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which is the better/more versatile combination?

vtpcnk

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standard tele bridge with humbucker or

standard tele bridge with p90 or

standard tele bridge with mini-humbucker ?

and any suggestions about actual models of pickups which go well together?
 
A possible problem is that most humbuckers and P90s have a lot more output than most regular tele bridge pickups.

Have you got the Tele bridge pickup yet?

If not, then look for one with a hot output...

I wired a Tele for a customer with the tapped Hot Tele bridge pickup from Seymour Duncan, with a 4 conductor 59 in the neck.

I used a single wafer superswitch to give:

1 hot bridge
2 normal bridge
3 normal bridge and split neck
4 split neck
5 humbucking neck

Very veratile, as the middle three are standard Tele sounds, but 1 and 5 are hot :-)

Just one possible way to do it...
 
vtpcnk said:
for music type : blues, blues rock, hard rock (sabbath, purple etc).

Basically,

Sabbath is a PAF-ish humbucker in a typical mahogany-bodied SG thru a Laney (4 input non master Marshall plexi-ish circuit)

Purple is ash Strat (alder works) with rosewood fretboard and stock pickups thru a Marshall Major.

I really don't see "Tele" in either of those tones... at least convincingly.

Now, if you were talkin' Zep, then you'd be in the right ballpark.
 
>I used a single wafer superswitch to give:

>1 hot bridge
>2 normal bridge
>3 normal bridge and split neck
>4 split neck
>5 humbucking neck

but if the sd 59 is coil tappable, then it would be linked to the pushpull volume or tone pot right?

so with a normal tele switch and a pushpull pot, i should be able to get everything except that hot bridge right?

but then i'm still not clear you have got a hot and a normal bridge. what does the single wafer superswitch do?
 
The bridge pickup is the Hot tapped version...it has two windings...
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/telecaster/progressive/hot_for_tele_le/

The other way to wire the single wafer superswitch is for position 3 to be the hot bridge with the neck humbucker.

This is the switch... http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-switches-ep-0479-000,Product.asp

Use one side to switch the bride pickup on and off and between hot and normal.
Use the other side to select neck pickup, either series or split.
Join the two commons together and wire to the volume control...

Have fun working it out  :headbang1:

 
This is like asking what kind of ice cream would I like.  I have to assume you already have a standard tele pick up configuration.
As such:
Duncan Distortion P-Rail in the neck. SD '59 model in the bridge.
Use a tele humbucker metal bridge.
5 way switch
1)Bridge
2)Bridge split
3)Bridge and Neck
4) Neck Split (P-90side)
5) Bridge.
 
Yes, it changes the sound slightly.  Think about it.  You have a chunk of metal holding / surrounding a magnet.  It's one of the things that makes a tele sound like a tele.
 
Oh yeah, there's no such thing as a Duncan Distortion P-rail.  It's just a P-rail.  As I was writing, the first thing that popped into my mind was the duncan distortion as I have that on one of my guitars ... but I meant P-rail. 
 
>Duncan Distortion P-Rail in the neck. SD '59 model in the bridge.

btw any particular reason you suggest this combo?

is it because of the perceived lack of power in the humbucker in the p-rail that you suggest it paired with a regular sd 59?

and how are the single coil and the p90 in the p-rail?
 
The p-rail is a compromise, but one that works.
In the switching configuration I gave, the P-Rail will give you a P-90 like sound in the neck and a humbucker sound.  It's hard for me to describe sound.  Here's an article from guitar player which talks about the P-rail.  I wouldn't bother bringing out the single coil, just use the pup as a p-90 or a humbucker.  If you want a single coil, then play a traditional tele.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/seymour-duncan-shpr/dec-08/89839

I recommended the the SD '59 model in the bridge because I like it, and it has nothing to do with "lack of power."  As the article indicates, it'll balance well with the P-rail.  And the switching configuration will give you tonal options, but still recognizing you're playing a guitar based on humbuckers.  you got let the beast be what it is.

this set up lets a humbucker guitar step it's toe into p-90 and single coil territory, but let's it be a humbucker guitar.

Now the converse of this logic is to use traditionally configured tele, and put on a four way switch for a series option.  It let's the tele be a tele, but let's it step it's toe into humbucker territory.

I'm a believer that if their are too many options, none will make will happy.  better to be focused.
 
>Now the converse of this logic is to use traditionally configured tele, and put on a four way switch for a series option

how does this work?

how can two single coils get into humbucker territory? by fusing them together?
 
two single coil pickups in series is similar to a humbucker - you get a fatter sound. A humbucker is usually wired up in series (though it can be changed to parallel). Single coil pickups are generally wired in parallel - like a traditional strat or tele wiring.

http://www.musicplayers.com/tutorials/guitars/2006/0906_Pickups101.php

Series versus Parallel Wiring

In guitar wiring, series and parallel methods are talked about most often when discussing humbucking or dual-coil pickups. When two coils are wired in series, they are wired in such a way that the end of one coil is connected to the beginning of the other so that the signal travels in one path along the full length of both coils.

When two coils are wired in parallel, the signal is split in two (not always equally, dependent on coil resistance) before entering the coils. Each half of the signal travels along both coil paths at the same time (in parallel) and is combined at the end of each coil.

Imagine that six people in your band represent your instrument signal, and the individual coils of a humbucker are represented by two roadways. The start of the signal chain is your rehearsal space and the end of the chain is the venue where you’ll be gigging tonight. The resistance of each coil (roadway) will determine how many people can fit into each car.

In series wiring, everyone in your band jumps into one car, drives the entire length of the first roadway, then drives the entire length of the second roadway and arrives at the gig.

In parallel wiring, the band splits up into two cars and each car takes a different roadway to the gig. Despite any differences in number of passengers, vehicle, or length of individual roadways, both cars arrive at the gig at the same time, where the band then regroups together.

Both methods of wiring can be hum-canceling and both can be in phase or out of phase.

Series wiring is the common way in which most humbuckers are wired and yields the strongest signal, as the signal from each of its two single coils are added together to form A + B.

Parallel wiring is used most often for obtaining pseudo-single coil tones without the hum. The signal is an approximate average between the strength of each of the two coils. The actual method for calculating this is to multiply A x B and divide the result by A + B.
 
Here is how a four way tele works.
Position one:  Bridge only
Position two:  Bridge and Neck in paralell.  This is the traditional tele dual wiring.  Think of the two pups as being speakers.  Each speaker emitting it's own separate signal.
Position three:  Neck only
Position four:  Bridge and neck in series.  Series is the traditional humbucking configuration.  Except now, instead of the two pups being side by side as in the traditional humbucker, they are separated.  Now instead of each "speaker" emitting its own separate signal, the first "speaker's" signal is being driven into the second "speaker" thus making a hotter sound.  Other people will describe the sound differently, but if you compare you'll hear what I mean.

What you want to do , by splitting the coils, is to step into the single coil territory.  And most of the people here have suggested the most sensible way to do it.  If you look at the Seymour Duncan website, they have wiring diagrams that will help you understand.

This lesson was $2.
 
>Now the converse of this logic is to use traditionally configured tele, and put on a four way switch for a series option.  It let's the tele be a tele, >but let's it step it's toe into humbucker territory.

how about a prail on the neck and a tele bridge? any insights on this combo?
 
I never tried it but if you use your imagination it could work.  What your looking at amounts to something like an Albert Collins tele with a twist.  If you think you'd like it go for it.  Do you like Albert Collins?  But then there's that balance question of mixing a single coil with a humbucker that you have to worry about.  And I'm not smart enough to give you an answer.  Your guitar tech would know.
 
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