which strat like neck pickup for tele?

[ballynally2]

I play mainly through my brown Fender Vibroverb RI. My current Squier JV 83 tele has a low wound (5.7k) Fender vintage 57/62 strat pickup in the neck. Blends in very nicely with my Van Zandt bridge output. The bobbins do not match the strings which is a problem at the top B and especially the E string, which is a tad wimpy, shimmery and lower volume.
Looking for a solution. I suspect a slightly higher output pup will do better.
In terms of sound: although i dig the neck strat sound and those pups do sound different in my tele i'm not wedded to it. But i do want some of that strat vibe.
So, after digging deep i've come up with these 4 options for my tele:

1 Twisted tele A5 magnet, 42 (strat) or 43 (tele) formvar? 5.9k
nickel cover
2 Lollar Royal T A5 magnet, 42 (strat) formvar 6.24k
nickel cover
3 Don Mare S telly A? magnet, 42 (strat) formvar 7.5k
chrome cover
4 Harmonic design A? magnet, 42 (strat) formvar ? k
Mini strat plastic strat or chrome cover

I know that there are many more but too many options fry the brain
Is there any more info on the Don Mare and Harmonic design pups and is the Fender twisted 42 or 43 formvar?

At the moment i find it very hard to judge the difference between the pups from websites and on videos. Different guitars and amp setups so how can you judge? And people's opinions differ. I play straight rocknroll, country, soul.

How much can a video tell you. At least on the Lollar site there are straight soundfiles plus live videos, both sounding great:



Both sounding great, but how can i possibly judge the Lollar against the others?
Has anybody tried at least 2 of them to compare? And please tell me exactly why you liked or didn't like them. And remember it's for a Fender brownface amp..

 

[BB]

Jason Lollar, Don Mare, Scott at Harmonic Design.....Hmmm. can't go wrong (IMHO) with whatever you pick. Three great winders who will do you right.

For a lower price option, check out a Dimarzio Twang King neck pickup. Take a mix of mini-hum, strat and (a great) tele neck pup and you have the TK.

 

[ballynally2]

Jason Lollar, Don Mare, Scott at Harmonic Design.....Hmmm. can't go wrong (IMHO) with whatever you pick. Three great winders who will do you right.

For a lower price option, check out a Dimarzio Twang King neck pickup. Take a mix of mini-hum, strat and (a great) tele neck pup and you have the TK.

im leaning towards lollar but only because of the sound and video samples.i cant find any clean don mare s telly sound samples.

 

[stratoman1]

I put a Fat Strat on one of mine years ago. Not bad

 

[ballynally2]

Guys, could you do me a favour? Please don't give me more options. my brain can't take it

 

[bluescube]

Talk to Ken at Rose pickups. He can wind what you desire affordably

 

[Commodore 64]

What he said. You want a Rose Bourbon.

 

[uriah1]

That antiquity tele neck sounds darn close. Imho

 

[Antigua Tele]

The cover is the main reason a Tele neck pickup doesn't sound like a Strat pickup. Beyond that, a Tele doesn't sound like a Strat under any circumstances, so you have to tame your expectations.

 

[Fatschlamp]

Addressing your options, I love my Twisted Tele and highly recommend it - sounds great doing Jimi-type moves. It somehow takes to any amp i have tried my tele in. However, I haven't tried the others.

 

[ballynally2]

The cover is the main reason a Tele neck pickup doesn't sound like a Strat pickup. Beyond that, a Tele doesn't sound like a Strat under any circumstances, so you have to tame your expectations.

brass cover,taller bobbins ,42 gauge formvar wire, all influence the sound.at least 3 of my chosen pickups have those specs.i already know what a strat pup sounds in a tele so i pretty much know what to expect.

I get the feeling most of you haven't properly read my first post..

 

[rze99]

The Tele I turn to if I want a Strat neck pup type sound has a twisted tele. I like it so much I've just bought a used one for a project.

 

[Antigua Tele]

brass cover,taller bobbins ,42 gauge formvar wire, all influence the sound.at least 3 of my chosen pickups have those specs.i already know what a strat pup sounds in a tele so i pretty much know what to expect.

I get the feeling most of you haven't properly read my first post..

The cover is nickel silver, not brass. I've studied pickups extensively, and I've found plenty of evidence that the cover makes a difference, but that the bobbin height and wire gauge do not have that much of an effect.

 

[bluescube]

I'll probably get a Rose Bourbon w/o cover. Just need to decide Alnico 2, 3 or 5

 

[ballynally2]

The cover is nickel silver, not brass. I've studied pickups extensively, and I've found plenty of evidence that the cover makes a difference, but that the bobbin height and wire gauge do not have that much of an effect.

i know modern covers are usually nickel and wouldnt have as big an influence as brass.still, the wire gauge together with the amount of windings, the size and the material type of the magnet (A2,3,5) including the bobbins must play a roll.i don't think a tele pup w the cover off sounds the same as a strat pickup(I had one long ago and it didn't, though it did give a tad more highs).However, i'm sure a pickup maker can tweak the tele neck pup parameters so that it sounds more like a strat, but something has to give.i think my 4 choices all have different specs than a standard tele neck pup, taller coil/bobbins,i think that includes the Fender Twisted.and they use 42 gauge.now, if the cover was the only difference, why would they do that? (Apart from the grounding issue).certainly not to fool us,me thinx..

 

[Royal Tele]

I've got the Lollar Royal T in the neck of my Tele and absolutely love it. I was sold on it because of the exact video you posted in your original post. I have a Strat as well and love to play it. I think it's true that in order to have a "genuine Strat neck tone" you need to play the neck pickup of an actual Strat. That said, the Lollar Royal T in the neck of my Tele does a VERY convincing Strat tone. It's very round and vocal and sounds as close to a Strat neck pickup as I've ever heard out of a Tele. Hate to complicate it any further for you, since it seems like you have almost made up your mind. But I'd strongly suggest going with the Lollar. It just sounds beautiful.

 

[ballynally2]

I've got the Lollar Royal T in the neck of my Tele and absolutely love it. I was sold on it because of the exact video you posted in your original post. I have a Strat as well and love to play it. I think it's true that in order to have a "genuine Strat neck tone" you need to play the neck pickup of an actual Strat. That said, the Lollar Royal T in the neck of my Tele does a VERY convincing Strat tone. It's very round and vocal and sounds as close to a Strat neck pickup as I've ever heard out of a Tele. Hate to complicate it any further for you, since it seems like you have almost made up your mind. But I'd strongly suggest going with the Lollar. It just sounds beautiful.

I'm glad you like the Lollar. I have the feeling i might actually have to play a tele with one in it to know.
While waiting for more posts/info i re alligned my strat neck pup in my tele so that the high E is right above the pole and the low E to the side. Since the low E has a stronger pull it doesn't matter much.
Now it's much more even. I've tamed the highs with an eq and took out some interfering frequencies with a para (around 160Hz). it's a very scooped sound. Very stratty but enough tele twang.
I will post some soundclips..

 

[Antigua Tele]

i know modern covers are usually nickel and wouldnt have as big an influence as brass.still, the wire gauge together with the amount of windings, the size and the material type of the magnet (A2,3,5) including the bobbins must play a roll.i don't think a tele pup w the cover off sounds the same as a strat pickup(I had one long ago and it didn't, though it did give a tad more highs).However, i'm sure a pickup maker can tweak the tele neck pup parameters so that it sounds more like a strat, but something has to give.i think my 4 choices all have different specs than a standard tele neck pup, taller coil/bobbins,i think that includes the Fender Twisted.and they use 42 gauge.now, if the cover was the only difference, why would they do that? (Apart from the grounding issue).certainly not to fool us,me thinx..

Gimmicks. They have to do something to make you think you're getting something different. The consensus among pickup winders is that there is no difference between 42 and 43 AWG for a given number of turns, and that's my finding as well, from a physics standpoint. It's less commonly known that the height of the bobbin is less relevant, but there is evidence to suggest that it doesn't, and there is no physics based argument to suggest that it should. Of course AlNiCo grades make a difference, but that's not a factor in this case.

Another feature of the twisted Tele neck is that is has only 2 henries inductance, where a value closer to 2.5H is more typical, making for a higher resonant peak. IMO, this is what probably makes it sound more Strat like than most other Tele neck pickups that also feature nickel silver covers.

 

[ballynally2]

The sound of my Tele with Strat neck pickup as it is:

 

[ballynally2]

Gimmicks. They have to do something to make you think you're getting something different. The consensus among pickup winders is that there is no difference between 42 and 43 AWG for a given number of turns, and that's my finding as well, from a physics standpoint. It's less commonly known that the height of the bobbin is less relevant, but there is evidence to suggest that it doesn't, and there is no physics based argument to suggest that it should. Of course AlNiCo grades make a difference, but that's not a factor in this case.

Another feature of the twisted Tele neck is that is has only 2 henries inductance, making for a higher resonant peak. IMO, this is what probably makes it sound more Strat like than most other Tele neck pickups that also feature nickel silver covers.

To call it Gimmicks is pushing it bit and rather a put down of reputable pickup makers. My take on it is that they probably use 42 gauge because that's a tried strat pickup method so you get in the ball park. Then changing the pickups' measurements to get the windings right, inductance ( i like your comment about this) and resistance factored in to their preference and made to fit the Tele. I don't think it's magic and i have an issue with makers charging more than $100 for one pickup including the ones i prefer..