Strat sounding Tele neck pickup.

mgaw

disagree having had both the californian and fred stuarts compact wonder. but thats the beauty of it all, plenty of options for us all

victorludorum

Lace Chrome Dome if you can find one used. Tele look, Strat sound, but you will need a new plate with a Strat sized hole. I have a Twisted Tele which i like, but I believe Ash's Californian is highly rated too. I always liked the sound of his Hardman, but that's going into humbucker territory, sound wise I think.

ICBM

I know I always say this, but the very first thing to try before you change the pickup is to disconnect the cover. That will open up the sound a bit - how much depends on the exact pickup - without changing the look or costing anything if you can do it yourself. Maybe not enough, but always worth a try.

Simply cut the link wire on the bottom of the pickup from the eyelet to the cover tab as close as you can to the eyelet, and bend it back out of the way. Don't remove it entirely since it's harder to re-solder it to the cover if you want to put it back.

Johnnyseven

Zoolooter said:9

Johnnyseven said:

Buy a tele pickguard with a strat sized hole, I have a couple not being used if interested.

What colours are they?

BWB

robinbowes

Johnnyseven said:

Buy a tele pickguard with a strat sized hole, I have a couple not being used if interested.

This.

They're not expensive and you give yourself many more options (basically, any strat-sized pickup you want!)

R.

crunchman

Not sure you will ever completely replicate a Strat sound with a Tele.  A large part of the Strat sound is the trem springs and they way they interact with everything else.  it gives the guitar a kind of natural reverb.

robinbowes

crunchman said:

Not sure you will ever completely replicate a Strat sound with a Tele.  A large part of the Strat sound is the trem springs and they way they interact with everything else.  it gives the guitar a kind of natural reverb.

Also this - think of it as an excuse to buy another guitar

menamestom

BKP flat '52.  That sounds really stratty:-

For a very short period in '52 both bridge and neck coils were wound with 42AWG plain enamel and the Flat 52 set replicates this with a brighter, tighter sounding bridge coil and an open, almost Strat-like neck tone. Utilising the slightly thinner copper plated steel baseplate introduced in late '51 and staying with a flat profile magnet design and deep drawn neck cover, the tone has a defined snap in the bass and authentic, full twang. The Flat '52 really is a very unique and versatile Tele® set capable of a vast range of clean and driven vintage tones.

Zoolooter

robinbowes said:

crunchman said:

Not sure you will ever completely replicate a Strat sound with a Tele.  A large part of the Strat sound is the trem springs and they way they interact with everything else.  it gives the guitar a kind of natural reverb.

Also this - think of it as an excuse to buy another guitar

I totally agree, anyone got a 50's strat they want to shift!

johnswiss

Lindy Fralin blues special tele neck pickup

breadfan

menamestom said:

BKP flat '52.  That sounds really stratty:-

For a very short period in '52 both bridge and neck coils were wound with 42AWG plain enamel and the Flat 52 set replicates this with a brighter, tighter sounding bridge coil and an open, almost Strat-like neck tone. Utilising the slightly thinner copper plated steel baseplate introduced in late '51 and staying with a flat profile magnet design and deep drawn neck cover, the tone has a defined snap in the bass and authentic, full twang. The Flat '52 really is a very unique and versatile Tele® set capable of a vast range of clean and driven vintage tones.

It is. I put a set in my Tele & subsequently sold my Strat. 

It's a very versatile set.

rossi

I stuck a Rose  A2 Heritage strat  neck pickup in mine and its sweet jazzy bluesy and creamy .I just dont use the cover ,put tape over the wires and use a 60's type pickgard without any pickup screw holes so I can drill it my own .

MattBanshee

Has anyone suggested an actual strat pickup yet?

You can get replacement scratchplates to fit really easily on ebay.

robinbowes

MattBanshee said:

Has anyone suggested an actual strat pickup yet?

You can get replacement scratchplates to fit really easily on ebay.

Has anyone suggested checking whether anyone has suggested an actual strat pickup yet?

Zoolooter

Thanks for all the info, interesting options. Picked up a Twisted Tele cheapish so see how that goes, also changing my speaker. The combination of both new editions might get me there.

ThePrettyDamned

I can't remember the name, but I have a Oil City set in my tele. The bridge is very hot P90-esque, and the neck is wound to match, and coverless - the cover actually sucks away some treble, and is a big part of the tele sound. 

To me, it sounds like a hot strat neck pickup. The bridge has little in common with a strat sound, but is a very rock-sounding tele. Keef would probably love it. 

So, as ever, I'd say give Ash at oil city a call.  What he doesn't know about pickups isn't worth knowing. Honorable mentions to Mojo pickups too - I went for Oil City first and have been a loyal customer since, but some folk go the other way. I doubt one is better than the other