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Post subject: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:46 pm
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looking to find the best, coolest and most punchy aftermarket pick-up to drop in my '69 Tele bass, will remove original pick-up and zip-lock to stay with guitar, I just need something for live sets that has more punch & bigger projection, less brightness and less glassy tone ......please let me know what you guys recommend .....also, there are a lot of cool aftermarket capacitors out there, would like to know about any that I could experiment with that would enhance the bass' overall tone & projection .....could easily solder in long leads with alligator clips to test various caps ......thanks for the assist !!


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Post subject: Re: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:20 am
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First, any modification from stock, even just the tone cap is a serious mark down in collector value. If this instrument is all original it is in your best interest to leave it that way. If it has been previously modified it won't make as much difference but everything you change from stock is a mark off including solder joints. Once the original solder joints are melted it is no longer stock and will never be stock again. Putting the original pickup in a zip lock bag is better than not keeping it at all but it is not the same thing as leaving the factory solder joints intact. Any changes including changes in electronics will move it from Collector class to Player class and that is quite a move down in value by 50% or more. Appraisers can tell a 1969 factory solder joint from a new one even if you try to age the solder with acid. How much of a mark off can be quite shocking.

If it is already modified it isn't nearly as big a deal since it is no longer Collector class anyway. Only if this instrument is no longer Collector Class (meaning "All Original") should you even remotely consider making any changes or modifications at all. You have been warned.

That being said here is my opinion on mods for a Player Class Telecaster Bass.

In general before switching the pickup I usually suggest switching the tone cap. Often a pickup swap can be averted completely. The stock ceramic cap can be brittle sounding to some people, especially with a bright single coil pickup. This brittleness is accentuated further in a cab with a horn/tweeter and by playing with a pick. For the smoothest possible tone I'd recommend an obsolete Paper In Oil Sprague Vitamin-Q 200 volt 0.047uF or another Paper In Oil Vitamin-Q TYPE such as the Soviet copies of the Vitamin-Q that are by all reports just as good yet way cheaper. Also Sprague made Vitamin-Q type caps for government contractors like Philco, etc. If it has a "2" inside a circle, that indicates a Sprague OEM cap no matter what brand name is on it. The nicer genuine Sprague Vitamin Q's have a clear insulating shrink wrap casing on the aluminum casing, which is swell when inside a guitar and I buy all of these I can get.

The next most smooth cap is the Sprague Mylar Orange Drop 225P. This Mylar Orange Drop cap is different from the far more common Sprague Poly Orange Drop 715P. The Mylar 225P is smoother than the Poly and is to me almost as smooth as the Vitamin-Q for 1/5th the cost. The Poly Orange Drop 715P is next in smoothness and I consider that cap the "middle of the road" cap. These Poly Orange Drops are the ones sold by most online parts houses and when they just say ORANGE DROP without specifying anything else then that usually means a Poly 715P. The most edge comes with the Ceramic Disc that came stock and frankly a good choice for lots of musical genres, player styles and rigs. For example a really hard rocking finger style bassist playing into 15 inch cabs with no tweeter/horns in a 3 piece band will probably appreciate the edge of the Ceramic Disc more than the smoothness of the Vitamin-Q. He might find the Vitamin-Q lacking the edgy character he likes. People are different. The Poly chicklet caps Fender used for a while (but no longer uses) are more distortion laden than the Orange Drop Poly caps and I can't bring myself to use one as I prefer Ceramic Discs to the chicklets. For hard to find tone caps like Mylar Orange Drops and real USA made Vitamin-Q's Axegrinderz dot com has been a very satisfactory supplier for me.

If a different tone cap doesn't bring joy and you still seek less brightness I'd highly suggest a split coil Telebass pickup. I am currently using one custom made by Lindy Fralin in a 51 RI P-Bass and it is definitely nowhere near as bright as a single coil and honestly sounds more like a 2nd generation P-Bass pickup than a single coil pickup. I think their item description should say, "This pickup makes a first generation P-Bass sound like a second generation P-Bass, so if you want to keep the vintage old school look but want the sound of a modern P-Bass try this pickup!" As tempting as it might seem, I would NOT overwind a split coil pickup as they are pretty dark sounding in stock wind. Curtis Novak also makes these and I plan to try one of his next time I need one. I'm sure Curtis' version is just as good and I highly regard his work. These split coil (NOISELESS) pickups look just like the original single coils and fit perfectly. They are far more labor intensive and intricate to produce and therefore more costly. At least one custom pickup shop I know of has abandoned making them because they are so difficult. I know Lindy Fralin and Curtis Novak are still doing them.

Another alternative is to have a custom standard single coil overwound by about 3 to 5% which will make it darker sounding but it still won't be as dark as the split coil custom pickup nor will it be as resistant to RFI noise and hum as the split coil. It will be louder and will not be as bright as a stock single coil Telebass pickup though. Any of the custom pickup shops can do that for you. I have a list of custom pickup shops listed on my website. Click the link in my signature below then click the red link to REPLACEMENT/UPGRADE BASS PARTS on the list.


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Post subject: Re: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 10:31 am
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brother Dave .....what a FANTASTIC reply, appreciate the fidelity & knowledge, and will absorb all and move forward accordingly ......thank you very very much and I will report back to you here with what I found and chose to do .....bye for now ....more to come ....


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Post subject: Re: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:17 pm
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OH wow! That sounded like it is possibly an all original and he may just take it to player class. OUCH!!!!!! I'm staying tuned.................


You know--- I bought my 68 Tele Bass for $795 with the case. It was player class. At the time if it was all original it would have been worth $5000 +. The bass I bought was kind of rough but the only thing was the Blue Flower finish had been stripped and the orig. bridge was gone. That's one example of how much the price drops once you do something to a vintage axe.


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Post subject: Re: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:51 pm
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Precisely Stoker! That's why I made it clear not to change anything at all if this happened to be stock as it is worth a significant sum. He'd be better off buying something else to hack up.


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Post subject: Re: '69 Tele bass: aftermarket pick-up / capacitor
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:56 pm
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well I wonder what ole Uncle Freddy did? I think he may have done the do.


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