Page 1 of 2
I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 11:39 pm
by ThurberMingus
So I've got this sweet Telemaster that I built with the help of a local luthier and our dear friend DRodriguez. It's got some alright pickups that the luthier wound, but after comparing it to my Jazzmaster I'm feeling a little underwhelmed by them. I've got some Seymour Duncan Antiquity IIs in my JM and I can't foresee ever replacing them with anything, and I'd like some Telecaster-style pickups that got me into a similar tonal space. Ultimately I'd like to have something with a slightly different sound/feel, as I like my guitars to be distinctly different. I thought about the Antiquity for Tele pickups, but I've heard that the neck position is pretty dark, and I've got a dark neck pickup now and don't care for it at all.
I play shoegazey jangle indie, with some ambient elements and post-punk influence. Tell me what kind of Tele style pickups you like for this style of music!
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 12:22 am
by repoman
Check out Bareknuckle Yardbirds
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:02 am
by Adamadamadam
I really like the SD Jerry Donahue for bridge. It still sounds like a tele, but it's a bit fatter and a bit warmer without any icepick. Made for a killer esquire.
I don't really have any good recommendations for the neck.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:23 am
by kosta
I have yet to meet a Lollar pickup that I didn't like. Curtis Novak too for that matter. The Creamery is also on my shortlist of pickups to try.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:55 am
by repoman
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 12:09 pm
by ThurberMingus
Oof I really like how that looks. Novak bridge and gold neck? Sounds like money.
If I can get a deal on some Lollars maybe I'll go that route!
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 12:19 pm
by The Mad Titan
http://bg-pups.com/teles/
Maybe a T90 Bridge and one of his Tele A3 necks?
I have a Pure 90 in the bridge of my SG and it kills. It sounds a little different, though just as good, as my Gibson P90's in my LP Special, and is constructed better (more solid by far, with the lead wires anchored instead of just coming straight off the coil).
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 12:22 pm
by The Mad Titan
If you had an HB or P90 route I'd say leap do not look at the TV Jones T-Armond. It's what I put in the neck of my SG along with the bridge Pure 90, and the cleans on that guitar are downright sinfully sexy and delicious.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:45 pm
by ThurberMingus
I need something bright and jangly, my current pickups are kind of dull, but full bodied. I like treble a lot more than bass

for that reason I'll probably avoid p90 or HB style pickups.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:33 am
by antennafarm
BKP's of some sort - I'm sure any will do, in particular the vintage sets. Blackguards, son!
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 3:34 am
by DRodriguez
Get the same one I got in my telemaster, the creamery pickups sonic 60! I got the hot version, it cuts like a tiger in a bouncy castle and satisfies all my jangly finger picking needs. Anything that man makes is great, and he gives good advice if you ask him for direction on the pickups.
Lollars can be great too, never owned a guitar with them, but I've played quite a few in shops and I've always been pleased.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:40 pm
by ThurberMingus
I put in a low ball offer on some Lindy Fralin pickups, if that works out cool, if not I'll check out Creamery and some others.
Side note: David, sorry I didn't get to hang out with you more in the NYC, a weekend is such a short period of time there and I needed to do some sight-seeing with my GF. Next time I'm around I'll try to be in town for at least a week so we can actually have a reasonable amount of time to hang out and mess around in your studio! Going to the wrong sushi shop was a major Midwest boy fail as well.
Other side note: trying to find decent clips of Telecaster pickups is a one-way ticket to blues hell.
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 9:11 pm
by DRodriguez
All good, sorry I was so fucking busy and had to run. You're welcome anytime man.
Pickups are the hardest thing to find reasonable demos for. And even then, they change sound so much depending on how they play with your setup. More often than not, you're end up just taking an educated guess.
I have like a bag of unused shitty pickups that I just use for weird things now, lol. All I have left are some bass pickups, a few low end humbuckers, and bottom of the barrel made in china tele pickups. I need to find something good to build with all of them. Electric harp?
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 10:00 pm
by neonblack
Make a bass VI with the bass pickups and some guitar pickups and do two output jacks and two pedal chains and two amps
Re: I need pickups for my Telemaster.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 11:18 pm
by DRodriguez
neonblack wrote:Make a bass VI with the bass pickups and some guitar pickups and do two output jacks and two pedal chains and two amps
While you're at it, implant strings and a pickup into your arm. Flexing will be your tremolo.
I get weird when I'm tired