers.

 

[timbgtr]

I really don't like traditional humbuckers in the neck position of a Telecaster. The only exception is a Filtertron. I think their clear tone is less muddy, midrangy and a better blend with a Telecaster Bridge pickup. The TV Jones classic is a good choice in my opinion. I have a PAF style humbucker in one of my Telecasters and really don't like using that much.

+1 on the TVJ Classic for tone and blending with a (Fralin) vintage wind bridge. Especially versatile when combined with a 5-way Lawrence “half out of phase” switch. (See avatar.)

 

[Southpole]

I have a 52 Hot Rod with OEM SD Vintage minibucker. This sounds fine but has significantly more output than the bridge pickup. Putting in a full sized humbucker might exacerbate the output differences even more. This means that moving between pickups likely to also need some volume adjustment.

 

[robt57]

I have a 52 Hot Rod with OEM SD Vintage minibucker. This sounds fine but has significantly more output than the bridge pickup. Putting in a full sized humbucker might exacerbate the output differences even more. This means that moving between pickups likely to also need some volume adjustment.

Raising bridge and dropping mini help at all?

 

[Southpole]

Raising bridge and dropping mini help at all?

Yes, you are right, should explore that option more. But the output difference is quite large so may only offset it to a degree.

The other question is whether you need to update the pots or caps to accommodate a humbucker.

 

[robt57]

Yes, you are right, should explore that option more. But the output difference is quite large so may only offset it to a degree.

The other question is whether you need to update the pots or caps to accommodate a humbucker.

Make a circuit provision for no tone on bridge maybe?

 

[NoTeleBob]

You could wire a series resistor to level the output. Or even use a trim pot so that you can adjust as needed while you find what you like. The only thing it might limit would be overdriven sounds from the neck.

 

[naneek]

If your guitar isn't routed for a humbucker, I recommend one of these.

Area T™ Neck | DiMarzio

We believe the Area 58™ and Area 61™ are a major step forward in the performance of hum-canceling Strat® replacement pickups. The new technology that went into these models has allowed us to make a similar advance with Telecaster® replacement pickups. The Area T™ Neck has the combination of...

www.dimarzio.com

this is my favorite tele neck pickup stacked humbucker. It sounds really great.

You'll really like it. It sounds rich, full and articulate like a classic tele neck pickup, with the power of a humbucker and some humbucker character to the attack and sustain of the notes.