The aural beauty of the Telecaster neck pickup

skullfunkerry

idiotwindow said:

He's an excellent player but I can't stand all the neck wiggling.

I read a thread on here about that recently and thought “I’ve never seen anyone doing that”, but it was really getting on my nerves in this video!

LastMantra

I don't really like the tone very much tbh. Playing isn't really my kind of thing either but pleasant enough and nicely done.
I quite like the look of the guitar though. 

Pabcrane

The tune he's playing isn't my cup of tea, but the sound was really quite nice.

What really woke me up to neck Tele pickups was when I got some Bare Knuckles for mine - flat 52s or something like that. 

RandallFlagg

The Tele neck pickups I've tried are the Fender Custom Shop Nocaster '51s and the set they put in the AV52 (same set as the current AO 50s?) and they both sounded really nice.

My current Tele has a low power PAF type, Seth Lover 55 humbucker in the neck, which sounds really, really nice, obviously not the same as a nice single coil but not muddy or stodgy at all, it's like a turbo charged single coil.

rivercider

There have been some good suggestions on here re pickups etc., but can I divert this briefly to a specific question, still in the context of the thread?

If choosing between two stock guitars fitted with Fender's own pickups as given below, does anyone have an opinion on which is the better balanced set?

(Yep, it's subjective, but I can't play these side by side and this thread is an interesting topic for me as I'm not a huge fan of the tele neck pickup but I am looking to buy another tele from these two, it seems...)

Nocaster 51 pair
Pure vintage 64 pair

(I'm looking at an American Original 60s or an American Pro fitted with the 51 set of pickups.  There are other differences between the guitars, naturally, but between those pickups, anyone able to comment on which set works best, or which has the more lively neck, for example)

Thanks 

Whitecat

I had an American Standard for a while with the 64s and I really liked them, in both positions. The entire “Pure Vintage” pickup range is pretty great actually. 

RandallFlagg

Whitecat said:

I had an American Standard for a while with the 64s and I really liked them, in both positions. The entire “Pure Vintage” pickup range is pretty great actually. 

Agreed, I think either would serve you well. I would take the 51s with a maple board and 64s with a rosewood board.

imalrightjack

Bareknuckle Yardbirds are pretty damned good. 

axisus

I love the Tele neck pickup sound. I've struggled more to find a bridge pickup that I like. Finally happy now though with Alegree. 

KKJale

I have a Lollar Vintage T in the neck and it's the most luvverly sounding pickup I've ever owned. 

rossi

My mix is  a Van Zandt bridge and a Maida Vale A3 strat neck .My Van Zant neck which was fine  but went awol and I like A3 strat pickups so its fine,I play jazz and blues even live sometimesat jazz nights and blues jams .

chris78

rivercider said:

There have been some good suggestions on here re pickups etc., but can I divert this briefly to a specific question, still in the context of the thread?

If choosing between two stock guitars fitted with Fender's own pickups as given below, does anyone have an opinion on which is the better balanced set?

(Yep, it's subjective, but I can't play these side by side and this thread is an interesting topic for me as I'm not a huge fan of the tele neck pickup but I am looking to buy another tele from these two, it seems...)

Nocaster 51 pair
Pure vintage 64 pair

(I'm looking at an American Original 60s or an American Pro fitted with the 51 set of pickups.  There are other differences between the guitars, naturally, but between those pickups, anyone able to comment on which set works best, or which has the more lively neck, for example)

Thanks 

They’re both well balanced, but they’re chalk and cheese.
‘The 64s would be my go to if you like very bright spanky teles. If you like less treble, then the nocasters

koneguitarist

For anyone struggling with balance between the pickups, try the 52 wiring with blend control. You can have neck pickup without tone control so it’s clearer, but also you can blend neck pickup into Bridge pickup to get that perfect balance. Not missing the tone control at all. 

rivercider

RandallFlagg said:

Whitecat said:

I had an American Standard for a while with the 64s and I really liked them, in both positions. The entire “Pure Vintage” pickup range is pretty great actually. 

Agreed, I think either would serve you well. I would take the 51s with a maple board and 64s with a rosewood board.

In this scenario that would mean buying both.....

I'm in trouble!