Tele pickup advice/suggestions for a single coil newbie

[James _R]

Hello!

Just put the order in for a white rear-routed Tele body with black binding and a maple neck with solid black ebony fretboard (I will most likely create a start to finish thread with info for any people who are interested - all info for UK people interested in waiting times and import fees/taxes too).

Whilst I am waiting for the body and neck to arrive I need to make a decision about which pickups to get...

My 'history' is a metal player and my main guitar is an Ibanez RG with EMG pickups. I recently got a bit of money and wanted to get myself a custom guitar which i know i will enjoy and play even when I'm 50. The problem I'm having is that I am completely new to the Tele sound and selecting a pair of single coils seems to be a bit of a mine field!

I'm in a band and play instrumental math/post rock. The songs are a bit heavy/a bit nice and twinkly/a bit metally/a bit clean fingerpicky, so i need quite a versatile set of pickups. (Songs below for anyone interested...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WJhcVJEYN4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuWcv8gcTIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BE4XSlhC5U


Within the realm of post-rock the tele is used quite a bit so i know it can produce the sounds I'm after. I played an American Standard Tele at a shop and really liked the sound through the Orange Rockerverb 100 and Orange PC212 that I use. I know they use the custom shop broadcaster and twisted pickups but they are hard to get hold of separately. Seymour Duncan does the broadcaster and twisted p'ups but are they as good as the custom shop? I've seen that output from them can be a bit low?

Any advice for a single coil newbie? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

Cheers

 

[stratamania]

I like the Seymour Duncan noiseless I used on this tele.

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23725.0

I put in some powerboost wiring for the bridge pickup too. You can find the schematics and so on in the build thread.

If you are coming from EMGs you may prefer noiseless.

Other noiseless choices would be Kinmans.

 

[bagman67]

Other noiseless options include the DiMarzio Area T set, the GFS Neovin set (very good value for your dollar) or Barden's twin-rail doodads.  Personally, I really dug the Area T's I played for couple hours one afternoon. 


Alternatively, if you like hitting your preamp pretty hard and want true single-coil bite and are willing to deal with the noise, I am very very happy with my Duncan Quarter Pound bridge pickup with the coil tap.  With the coil tapped, it's standard vintage-strength telecaster twang, but the full coil really gooses your preamp quite nicely.

 

[James _R]

Cheers guys, i'll research your suggestions some more and see what comes up!

Any disadvantages to having noiseless pickups? I'm assuming there's a difference to the standard and more trebbly vintage tele tone? (which i'm not overly sure i want, as im hoping for a thicker bite - especially on the neck).

Any reason not to get a 'noisy' set (say the duncan versions of the broadcaster and twisted) and run it through a soul preacher compression pedal? Too much tone sucked or not noticeable to the average Joe?

I'm probably over-analysing this whole thing! But i'm spending around $2000 all told, so i want to get it right!!

 

[Cagey]

I wouldn't say you're over-analyzing it. It's a valid concern.

Personally, I've never found any musical advantage to having a 60hz undertone and its various harmonics beating the snot out of what I'm doing. But, that's just me. Perhaps I'm just picky. Mr. Hendrix managed to do just fine. Of course, his studio stuff had a lotta help from the engineers and some pretty high-end gear to eliminate it.

Many "noiseless" single coils sound pretty damn good these days - some better than others. But, it depends a bit on what you're looking for. The best pieces I've heard are too inexpensive to excite many folks, but if you aren't afraid to experiment just a bit, the True Coils from GFS are pretty nice, as are the Micro Coils from Bill Lawrence.

In both cases, you won't spend much money but will get excellent results. Neither of them is truly noiseless, but they're close enough for rock 'n' roll. They use small noise cancelling coils so the main coil is the the dominant influence, which is why they sound so good. There will still be some small amount of hum, but it's a damn sight better than they typical "pure" single coil.

Worth a shot for you. If you don't like them, it's not like a set of Kinmans or Lollars that cost a bajillion bucks that you'll never get back. I think they sound great, but that's just me and I promise you I'm not David Gilmour  :icon_biggrin:

 

[DavyDave53]

EMG Tele pickups...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBaMsr-hoF4

 

[Strat Avenger]

Go with a Dimarzio Super Distortion-T for the bridge and Area-T for the neck.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

+1 on the GFS Neovins.  I have the NEO TN7 on my baritone tele and I think it's absolutely dead on tone wise, and it's noiseless!

 

[James _R]

Any opinions on a set of Lindy Fralins? They seem pretty expensive but the difference between £100 and £160 isn't going to break my balls. I really enjoy the sound of the first set of p'ups in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcRFet_iDkk

Has anyone had any experience with these pickups in the flesh?

Cheers!

 

[TBurst Std]

I have Fralins in my W Strat and love them