Tele Neck Pickup Love! (Share yours)

[Papa Che]

I’m sure we all have heard of those darn muddy Tele neck pickups, and how the only good thing about a Tele is the bridge pickup!

Ok, let’s show some real love for the unloved and under appreciated tele neck pickup!

I did have a few dark and non-dynamic tele neck pickups and these were Vintera 50’s (not the modified CS but the cheap ones), Roswell and some China ceramics.

The neck pups I love are the Fender Twisted neck, Lollar Special T neck and SD Vintage neck. These are just so lovely and woody but also with a bit of grit.
I love to pick very close to the barrel saddles so to get that hollow wood like tone.
(I must mention CS 51 Nocaster being a dynamic neck pickup but slightly too thin for my taste)

I find my preferred neck pickups are in good balance with the bridge pickup and need no tone adjustment if I flip between them.

Edit to add a photo - I mean actual Tele neck pickups and not humbuckers, Goldfoil, Filtertron or P90’s etc …

 

[pbenn]

Height.
Rake.
Nickle-Silver.

 

[bobio]

SD 59 HB and SD Jazz HB, those would be my favorites



Not a Tele, but this would be my other favorite
Gibson 490R HB



Sense a theme here

 

[jackal]

I think I've tried every "Strat-sounding" tele neck pickup out there, but nothing sounds as good as a real Strat pickup in the neck position of a tele. Flame on!

 

[thegaijin]

I’ve been really lucky with my neck pickups. JBEs, Ron Ellis, The Creamery, Twisted Tele CS, and SD minihumbucker are on mine these days. Like all of them but my faves are probably the Ron Ellis and the Twisted Tele. For the price, the TT is hard to beat. I’m in the minority who plays neck more than the bridge.

 

[Muckman]

I have a Twisted Tele neck pup that sounds great. I used a Cavalier Lion King in my last build and it has even more clarity and life, but is very similar to the TT. Love me some tele neck tones!!!

 

[4pickupguy]

Height.
Rake.
Nickle-Silver.

Yup, beat me to it.

Yes the Cav Lion King is my favorite pickup ever!! I always ask for nickel covers so not sure how it fairs with chrome covers. I would imagine better than most.

I’ve heard some pretty dismal tele neck pickups before so I can see why they get the bad rap. A good one is unlike any other pickup.

 

[Jakedog]

My favorite Tele neck pickups are in my teles. My burst sports a DiMarzio PAF Pro. My Boxer sports a DiMarzio Air Norton.

As far as traditional Tele neck pickups, I like the old American Standard pickups from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s a lot. Also like the Twisted Tele.

 

[black_doug]

My favorite Tele neck pickups are in my teles. My burst sports a DiMarzio PAF Pro. My Boxer sports a DiMarzio Air Norton.

As far as traditional Tele neck pickups, I like the old American Standard pickups from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s a lot. Also like the Twisted Tele.

+1 for the American Standard. Mine is one from ‘08.

 

[Killing Floor]

 

[Festofish]

The only neck pickup I’ve fallen in love with is an EVH. Not overly traditional but I love it on the Wolfgang.

 

[String Tree]

I really like my Fender Noiseless for the Neck Pup.

 

[tubedude]

My fave is the '53 from Monty's.

 

[Killing Floor]

Humbuckers are proof God loves you and wants you to rock.

 

[red57strat]

I have a Fralin Stock, overwound 2%, covered neck pickup in my T Style and it balances perfectly with the Blues Special in the bridge. It's a great sounding combination. I don't like Strat pickups or even uncovered Tele pickups in the neck of a Tele. I like it to sound like a Tele.

I have a 2014 American Standard Tele and the neck pickup is just ok. I'd probably like it more if the Fralin pickup in my T Style wasn't so awesome.

Disregarding the OP's requirements, I have a MiM Classic Thinline Tele with e set of real CuNiFe WRHB pikups and 1 meg pots in it and the neck pickup sounds awesome!

 

[Flaneur]

I believe the pickups in my modded '83, are original. They both sound great, to my ears.

 

[Bongoslade]

i just installed a BOOTSTRAP p90 in the neck of my Squier Jazz Caster - and MAN does it rock...
love their PRETZEL pick ups in the neck that it replaces - i just wanted to MOD out a bit and hear what it sounded like because i never owned or played a guitar with a p90 in it. very nice and plays well with the Pretzel bridge p/u
(i love this guitar)

 

[ISmellSmoke]

Gee, I kinda like the stock neck pickup in my Squier CV '50's Tele (he said sheepishly...)

 

[tfarny]

I also have the Cavalier Lion King in a tele, and it really does the "stratty" trick very well. I'm not sure if that's really the sound I want out of the neck in that guitar, but it is a great pickup sound. Starting to think a mini hum of some type might be perfect for that one.

Other than that I'm not a fan of most of the standard tele neck pickups, for all the usual reasons.

 

[Gardo]

My favorite is still this Fender Vintage Noiseless

Just finished this one. A Seymour Duncan Little 59 Strat neck Pup . A slight amount of additional routing was needed to make it fit but definitely worth the effort. The bridge didn’t blend well so I went with a GFS oversized pole piece wound to 10 ohms It’s an awesome combination

A Vintage Brand Thinline with a mini has a good fat