Members O the Resonator Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 Hi all. I've got a Mexican-made Fender Telecaster Thinline 69, which I use for electric slide playing. It's a beautiful guitar, but I want to beef it up a little for a heavier sound. I've considered swapping it completely for a Gibson SG, but I'd like to keep the Tele sound to a degree (plus this Tele is way prettier than an SG, to my mind). My current thinking is to replace the stock neck pickup (pretty much a duffer, as so often with Teles) with one of Seymour Duncan's stacked humbuckers, so I can combine greater power there with the characteristic Tele twang of the stock bridge pickup, and thereby be able to approximate the thicker slide sounds of players like Duane Allman while keeping the more Tele-ish slide sounds of folk like Muddy Waters and Rory Gallagher (not that I can hold a candle to any of these players, of course!). So my question is, to anyone with experience of these things, which might be better for this purpose, the Hot Rails pup, or the Little 59? I'd be grateful for any thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarvelUndies Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 I remember having an Axl Tele copy a while back with a very powerful neck pickup. I think it was still a single coil, but if I remember rightly Axl used licensed EMGs? Kinda like the "Duncan Designed" pickups you find on cheaper instruments. I gave that Axl to my old man (a much more classic rock orientated player than I), and he really digs the extra power in the neck. Now, I don't really know how you'd go about finding one, but EMG may make a Tele neck pickup themselves. Either way, I think you're on to something with a stacked humbucker too. Always loved the sound of a Tele with a neck 'bucker, and a Thinline can only improve on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 Marvel, EMG does make a set for the tele. I have a JB Player professional that has them, and honestly? I dislike them. You lose the "teleish twang" that makes a tele special. Go with Lawrence's, Fender's own twisted tele neck pickup is quite nice, Or any of the Duncan line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 Put a mini Humbucker in the neck position. Neck choices are all over the place. Buying on line is a crap shoot however. You may wind up with a Gem or a dud. It really comes down to how well it fits you hand. I have one Tele and two builds with Tele Necks. I have two other necks sitting aside for new builds. The one I paid a little more for because I wanted a rosewood fretboard and yellow tint. Its a generic from China but its as good as any of my other necks. I like it because its just right for my hand, not too thin, not too fat. I'm pretty sure this was the vendor. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Fender-TELE-Guitar-Neck-Canadian-Maple-Rosewoood-22-Fret-Nitro-Finish-/321987856713?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368 Its a 22 fret fretboard. It was dead flat, no twisting of any kind. The fret job was excellent. The only thing I have to do is polish the frets up good. The finish wasn't high gloss however. I may wind up over spraying it with high gloss after I decal it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 I have one too I also love the look but I basically set mine aside after it arrived years ago and really haven't gotten into it yet. I found the tone to be a bit too bright and piercing for my preference. I remember reading (can't confirm if it's correct) that they use 500 meg pots instead of 250 meg, so there was some thought on the boards that swapping those out to 250 meg pots would tame the highs a bit. But I'll have to get mine out when I get home. Sometimes in retrospect I have to remind myself "the tone knob can be your friend". I totally get the idea of what you're going for, i.e. basically getting a bit of a semi-hollow toned version of a '72 Telecaster Custom from the '69 TL. But just talking out of my arse here (i.e. haven't done the swap myself) I think I might go with the Duncan Hot Tele neck even though it's not a stacked HB. But its output and tonal characteristics might get you into the ball park you're looking for from a neck pickup in a guitar that tends to be naturally on the brighter side of town. http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/hot-tele-neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 Put a mini Humbucker in the neck position. Neck choices are all over the place. Buying on line is a crap shoot however. That was actually my first pref too, but only if the OP is ready to mod (or swap) the PG and the guitar's looks. And yeah, my success rate with p'up swaps is no better than about 50/50. P'ups just sound so different from one guitar to another, so I've learned to chill my biases when it comes to particular models. In other words, I own enough guitars where I've experienced where p'up model Z might sound like crap in guitar A but sound very good in guitar B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 I have a 69 Thinline reissue as well. I put a Lace Sensor Gold in the neck and a Duncan Little 59 in the bridge. However, while doing research on this I learned that the 69 Thinline comes stock with 1 meg pots which makes the guitar extremely bright. I switched to 250k pots which got rid of the ice-pick tone and warmed it up a lot. That is definitely something to take into consideration with this guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 16, 2016 Members Share Posted September 16, 2016 However' date=' while doing research on this I learned that the 69 Thinline comes stock with 1 meg pots which makes the guitar extremely bright. I switched to 250k pots which got rid of the ice-pick tone and warmed it up a lot. [/quote'] Thanks for the info on the stock pot values and your feedback on the swap of pots. I did what I said I would do and dug my '69 out. I played it a bit tonight through my '65 DRRI (clean tones) and that amp really helps cure the brightness factor (since it really mellows out Fender guitar tones) but I could discern the OP's point about the neck's tone lacking. It just seems a bit too thin in its body of tone. I think I'd still be interested in trying a Duncan Hot Tele neck, but my most recent thought was that a Fender Tele Texas Special neck p'up would also boost the boldness of this guitar's tone. However, I was also thinking that something extra for the bridge would also up its game. Good thread, it got me to drag a neglected guitar out into rotation. Now you've got me thinking of how much more $ I should consider dumping into this guitar to bring it from C to B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members O the Resonator Posted September 16, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 16, 2016 Thanks for all the responses, guys - lots of good suggestions and stuff to think about. The point about the pots is a good one - I'll look into that, too. Glad the thread's got some other 69 Thinline love going, too! Every time I think about changing up the guitar itself, I just look at it and realise it's too damn pretty to give up on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarvelUndies Posted September 16, 2016 Members Share Posted September 16, 2016 Oh, definitely. That Axl sounded more like a Les Paul in the neck. Not a lot of twang there at all. There is something to be said for that pickup that I can't explain. My old man loves it, but dislikes his FMT set neck Tele with two Duncan humbuckers. Perhaps the Axl licensed EMGs are a lower output than the standard ones? In any case, I would definitely suggest seeking out a passive set over an active set for a Tele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 16, 2016 Members Share Posted September 16, 2016 I'll be curious to know if you do go forward with some mods, what you go with and how it turns out. As I mentioned above, I could hear the need for something more from the p'ups, but of course I'm not sure what would be the best option. I also noticed a significant amount of single coil buzz (i.e. hum), and although I don't mind that when I'm playing by myself, but when I get together with my band mate buddies for a jam, they aren't as savy about such things and sometimes think there's something off, so for that context, a stacked p'up would probably be helpful. But the first thing I need to do is get rid of the '9s. I think possibly a set of 11s might be worthy of a try for me. I'll also look into the Lawrence and Fender Twisted Tele p'ups recommended above by Bad Penguin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted September 16, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 16, 2016 Seymour Duncan 1/4lber for Tele, or a Fralin Steel Pole...either way, something with no cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 17, 2016 Members Share Posted September 17, 2016 Seymour Duncan 1/4lber for Tele' date=' or a Fralin Steel Pole...either way, something with no cover[/quote'] I looked up the output and EQ specs on the quarter pounder and they seem like a possibly good application to give the guitar more body to its tone. The neck 1/4lb'er does have a cover, which I'd like to go with the aesthetics of the '69 Tele. Are you suggesting no cover for tone? From what I gather, that would make it brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 17, 2016 Members Share Posted September 17, 2016 Lindy Fralin:https://www.fralinpickups.com/product-category/guitar-pickups/teles/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted September 19, 2016 Members Share Posted September 19, 2016 I put a set of Seymour Duncan Vintage Stacks in a Warmoth Tele build and really like them - especially the neck pickup. The pickups sound great and the fact that they don't buzz is a nice treat too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted September 21, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 21, 2016 I don't like messing with covers unless I'm sure they're decent quality raw nickel which I'm happy to work with, but chromed steel messes too much with magnetic eddies for my liking. I've also never found a covered Tele neck pickup that doesn't sound better than it does by removing the cover, that extra sparkle at the neck is always desirable imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted September 21, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 21, 2016 I don't like messing with covers unless I'm sure they're decent quality raw nickel which I'm happy to work with, but chromed steel messes too much with magnetic eddies for my liking. I've also never found a covered Tele neck pickup that doesn't sound better than it does by removing the cover, that extra sparkle at the neck is always desirable imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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