Pick ups and Amp for a squire telecaster

Dunlupo84

Recently bought a Squire classic vibe Tele. Lovely guitar really happy with it. I am interested in changing the pick ups. Me being the noob I am , I'm looking for advice . I like to play lead blues alot of bending and lingering on notes. 

Still have to pick a good amp. Was thinking a fender mustang 2.0 , opinions would be greatly appreciated on this also. I'm not in a band atm just wanting to sharpen my skills for now. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. 

CasperCaster

I've had a few Squier CV's and they are really nice guitars. The pickups in the CV's are actually very good, essentially being OEM versions of either Tonerider Hot Classics (CV 50's Style Tele's with pine bodies, all maple neck) or the Tonerider Vintage Plus (CV 60's Style Tele with edge bound alder bodies, RW fingerboard).  These aren't handwound exotica, but they are very well regarded pickups, and purely from the position of quality I wouldn't think they need to be upgraded. In my experience the CV's DO benefit from better pots/ switch/ jack socket as that is an area where costs have been saved. Decent 250K CTS pots (and new knobs too - the old pots have splined shafts), a new cap, a CRL switch, and a Switchcraft jack socket (and a new jack cup too - the old one won't fit an Imperial socket) are all useful upgrades which will improve the reliability of your guitar.

Having already said that the pickups in your guitar are of excellent quality, and don't need to be changed on that basis, they still might not be the right pickups for you. The sound in your head might not be possible from the current pickups, and that applies at any price - spending more money won't necessarily get you what you want as it's easy to get caught up in internet wisdom and spend a fortune on the wrong thing. With that in mind I tend to buy secondhand, or speak with a UK winder if buying new. If you buy secondhand you can try a pickup, and sell it on without loss if it isn't to your taste. And if you buy new from a winder then you can use their knowledge/ experience to inform your choice. As an example my 60's CV Tele has an Oil City Whapping Wharf in the bridge and a Fender TexMex Strat single coil in the neck. No combination of vintage style Tele pickups gave me what I wanted - having tried a few I learned from experience I needed a bridge pickup that was hotter with more authority in the low mids. Looking past vintage pickups I found a secondhand Oil City Diesel tap which got me 80% of what I wanted (in full output mode), and I susbsequently changed this for the Whapping Wharf, which is perfect for me. The neck pickup came about by a similar process of trial and error, and works well for me in this guitar - but internet wisdom would probably never put these two pickups together! It's a Strat pickup simply as there is more choice than with Tele neck pickups.

The area where I cannot offer much advice is on your choice of amp, as I don't have much experience with current amps in your price range. Hopefully others will chip in with their experiences since this is possibly the most critical thing to get right. Without an amp that you know well, and which delivers credible sounds you can't make any meaningful assessment of your guitar as it is now, or any potential upgrades. I'd suggest you take the time, and make your entire current budget available for your amp (you don't have to spend your entire budget, just keep it there if you need it). With the right amp you may be entirely happy with your guitar as it is. If not, well at least you have the right tool for making objective decisions about what really needs to be changed on your guitar.

Good luck, and enjoy the journey.

OilCityPickups

I make pickups for a living ... but if you are happy with your sound ... don't fix what ain't broke! Upgraded electrics ... ie. jack socket, pots, cap and switch will all make the best of the sound you have, and fitting great pickups to junk pots etc is like buying a Ferrari and driving on cheap tyres!  I'd do electrics first ... then see if you really like the pickups ... if not ... your journey begins. :-)

Sparky

How much of a noob are you? How long have you been playing? The reason I ask is that you might want to focus on your technique before looking at changing pickups to suit a sound you might be able to achieve should your playing be more rounded. As already stated, the CV pickups should be more than good enough for you to start with.

If you're looking at modelling amps, there is only one answer - Boss Katana 50 That will give you some nice tones too!

Dunlupo84

I'm enough of a noob to not know what alot of that meant! Lol

Been playing on and off for a few years. Nothing serious until now. Recently settled down and want to get my teeth into it.

Not in a band or anything Just wanting to make the Tele the best it can be. Mainly for jamming at home and maybe get somethi g started in the not too distant future. 

I can play , just a bit rough round the edges. 

Dunlupo84

But I do take your point. Not.much point javi g a Ferrari without a license. Hahah

The advice is appreciated people... I look into some hardware upgrade for my Tele. Looking forward to setting it up. 

5redlights

I thought about upgrading the pickups on my CV until I played it loud through a decent amp, and it completely changed my mind. Tonerider pickups are around £80 a set, so unless you're thinking of spending well over £100, you're not really going to get much difference. 

As the others have said, upgrade the electronics (or get someone to if you're not used to this). The best first option for you would be to spend money on a decent amp. Boss Katana 50 is a good idea, as it's got a good size speaker and you can set the power lower too. 

OilCityPickups

I can' stress how crap stock Tele jack cups are ... Leo's worst design choice ... so an Electrosocket replacement would be my first mod (done that to all 5 of my Teles).

joetele

What @5redlights said - the pickups should be more than decent enough for your current uses, and any potential future uses. And the Boss Katana 50 would be a cracking amp that covers you for 'starting out' as well as first ventures into band practice and playing live. Just think about upgrading the electrics inside the Squier (although I'd imagine they'd be OK for you for now - Squier Classic Vibe guitars are decent quality on a par with Mexican Fenders - I've had my Mex Tele for years and never upgraded the electrics inside) and spend £150ish on the Boss Katana 50. You'll be set for home practice, band practice and small gigs. 

Dunlupo84

Katana 50 maybe one for the future..... just looking s good decent practice amp. Fender mustang? Any experience with those ?

Sparky

Fender Mustangs are around £99.00 new. Save a few more pennies and buy the Katana and use it on 0.5W mode. Go and try them side by side in a shop and let your ears make the decision for you. But if you buy cheap, you buy twice....

dazzajl

As said, the CV is a great guitar and I was going to say, even left alone should sound great. But I’ve just remembered the one I had did have the switching all upgraded. So that may have been what made it so good??

The Katanas are really popular and fabulous things but I will raise a hand for the mustangs. As long as you get the 1x12 or 2x12 of the V2, they are great things and if you can be bothered with connecting a computer, so easy to quickly dial in presets that make it plug and play for any sound at any volume. 

DulcetJones

I have a stock Squier tele and it sounds so good I wouldn't think of changing pick ups.  I also have a Mustang I amp that is great for home use but I also have a Katana 50 that does everything I need out in the real world.  If you're really into blues though a tube amp would be the best bet.  I played through a Blues Junior at a a jam recently and it made my tele sound even better.

Modellista

Sparky said:

Fender Mustangs are around £99.00 new. Save a few more pennies and buy the Katana and use it on 0.5W mode. Go and try them side by side in a shop and let your ears make the decision for you. But if you buy cheap, you buy twice....

This. An 8" speaker will not cut it for anything other than home practice. If you do end up playing out you'll want something better straight away. For a bit more money, the Katana is all you need for home, rehearsals, and gigging. And it's got every Boss effect inside it! 

And think the Katana is quite a bit better than the Blues Jr too. 

skunkwerx

+1 for the Katana, it’ll do everything you want and need and more than! 

It can go loud, or super quiet yet still sound good.