Which Lollar neck pickup to replace a Twisted Tele

[SavBalac]

Hi,

I have a Baja Tele which has a Twisted Tele neck pickup. It doesn't sound like a traditional neck pickup to me.

I'm thinking of getting a Lollar Tele neck pickup, as I'm happy with the Lollar Dirty Blackface set in my Strat.

Out of the options - '52, Vintage, Special - which, in your experience, would give the most "authentic" Tele sound? Ideally, I'd like it to match the output level of the Strat Blackface neck pickup.

Thanks!

 

[hmemerson]

Hi,

I have a Baja Tele which has a Twisted Tele neck pickup. It doesn't sound like a traditional neck pickup to me.

I'm thinking of getting a Lollar Tele neck pickup, as I'm happy with the Lollar Dirty Blackface set in my Strat.

Out of the options - '52, Vintage, Special - which, in your experience, would give the most "authentic" Tele sound? Ideally, I'd like it to match the output level of the Strat Blackface neck pickup.

Thanks!

I have no idea what 'authentic' means, but I do have a Lollar that came in a National Resolectric that I removed. If in your search for tone descriptions it is mentioned, and you're interested, by all means get in touch.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

 

[jvin248]

.

You've tried all the usual pickup height adjustments up/down/tilted to improve the tone of the current pickup?
You've tried a few different pots 'n caps? Measured the actual kohms of the volume pot you have and replaced with actual measuring higher/lower?

Those items can push tone around as much as swapping pickups.... a whole lot less sexy than new pickups but they can still do heavy lifting for a tenth the price. Sometimes people swap several rounds of boutique pickups to find a pickup that matches with the $20 of particular control parts they have.

.

 

[SavBalac]

.

You've tried all the usual pickup height adjustments up/down/tilted to improve the tone of the current pickup?
You've tried a few different pots 'n caps? Measured the actual kohms of the volume pot you have and replaced with actual measuring higher/lower?

Those items can push tone around as much as swapping pickups.... a whole lot less sexy than new pickups but they can still do heavy lifting for a tenth the price. Sometimes people swap several rounds of boutique pickups to find a pickup that matches with the $20 of particular control parts they have.

.

Hi Jvin,

I've adjusted the height of the pickup to match the volume of the neck pickup in my Strat (so I don't have to adjust pedal/amp settings when changing guitars). The output is fine.

I replaced the volume pot to a CTS 250k audio taper pot - 250k seems to be the norm for Teles.

It's just that Fender themselves state that the Twisted Tele neck pickup is voiced to sound more like a Strat.
From their website: "Fender Twisted Tele pickups deliver hot high-output Telecaster guitar tone with a dash of sparkling Stratocaster® guitar character."

So I need a neck pickup that sounds more like a Tele - suggestions welcome!

 

[SavBalac]

I have no idea what 'authentic' means, but I do have a Lollar that came in a National Resolectric that I removed. If in your search for tone descriptions it is mentioned, and you're interested, by all means get in touch.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

Hi Howard,

Is it a Tele '52, Vintage or Special?

Thanks!

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Call Jason.

 

[tfarny]

The best part about spending that kind of money on boutique winders is that you get to call them up and talk directly to someone who can answer your question - no need to crowdsource from folks who mostly don't have experience with the exact pickups you're referring to.

 

[hmemerson]

Hi Howard,

Is it a Tele '52, Vintage or Special?

Thanks!

It's marked as 'Special'.

It also appears to say '2008', which is about right as I purchased the Resolectric barely used/touched at least 8 years ago.

Tim Learch does a nice demonstration of a Lollar neck pickup that he's referring to as a 'Special', but I have no idea if it's the same.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

I think more important than whether your pickup matches your strat is how it plays with your tele bridge pickup in terms of output, polarity and noise cancellation. Unless you plan to simultaneously replace the bridge.

No hate for Lollar whatsoever, but I would look at Cavalier because he has several more neck offerings and options to order different wind directions and top polarity to match your Fender bridge pickup.

If you ARE set on matching your strat neck pickup, I would start by taking a measurement of it with a multimeter...or at least getting the DCR from the specs on Fender's website...though strat and tele pickups are different animals and DCR is only one element of tone. Again, Rob (Cavalier) or Jason (Lollar) could help you with this. I would do the same with your bridge pickup while you're at it. That way, you can hopefully find something that fits BOTH needs effectively. Good luck.

 

[beninma]

This place is heavily pushing Cavalier all the time because he's a member here. Take it for what it's worth.

You asked about Lollars.

The "Special T" pickups are hotter. "Vintage T" is more traditional with less output. "Tele '52" is the least hot and most vintage sounding. "Tele Alnico 3" is designed to have less/tighter bass response. (That one doesn't sound like what you wanted.)

I had a Tele setup with a Vintage T in the neck and a Special T in the bridge. It was a great setup, I had bought that setup because I'd tried on some Nash Teles. The Lollar Vintage T always sounded fantastic to me in the neck.

 

[Sea Devil]

The more "authentic"-sounding a Tele neck pickup is, the less likely it is that it will match the perceived out put of your Strat's pickup.

 

[SavBalac]

This place is heavily pushing Cavalier all the time because he's a member here. Take it for what it's worth.

You asked about Lollars.

The "Special T" pickups are hotter. "Vintage T" is more traditional with less output. "Tele '52" is the least hot and most vintage sounding. "Tele Alnico 3" is designed to have less/tighter bass response. (That one doesn't sound like what you wanted.)

I had a Tele setup with a Vintage T in the neck and a Special T in the bridge. It was a great setup, I had bought that setup because I'd tried on some Nash Teles. The Lollar Vintage T always sounded fantastic to me in the neck.

Thanks Beninma, it sounds like a Vintage T set would be a good choice.

 

[chrisr0712]

I have a vintage T in my Nash tele. Love it!!!

 

[telemystix]

Lollar A3 - I cant post this in enough threads lol!

 

[dannyh]

The Lollar 52 is probably going to be what most purists would consider to be the most traditional neck pickup.

That said, the Vintage T neck pickup is a wonderful pickup, maybe a little hotter than what some might consider a traditional Tele neck pickup to be, but the tone is fantastic, IMO. It’s probably my favorite Tele pickup I’ve ever tried. YMMV.

For a complete set, I like the Vintage T neck and the Special T bridge. The Vintage bridge was a little overbearingly bright for me. Again YMMV. Best of luck!

 

[REWTX]

I have a Lollar vintage t in the neck of my parts caster and to me it sounds like a tele should. It is my favorite neck pickup.
And yes, anytime you mention any type of pickup on here you are going to get swamped with Cavalier recommendations. They may be great but l find that Lollars are hard to beat especially when it comes to teles.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

The best part about spending that kind of money on boutique winders is that you get to call them up and talk directly to someone who can answer your question - no need to crowdsource from folks who mostly don't have experience with the exact pickups you're referring to.

EXACTLY!!

 

[SPUDCASTER]

This place is heavily pushing Cavalier all the time because he's a member here. Take it for what it's worth]

Because he makes a great product, that's why. Bootstrap gets a lot of love, Mare, Fralin and a few others get accolades here too.

Take that for what it's worth.

 

[caspersvapors]

Don Mares 54 neck pickup is maybe the best pickup Ive ever heard so Id probably look there or find another winder with identical specs

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Vintage T.