Pickup Choices are Soooo Confusing!

[Tommy Biggs]

Put a Bad Bob boost in your chain with the JD. Leave it on most of the time. Or all of the time.

Sounds like the DMZ Pre B1 would work for you too.

 

[ndcaster]

I've finally discovered that I don't know how to choose a bridge pickup for a Tele.

I'm not a winder, but I've listened here for years, tried some things, and understand a little.

a pickup is like an antenna, and you have to figure out what you want it to pick up and how powerful you want it to be

there are three guiding questions:

are you ok with 60 cycle hum and RF noise?
are you a minimalist and want just a guitar and amp for grit?
how much treble do you need?

those are the three fundamental questions, unless you're a historicist who wants something period-correct

no hum? you need humbucking pickups of some kind (stacked or side-by-side coils)

with more coils and winds of wire, you get more power (Henries), which means you can now overdrive your amp's preamp section with just the guitar (instead of pedals)

but with more power comes less available treble and twang

(some winders specialize in minimizing that trade-off, and their results can be really good)

if you want more treble and twang, single-coils are the way to go, but they hum unless they're wired and their magnets polarized in a way that makes their joint humbucking position possible

(again, some winders can produce a single-coil that is less noisy than others, don't ask me how, I guess there are trade secrets)

from that point comes all the minutiae that makes things interesting confusing and marketable, like magnet types, pole staggering, wire gauge, and other internal fiddly bits that make differences that can be heard in clinical environments like recording studios

I *think* I can hear a difference between A3 and A5 magnets, but it's probably just my imagination because other variables on my guitars (like different *strings*) swamp these tiny differences with their much bigger differences

the things we all *can* hear are 1) how much available treble there is, and 2) whether the pickup is strong enough to cause your amp to distort

personally, I think it's good to have a lot of available treble, because if the pickup/antenna is not picking up treble, it can't be added back to the native sound

you can always goose your amp with a boost or pedal

and it's nice not to worry about 60 cycle hum in high-gain or high-volume situations

happy hunting

 

[fjfinamore]

The problem with changing pickups is that it could be a never-ending tone quest. You really can’t know what the pickups will sound in your guitar, effects and amp set-up unless you put them in.

It would seem tonally, the Jerry Donahue is the closest to the tone you desire, you just want more output.. As the Jerry Donahue pickup is based on the one on his early ‘50s Telecaster, you’re essentially looking for a vintage voiced pickup with more punch, as you are not looking for twang.

In my experience, that would be a Broadcaster-style pickup with an increased mid-range punch wound with 43 gauge wire and alnico 3 magnets. There are many iterations out there, including from Rob DiStefano. His Cavalier Nocaster Holy Grail Lion bridge pickup or Don Mare’s 0038. Or you could try a Broadcaster-style pickup with alnico 5 magnets, like the Bare Knuckle Blackguard Flat ’50.

 

[funkysoul]

Plenty of emphasis on gritty, growling tones.

but want my bridge pup to have a confident voice



What do you suggest I try?

Give 50$ and get a Tonerider Hot Classic bridge pickup. It's right there. I have that set since 2007.it can do a lot

 

[TX_Slinger]

Tone Rider TRT2 Hot Classic is A3 and is a fit pickup.
The other bridge pickup I really like is the good old DiMarzio pre b-1.
Both are powerful pickups that still sound like a Tele.
I also have a Duncan Donahue in a Tele which sounds great; it's not as loud as the other two i named.

TRT2 set is a good all around set. Nice fat neck almost strat tone, slightly less harsh bridge tone than A5 tele pickups. I play Classic rock, TX blues, and some country (rockabilly, Dwight Yoakum) on that one.

 

[Ian T]

There are a few key variables in a tele bridge that you can explore.

First is magnet. A2, A3, or A5

Then wire gauge. 42 awg or 43

Then there is the number of turns or ohm rating. This is a more subtle variable. Just know 10k 43awg is roughly equivalent to 6.7k 42awg.

That's the main 3 variables. So if you want to buy another pickup, try something different that what you already have. In other words, don't waste time buying different flavors of A5 42awg. Instead, try an A5 43awg pickup to experience the difference between 42 and 43, or try A2 or A3 42awg to get to know those magnets.

For what you describe, I think you'd like a 43awg A5 pickup in the 10k range. I love the Bare Knuckle True Grit, it's cheap and sounds great. There are others. Anything with these specs will sound very similar.

For what I do, I currently equally love 6.7k A5 42awg, and 10k A5 43AWG though they are quite different. Not just cork sniffing, splitting hairs different, nope, these pickups are very noticeably different.

Good luck on your tele bridge pickup search - it never ends! It is to be enjoyed.

 

[Milspec]

Personally, I feel that the solution is easier than you think. The problem isn't the pickups, but how the controls are wired.

I came to this eureka moment when I purchased my Fender '51 No-caster with the dark circuit. The dark setting isn't very useful, but having the tone knob act as a blend knob makes all the difference. Being able to blend the neck into the bridge allows you to take any pickup combination and find that sweet spot where the standard switching doesn't.

I would install vintage style pickups and change your wiring to the blend pot feature and you will find exactly what you need with a little experimenting.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

Longer you hang around here, more you'll hear love for Bootstrap pickups.
My personal favorite is their Pretzel bridge pickup.
Alnico 5 magnet, rated at 10+, with 43 AWG wire.
It delivers all the sounds I want, and does the nasty like nobody's business.
You can get one for $25 and they're handmade in a garage in Ohio.
Linda Lou wears one in her bridge with great reviews:

 

[Audiowonderland]

I've finally discovered that I don't know how to choose a bridge pickup for a Tele. It must stem from the fact that Teles are used on all styles of music, and no one bridge pickup is ideal for all styles. I have yet to find the perfect pup for me. So, if you are interested in helping a brother out: here's my story and I'll eagerly consider your suggestions.

On a tele, I play rock and pop styles of Praise&Worship, funk and R&B, too. Plenty of emphasis on gritty, growling tones. I use light and medium OD pedals, and Marshall, Fender, Vox edge of breakup style amp models. Real amps are Morgan AC20Dlx, Fender Princeton, and Silvertone Twin12. I do not play twang, jazz, or metal (though I enjoy that sound). I do not use heavy distortion or fuzz. I like the classic middle position bright sound, but want my bridge pup to have a confident voice, that can (must!) produce a convincing power chord.

I only have 3 bridge pups available, now. Jerry Donohue, Fender Noiseless N3, and the SD Jr HB 59. The 59 is too dark, the N3 is too clean, and the Donohue is a tad weaker than I'd like.

What do you suggest I try?

The Donahue of those three. Second I would try the 59 wired in parallel.

I use a duncan broadcaster in T1 and covers everything. Just turn the gain up a tick and use the donahue

 

[ChicknPickn]

I just guess, choose one, and live with it. My favorites are Fender Pure Vintage 64 Telecaster pickups. They nail down the Tele sound I prefer MOST of the time. If not, I lean over and tweak my amp.

Yep, was going to say this.

It ends up that I have Teles with stacked "single coils" for noiseless joy and Teles with "real" single coils that cut through my hearing loss. Not long ago, I took a leap with an SD "Jazz" humbucker in a Tele neck and it really is different from any bucker I've owned before. A little more twinkle. But I've never spent a lot of time over my decisions. Tone controls, a pedal. Pick gauge. Fingers. Pickup height. All different sounds from the same pickups.