Country pickups for a tele?

[BackwoodTele]

Hi guys,
I have a 2011 Fender American Deluxe Ash Tele (this is what it looks like http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=011950
Currently it has the Fender N3 pickups in it. I think they are great for blues, rock, pretty good for metal also (surprisingly). However I'm looking for some pickups that will give me that twang for modern country playing.


Brent Mason is one of my country idols and I would LOOOOOOOVE to get that classic spanky tone that he uses in 'Chattahoochee' by Alan Jackson (or any of Alans recordings really. Or a tone like Doug Seven has from YouTube) so I have been researching Brents Tele and found he uses a Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack Tele pickup in the bridge.
Also he uses a Vintage Stack Strat pickup in the middle and an old Gibson minibucker in the neck (I don't really wanna put a middle pickup in my tele is it doesnt need it, and I'm not too keen on the humbuckers on a tele).

What do you guys think about the Seymour Vintage Stack Tele pickup for the bridge? Any ideas for a neck pickup or a better bridge pickup?

[t_ross33]

The Seymour Duncan site has a Tone Wizard that might steer you in the right direction. If you want to stick with the Vintage Stack in the bridge, SD also makes a Vintage Stack Rhythm http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/telecaster/vintage-output/vintage_stack_f/

[Katastrophe]

I've been a Seymour Duncan fan for years. You can't go wrong with their products.

Have you looked at Fender pickups? A Nocaster in the bridge, and a Twisted Tele neck pickup can cover an awful lot of sonic territory, and they sound fantastic for the vintage stuff. Of course, being single coil, you would have to put up with a little hum, but that's just part of the vintage charm.

[Tig]

From Fender, I'd go with their Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster pickups.

Otherwise, I really like what Bare Knuckle Pickups has been creating. Their Country Boy Tele pickups (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles&sub=vintage&pickup=country_boy) would be perfect.
Check out the sound clip here (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/soundclips/telecasters/vintage/country_boys/country_boys-country.mp3).

Telecaster® coils were designed to combine the best elements of the earliest Alnico III coils with the slightly lighter and more dynamic wind of the later '50s. Using a flat profile set of Alnico III magnets, copper plated steel baseplate and original deep drawn chrome plated brass neck cover, the scatter-wound coils produce an unadulterated, pristine Tele® twang with a lovely chime in the highs and no harsh overtones. Perfect for both flat pickers and finger style players the Country Boys are also capable of driving an overdriven amp for a sizzling crunch tone and biting single note work. Cloth 'push back' hook-up as standard and thoroughly wax potted to prevent microphonics.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/images/product/country_boy.jpg

[BackwoodTele]

From Fender, I'd go with their Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster pickups.

Otherwise, I really like what Bare Knuckle Pickups has been creating. Their Country Boy Tele pickups (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles&sub=vintage&pickup=country_boy) would be perfect.
Check out the sound clip here (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/soundclips/telecasters/vintage/country_boys/country_boys-country.mp3).

Telecaster® coils were designed to combine the best elements of the earliest Alnico III coils with the slightly lighter and more dynamic wind of the later '50s. Using a flat profile set of Alnico III magnets, copper plated steel baseplate and original deep drawn chrome plated brass neck cover, the scatter-wound coils produce an unadulterated, pristine Tele® twang with a lovely chime in the highs and no harsh overtones. Perfect for both flat pickers and finger style players the Country Boys are also capable of driving an overdriven amp for a sizzling crunch tone and biting single note work. Cloth 'push back' hook-up as standard and thoroughly wax potted to prevent microphonics.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/images/product/country_boy.jpg

Tig, You have me sold on these pickups. Man, these are the best sounding ones I have heard EVER!
These are exactly what I have been after. And also they can be setup with a 4 way switch, which I am going to need to install because the current volume knob has the S-1 Switch on it so I will have to put the S-1 Switch onto a 4 way. And the current pots in my Deluxe Tele are 1000k and these pickups I guess will run on 250k.

Thanks so much Tig :D

[BackwoodTele]

From Fender, I'd go with their Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster pickups.

Otherwise, I really like what Bare Knuckle Pickups has been creating. Their Country Boy Tele pickups (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles&sub=vintage&pickup=country_boy) would be perfect.
Check out the sound clip here (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/soundclips/telecasters/vintage/country_boys/country_boys-country.mp3).

Telecaster® coils were designed to combine the best elements of the earliest Alnico III coils with the slightly lighter and more dynamic wind of the later '50s. Using a flat profile set of Alnico III magnets, copper plated steel baseplate and original deep drawn chrome plated brass neck cover, the scatter-wound coils produce an unadulterated, pristine Tele® twang with a lovely chime in the highs and no harsh overtones. Perfect for both flat pickers and finger style players the Country Boys are also capable of driving an overdriven amp for a sizzling crunch tone and biting single note work. Cloth 'push back' hook-up as standard and thoroughly wax potted to prevent microphonics.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/images/product/country_boy.jpg

Tig, You have me sold on these pickups. Man, these are the best sounding ones I have heard EVER!
These are exactly what I have been after. And also they can be setup with a 4 way switch, which I am going to need to install because the current volume knob has the S-1 Switch on it so I will have to put the S-1 Switch onto a 4 way. And the current pots in my Deluxe Tele are 1000k and these pickups I guess will run on 250k.

Thanks so much Tig :D

[markb]

I find Texas Specials far too middly and harsh for country twang and prefer Fender Original Vintage or the factory equivalents. The Bare Knuckle set will be closer to OVs than TS.

You need to rewire the neck pickup for four way switching. Drop me a PM if you need any advice. I've done this mod a couple of times. I'd definitely advisse 250K pots for trad tele pickups.

[mapka]

I have Wilde Keystone pickups in my Tele. Here is the link to his site: http://wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_Keystones.html

Here is a video of a country player using them:


http://youtu.be/tfsa5VxJp58

[BackwoodTele]

I find Texas Specials far too middly and harsh for country twang and prefer Fender Original Vintage or the factory equivalents. The Bare Knuckle set will be closer to OVs than TS.

You need to rewire the neck pickup for four way switching. Drop me a PM if you need any advice. I've done this mod a couple of times. I'd definitely advisse 250K pots for trad tele pickups.

Thanks Markb, I really appreciate it :)
What do you mean by "The Bare Knuckle set will be closer to OVs than TS."? What does OVs and TS mean?

[markb]

OV = Fender Original Vintage
TS = Fender Texas Special

These are both Custom Shop sets but there are equivalent versions used in factory guitars. A few years ago I bought a CIJ tele and got to try both sets of pickups in basically the same instrument. The TS set had more output but the bridge unit was quite strident. I went for the guitar with the OVs. I've also had a MIM Classic 50s which has pickups of about the same spec as the OV set. The Bare Knuckles are closer in spec to those with their AlNiCo 3 magnets.

My favourite tele pickups ever are the Custom shop Modern Vintage set. They can do anything but have a great 50s tele tone used clean. Sadly they are very hard to find. I'm not even sure that Fender still make them.

[Katastrophe]

Great suggestion, Tig!

You can't go wrong with the Bare Knuckle pickups, either. I don't think I've heard a set of their pickups that sound bad yet.

[BackwoodTele]

I'm definitely keen on getting me some Bare Knuckle Country Boy tele pickups. They are the best sounding pickups I have ever heard!