Twisted Tele pickups

[Gretev1]

Just wondering what people here think about the Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele pickups? Why do you love them? Why do you hate them?

Personally, so far they are my favorite Telecaster pickups out of the Fender Custom Shop range. The neck is perfectly round, clear and bluesy. Sounds like a very clear Strat. The bridge is clear but lacks the extreme bright Tele twang.

I have a question while we‘re on the subject: Apparently the Twisted Tele bridge pickup has a DC resistance reading of 10k which is the highest reading out of most Telecaster pickups. I own a Tele with Twisted Tele pickups and I don‘t find the output of the Twisted Tele pickup to be more powerful than other Tele pickups I have played. Can anyone explain this? Or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[VillainSean]

I'm enjoying them in a couple different Teles I have. I feel like they respond to the make of the guitar itself pretty fluidly.

I can't explain the mechanics/magnetics of pickups, I'm just player/enthusiast. I've tried to understand for years..

 

[Kontaktmoi]

Just wondering what people here think about the Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele pickups? Why do you love them? Why do you hate them?

Personally, so far they are my favorite Telecaster pickups out of the Fender Custom Shop range. The neck is perfectly round, clear and bluesy. Sounds like a very clear Strat. The bridge is clear but lacks the extreme bright Tele twang.

I have a question while we‘re on the subject: Apparently the Twisted Tele bridge pickup has a DC resistance reading of 10k which is the highest reading out of most Telecaster pickups. I own a Tele with Twisted Tele pickups and I don‘t find the output of the Twisted Tele pickup to be more powerful than other Tele pickups I have played. Can anyone explain this? Or am I misunderstanding something?

It's interesting but I prefer an " underwound" version of these. They just sound more Telecaster'ish to me. I have a tone knob to tailor the treble. The NOCASTER version get's my pick of the crop.

 

[Gretev1]

It's interesting but I prefer an " underwound" version of these. They just sound more Telecaster'ish to me. I have a tone knob to tailor the treble. The NOCASTER version get's my pick of the crop.

That‘s interesting. Do you find the output of the Twisted Teles to be louder than other pickups? Oddly, even though the specs for the Twisted Tele list a DC resistance of 10k in the bridge, I don‘t find the output to be stronger than other Tele pickups. I love the 51 Nocasters but to my ear the Twisted Tele bridge sounds mellower while the Nocasters have a much more pronounced high end. Nocasters are very bright and twangy. They can be shrill on the top end depending on the settings.
But Nocasters certainly have that quintessential „Blackguard Tele“ sound.

 

[golfnut]

I loved the CS twisted tele set that came in my wildwood 52 thin skin. I'd have kept that guitar if it wasn't for the neck which I didn't get along with.

 

[Gretev1]

I loved the CS twisted tele set that came in my wildwood 52 thin skin. I'd have kept that guitar if it wasn't for the neck which I didn't get along with.

What was wrong with the neck? What shape neck was on it?

 

[golfnut]

What was wrong with the neck? What shape neck was on it?

The fretboard edges were so over rolled that the 2 E strings fell off even when you pressed straight down. The frets were aggressively beveled with did not help matters.
I took it to some one to do some work to try and fix the problem. They sanded down the fret board to get rid of most of the rolled edges then I had them put stainless steel frets.
The problem then was that the neck was far too thin for me. I usually like a neck thats closer to an inch in depth all the way down the neck.
My thin skin started out at .920 or so at the first and .960 at the 12th. Any less than that I don't like it.
When the work was done it was more like .820 at the first to .890 at the 12th. Not really bad and most people don't mind that but too small for me. I held on to it for a while trying to like it. The stainless frets were great and with the finish off the fretboard and back of the neck it felt fantastic. In the end I sold it to a young kid who loved the smaller neck.
It was a U shape

 

[Guitarteach]

Those and the fat neck made the 50’s Baja the best Tele ever made.

 

[alnico357]

I have owned one Telecaster. It has the custom shop Twisted Tele neck and Broadcaster bridge PUs. They sound like a Telecaster to me. I have no idea if they sound like they are "supposed to." I'm not spending any time/money to find out. I just play it.

 

[bonzo898]

Have them in my stock 2012 Am Std. I think they sound amazing. You can’t get a bad sound out of them. All 3 positions are great!

 

[golfnut]

I have owned one Telecaster. It has the custom shop Twisted Tele neck and Broadcaster bridge PUs. They sound like a Telecaster to me. I have no idea if they sound like they are "supposed to." I'm not spending any time/money to find out. I just play it.

I think you are better off finding a tele that you like how it plays and how it sounds then leave it alone. I spent many years modding and tried pretty much every pickup on the market that was supposed to be the greatest upgrade, blah blah. I even put a set of kinman broadcasters in with the wiring harness that completely replaced all the electronics and was supposed to be the cats meow. None of them sounded better just different. For the last 15 years or so I find them how I like them and leave them alone.

 

[Gretev1]

The fretboard edges were so over rolled that the 2 E strings fell off even when you pressed straight down. The frets were aggressively beveled with did not help matters.
I took it to some one to do some work to try and fix the problem. They sanded down the fret board to get rid of most of the rolled edges then I had them put stainless steel frets.
The problem then was that the neck was far too thin for me. I usually like a neck thats closer to an inch in depth all the way down the neck.
My thin skin started out at .920 or so at the first and .960 at the 12th. Any less than that I don't like it.
When the work was done it was more like .820 at the first to .890 at the 12th. Not really bad and most people don't mind that but too small for me. I held on to it for a while trying to like it. The stainless frets were great and with the finish off the fretboard and back of the neck it felt fantastic. In the end I sold it to a young kid who loved the smaller neck.
It was a U shape

I share your love of fat necks! Sometimes Fender Custom Shop Teles have a fat 52 U shaped neck but I have noticed that they vary quite a bit. Personally I love the 1954 Strat U shaped neck. I also have a Paul Waller master built Strat with an obscure neck shape called „50‘s Tele U shape neck“, it is similar to a 1959 Les Paul shaped neck. I do love Nocaster necks but sometimes there is just a tad too much shoulder on those necks.

 

[stratoman1]

I like the ones I have. Neck is nice and full and bridge is bright enough to have " that " Tele sound but not so bright it hurts. It's a well rounded set

 

[chrisr0712]

if the 10k bridge uses 43awg then output is equivalent to around 8k with 42awg.

 

[BorderRadio]

I’ve been a fan of the neck pickup for awhile. I recently got a set in my ‘55 Thin Skin, and I was impressed with the bridge as well. I’m not one for ‘hot’ bridge pickups, they sometimes kill the liveliness for me. But this one still has it—I would not be surprised if it was 43awg. Besides, I have lower wind Tele bridge pickups.

Only slightly does the bridge overpower the neck pickup. My neck pickup is already high up too. I can lower the bridge pickup, but I just leave it, don’t want to mess with a good thing. Others might call it a balance.

 

[DHart]

I run the Twisted Tele neck pickup with a Nocaster bridge pickup from time to time - excellent tones; I like 'em! (Never tried the TT bridge pickup, and not sure that I want to?)

In fact, I ran just that combo (TT neck & Nocaster bridge) the last day or so, in my NGD Tele:

 

[AJBaker]

if the 10k bridge uses 43awg then output is equivalent to around 8k with 42awg.

This.

DC resistance only makes (some) sense if your comparing the same thickness of wire.
Thinner wire like 43awg has more resistance per foot than thicker 42awg wire.

That's why some of the earliest pickups from the 40s (that used stuff thicker than 42awg) have readings like 3k and aren't wreak. Conversely, I've seen strat bridge pickups made with 44awg that measure 16k that are hot, but aren't 4 times more powerful than a normal 6k pickup.

 

[Gretev1]

Those and the fat neck made the 50’s Baja the best Tele ever made.

I agree! If I was to obtain a Tele on a budget I would definitely aim for the Baja Tele! Didn‘t the Baja Tele have a „Broadcaster“ pickup in the bridge? Sounds like a dream guitar for an awesome price! While on the subject if I were to buy a Strat on a budget I‘d go for the Fender Classic Player 60‘s Strat. It has Custom Shop 69 Strat pickups, a 12 inch radius fretboard and medium jumbo frets. It‘s essentially a Custom Shop Strat that was not built in the Custom Shop but has all the features.

 

[Gretev1]

I run the Twisted Tele neck pickup with a Nocaster bridge pickup from time to time - excellent tones; I like 'em! (Never tried the TT bridge pickup, and not sure that I want to?)


In fact, I ran just that combo (TT neck & Nocaster bridge) the last day or so, in my NGD Tele:

Very nice Tele with a rare finish! The Nocaster bridge pickup has that quintessential blackguard Tele tone to my ear. Super bright, super twangy. You should definitely try the Twisted Tele bridge just to compare. It is very different compared to the Nocaster in my opinion. It‘s powerful but I would not call it a „hot“ pickup. The highs are there but much more „rounded off“ and lightyears away from the shrill Nocaster top end. The Twisted Tele is very Stratty sounding but has a slightly more pronounced bright top end like a Tele. So to my ear it‘s kind of like a Strat/Tele hybrid.

 

[DHart]

Very nice Tele with a rare finish! The Nocaster bridge pickup has that quintessential blackguard Tele tone to my ear. Super bright, super twangy. You should definitely try the Twisted Tele bridge just to compare. It is very different compared to the Nocaster in my opinion. It‘s powerful but I would not call it a „hot“ pickup. The highs are there but much more „rounded off“ and lightyears away from the shrill Nocaster top end. The Twisted Tele is very Stratty sounding but has a slightly more pronounced bright top end like a Tele. So to my ear it‘s kind of like a Strat/Tele hybrid.

Someday I may get the opportunity to try the Twisted Tele bridge pickup.

Aside from that, I'd like to compare the Nocaster to the Broadcaster bridge pickups.

Current production Nocaster bridge and the Broadcaster bridge pickups are very similar pickups. They share the same bobbins, they have a similar number of turns, of the same 42AWG wire, and have approximately the same DCR (around 7.3k +/-).

Vintage Nocaster and Broadcaster pickups are notorious for varying dramatically from one pickup to another - some are over wound, some are under wound (widely varying DCR), some may vary in wire size, or composition. So, there really isn't much of a "standard" when it comes to what the original, vintage models actually were.

Where current production models differ, today, is essentially in the magnetic composition of the slugs: A3 for Nocaster and A5 for Broadcaster. My experience has been that the A5 mags tend to have a slight bit more high-end, which tends to be slightly rounded off by A3 mags.

I do have several CS Nocaster bridge pickups and a CS Broadcaster bridge pickup, though I have not carefully compared them back-to-back to each other. My hunch is that many people would not likely notice much difference between them, as the audible differences between the pickups are probably less noticeable than the the various differences between guitars themselves, signal chain differences, etc.

For myself, I am quite content playing either CS Broadcaster or CS Nocaster bridge pickups, (or other branded pickups made to similar specs) but perhaps the Nocaster may have a very slightly rounded high end - perhaps audible in some circumstances and not so much so in many others.