Anyone fitted a set of Humbuckers to a Tele?
Discussion
I have this Tele which i really like playing, however since i mostly play metal the single coils just dont cut it unless i really crank the amp up...
So i am thinking of fitting a set of really hot humbuckers, like some duncan invaders?
I am yet to take the plates off the Tele, but i am guessing its only got the cut outs for the single coils?
Is it just a case of cutting away some wood with a dremel/multi-cutter, getting the humbucker plates and solder in the pickups?
Or will this be a right ball ache, and risk destroying a half decent guitar?
And will it sound good, i know its fairly popular for the neck in humbucker on Tele, but dont see many in the bridge (which is what i mainly use).
I may also look at somehow fitting a coil cut switch, as have this on a Les Paul which is useful.
So has anyone done this?
Cheers
So i am thinking of fitting a set of really hot humbuckers, like some duncan invaders?
I am yet to take the plates off the Tele, but i am guessing its only got the cut outs for the single coils?
Is it just a case of cutting away some wood with a dremel/multi-cutter, getting the humbucker plates and solder in the pickups?
Or will this be a right ball ache, and risk destroying a half decent guitar?
And will it sound good, i know its fairly popular for the neck in humbucker on Tele, but dont see many in the bridge (which is what i mainly use).
I may also look at somehow fitting a coil cut switch, as have this on a Les Paul which is useful.
So has anyone done this?
Cheers
I did it. It was meant to be on a cheap project tele, but ended up on a decent Japanese one. All the details are at http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/116002/1987-j... if you want to take a look/read what was involved.
It suits me a lot more than the original pickups. I went with the single coil sized humbucker at the bridge for convenience with the existing bridge plate.
I fitted a switch to mine too, but it's a kill switch. I did think of using it to split the coils, but ended up with the kill switch instead. The selector is now four position which caters for neck, bridge, both in phase, both out of phase.
What isn't in the pics is the final wiring of the pickups. That was just a case of moving the control plate nearer to the guitar and soldering the wires to the relevant switch points and control locations having threaded the wires through the relevant cavities.
It suits me a lot more than the original pickups. I went with the single coil sized humbucker at the bridge for convenience with the existing bridge plate.
I fitted a switch to mine too, but it's a kill switch. I did think of using it to split the coils, but ended up with the kill switch instead. The selector is now four position which caters for neck, bridge, both in phase, both out of phase.
What isn't in the pics is the final wiring of the pickups. That was just a case of moving the control plate nearer to the guitar and soldering the wires to the relevant switch points and control locations having threaded the wires through the relevant cavities.
Edited by Hanslow on Sunday 15th July 11:42
Thanks Guys, Mmm I've never seen those Duncan Hotrails before...
However a bit of googling and everything seems to be positive about them...
Can get a set on amazon for £140, so very tempted to give these a try and see what they are like, as would save chopping about with my Fender!
Will report back with my findings
However a bit of googling and everything seems to be positive about them...
Can get a set on amazon for £140, so very tempted to give these a try and see what they are like, as would save chopping about with my Fender!
Will report back with my findings
You can try one of the El Cheeps humbucker dual rail pickups from China for a tenner or less before splashing out on an SD..
I put one in the bridge position of my Strat as an experiment and it's stayed there since. Nice and phat, as they say. It will sound brighter in a Tele though.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SODIAL-Blaster-Humbucker-...
I put one in the bridge position of my Strat as an experiment and it's stayed there since. Nice and phat, as they say. It will sound brighter in a Tele though.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SODIAL-Blaster-Humbucker-...
I'm no fan of humbuckers but IMHO the single coil-sized versions don't really stand up well against a full-sized humbucker.
Get something like this:
Jim Root sig Telecaster - not tried it but if it's good enough for him then I think it'll handle heavier music
Squier or Fender versions available
Get something like this:
Jim Root sig Telecaster - not tried it but if it's good enough for him then I think it'll handle heavier music
Squier or Fender versions available
My Tele is set up a little tamer than you're planning (Seth Lover in the neck and Jerry Donaghue in the bridge) but I have to say I love the 4 way switch wiring with parallel / series switching. Only niggle was the slot in the scratch plate wasn't long enough for the (Fender) 4 way switch - after a bit of fettling I then found that the standard Tele switch knob was then too fat so I've ended up with a Strat knob. Not much of a fan of split wiring, I felt it sounded a bit anaemic. If you're after some hot rails, I've got a few out of a Strat; PM me if you want to make me an offer :-)
Well i went for t and ordered a set of these babies:
You can tell they are heavily wound by the weight of them!
Took the guitar apart this morning, and soon realised i could have put a Humbucker in the neck, as its pre routed, plus a couple of random holes?
But then realised the Bridge pickup was about 2mm too big to fit into the chrome plate, so had to get a file out and spent around an hour filing it! (Its thick metal!). But managed to make it fit.
Didnt bother with a coil switch for now.
The result, i f
king love the sound, it powerful yet bright with pleanty of bassy mids.
I think its now my favourite guitar
You can tell they are heavily wound by the weight of them!
Took the guitar apart this morning, and soon realised i could have put a Humbucker in the neck, as its pre routed, plus a couple of random holes?
But then realised the Bridge pickup was about 2mm too big to fit into the chrome plate, so had to get a file out and spent around an hour filing it! (Its thick metal!). But managed to make it fit.
Didnt bother with a coil switch for now.
The result, i f
king love the sound, it powerful yet bright with pleanty of bassy mids. I think its now my favourite guitar
Last year I specifically bought a used 'Classic 50s' Sunburst Tele with a plan to route it for a neck humbucker. I chose this model because I already had one in the White Blonde finish as a 'standard' single coil Tele which I really like as I'm accustomed to 7.25" radius Fender necks after years of playing a Strat with one.
Oddly the neck on the Sunburst one felt different (it's an older 2008 compared to the White one which is maybe 2015 or so) and I never really settled with it. Consequently I've not got round to routing it (I lifted the pickguard to check, just incase it was already). I'm debating just selling it on now as I was concerned that routing it would devalue it and I'm not sure now how much I'd play it.
Like a lot of my guitar/gear purchases it seemed a good idea at the time until I really thought about what I'd use it for...
Oddly the neck on the Sunburst one felt different (it's an older 2008 compared to the White one which is maybe 2015 or so) and I never really settled with it. Consequently I've not got round to routing it (I lifted the pickguard to check, just incase it was already). I'm debating just selling it on now as I was concerned that routing it would devalue it and I'm not sure now how much I'd play it.
Like a lot of my guitar/gear purchases it seemed a good idea at the time until I really thought about what I'd use it for...
Contract Killer said:
Took the guitar apart this morning, and soon realised i could have put a Humbucker in the neck, as its pre routed, plus a couple of random holes?
Putting a Humbucker in the neck position is a pretty popular mod for a Tele thanks to Keith Richards (hence why the 72 Custom Tele came out) and even Graham Coxon from Blur; most Tele bodies come with the hole pre-routed for one these days., unless it's a VOS or custom shop 50s spec/ Nocaster or something. That is a cracking guitar mate, I had not even thought about putting rails in a Tele. I might give it a try.
I forgot about this thread. In the meantime I decided to get my router out as I wasn't as lucky as the OP and mine wasn't routed for a neck humbucker. It's turned out really well, although for now I've put a spare old Epiphone LP humbucker in there just to test it out before I swap a Bareknuckle one I have in another guitar. I put a Seymour Duncan 'Lil '59 single coil sized humbucker in the bridge position (taken from another guitar) to go with the neck humbucker.
I just changed the pots last night for 500K CTS ones to replace the standard 250K ones as they tend to load the humbuckers more and you can lose the highs. I also changed the tone cap for a 0.22uF (instead of 0.47uF) and the guitar does sound brighter now rather than slightly muffled.
Glad I did it now as I had never re-strung this guitar and it plays much better now I've put my prefered 9.5 gauge strings on it and done a full set up.
Before:
During:
After (I still want to change the pick guard for a single ply Bakelite one I've just received, but it needs the hole cutting out for the humbucker as I couldn't find a reasonably priced one already cut, so bought an 'Esquire' pickguard instead:
I just changed the pots last night for 500K CTS ones to replace the standard 250K ones as they tend to load the humbuckers more and you can lose the highs. I also changed the tone cap for a 0.22uF (instead of 0.47uF) and the guitar does sound brighter now rather than slightly muffled.
Glad I did it now as I had never re-strung this guitar and it plays much better now I've put my prefered 9.5 gauge strings on it and done a full set up.
Before:
During:
After (I still want to change the pick guard for a single ply Bakelite one I've just received, but it needs the hole cutting out for the humbucker as I couldn't find a reasonably priced one already cut, so bought an 'Esquire' pickguard instead:
Well I'm 52 years behind Jeff Beck, but today I swapped the temporary Epiphone humbucker I had put in my Tele for a Dimarzio DP103 36th Anniversary nickel covered neck humbucker (£73 from 'Rattle and drum'). Really pleased with the improvement over the Epiphone one: Clearer, still warm and no microphonics. I could adjust it lower than the Epiphone too, due to the shorter 'legs' so it's closer to the guard to help match the level with the 'Lil '59 in the bridge.
Sounds really good on just the neck, not at all muddy and enough output to drive my Marshall Mini Jubilee into a nice crunch, getting more creamy with the 'rhythm clip' engaged.
I also swapped the pick guard for a Bakelite one I bought recently. Being a cheapskate I bought an Esquire one, so I had to cut the humbucker hole myself (but much cheaper than buying a 'hot rod' black guard and I like the almost matt Bakelite finish:
Full view:
Sounds really good on just the neck, not at all muddy and enough output to drive my Marshall Mini Jubilee into a nice crunch, getting more creamy with the 'rhythm clip' engaged.
I also swapped the pick guard for a Bakelite one I bought recently. Being a cheapskate I bought an Esquire one, so I had to cut the humbucker hole myself (but much cheaper than buying a 'hot rod' black guard and I like the almost matt Bakelite finish:
Full view:
Since were talking about Teles with humbuckers in, what are people’s opinions in this guitar:
https://reverb.com/item/11655787-fender-usa-versio...
Really want a Tele Plus, love the colour, just not sure wether to go for it or if it’s too much for one, anyone think these might appreciate more over the next few years?, not that I’m really looking to buy as an investment, more to play!.
https://reverb.com/item/11655787-fender-usa-versio...
Really want a Tele Plus, love the colour, just not sure wether to go for it or if it’s too much for one, anyone think these might appreciate more over the next few years?, not that I’m really looking to buy as an investment, more to play!.
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