hmm, putting a full humbucker onto a tele.

[zac89]

hey guys, over the pass few days, i've been seriously considering dropping a humbucker into the neck position of my tele. theres something about that look i really like, and yes yes, tele purist will scream and shout but, i'll be very honest here, i like the tele for it's looks and mostly it's looks, the twang, haha i'll leave that for another story.

and there aren't many teles in the market that have a humbucker in the neck position, and they dont make tele neck humbuckers in the form of a single coil. and i kinda like that look of andy summers tele

now, i know there will be extensive routing involved in this, and i'm thinking of really doing it and dropping a covered PAF pro into the neck position to complement the little dimarzo chopper T in the bridge.

what are you guys thoughts about it?

now in case you wonder why i'm asking this, it's cause i guess maybe some people might have done it before? and would like some feedback.

i do know that hacking away some of the wood will change it's tone in general but that wont bother me for now.

 

[Godspeed64]

Humbucker on tele necks are common what.. Why not just get a tele that's been routed with a neck humbucker?

 

[zac89]

hmm looking around, most teles that were on sale here, have only the standard tele config.

those that already have humbuckers also have humbuckers in the bridge posistion which i dont fancy that much

 

[Godspeed64]

Humbuckers in the bridge position? Now that's rarer..

 

[zac89]

haha, the squire tele custom? that one is 2 humbuckers ah, the 72 thinline tele also 2 humbuckers =)

 

[Godspeed64]

Exactly.. Thought you're referring to just one humbucker on the bridge and single coil on the neck.. Haha..
Routing will be expensive.. And volumes may have a mismatch.. Might wanna think about that.. Aren't the middle position 2 pickups in series, making it a humbucker?

 

[zac89]

erm, not too sure about that, but there wouldnt be a vol mismatch cuz i already have a chopper t in the bridge, which is a humbucker in tele bridge form.

 

[lightice]

You can fit a strat pickup sized humbucker into the tele neck position.
Less modding to the guitar and will work fine.

SD has a couple that might interest you.

lil 59 or the livewire classic 2.

You may even get a custom wind from you, a PAF style in a strat mounting.

Maybe even an uncovered tele neck.

 

[zac89]

ahh cool, a strat oickup can fit>? where can i get these kinda custom pickups done?

 

[ShredCow]

the strat sized humbuckers still sound different from the real humbucker... so... you might wanna read up a bit more and listen to as much clips as possible - even of different guitars.

If you want to get a humbucker - go for a very low wind. 7.8k? 8.2k? Stuff like that. Might surprise you and besides, it will balance better.

 

[zac89]

ahh i see, point taken =) thanks for the tips shred

 

[KennethC]

Agree with Shredcow on the lower winds for HB. My Trussart tele (linked in my siggy below) has a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro HB in the neck (7.6k ohm resistance) and it balances really nicely with the Alnico II Pro single coil in the bridge. You might also want to consider getting the neck humbucker coil tapped, for even more tonal options.

 

[zac89]

Agree with Shredcow on the lower winds for HB. My Trussart tele (linked in my siggy below) has a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro HB in the neck (7.6k ohm resistance) and it balances really nicely with the Alnico II Pro single coil in the bridge. You might also want to consider getting the neck humbucker coil tapped, for even more tonal options.

ah, i am contemplating to wiring a push pull to put it in phase and out of phase mode. i dont really use coil taps alot too.

btw kenC your trussart tele is gorgeous =D perfect example of whatk i'm going for, with regards to pickup config that is =)

 

[liangerism]

check out J5 Tele and J5 Triple Tele Deluxe, if u're talking abt humbuckers on a tele.

 

[jony]

Fyi,

Strat pickups WILL NOT fit into the Tele neck slot.

I believe MIM Telecasters are already routed for a Humbucker neck slot. One other idea I have for you is also to put in a Mini bucker in the neck.

Hope your strat whammy has not been lost by Singpost.

 

[zac89]

haha no probs dude, got my wham bar already =)

 

[niteblade]

seen these at a few shops in sg eh

 

[zac89]

ahh interesting. where at?

 

[edder]

No big mod lah this don't worry, I've done it before and during the pre GFS time. So I hack up the body with a hand drill and a dremel with a router bit and "route" the pickguard freehand to fit the humbucker. Used a flat pickup ring on top of the pickguard to cover the sloppy routing job. One of my favourite guitar to date!

Now if I were to do it again, I'll just hack/route the body and get a new pickguard from GFS. http://store.guitarfetish.com/pickguards.html

Done!

 

[KennethC]

zac, if u ever want to try what a humbucker in the neck pos of a tele sounds like I'd be happy to let u try mine out, though my trussart does have a steel body so the attack would be different.