Tele Pickup Decision

[JohnL]

I'm building a Warmoth tele. Deciding on pickups is harder than I thought. So many on the market with good reviews - everyone has their favs. Hearing demos on videos is somewhat helpful.

I play mostly rock (oldies & classic) and blues. I thought I might want the Fender Texas Specials but I like the sound of the Frail stock pups. Didn't really want to spend that much since this is my first (and maybe my last) build, but I don't want something cheap that I might have to change out.

Any advice is appreciated. 

 

[Sovereign_13]

"Getting it right the first time" is a tricky proposition with pickups.  GFS pickups are good for hunting down a particular sound, in part because they're very inexpensive, but that lends itself to changing them out to see which you like better.  In fact, GFS facilitates this by using a connector system on most or all of their pickups, so you only have to "wire" them in once.

I usually like Seymour Duncan for "good enough the first time".  They have near-exhaustive sound samples or professional demos for their pickups, they're widely available, and they're well-made.  Are they the best?  Probably not.  For me, though, they're usually good enough to stick with.

For your particular case, SD has quite a few options.  I'd give a listen on there and see if any strike your fancy.  You might like the Hot Tele set for that more aggressive, overwound sound.  They also have noiseless stacked singles if you're worried about hum - but they tend to have a little less bite than a traditional Tele pickup would.

 

[swarfrat]

I view pickups as kinda like microphones. Obviously design and technique (placement) makes a difference. But nowhere near as much as we've given them credit in the last 20 years of making sure we use magnet wire insulated with shellac from the bug of only ALBINO lac bugs, and left handed ones at that. It changes the flavor slightly but you're not going to sound like James Earl Jones just because you bought an SM7 instead of an SM58 or U87.

 

[Rick]

I've had good luck with Bill Lawrence pups, that were very affordable.  Bill died, but I think his wife is still making them.

 

[Kostas]

...I play mostly rock (oldies & classic) and blues...

Same here. Even though the clean tone is important for me (I wouldn't put Hot Rails if I only had one Tele) I didn't want a very bright bridge pickup that is usually aimed for the country crowd. The neck pickup is also important, some are dark and not too useful. Nowadays many brands make good pickups and many have a "rock" set that is capable of both good clean & dirty tones.

My suggestions:

https://www.budzguitars.com/budz-pickups/budz-t-style-pickups/
https://www.suhr.com/pickups/single-coil-pickups/suhr-classic-t-pickups/
https://store.tvjones.com/starwood-tele-p244.aspx

I have the Budz Purebreds and a friend has the Suhr set, both are balanced sets with useful tones on all positions. Suhrs are easier to find in the second hand market to obtain for less. TVJ's have a higher price but I like his pickups a lot, he makes musical pickups...if I could call em like that.

BTW... Some of those rock sets are missing the classic tele tone. For example, I had the Lollar Special T and it had too many mids, it wasn't as balanced & clear as the Budz I have now.

 

[Cagey]

I've had good luck with Bill Lawrence pups, that were very affordable.  Bill died, but I think his wife is still making them.

I have a set of those, too. Nice parts. And yes, Becky's still making them.

 

[JohnL]

"Getting it right the first time" is a tricky proposition with pickups. 
I usually like Seymour Duncan for "good enough the first time". 

My first thought was to go with Fender or SD pups. If I wanted to change later they might have some re-sale value. Even some of those are probably more than I should spend given this is my first attempt.

 

[BigSteve22]

I've had good luck with Bill Lawrence pups, that were very affordable.  Bill died, but I think his wife is still making them.

I have a set of those, too. Nice parts. And yes, Becky's still making them.

There are actually 2 sources of "Bill Lawrence" pups. A lot of people order from: http://billlawrenceusa.com/. This guy worked with Bill some time ago. As his web site states:

Disclaimer: Jzchak Wajcman dba “*Bill Lawrence USA“, is not associated with the designer *Bill Lawrence since 1984.

Jzchak Wajcman is the founder of the original 1965 “*Bill Lawrence” Guitar Pickup Company (Lawrence Electro Sound)

The “Bill Lawrence" trademark is solely owned by Jzchak Wajcman, dba “*Bill Lawrence USA” and is the one and only legal source and manufacturer of all “*Bill Lawrence” musical products.

What is a trademark? A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name. of the" (Yes, the disclaimer ends right there...)

I don't know the whole story, but somehow he ended up with the rights to the trademark. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm sure it's all legal and binding, but somehow pushing the Bill's wife out of the picture just rubs me the wrong way.....

The other source, is to buy them from Bill's widow, Becky Lawrence, at: http://wildepickups.com/ There's a little(?) wait for your pups, but they're great pups, made to order, and very reasonably priced. Also, if you want something other than the "Original" designs, such as the Micro Coil, NF, or Twin Blade sets, buying them from Becky is the only option. The noiseless set I bought for my Tele cost $100 for the pair, and are some of the best sounding pickups you'll ever try. I like 'em a lot!  :icon_thumright:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I know a lot of purists knock active pickups, but I can assure you, EMG Tele pickups do not dissapoint.

 

[spe111]

Maybe it's just because I've been using them for 15+ years but I don't think anything sounds more like a Telecaster than the stock pickups in my Fender AVRI.

 

[Wizard of Wailing]

      I plan on building a tele in 2019 and using Fender's Twisted Tele pickups.  I just saw videos of them, and liked what I heard.  Now that I've put together several guitars, I've come to a point where I always go with my first instinct on pickups.  That way I can stop thinking, (and going back and forth from this pickup to that one) about it ASAP, which I like.  So my two cents is to go with your first instinct, and if it's between two choices, flip a coin.

 

[rgand]

      I plan on building a tele in 2019 and using Fender's Twisted Tele pickups.  I just saw videos of them, and liked what I heard.  Now that I've put together several guitars, I've come to a point where I always go with my first instinct on pickups.  That way I can stop thinking, (and going back and forth from this pickup to that one) about it ASAP, which I like.  So my two cents is to go with your first instinct, and if it's between two choices, flip a coin.

Sound thinking. :glasses10: