Ultimate Tele tone!

[FuseG4]

I think the ultimate tele tone comes from the 5-string Open G approach a la Keef. A P.A.F humbucker makes a vintage tele sound so sweet and it has a definate rock 'n roll tone. I think its what the tele was designed to do.

[litchfield]

there is a song call "blue collor suiside" by the refreshments. That is the perfect tele tone

[Lewguitar]

Thot I'd give you all an update:

I pulled the JD lead pickup from my James Burton Tele and put it in the Fender '53 Tele.

I installed a set of Antiquitys in the James Burton.

I wasn't as happy with the results as I'd hoped: the JD wasn't bright enough in the swamp ash '53 and the Antiquitys were a little brighter than I wanted in the James Burton.

So this is how my Teles are set up now:

'53 Tele: set of Duncan Antiquitys...I love them in this guitar.
'54 Tele: set of Fralin Blues Specials
'02 James Burton Tele: Duncan Jerry Donahue & Fralin Tele stock neck.

What I'm finding is that the '54 Tele has the best neck pickup alone tone...

But that the neck & bridge combination tones are nicer in the other two Teles with weaker and covered neck pickups!

The combined n & b tone on a Tele is where I tend to spend most of my time when I'm playing rythym or accompaniment...when that combination is "right" it has a clear, bright, jangley chime that's really nice for rythym.

Lew

[BS123]

I pulled the JD lead pickup from my James Burton Tele and put it in the Fender '53 Tele.

I wasn't as happy with the results as I'd hoped: the JD wasn't bright enough in the swamp ash '53 and the Antiquitys were a little brighter than I wanted in the James Burton.

Lew

Funny hat the JD wasn't bright in the ash but was in the alder-bodied James Burton? Interesting. Just goes to show that that are no absolutes anywhere.

[Lewguitar]

Funny hat the JD wasn't bright in the ash but was in the alder-bodied James Burton? Interesting. Just goes to show that that are no absolutes anywhere.

No kidding! I was surprised.

My alder James Burton is brighter than either of my slightly lighter swamp ash Teles.

The JD didn't sound quite as inspiring in the swamp ash Teles...I expected the JD to sound even better in my '53, but it didn't! So I put it back in the alder Tele because that's the best that Tele has ever sounded.

All three are identical except for the body wood. Same bridge with 3 brass saddles and one piece maple neck with Kluson tuners too.

I'm kind of on a quest now for the ULTIMATE TELE NECK PICKUP...that's why I wanted to try the Fralin Tele Stock neck pickup in my Alder Tele, the James Burton.

So far I've tried:

Fralin Blues Special neck
Fralin Tele Stock neck
Duncan Antiquity neck
Duncan Alnico II Pro neck
Fender Nocaster neck
Fender Texas Tele neck

The Fralin BS is my fave overall when played by itself...but my fave when it's combined with the bridge pickup is the Duncan Antiquity neck and Fralin Tele Stock neck.

Those two just get a beautiful, chimey jangle that's great for rythym when combined with the bridge pickup.

Lew

[BS123]

So far my favorite Tele neck pickups are the Fender Nocaster and the DiMarzio Twang King. I would like to try an Alnico II Pro.

[Lewguitar]

So far my favorite Tele neck pickups are the Fender Nocaster and the DiMarzio Twang King. I would like to try an Alnico II Pro.

I thought the AIIPro was to dark...even in my alder Tele. The Antiquity is similar but brighter and livlier. The NoCaster neck is strong and bright...nice! I removed it last week and replaced it with the Antiquity neck.

By itself the Nocaster neck has more presence and output than the Antiquity neck, but when the Antiquity neck is combined with the Antiquity bridge it gets a truly lovely sound!

As far as matched sets go, the Duncan Antiquity set and Fralin BS set are winning this shoot-out...

Lew

[BS123]

I thought the AIIPro was to dark...even in my alder Tele.

I'm glad to know that. I had the A2 Pro in my Poplar B-bender Tele and it was very dark.

By itself the Nocaster neck has more presence and output than the Antiquity neck
Lew

Yes, the Nocaster is great...

[saxon]

I've found that the weaker the neck pickup is, the better the in between sound is. When I set my Fralin’s with the neck and bridge both hot, individually they both sounded great but when combined it just sort of clogged the sound up. When the neck PU was backed off a lot, it really opened up that middle position and sounds great. One of the best middle positions I've heard was from a set of Nocasters that had a neck pickup that was almost dead. I returned the set for a refund cause the neck pickup was so weak it was unusable by itself, but man that middle position was incredible.

[Bludave]

Albert Collins was the man with a Tele. He played one note and you knew it was a Tele. I think he also played through Fender Concerts or Supers. I saw him live twice and his tone was even more amazing live. Considering he picked with his index finger and capoed at the 9th fret. He basically used half the neck and his hands to get great tone.
I also feel Danny and Roy were the epitimy of the Tele sound. But I prefer Albert Collins tone.... He was not as bright as Roy and much more understated in his playing than Danny. Although I feel Danny Gatton was a pure genius. I believe he could have achieved his sound with anything... He simply preferred the feel and tone of the TELE. D.S.

[Lewguitar]

I've found that the weaker the neck pickup is, the better the in between sound is.

I think that observation is right on the money. I spend alot of my time playing rythym in the middle position: neck and bridge combined. That tone has a nicer, cleaner chime in my two Teles with the weaker covered pickups...even tho my Tele with the stronger, uncovered neck pickup has the better "neck pickup only" tone.

On the first Paul Butterfield album Mike Bloomfield is playing a Tele and alot of the solos are done with the neck and bridge pickup combined. He gets a big fat honkin' tone that to me is just classic!

Lew

[RBB]

Wow! Excellent information and observations by everyone involved. It goes to show how different types / makes of pickups work in various tele's. Ash, Mahogany, Alder, Poplar, Basswood all have a bit to do with the tone you'll get from various pickups...as do the type of amp you use and your musical style. I have three teles at the moment and have had many over the years. My #1 is a chambered Mahogany beaut that currently sports a Duncan Seth Lover in the neck and a T-90 ( awesome P-90 flavor pickup made by Steve Kersting ) in the bridge. This is my "blues" tele. Well, actually it's the one I play 90% of the time as it feels and sounds so good. These two pickups are an excellent fit with this tele. The Seth has been in there from the get go, but I've been through a Duncan Broadcaster, Van Zandt Flat Pole, Twang King. Lil 59r & Electrokraft Blue in the bridge. The T-90 was just made for this guitar. While the other pickups were certainly satisfactory, the T-90 brought together all the elements I liked on the others. The middle setting is stunning and the various shades with volume and tone knob tweaks boggles my mind. I have a nice 71 tele and the stock pickups in that one are wonderful for country / country rock stylings. I did change the control plate out with 250K pots as the 1megs were a bit much on the treble end. I've yet to try the highly thought of Hammels as the price is more than I care to spend on pickups. I've had excellent luck with Antiquities, Electrokraft, Van Zandts, Duncans and Dimarzios. I recently picked up a set of Virtual Vintage DiMarzios and I'm pleasently suprised how good they sound in my poplar tele. Twang Kings have always been a good sounding pickup for very little money. The neck is a killer pickup. The bridge model is a bit polite for my tastes, but still works well. The cream of the crop for me however are Jason Lollars offerings. His vintage wind teles are about the best I've heard. The hotter specials are great for blues while still retaining some nice spank. I also have a set of his pickups in my strat and after many changes over the last 20 years, these are staying. They made a great guitar an outstanding guitar. I have not tried Lindy's tele pickups, but his strat pups are stunning. There are some wonderful cottage industry pickup makers out there. I'd like to try them all someday!

[Nico 666]

Hi!

Has anyone tried a set of John Suhr for Tele?
Any comment?

[dogcityrocker]

Hello all. Im a newby here. I frequent the TDPR page and caught your great Tele discussion here.

Im looking to swap out my pu's and am on the hunt for THE pu combo. Though I love the T-90 /Vintage Plus combo from Harmonic Design, it eliminates the tele's natural born tone.

Im interested in the JD and the antiquity. Any opinions on mix and match, ie JD bridge and Antiquity neck? or should one go with a match set?

If it helps, I play old school punk rock (ala Clash, Ramones, some hint of MG5) and I want a pickup that distorts nicely but retains a nice clean tone. And I like a nice, warm feedback now and again.

[Lewguitar]

At the moment, my '53 Tele has a set of Antiquitys and my James Burton has the Jerry Donahue and Fralin Tele Stock neck pickup. Those two sets have become my favorites over the last couple of weeks...

I learned so much doing this shootout!

The biggest thing I learned is that the Jerry Donahue and Antiquity lead pickups have the tones I've been searching for since the early 70's...the Antiquity is a little brighter and a little less powerful than the overwound JD but both quack and sing beautifully.

The second thing I learned is that being a Strat player, I naturally thought I needed a Tele neck pickup with the output and tone of a Strat pickup. And for soloing on the neck pickup only, a Tele neck pickup with the output of a Strat is great! The Fralin Blues Special neck does that beautifully and has the fullest, strongest, most Strat-like tone of the lot...

However, with a strong neck pickup like that, when the bridge and neck pickups are combined I lose the bright jangling chime! THAT is a classic Tele tone and a shame to lose...

A Tele player that didn't get mentioned at the beginning of this thread is Chrissie Hynde...I love that chimey rythym tone she gets, and you'll hear it all over Pretenders CD's.

For THAT, a covered Tele neck pickup with vintage output and tone is a must. By itself, the neck pickup might sound a little weak and lacking in highs, but the tone when it's combined with the bridge pickup is BEAUTIFUL!

Just an update: I removed the uncovered Fralin Blues Special neck pickup from my '54 Tele and put the covered neck pickup back in. The neck pickup by itself is not as strong...especially for soloing.

But the middle tone is SO MUCH nicer when the neck and bridge are combined.

[Curly]

welcome to the board

either combo would be great!

the JD might have a little more pop in the bridge, but they are both very "vocal" - that is, a nice rounding off on the end of the note

the Ants aren't real high output, but push easily. They are very well balanced as a set, but that's not saying a JD/ Ant neck wouldn't work as well. Part of the appeal of Ants is the care that goes into the cosmetics, although that wouldn't mean much if they didn't sound so good. They are very warm and responsive.

I have several clips here:
http://www.bluestheater.net/antiquities.html

[dogcityrocker]

nice. Thanks for the sound bites! Gotta say, you have me lookin seriously at the ants!

In reading the first post, the naming of Tele users, my favorite rock n roll hero was left out. Joe Strummer of the Clash. He, above all others, illustrate how versitile the tele really is!

[Curly]

Joe was mentioned in a "favorite tele players" thread.

[dogcityrocker]

Dumb question. Is SD still producing the antiquitys? Im not seeing them on the website under tele.

[Lewguitar]

The Antiquitys are listed under ANTIQUITY. Threw me at first too!

Lew