Telecaster Neck Pickup Route

[BCrete603]

Hi all,

I was hoping someone might be able to answer a question I had while putting together a tele build. I am still undecided on a neck pickup (humbucker vs. single coil vs. stacked single). When choosing the neck pickup route, would it make sense to just select the humbucker route that way I could fit any style of pickup mentioned above? My logic is as long as the pickup is mounted to the pick guard, it shouldn't matter.

As you can tell, this is a brand new hobby of mine so apologies if this is a stupid question. Thank you in advance!

-B

 

[Fat Pete]

Not a stupid question at all. Welcome to the forum!

If you're buying a showcase body that's already routed for a standard Tele neck pup, they will rout for a humbucker and you'll be able to choose between the 2.

If you're having a custom build it might not be so simple. The (not necessarily exact) drawing below should explain why.

Maybe Warmoth would rout for 'both' if you asked them - if so, you might as well go for Strat + humbucker to give you even more options.

 

[BCrete603]

Thank you, Pete! I hadn't even thought it about the routs positioning, glad I came here first. Since it is a custom build it looks like I will have to decide before I place my order.

Thank you again for the info!
-B

 

[Ace Flibble]

P-90 routes will take nearly all pickups. Humbuckers won't fit, but every kind of single coil, single-sized humbucker, and minibucker will fit. If you're not sure what pickup you're going to go for yet, P-90 routes are a safe bet to go for as they give you the most options to consider. Even if you then end up deciding you really want a normal humbucker sound, there are lots of minibuckers and single-sized humbuckers which do that perfectly.

The other thing to consider is a Wide Range pickup route. Those will take humbuckers as well as every other pickup except P-90s. The only real drawback is that Warmoth don't route for Wide Range pickups on many bodies, and most other companies don't, either. But if you want maximum versatility with your routes, that's another one to consider.

Personally, I wish they would offer a 'swimming pool' route for all top-routed bodies, as that would open up all options for more body styles and more pickup positions. A couple of other companies do offer this, but Warmoth, for whatever reason, only offers it for Strats.

Might be worth phoning them up or e-mailing them as sometimes Warmoth will do custom/combination routes. (Usually for a small fee.)

 

[BCrete603]

Thank you, Ace. That is very helpful.

I have always had humbuckers in the neck position and know that is the sound I prefer. The reason I'm considering other routings is because a friend of mine recently put in a SD Cool Rails and I love the sound. I know it's a strat pickup, but I'm really interested in putting one in this tele build. Maybe I will email Warmoth to see what other custom options may be available.

Thanks again,
B

 

[spaceranger]

There are many pickup makers that sell single coil or P90 pickups in a humbucker size, so the humbucker route is very flexible. However, I can't say from personal experience how closely a Fralin Big Single (for example) sounds to an actual Strat single coil pickup. I'm going to guess there will be a difference, more or less.

 

[rgand]

I don't have a comparison to full sized P-90's but here is a good comparison of the humbucker sized ones. Since I'm thinking of P-90's for my next build, this caught my attention.

Humbucker-Sized P-90 Review Roundup

 

[Logrinn]

Very nice roundup. I've had my eyes on DiMarzio's Bluesbucker and didn't realise they were a P90 "style" pickup. Good to know!
Thanks for the link.

 

[rgand]

Very nice roundup. I've had my eyes on DiMarzio's Bluesbucker and didn't realise they were a P90 "style" pickup. Good to know!
Thanks for the link.

That's the set that I like best. Followed closely by the SD Phat Cats which I didn't know were P-90-style either. I would consider the GFS Mean 90 set, too. For the price, you could always try them and replace them if they didn't do the job.