Good Fender brand replacement pickup for new American Pro II

[Overland2112]

Hello all

I just picked up a 2023 American Pro II yesterday and spent today getting it all setup right, but after playing it while the V-Mod-II Pickups aren’t bad, after some time with them I wouldn’t say they are probably the most classic of Tele tones a Guitar could have (at least to my limited knowledge).

So I was just wondering with staying in the Fender line up, which one of their Pickup sets might be a good choice for a more classic and most of all Twangy tone?

From a little time reviewing what they have to offer it seems like the Custom Shop 51 Nocaster set seems like a good choice, but I just thought I would see what others had to say.

Thanks for any help.

 

[sjtalon]

Welcome to the forum and HNGD !!

Custom Shop 51 Nocaster and a 4 way switch.

But I always say YOUR geetar, YOUR ears.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

I loved the Nocaster pickups I had in a Tele. But not sure if your definition of twangy tone is specific enough. To my recollection the Nocasters were able to cover a bit more ground and responded well to some gain. They're alnico 3. The Pure Vintage 64 set is alnico 5 and more in the "twangy" zone if I understand your definition. The Nocaster bridge pickup is flat poled, the PV 64 is staggered.

I currently have the PV 64's in one Tele and can say I personally preferred the Nocasters. Make no mistake, they can twang but they offer a little more, IMO.

 

[cousinpaul]

I like the Original Vintage set. They seem to do a lot of things well depending on your set-up. I've never tried the PV 52s but read somewhere they're not quite the same.

 

[Overland2112]

I loved the Nocaster pickups I had in a Tele. But not sure if your definition of twangy tone is specific enough. To my recollection the Nocasters were able to cover a bit more ground and responded well to some gain. They're alnico 3. The Pure Vintage 64 set is alnico 5 and more in the "twangy" zone if I understand your definition. The Nocaster bridge pickup is flat poled, the PV 64 is staggered.

I currently have the PV 64's in one Tele and can say I personally preferred the Nocasters. Make no mistake, they can twang but they offer a little more, IMO.

Hello Lou and thank you for your reply.

Yeah, it was a shame that Fender did not have a vid for every set as for at least the ones they did there was some form of control that. So for the PV 64's all I had was youTube and for what I saw there such as this:


I just didn't see what I was looking for such as with this:


But as said, is not a create compare with what I am sure are many variables, but to add, what I am referring to that i am looking for is the sounds the Nocaster set makes.

Thanks again.

 

[Overland2112]

Welcome to the forum and HNGD !!

Custom Shop 51 Nocaster and a 4 way switch.

But I always say YOUR geetar, YOUR ears.

Hello sjtalon and thank you for your reply.

Actually, my next look was going to be at what switching options I could go to and might suspect what you are saying with a 4 way is to use the two middle positions to replace the series/parallel option when using both pickups the tone push button in my current setup provides?

Thank you.

 

[sjtalon]

Ops, didn't realize you have series switching there already, so all set there. The Nocasters sound great in series, you'll just have to mod the neck pickup to have three wires. Id est, the cover needs to have it's own (separate) ground wire to free the neutral coil wire.

 

[Overland2112]

Ops, didn't realize you have series switching there already, so all set there. The Nocasters sound great in series, you'll just have to mod the neck pickup to have three wires. Id est, the cover needs to have it's own (separate) ground wire to free the neutral coil wire.

Ah figured it couldn't be that easy.

Any chance you could link me to someplace that could explain this?

Thank you.

 

[Overland2112]

Ah figured it couldn't be that easy.

Any chance you could link me to someplace that could explain this?

Thank you.

Actually, think I found a good example here:


Key part starts about 12:18

Thanks

 

[sjtalon]

ADD A DEDICATED COVER (shield) GROUND WIRE

Rothstein Guitars-Serious Tone for the Serious Player

The cornerstone of our business is our highly regarded prewired electronic assemblies for guitars and basses. We build innovative drop-in prewired assemblies for Strat, Teles, Jazzmasters, Fender Jazz Bass, P-Bass, PRS, Gibson and EB-3 using the finest components available. Our prewired...

www.guitar-mod.com

^^^
Bottom of the page, snip the bare jumper off as close to the "A" solder glob (eyelet) as you can, then solder a wire to that stub of wire (or to the solder blob at "C"... that's the cover tab) and run it to the back of a pot, GROUND. You end up with a THREE wire pickup, good for 4 way switch and/or phase reversal.

 

[Matt G Murphy]

Hello all

I just picked up a 2023 American Pro II yesterday and spent today getting it all setup right, but after playing it while the V-Mod-II Pickups aren’t bad, after some time with them I wouldn’t say they are probably the most classic of Tele tones a Guitar could have (at least to my limited knowledge).

So I was just wondering with staying in the Fender line up, which one of their Pickup sets might be a good choice for a more classic and most of all Twangy tone?

From a little time reviewing what they have to offer it seems like the Custom Shop 51 Nocaster set seems like a good choice, but I just thought I would see what others had to say.

Thanks for any help.

Everyone has their own opinions and their own ears. That being said, I am not a fan of the V Mod II pups either. I replaced the stock set of pups in my 2022 JV(unspecified Fender branded pups) with a set of 51 Nocasters. I LOVE the bridge pup and it really handles the gain. But, I have had to learn to like the neck pup. It is very very dark to my ears. I have had to tweak the height to get it kind of dialed in. If I found another neck pup I liked better with the right polarity and wind direction I would switch it for certain.

I have an American telecaster that has pure vintage 64s in it from the factory. They are very different from the 51s. The 64s are much more "Bakersfield" and twangy. The neck pup is awesome! It is fat, glassy and full. Very strat-like. The bridge is clear and does not have nearly the grit and hair the Nocaster bridge pup does. They are both great in their own ways. The two guitars couldn't sound more different and yet be so similar.

I hope this helps.

 

[GuitarsBuicks]

Just wanted to chime in for another round of support for the FCS ‘51 Nocaster set. I have said this many times, but they are the second best set of modern/reproduction telecaster pickups I have ever heard or played. Second only to the 50-51Blackguards in the 70th anniversary Broadcaster from 2020, and tied with the original recipe and Extra Crispy sets from Bootstrap Pickups.

My ‘96 American Standard was having an issue with the A5 pickups that were in it, supposedly from the factory. They just sounded dead, I adjusted them as much as much as I could. Eventually it got to the point where either the pickups needed to be changed or the guitar needed to go. I actually had a thread about it a couple of years back when I first started here on the forum. To this day, I have never heard a set of pickups actively decay they way those ones did while I was playing and practicing. It was almost like listening to a 9v battery die in an acoustic guitar. The tone just deteriorated every single time I played the thing. I was getting ready to play live at a friends wedding with my band. So one day I decided to swap pickups about 4-days before the wedding with only one chance to test them before the big day…I was very impressed with the sound. They brought a dead/dying guitar back to full health and then some. I literally cannot say enough good things about this pickup set. Or the bootstrap ones for that matter, but you asked for Fender branded ones. I won’t be changing them any time soon. If anything I will be buying another set for another guitar…if I get another guitar any time soon that needs some help.

Also, the best part is that those specific pickups are not extremely hot (I think the neck is like 7.2k and the Bridgr is 7.5k. Very reasonably all things considered.), which at least in my experience gives them a little more versatility because you’ll have more room to either drive it with a pedal and/or amplifier, and effect the tone by how you are playing. Which is kit always possible with super hot pickups.

 

[cousinpaul]

The OV's and PV 52's are very good as well.

 

[SinisterSinner]

Just want to chime in and say yeah, what a shame a $1700 guitar has the most mediocre pickups possible. That, and the decision to use narrow tall frets is the reason I decided to sell what is otherwise a great guitar. I understand some people like narrow tall frets but for a flagship model, just use medium jumbo. I love a thicker neck, and I would have kept mine if they used custom shop pickups and medium jumbo frets. They came so close to knocking it out of the ballpark. Alas. Of course this is just my personal taste and opinion.

A great alternative to the Nocaster is Rumpelstiltskin Original Black Knight. Its his take on Broadcaster pickups. It uses A3 magnets and breaks up magnificently. The clean tone is chimey, round and full. I especially like how mellow but present the top end is, and how the midranges slices through.

Rumpelstiltskin has other pickups that are twangier, if twang is what you are looking for. Look at both his blackguard style pickups (A3) and whiteguard style pickups (A5).

A lot of people also like the combo of a Lollar Special T bridge and Vintage T neck. I played a K-Line T style thing with these in a shop and it was superb. I imagine it's quite versatile since the bridge pickup has some serious midrange balls but the neck is a lower wind, and has very complex harmonic content for a tele neck pickup.

The world of tele pickups is endless. Good luck.

 

[Ron R]

I'm wondering why you would limit yourself to only Fender branded pickups. ANY replacement pickup, even Fender branded, is going to impact the value of the guitar. So why not try to find the best option for your ears and budget?

 

[yegbert]

AV ‘62 or AV ‘52. Darren Riley’s has them, and many other fender Tele pickups.