Putting a tele bridge pickup in a strat

[alivingh]

I'm looking for people to get nerdy with me.

When you put a tele bridge pickup in a strat it does not sound exactly like a tele:


My hypothesis as to why:
1. A tele bridge pickup is further from the bridge than a strat pickup by 0.214 inches(see links to diagrams below). Therefore, if you just widen the route in your strat and jam a tele pickup in it, the pickup will be closer to the bridge and will be brighter.
https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/telecaster/Fender-Telecaster.pdf
https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/stratocaster/Fender-Stratocaster-62.pdf

2. The bridge plate makes a huge difference. Here is a video with a tele, first with a half bridge plate and then with a normal plate.


Any thoughts, I'd love to hear I'm wrong.

 

[Chuck berry]

A good one. In a tele l think it wouldn't sound great. But never tried it. My friend that l've been playing for over 40 years installed strat pickups in a tele. And it really sounds great. But tele pickupsin a strat you might like a humbuger in the middle or something similar.

 

[JL_LI]

You can find love and hate for nearly anything here. I have a Telecaster and I love its bridge pickup sound. On one of my Stratocasters the bridge pickup is OK. On the other it’s great, almost Telecaster like. The difference? The one I love is reverse angle. It’s also an underwound CS ‘69. And it runs through tone 2. So I guess that’s three differences. It gets you a convincing twang if that’s what you’re after. Folks who want growl and want to push their amp may do better with an SSH configuration. The great thing about Strats and Telecasters is that you can mod your way to almost anything you need.

 

[Atilla the Hum]

I'm looking for people to get nerdy with me.

When you put a tele bridge pickup in a strat it does not sound exactly like a tele:


My hypothesis as to why:
1. A tele bridge pickup is further from the bridge than a strat pickup by 0.214 inches(see links to diagrams below). Therefore, if you just widen the route in your strat and jam a tele pickup in it, the pickup will be closer to the bridge and will be brighter.
https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/telecaster/Fender-Telecaster.pdf
https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/stratocaster/Fender-Stratocaster-62.pdf

2. The bridge plate makes a huge difference. Here is a video with a tele, first with a half bridge plate and then with a normal plate.


Any thoughts, I'd love to hear I'm wrong.

I'm posting here because I just found a Tele bridge pickup that needs very little modification to install into a Strat, it has 2 mounting screws in the same position as Strat pickups so no need for routing. And it sounds pretty much like a regular Tele because, as the maker claims, it's the 55mm magnet spacing that sets it apart from Strat pickups as well as it carries it's own magnetic field shaping device inside the pickup and it's doesn't depend on the steel bridge plate for that.
https://tinyurl.com/yzyr62h4

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Lowell George(Little Feat) did that back in the 60's or 70's.

Never thought he sounded like he was playing a Tele.

He spent most of his time on the middle pickup like Clapton and Bonnie Raitt when they play slide.

I would suspect you might need to install the whole bridge plate to recreate the Tele experience?

I have a Fezzter Maverick A3 magnets, 43AWG and a baseplate in my Strat. Does it sound like a Tele, no.
But it is thicker. Probably the only results you'll get by just adding a Tele bridge pickup.

Strats and Teles are perfect platforms for experimentation. Well designed partscasters. Thanks Leo!

Have fun!!

 

[Peegoo]

I've had this beast for 20 years. That's a Duncan Five-Two pickup in the bridge position.

Does it sound like a Strat bridge pickup? No--it sounds bigger and beefier, like a cross between a Strat pickup and a P90. And it works great with the other two pickups.

Does it sound like a Tele bridge pickup? Not quite. If I want a Tele Bridge pickup, that's what a Telecaster is for.

 

[Mustard-Cutter]

It's a shame good strat single coil bridge positions seem difficult to find because once you get a good one you'll never wish it was a Tele.

 

[NewTimerJH]

I've had this beast for 20 years. That's a Duncan Five-Two pickup in the bridge position.

Does it sound like a Strat bridge pickup? No--it sounds bigger and beefier, like a cross between a Strat pickup and a P90. And it works great with the other two pickups.

Does it sound like a Tele bridge pickup? Not quite. If I want a Tele Bridge pickup, that's what a Telecaster is for.

That bridge is tasty! What am I looking at there?

 

[Peegoo]

That bridge is tasty! What am I looking at there?

It's a Wilkinson VS100 stainless steel vibrato bridge. Very affordable and better than Fender's original design.

 

[NewTimerJH]

It's a Wilkinson VS100 stainless steel vibrato bridge. Very affordable and better than Fender's original design.

I may have to investigate this thanks!!

 

[Humbuckers]

I think the pickup being closer to the bridge is a big factor.

Here’s an experience I had recently: I was at Guitar Center to compare a Jimmy Page Tele with my Tele, both of which had bridge pickups that in the high-6K range.

I was shocked that the Page Tele sounded much brighter and steelier (I actually kind of liked it), but then I noticed that the saddles were adjusted quite a ways forward; closer to the pickup.

After I did an on-the-fly intonation adjustment that involved moving the saddles quite a bit further back, the Page Tele ended up sounding much more similar to my own.

 

[elpico]

While they both have angled bridge pickups, they're not the same angle, so if nothing else I wouldn't expect the pole pieces would line up right.