#1
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Budz Tele pickups - wow.
I usually don’t post unsolicited plugs for guitar stuff in here…sound is so subjective and just because I like something means nothing in the big picture…but this is certainly an exception.
Early this year I was gifted a very old Fender Tele body and beautiful rosewood neck…put a ton of time into it…fretwork, building it out, etc. How could this thing not sound great? ..and it didn’t. It sounded awful actually. I was lucky enough to speak with our own Stephen Talkovich of Talkovich Guitars, who A.) builds some of the nicest super-Teles I’ve seen and B.) Is enormously knowledgeable on the ins and out of the Tele. It seemed I did everything right …right up until the pickup choice. I had tried 4 or 5 different sets as well as trying to match up ones from different manufacturers. Nothing. All crap. On the best day I could get good tone from one pickup, maybe 2, never all three. After spending a pile of $$ on various usual-suspect manufacturers pickups, I felt they were all just a slight variation on the same ‘ole boring theme….Until Steve turned me onto Budz pickups. Bought the Danocaster set. Plugged it in and within about 45 seconds …my verbal reaction was not suitable to repeat in this family-friendly forum. Something to the effect of “you have got to be bleeping kidding me.” Tone Tone Tone…in all 3 positions and not just your basic “yeah, that’s a twangy Tele” sound, but all of the same but fatter, richer, far more defined and just a ridiculously beautiful balance between the 3 positions. The neck is not thin, the middle is not a dull compromise and the bridge is aggressive, but only “Telecaster-aggressive” if that makes sense….and this was all before I even switched the amp over to the clean channel. One little aside about the clean: I play mainly through a 100W Friedman. Unlike many other tube amps, these are very unforgiving. If you mis-fret, buzz a string, don’t mute a string completely, have a buzz from a bad setup, over-saturate from hot pickup, sloppy with your pick…..anything non-musical….too bad, it’s coming out the other end of the amp. Particularly with an ultra clean guitar like a Tele, there is no hiding anything….and the clean tones this guitar produced ..attack, depth of the tone, sustain…were just incredible ...and incredibly versatile through the 3 positions. The fattest, pure clean Tele tone I have ever heard. This is the way this guitar was designed to sound. It was the way I envisioned it sounding while it was just a pile of parts. Anyway, if you are a Tele owner and are considering a new set of pickups, I could not give a stronger recommendation to the Budz pickups. I’ve been doing this a very long time and it is rare anything guitar-related blows me away, but these did just that. Sorry for the ramble..thanks for the time! Budz Pickups: https://www.budzguitars.com/ |
#2
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Yes sir....Budz pickups are worth crowing about....of the dozens of tele pickups I have owned I can’t say any of them floated my boat as much as the Budz Danocasters I have in my favorite tele....I also have a tele set up with a Budz deep dish P-90 in the neck position and a Strat with Budz Purebreds in it....seriously great pickups !!....
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#3
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There is simply nothing like a golden tele sound. So glad you found the pickups that make your guitar sing. I'd not heard of the pickup builder - looks great, eminently reasonable pricing. Thanks for sharing this.
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Steve Mcilroy A25c (Cedar, English Walnut) with Schatten HFN (custom MiSi Crystal Jack Preamp, putty install.) Maton 75th Anniversary OM 50th Anniversary Fender Am Std Strat. Gretsch 6120 Nashville Players in Blue. Line 6 Helix. If I played as much as I read threads, I'd be a pro.... |
#4
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It's great to finally find a pickup that matches your guitar that you like. I settled on Duncan lipstick pups for my Tele-like guitar.
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#5
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Curious, did you try any of the Lollar PUPs?
Thanks for posting this. I have a MIM tele that could use a little love. Not touching the PUPs in my Nashville though.
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Martin-Taylor-L'arrivee-Halcyon-Guild-Bedell-Manuel Rodriguez-D'Angelico-Ibanez-Fender |
#6
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Quote:
...I have been stoked about many great pickups over the last couple of decades but have never been as high on a pickup maker as Budz.... |
#7
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Yup...they are phenomenal pickups. I've used the Specials in a previous tele. Good stuff. Had I not heard from Steve about Budz, it may very well have been one of the next choices.
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#8
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David Budz is the man. I don’t want to dis anyone else’s product or pickup choice, so I’ll just put it like this, I’ve used Budz pickups in all my builds. I’ve never had anyone change out the pickups on any of my guitars and I’ve told David when he retires, I’m done too.
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#9
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Quote:
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Martin-Taylor-L'arrivee-Halcyon-Guild-Bedell-Manuel Rodriguez-D'Angelico-Ibanez-Fender |
#10
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Just adding a link for those of us wanting to look into the hype.
https://www.budzguitars.com |
#11
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Great choice. What you get from Budz is a matched set wound by one guy, David.
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#12
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The number of great pickups seems to grow exponentially. I have Harmonic Design in my MIM Tele and PRS and love them. Brondel put Onamac in the Strat he sold me but now favors Ron Ellis. I gave my MIM Strat to a friend. She removed the Duncan Everything Axe Set and put in Bootstrap ‘54 pups that cost her $49.95 for all three.
Lollars, Dimarzio, Novak, and so many more. I’m glad you found great pickups you love.
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rubber Chicken Plastic lobster Jiminy Cricket. |
#13
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Quote:
I’m sure over the years I’ve bought from well over a couple dozen custom pickup makers. Not all are created equal in terms of delivery, sound, value, consistency and “good guy” status. |