So I'm buying these vintage strat pickups that are to go into my tele. Strats can hold 3 pickups while the tele can only hold two, so what i need to know is out of the neck, middle and bridge pickups, which do you think is the best sounding combination of any 2 of them? Example: neck and bridge, middle and bridge etc...thanks.

MajesticOne89 said:

Well...are you sure that you really want to replace the Tele's pickups with vintage Strat single coils? Alot of a Tele's charactaristic tone comes from the pickups IMHO. I assume you have a Fender or a Fender styled Telecaster copy?

I don't think that a Strat P.U. will fit into a Tele's routing, especially the bridge. I have a custom Tele styled guitar that was built up from E.S.P parts with Seymour Duncan P.U.'s. A vintage type in the neck & a classic Tele stack
wired in single coil mode for the bridge. It even has a couple of other tone options via 2 push-pull pots for the volume & tone control. IT sounds like a Tele to me.

I Also have older Samick/V.A. Tele-type (I can't recall the model right now)with 3 strat styled single coils. It has a lot of twang but doesn't sound the least bit like a Telecaster.

To finally answer your question though..I'd use the Strat neck P.U. for the warmth with the tone rolled down & bridge P.U. for the bite.
I'm sure some other folks will weigh in they're opinions soon.

-KSTRAT-

www.myspace.com/kstrat
[Edited 7/25/06 11:06am]
[Edited 8/3/06 7:51am]

well actually its a squier affinity telecaster, and i'm not looking for that classic tele sound. Yea another person told me neck and bridge too so i'm going to for it. And if it doesn't work, i'll just sell them to my friend who has a strat-style guitar. Thanks for your opinion!

oh and i sent you a friend request. !!!!! You're in union!!!!! I'm over here in Hackensack, Bergen county.

Hmmm. Decent strat-style pickups aren't very cheap and Squier Affinity's aren't very expensive. Wouldn't you rather keep your money in your pocket and save up for the guitar you really want?

Also: if you want a strat-like sound, it would be better to install a strat pickup in a middle position and get a five position pickup switch, giving you not 2 but five sounds. I've had this configuration for years and it sounded great.

Finally: if you just want to sound less tele-like (WHY?! WHY?! ), replace the stock pickups with (stacked) humbuckers for a fatter, less twangy rock or jazz sound. Or keep teh bridge pickups but put a regular PAF style humbucker in the neck position, a classic combination that sounds sweeeeet.

ah ok i'll take that into consideration, thanks

MajesticOne89 said:

One word for you. Dremel. It's a small hand tool used for grinding. It is what you would need to make the 3rd slot in the guitar body and pick guard. It would be kick ass.

EuroCinema said:

My question as well. Otherwise, buy a cheap strat like you're cheap tele and be done with it except for some cheap effects and cheap amp.

Slave2daGroove said:

hmmmmm that would be the case except

cheap strat
i'll probably buy a real strat and play with that later on... And what kind of guitars u use?

These days, I'm playing a Washburn J6 archtop jazzbox, which is a medium priced model based on the Gibson L5 (financially way out of my league). But I've played a tele for many years and for versatility, nothing beats them (especially with the neck humbucker).

*typo edit*
[Edited 7/30/06 11:39am]

MajesticOne89 said:

I've had my share of cheap and expensive guitars, today it's an American Tele for electric and the Martin Backpack for practice and traveling.

Dumb question: With efx processors like the POD from Line 6, does it really matter what pickups u use?

Graycap23 said:

yes

Co-sign, you'll definitely hear the difference.
I'd like to mention as well that just your choice of strings and picks can make a big difference in sound. If you feel your sound is too thin, don't spend money on fx and whatever to fatten it until you've tried heavier strings and picks.

Graycap23 said:

Yeah. The effects and processors take the original signal and can scramble it into a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, but underneath it all, you still have the original tone. And, except for Steve Stevens and a few other long-gone metal heads, you rarely end up using so many effects that the original tone is buried.

But it depends on your style. Will you be playing death metal? Then, no, you won't really differentiate the pickups at all. But if the tone will be anywhere near clean, each pickup will have it's own voice.

beauhall said:

Thanks 4 the info.