Had some time this afternoon, so I got rid of the tone control to the neck 'bucker - bridge only now (who needs to add mud to a humbucker?). Still need to replace the pickup at some point tho....
Thanks, Monkus. 'Burst Tele's are kind of sweet, aren't they? (wink wink )
O yeah, yours is fairly awesome too!!!
Had some time this afternoon, so I got rid of the tone control to the neck 'bucker - bridge only now (who needs to add mud to a humbucker?). Still need to replace the pickup at some point tho....
OK, after noodling around I'm back to this guitar. Ordered an Air Norton tonight When I get it ironed in, I'll let you know how it sounds. I already know I'm going with a 250K pot rather than 500. We'll see what happens...stay tuned. (no, really....stay in tune!!)
As far as the neck humbucker goes, I have a Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" in the bridge of my Fender Lone Star strat and I like it. It is slightly hot but ot like a JB. Although, SD now offers the JB in a neck position pickup, which could be a very cool pickup for that guitar.
In my opinion, a SD Alnico II Pro might sound really wonderful in that guitar. I like those Alnico II Pro's. It might be too mellow for you though if you want a cutting sound. SD has the new '59 hybrid, or even a regular SD '59 could be very cool.
I personally like the current Fender WRHB neck pickups, but you might have to change the pots to accommodate the big Wide Range HB and the bridge single coil - but that can be the case with any guitar that has a single coil in the bridge and a full humbucker in the neck. I think Fender told me that they use 333k Ohm pots on big time neck humbucker/single coil bridge tele. I guess it sort of splits the difference. If it has 250k Ohm pots I don't thing you will like the humbucker sound that much because it might demonstrate a very "boomy" bassiness. The 500k Ohm pots brighten up the neck humbucker, which is a good thing. Where that leaves the bridge single coil I don't know. Maybe install a SD noiseless tele bridge pickup. I think they sell a few good ones - but then you will lose the "traditional" tele sound completely.
Someone knowledgeable would probably know how to wire that guitar so that the neck humbucker sounds right, and the bridge tele single coil also sounds strong and twangy.
Having a nice clear sounding full humbucker in that neck position to replace that mediocre Epi one, would probably yield a super enjoyable guitar to play. Even a Gibson 490 or a '57 classic might sound great. A lot of dudes put in Gibson '57 Classics in the neck of telecasters for a traditional sound.
That is a beautiful example of that guitar and should definitely be the basis of a serious mod project, if that's what you choose to do. That could be transformed into a super sleeper tele.
Congratulations on that beautiful guitar and good luck on the upgrades.
One way of doing it I guess!
Looks like a potentially great pickup choice. If it sounds too bass boomy you can try a 500k volume pot; or maybe some wiring expert can suggest a way to brighten up a humbucker when matched with a single coil like the tele, and still get that traditional tele twang out of the single coil.
DiMarzio Velvet are surprisingly nice in a tele....just a thought.
I was talking about sandng all finish off to the wood and then hitting it with the oil!! The oil and sweat will give it a nice non bright color tint!!