To make adjustment less hassle, you can mount it to the pickguard like a Strat. PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo: The PG Review, 3. If this doesn’t do the trick for you, it’s time to think about a replacement pickup. The bridge should pop off now. Now that we’ve explored Telecaster bridge pickups, we’ve arrived at the final stage of our journey: the neck pickup. CLA EchoSphere: Waves’ free Black Friday VST plugin is a slap delay and plate reverb from Chris Lord-Alge. By Oct 21, 2014 #1. brandonwhite Tele-Meister. Most players (myself included) don’t like its sound and simply don’t use it. One of my personal choices is a P-90 soapbar pickup, but you can also use a P-94 in standard humbucker size. Follow these instructions here: First, put all screws through the Bridge Plate. Hooked: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", 4. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:100%;} It won’t be glued on, trust us. The old lead pickup had a plastic base plate, which needed the solder tag to join the earth wire to the bridge. Who is the best acoustic guitarist of 2020? Unscrew the control plate and stash the screws. Next time we’ll put our Teles out of phase, and I’ll share a funny historic story on this topic. Terms Of Use. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. Time to solder the new connections in. It’s a fine way to get old-school tone. You can check that the switch isn’t back to front and the volume and tone controls work. Surprisingly, the sound of a vintage-flavored PAF humbucker works well with a Tele bridge pickup, and playing them together wired in parallel results in a well-balanced tone in the P-90 ballpark. Carefully remove the old rhythm pickup - don’t yank the wires yet! Few players really love the Tele neck pickup. If you are putting in another pickup with a plastic base, replace this solder tag. Be very careful and don’t be tempted to jam a screwdriver in as you’ll damage the finish. Thank you for signing up to Musicradar. The PH2 screwdriver seems to fit most of these longer screws nicely. Push Rubber Tubing on each screw. This guide will also cover two different types of lead pickup. Smaller than a Stratocaster pickup, the stock Tele neck pickup sports a closed metal cover and is usually installed with two wood screws that tap right into the body underneath the pickguard. MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. It’ll sit quite snuggly as you use a pencil to mark the hole positions at either end. I'm getting a tele replacement body from Warmoth, and I want to mount the neck pickup to the body instead of to the pickguard. The telecaster bridge is unique and has to be removed to take the lead pickup out. 2, Mod Garage: The Super-Flexible, Super-Simple Telecaster Wiring, Mod Garage: Exploring the Tele Pickup Palette, 1. P-90. Configured this way, a lipstick neck pickup sounds quite “acoustic.”. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. Discussion in 'Tele-Technical' started by martyb1, Mar 5, 2007. Visit our corporate site. A Telecaster’s neck pickup is also susceptible to damage. I think it looks neater if it's mounted to the body. You get a true Strat tone soloing the neck pickup, and it also sounds great combined with the Tele bridge pickup because the Strat pickup contributes warmth. The cover is there to provide shielding, and if you don’t want to lose this benefit, install an “open-frame” replacement metal cover. I have pickguards to match the holes and I could drill some holes in the pickguard and mount them that way. To make adjustment less hassle, you can mount it to the pickguard like a Strat. I want to mount a Telecaster neck pickup to the body. Photo courtesy of LeoSounds Pickups (leosounds.de). Nashville session giant Brent Mason orients his neck-position mini-humbucker so the open pole-piece row faces the bridge. A lipstick is also ideal if you want to imitate flattop strumming on your Tele: Roll back the volume to about 60 or 70 percent and make sure you’re not using a treble-bleed network on the volume pot. This DIY protector mat comes in handy at the workshop. The anatomy of a Tele neck pickup. Strat-style neck pickup adjustment. and we’re upgrading to some swish ’64 Telecaster pickups. 7. Privacy Policy | It’s the perfect mate to a Telecaster bridge pickup, and even some Fender signature models like the Jerry Donahue and Clarence White Telecasters leave the factory with one. Our rhythm pickup and lead pickup are still hanging on! But remember, unless it’s a drop-in Tele design, installing a replacement neck pickup requires enlarging the pickup cavity and either buying a new pickguard or reworking your current one. Most of the muffled sound is caused by the metal cover, especially when it’s not made of German silver (an alloy consisting of copper, nickel, and zinc), so it’s always a good idea to remove the cover to enhance the pickup’s tone. Loosen the pickup bolts (PH2 again) but be mindful of the solder tag that may be hanging off. First you need screw holes in your pickguard. All my previous Teles have had the neck pickup … Mini-humbucker/Firebird. You’ll also need to decide whether you want to stick with the traditional mounting method (screws surrounded by latex tubing going directly into the wood) or use a Strat-style method of drilling two holes through the pickguard. Bright, warm, and twangy, the Gretsch-inspired pickup is a perfect mate for all Nocaster-style bridge pickups. The PH2 screwdriver seems to fit most of these longer screws nicely. This helps the pickup’s tone a lot, yet maintains most of the shielding. Mounting Tele Neck Pickup to Body Discussion in 'Tele Home Depot' started by brandonwhite, Oct 21, 2014. All Rights Reserved He’s also a hardcore DIY-er for guitars, amps, and stompboxes and runs a website on the subject (singlecoil.com). Tele Neck pickups can get damaged by the pickguard if they mount into a pickguard. Quick test: plug the Tele in to an amp and gently tap test the pickup by tapping a screwdriver onto the pole pieces. True singlecoils will have two wires coming from them: a ‘hot’ and a ‘ground’ but sometimes there’s a third that is soldered to the back of a pot. With its glassy, twangy tone, the lipstick pickup is a perfect choice for funk, ska, surf, or reggae players. There was a problem. Mounting a Telecaster neck pickup on the pickguard. Joined: Oct 11, 2009 Location: Volusia County, Florida. Jack Ellis On PremierGuitar.com, "Sponsored Content" refers to articles, videos, or audio recordings that are produced or curated by an advertiser but that, The COVID Files: Inside the Mod Garage Shop During Lockdown, How to Get the Most out of Hum-Sing-Hum Wiring, Mod Garage: Inside the 3-way Telecaster Pickup Switch, Mod Garage: The Bill Lawrence 5-way Telecaster Circuit, Mod Garage: Exploring the Tele Pickup Palette, Pt. If your pickups are back to front, just swap the two hot wires on the three-way switch. Joined: Aug 9, 2011 Location: Salt Lake City. Get your screwdrivers out and soldering iron on! Tin each of the new pickup wires with a small amount of solder then pop them onto the same terminals they came from. Bath This is another great choice with a tone that’s similar to a P-90, but a tad fatter and warmer—and naturally free of hum and noise because these are real humbuckers! Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Charlie Christian. We’ve got to figure out which wires are the ones belonging to our old pickups, give them a light tug and you’ll see. A great choice for classic rock ’n’ roll, surf, and of course, rockabilly. Ah—the classic Keith Richards configuration. DeArmond/Filter’Tron. Who is the best online guitar personality of 2020? Whip off the ’guard with your PH1 screwdriver, making sure that you don’t lose any of the small parts. That said, there are some superb alternatives to the stock Tele neck pickup. (Total Guitar) 07 February 2018, Supercharge your Telecaster’s sound with a single-coil swap. A full-sized humbucker delivers a Les Paul-inspired neck pickup tone, but because of the Telecaster’s longer scale length, you get a stronger attack and more note definition. Don't miss the latest deals, news, reviews, features and tutorials.