Favorite Telecaster Pickup position or combo - Page 2

jseth · #16 09-30-2018, 02:49 PM

I can get a LOT of mileage from the neck pickup on a Tele... a great neck pickup gives a full, fat tone that works for jazz, blues, rock... even just "expressive" noodling!

The bridge pickup, while defining THE Telecaster sound, is a bit more limited in it's scope, but when you need THAT tone, there's really nothing like it!

Since I don't currently own a Telecaster, I don't have to choose! I'll let you know when I find the right one for me...

justonwo · #17 09-30-2018, 03:27 PM

I owned a Tele once with a four position switch. You could choose the two pickups in parallel on one setting and series on another. Opens up more options. I still prefer bridge alone, however.

Steel and wood · #18 09-30-2018, 04:29 PM

I like the bridge position for lead and the neck or sometimes middle combination for rhythm. (Three position covers it all).

Steve DeRosa · #19 09-30-2018, 04:49 PM

I owned one of the first late-CBS '52 reissues back in the '80s-90s, which I had rewired with a five-way switch; my two faves were neck PU + .047 cap (think Stephen Stills' smoky-toned extended solos on "Wooden Ships") and, as Frank stated above, both pickups in series. Since I'm almost exclusively a clean player, I could (and did) do entire gigs on those two positions alone; that neck/cap combo was great for vintage jazz tones (especially with the flatwounds I was using), and the series setup was not only very dynamically responsive but offered a broad variety of tone color depending where you picked - not to mention more front-end drive power than you're used to getting from stock Tele pickups...

Dadzmad · #20 09-30-2018, 09:35 PM

Post Deleted

wrathfuldeity · #21 10-01-2018, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

...and the series setup was not only very dynamically responsive but offered a broad variety of tone color depending where you picked - not to mention more front-end drive power than you're used to getting from stock Tele pickups...

And that's why I use mostly the middle with 2 pu's

Br1ck · #22 10-01-2018, 02:32 PM

Here's a dirty little secret you can try.Want that classic country tele tone? Neck pickup and pick right down by the bridge saddles into a compressor.

tdq · #23 10-02-2018, 09:33 PM

I only ever use the neck pickup. I like the clean, jazzy sound.

clintj · #24 10-03-2018, 06:51 AM

I like all three, and use whichever strikes my fancy. I do find that I like neck more with bigger, cleaner amps as the bridge can get a touch harsh. I also will tend to hang out on the neck pickup with an overdriven amp to get more bite and clarity, although the bridge with tone rolled a bit off is also lovely.

Johnny K · #25 10-03-2018, 02:11 PM

I have a G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy. Their version of the Thinline with a humbucker in the neck. That neck humbucker is sweet thru my Hot Rod DeVille 410's clean channel with a touch of reverb and the tone knob about 50%.

RRuskin · #26 10-03-2018, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug MacPherson

Since the Telecaster appears to be a popular electric guitar option, what would be your favorite pickup position: Bridge only, Bridge and neck, or neck only?

Both pickups with volume & tone fully up.

M Sarad · #27 10-03-2018, 05:45 PM

I received a Tele today from another Forum member. It is the new Fender MIM with a new name, the American Standard or ? He replaced the stock pick ups with Fender Noiseless. Still sounds like a Tele. I used it at band practice today with the Victoria Tweed Deluxe.

Twangy!

For the music we’re playing, I found the bridge pickup was the most authentic for playing with a pedal steel.

Jaden · #28 10-05-2018, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M Sarad

I received a Tele today from another Forum member. It is the new Fender MIM with a new name, the American Standard or ? He replaced the stock pick ups with Fender Noiseless. Still sounds like a Tele. I used it at band practice today with the Victoria Tweed Deluxe.

Twangy!

For the music we’re playing, I found the bridge pickup was the most authentic for playing with a pedal steel.

The MIM Standard has now been succeeded by the “Player Telecaster” with Alnico V magnet pickups; with stock 6 bent-steel saddles it sounds like you’re getting full bite. These MIMs have nice soft action at the first fret right from the factory, every time I see them in store.
Last time I had a Tele it was always on bridge; going with individual steel saddles next time around rather than brass barrel.

raysachs · #29 10-05-2018, 08:34 PM

The bridge pickup is definitely the strength of the telecaster. The neck is good but nobody buys a tele for the neck pickup. I’m not a bridge pickup guy, so I play a strat, where the neck pickup is it’s strength along with its two in-between positions. And it’s bridge pickup is onlyuseful combined with the middle. I’ve had teles and I like em just fine on their own, but when I have a strat and a tele, the tele never gets played. And I always have a strat. So now I have a tele with dual P-90s which plays like a tele but sounds like P-90s. That one gets played...

51 Relic · #30 10-06-2018, 12:22 AM

I played in a country band for a good few years with a Fender 52 Nocaster into a Vox AC30 . For me the ace in the Teles hole is the tone control . Bridge pick up and turn the tone control back a quarter turn turn play all your steel guitar licks with a bit of 350ms delay and reverb , don't forget the volume pedal. In my view the Jerry Donahue Tele hits the target with the five way switching and the Strat neck pickup