It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:16 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Tele routing and mini humbuckers...
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 8:03 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 5:41 am
Posts: 2
Hello all, I'm new to the forum, but not to Fender guitars...I do wonder about a couple of things, and hope I can get some info here...first about the routing of Telecasters at the Neck position specifically, but both pickup positions generally - is there a way to determine the Tele's that are already routed for a 'bucker at the neck without having to remove the pickguard?...I mean, is there a model, or year, or series, or country of manufacture that assures this type of routing space in a factory body? ( also, the same type of question about 22-frets, as opposed to the 21-fret necks...) I'm wanting to replace the lipstick neck pup with a mini humbucker with minimal customization or modification to the body, although I realize I may have to rout it myself...second, using 500k pots as opposed to 250k pots - are the 500k going to allow for a brighter tone? I'm assuming that Tele's come from the factory with 250k installed...and suggestions for caps are welcome as well...Thanks all in advance!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Tele routing and mini humbuckers...
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:22 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:50 pm
Posts: 4602
Location: ˚ɷ˚
Frank the Tank wrote:
I'm wanting to replace the lipstick neck pup with a mini humbucker with minimal customization or modification to the body, although I realize I may have to rout it myself...

Given that practially no Telecasters ever came with lipstick pickups, if it has one, the pickup has already been replaced. So unscrewing and lifting the pickguard won't break any "pristineness" of the guitar.

You may also want to consider Fender Noiseless pickups, which are humbuckers in a single coil format. The N3s on one of mine are really good, and don't lose much treble sparkle - just the noise.

Frank the Tank wrote:
second, using 500k pots as opposed to 250k pots - are the 500k going to allow for a brighter tone?

In general, yes. However, some pickups are designed with a 250k pot in mind, and may sound rather harsh if used with a 500k pot (or if adding a second pot directly to the pickup itself to bring it to 500k).

When in doubt, use your ears. Theory is well and fine, but for musical instruments, it should serve to give you options, but decisions should be based on what you believe sounds the best.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Tele routing and mini humbuckers...
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 10:36 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:26 am
Posts: 249
Current modern Teles including Mexican Standard, American Special, Elite and American Standard, Mexican Deluxe Nashville are routed for neck HB.
American Vintage, Classic Player Baja and Mexican Classic series generally are not routed for neck HB

You can check them out on Ebay where there are numerous bare Tele bodies for sale.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Tele routing and mini humbuckers...
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 6:03 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 2:35 pm
Posts: 807
Location: Just East of Event Horizon
arth1 wrote:
Frank the Tank wrote:
I'm wanting to replace the lipstick neck pup with a mini humbucker with minimal customization or modification to the body, although I realize I may have to rout it myself...

Given that practically no Telecasters ever came with lipstick pickups, if it has one, the pickup has already been replaced.

Hi Frank,
Forgive me if I momentarily dwell on the obvious, but I believe Frank, that you are referring to the standard Telecaster chrome covered neck pickup, as being a "lipstick pickup," which is a commonly referenced description, even though the Fender Telecaster neck pickup is not a true, "Danelectro style," chrome tubular pickup.

Frank, the Fender American Vintage Hot Rod 50’S Telecaster has a mini-humbucker neck pickup, coupled with a vintage single coil Telecaster bridge pickup.
Fender uses .050μF Capacitor with a Fender 375k 20% .25 SOSH Control Pot (PN: 007-3133-000) for both the Volume and Tone Pots.
http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... A_SISD.pdf

These 375K control Pots can be found at these links:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/007-3133-000-Al ... SwoudW4KeK
https://reverb.com/item/1998801-fender- ... 7-3133-000

This is generally a compromise that not everyone is happy with, but it might be a good starting point.
If you want to keep the Bridge Pickup sound as it does with 250K Pots, and you need to install 500K pots for the Humbucker Neck Pickup, you can install a 470K Resistor to the Bridge Pickup lead at the switch.
The humbucker wiring in the illustration below is Seymore Duncan wiring.

Image
Switch Position
1. Neck Pickup = 500K
2. Neck and Bridge Pickup = 250K
3. Bridge pickup = 250K

Fender uses "Audio Taper Pots" for both the volume and tone controls.
With this set up, I would consider installing a 500K "Audio Taper Pot" as the Volume Control and a either a 250K or 500K Audio Taper Pot for the Tone Control.
The 500K Volume Pot should provide most of the needed high frequency increase and you may only need to use a 250K Tone Pot.

I would probably start out using a .050μF Capacitor (.047 μF) with this setup.
You could always go to a .033μF or .022μF Capacitor if the 050μF Capacitor was still too dark with the 500K pot(s).

As Arth1 suggested, you may be satisfied by eliminating the experimentation, and just swapping out both pickups for noiseless, stacked humbucker pickups, but these don't really provide a true humbucker sound, if that's what you are looking for.
Noiseless, Stacked, Telecaster humbuckers generally sound like hot Telecaster pickups.

I hope this helps and gives you some options to think about.
Good Luck!!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Tele routing and mini humbuckers...
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 7:48 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 5:41 am
Posts: 2
Well thank you all for your replies...Arth1, Mick was right about my calling the standard Tele neck pup a 'lipstick'...I've just always heard it referred to that way, but I appreciate your info...64Galaxie, that's the info I was looking for - I'm looking currently at a Mexican Standard Tele for my mods, and not having to rout it myself will save time...thanks so much...
and Mick Jagger, your post was great. Tons of info, links...thank you. I've got a Seymour Duncan mini humbucker for the neck, and a Lil 59 for the Bridge...I'm going for both pups as 'buckers initially, as I also have the matched mini for the Bridge too (I know that Seymour himself plays and enjoys a Tele with matched mini humbuckers, so that's still an option to explore tone-wise too!)... I'm thinking at this point that I'll simply install the pups and play it a while and listen...That's going to be kind of the fun of it to try and experiment with the pots, caps, etc...hopefully, when I find the setup/tone I'm looking for, I'll post it here and let you know! Thanks again!


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: