What in your opinion is a good set of mellow, lower output pickups that are still clear? Not bright…….clear. My MIJ Tele (avatar) is a fabulous guitar but the stock “traditional” pickups are a bit harsh sounding for my taste.
Mellow yet clear Tele pickups
- Thread starter Lonn
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Whoa Tele
Friend of Leo's
I like filtertrons in a tele for what you’re describing . For traditional tele pickups A3 magnets sound a little softer To my ears . I also use the middle position more than most tele players I know
Saarlaender
TDPRI Member
Hi.Before investing money in pickups try pure nickel strings/coated ones like the blue from Elixir and or an equalizer. Less expensive and mostly works. And you can try it out beforehand. If the pickups are installed and they don't fit, that's not good either. It´s up to you. Good luck.
toanhunter
Tele-Meister
you could try flatwound strings instead of roundwound.
Alaska Mike
Tele-Afflicted
Seymour Duncan Alnico IIs round out the high end quite a bit without sounding muddy. FIVE-TWOs are sorta in between.
archetype
Fiend of Leo's
If you want to keep it all Fender, IMO the '62 Custom Telecaster set is the ticket. The DCR is somewhat low and they use A3 mags. They can twang, but it's not super bright and the top end is slightly rolled off. Twist the tone knob until your ears and brain say "that's mellow."
An absolute bargain compared to most Fender pickups. Darren Riley usually has them, as well as a ton of Amazon vendors who copy incorrect descriptions from each other, especially stating them as A2 mags, which they don't have.
The steal of a deal is the bridge and pickup assembly. A 60's 3-saddle bridge and bridge pickup. I can't explain why that assembly and the individual pickups are priced relatively low.
hopdybob
Friend of Leo's
i think the microcoil set from Wild Bill & Becky Lawrence with adjustable pole pieces would be an option.
Not noiseless but very noise free and dynamic if your playing is
Not noiseless but very noise free and dynamic if your playing is
Alaska Mike
Tele-Afflicted
I should have said adjust pickup heights first before you do anything, but I was tired.
robt57
Telefied
^^
Lower them 1st thing, especially B/E side of the bridge PU. Also, if neck is a nickle cover, put on a brass chromed cover or another PU with non nickle cover. I do not recall what the MIJ neck cover tend to be, brass or nickle. If orig PUs that is..
Check the POTs to make sure they are 250k, some of my fav Fender PUs are RI MIJ Floral/Paisley FWIW. You can also stop putting fresh strings on and use nickle and let them be oxidized. I actually really like dirty strings with/when lower output PUs.
I really like 5/2s but if you're not thinking your B/E strings are too bright, they prob are not going to change much in the context.
SD Alnico 2s seem like decent chance of your quest.
You may want to look into Charlie Christian style pickups. They are known for their clarity and mellowness:
www.tdpri.com
NPD: Installed a Charlie Christian pickup in my Tele
A few weeks ago, a new member, @kentmorgan posted a thread asking about getting a CC pickup into his guitar. I've been intrigued by these pickups for a long time. I've heard CC equipped guitars on videos and they all sounded cool. So I finally did it...
www.tdpri.com Charlie Christian Pickups - What Was the Magic?
Many jazz guitarists love the Charlie Christian pickup. I know I enjoy hearing it used, but I'm curious about just what the magic was? How were the or
www.jazzguitar.be
Supertwang
Tele-Afflicted
I’m treble sensitive and I find it necessary to steer clear of pickups with A5 magnets for that reason….especially true with humbuckers. So far it seems to me A3 in the neck pickup and A2 in the bridge pickup brings a reliable smile. A3 has a low clear jazzy output and A2 is a little hotter with a more old timey Rockabilly voice.
I have a Dimarzio Area T (stacked) in the neck and a Dimarzio FastTrack T (dual rails) in the bridge of my MiM Tele. I put in 500K pots, so they are very clear and bright (not harsh), but easily tamed with the tone control. This track features the neck pickup. the backing track is my own:
This track features the FastTrack T bridge. It is a backing track created by @Mjark over on Twanger Central:
I am very happy with these pickups and they may do what you want.
This track features the FastTrack T bridge. It is a backing track created by @Mjark over on Twanger Central:
I am very happy with these pickups and they may do what you want.
Stubee
Doctor of Teleocity
Agree 100%!!
If you can't massage your current pickups by adjusting the heights or changing strings mentioned above, I am partial to Fender PV64 pickups. I have two sets of them. But my others are standard Squier pickups that work well for me. I find the PV64s mellow, but with enough "stuff" behind them that they don't get muddy. They stay quite "clear" as you say, without being harsh. They speak with authority, not a megaphone.
Alaska Mike
Tele-Afflicted
So, going off what was said above and adding a little.
I generally start with Fender recommendations for pickup height as a starting place and then adjust from there. Just gives me a baseline.
Saddle material can affect the attack of a pickup.
Pots and caps definitely can affect the tone. I stick with the same 250K pots/.047 cap for pretty much all of my single coils, just to provide a level playing field.
I love the Fender AVRI '62s, but they have some bite- especially with steel bridge saddles. Brass saddles seem to tame them a bit. I have them in four Telecasters currently.
I also love the Fender PV '64s. Smoother and fuller than the AVRI '62s, but with a lot of clarity. I have them in two Telecasters at the moment.
On the boutique side, I have had good luck with Lollar and Fralin. While I respect the products from Bootstrap and Cavalier, I haven't found a voice from them I completely like (yet). I like tinkering, so I swap pickups periodically just out of curiosity if nothing else.
I generally start with Fender recommendations for pickup height as a starting place and then adjust from there. Just gives me a baseline.
Saddle material can affect the attack of a pickup.
Pots and caps definitely can affect the tone. I stick with the same 250K pots/.047 cap for pretty much all of my single coils, just to provide a level playing field.
I love the Fender AVRI '62s, but they have some bite- especially with steel bridge saddles. Brass saddles seem to tame them a bit. I have them in four Telecasters currently.
I also love the Fender PV '64s. Smoother and fuller than the AVRI '62s, but with a lot of clarity. I have them in two Telecasters at the moment.
On the boutique side, I have had good luck with Lollar and Fralin. While I respect the products from Bootstrap and Cavalier, I haven't found a voice from them I completely like (yet). I like tinkering, so I swap pickups periodically just out of curiosity if nothing else.
Appreciate all the suggestions. I picked it up again yesterday after playing a few of my strats and I guess it doesn’t sound as harsh as I thought, not really harsh at all to be honest so maybe my ears are playing with me. No changes coming for now.
hopdybob
Friend of Leo's
I you work in a loud environment and come home your hearing can be tired.
