Members voneville Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I just purchased a MIM Tele yesterday and I was expecting to swap out the pups with some Texas Specials I had in an Affinity Tele (RIP) years ago. After playing through my rig last night I think I'm gonna stick with my MIM pups. They're surprisingly good! I'm playing through a Peavey 2-12 Classic circa 1982 (the black tolex with alluminum strips) through a Chandler Tube Driver. The pups are quiet, responsive, and sound great. Especially in the middle position. I loved the sound of my Texas Specials when they were in my Affinity Tele. I wish I could record sound clips so I could do an A-B test, but swapping them just to swap them seems a little silly if I like my stock pups. Anyone else have some love for their MIM pups? Is it just the inner-tweaker in some of us that causes people to change them out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I just purchased a MIM Tele yesterday..... fwiw, I usually like to get familiar with the guitar and parts over the course of a week or two before I make a decision on keep or replace (unless it is glaringly obvious something is teh suck). I found the mim pups in my tele to be ok but nothing all that great....I wanted more heat at the bridge and more "glass" at the neck position so they were swapped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 Used to be that about 80% of pickups sucked, and you had to buy the name brand stuff to get anything decent, let alone pick your sound. Nowadays only about 15% of the pups suck. Everything has gotten better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members voneville Posted February 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 fwiw, I usually like to get familiar with the guitar and parts over the course of a week or two before I make a decision on keep or replace (unless it is glaringly obvious something is teh suck). I found the mim pups in my tele to be ok but nothing all that great....I wanted more heat at the bridge and more "glass" at the neck position so they were swapped. Definatley good advice! I expected them to suck out of the gate. It didn't sound all that great at the store, but I didn't care for the amp I tested it out on. I was just really happy with the feel of the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marc G Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 Yeah i thought i would swap mine too...............don't think its gonna happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eyeball987 Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I have a 2004 MIM tele and I think that the pick ups are pretty weak. They can work great for clean strumming but other than that, I need to look into getting something else. I am looking for more of what the poster above said. More heat and glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcinku Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I was really surprised how good tex-mex pickups sound in my Nashville tele. I think I will keep them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rocktoe Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I was really surprised how good tex-mex pickups sound in my Nashville tele. I think I will keep them. Yeah, my California series Tele has Tex-Mex pickups, and I liked them so much I replaced my 70s Classic Strat's original pickups with a Tex-Mex set too. The reason I have my eyes on a Nashville Tele atm are those pickups and 6 saddle bridge. I'm probably going to ditch the middle pickup and 5-way switch, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcinku Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I'm probably going to ditch the middle pickup and 5-way switch, though. Yes, I was thinking the same but after a while I decided to keep the middle. I did however change the switch. I wanted to have that neck&bridge sound and the stock switch can't be used for that. Now I actually like having two extra sounds available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members niceguy Posted February 17, 2007 Members Share Posted February 17, 2007 I don't find the logic in people bashing the MIM series. I think the upgraded ones (2006) are great---same fret sizes as the USA, better shielding, etc. the only real difference I see is the QC---there's LOTS of variation in the MIM's, while the USA are more consistent. but I like the single coils in my MIM strat. The humbucker, however, I find to be lacking in character and growl. but then again, I've been playing a gibson LP for the past 3 years! enjoy your MIM tele! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted February 19, 2007 Members Share Posted February 19, 2007 Definatley good advice! I expected them to suck out of the gate. It didn't sound all that great at the store, but I didn't care for the amp I tested it out on. I was just really happy with the feel of the neck. Right on...that's pretty much the same experience I had picking my taco tele out. I basically eliminated the pups and amp while looking at the neck, fretwork, and overall quality. When I got home and played it through my rig I was surprised how the pups were not all that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 19, 2007 Members Share Posted February 19, 2007 Used to be that about 80% of pickups sucked, and you had to buy the name brand stuff to get anything decent, let alone pick your sound. Nowadays only about 15% of the pups suck. Everything has gotten better.Yeah, I'll go along w/ this. I picked up a new MIM Tele a few weeks ago and am pretty happy w/ the stock pups- certainly hotter than past stock Teles pups, better suited to handle more gain but still sound nice clean. Mine is a player, but I encountered a lot of dogs out there as well- gotta be patient or lucky to find a really good one IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 19, 2007 Members Share Posted February 19, 2007 Fender re-tooled the MIM Teles and Strats in 2006. The pickups are quite a bit better than those in previous MIM's, so if you have one from before 2006, you might be surprised by how good the newer pickups are. I love my MIM 72 Tele Thinline. It is a seriously well-crafted, well-voiced, great playing instrument, easily as good as what is coming out of Korea these days. Fender has really stepped things up at the Ensenada plant, it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 19, 2007 Members Share Posted February 19, 2007 I love my MIM 72 Tele Thinline. It is a seriously well-crafted, well-voiced, great playing instrument, easily as good as what is coming out of Korea these days. Fender has really stepped things up at the Ensenada plant, it seems. I've always been impressed w/ the Mexi. Thinline's- great sounding guits, never played a bad one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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