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The time has come for my US Schecter Tele to say bye to the stock Monstertones, which are not really a definitive tele sound. The swampash body and killer neck are very similar to the best of Tom Andersons and Suhrs.

I'm only really a fan of Alnico 5 single coils, and want the most authentic and toneful tele pickups possible for this guitar. I'm thinking of getting a Broadcaster bridge (A5) and Antiquity II (A5) neck. Is this the way to go?
In strats, I like the Ant II Custom bridge, so what would be closest to that in a tele?I have to be honest. I tried the Broadcaster with a Vintage neck in my ash tele, and felt it was just too bright. (I used them because I thought that would be pretty 'authentic'.) I replaced those with an Antiquity set, which sound great.

Perhaps with more time, and more experimentation, I might have found a way to like the Broadcaster / Vintage. I don't know if it was just me or what, but the Vintage seemed too low in output, compared to my other tele. I suppose I should have compensated with the amp, but anyway I ended up replacing them.

In my alder tele, I have a JD and a Hot neck. I can recommend the JD; the Hot might not appeal to those who want a more traditional twang.

I tried the Broadcaster with a Vintage neck in my ash tele, and felt it was just too bright.

The Broadcaster is pretty bright and twangy by design and is a bit much for many folks. For a true Tele tone IMHO the Vintage quot;54quot; lead with the Vintage neck or Antiquities are a better choice.

I think the raised and staggered polepiece '54 style pickup is brighter than the flat poled Broadcaster. I like the Broadcaster better than the '54.

But the Duncan sets I like the best are made by the Duncan Custom Shop and that would be:

1. The alnico 2 Duncan Antiquity I set.

2. The alnico 5 Duncan Tele ala Strat neck and the alnico 2 Tapped Tele Hot bridge pickup.

3. The non-Duncan set I like best the Fralin Blues Special set.

4. I LOVE the Surfer neck and Jerry Donahue too!

The Tele ala Strat neck and the Fralin Blues Special neck both sound alot like a Strat neck pickup and are my two favorite Tele neck pickups.

The Broadcaster is a really good pickup but I think you can do better...

Lew

Will the Hot Tele Tapped split match with a vintage type neck? I have a pullup tone knob, so I probably should use it to split something. I do like a beefier bridge pickup, and want a very strattish neck pickup.

Lew, is there any polarity/wind difference between the Hot Tele Tapped and the Fralin Blues Special? The last thing I want is the headache of phase problems after wiring it up.


Originally Posted by GearjoneserWill the Hot Tele Tapped split match with a vintage type neck? I have a pullup tone knob, so I probably should use it to split something. I do like a beefier bridge pickup, and want a very strattish neck pickup.

Lew, is there any polarity/wind difference between the Hot Tele Tapped and the Fralin Blues Special? The last thing I want is the headache of phase problems after wiring it up.

The stock Hot Tele Tapped is an alnico 5 pickup...the Custom Shop version is an alnico 2 pickup and I like it a little better. The coolest and easiest way to use it is with a 5 way switch like a Strat uses. You'd get:

1. Hot bridge
2. Hot bridge and Neck
3. Neck
4. Vintage bridge and Neck
5. Vintage bridge

The lower output is very similar to the Antiquity I lead pickup and hot output is very thick and ballsy...even stronger than the Duncan Twangbanger and Jerry Donahue.

The Fralin Blues Special neck would be out of phase with the Duncans. You can correct that by using black for hot and white for ground with the Fralin BS but you will not have humcancelling when the Fralin and the Duncan are combined.

I'd go with the Duncan Custom Shop Tele ala Strat neck pickup and the CS version of the Hot Tele Tapped. You'll have the Strat neck pickup tone and an alnico 5 neck pickup and you'll have humcancelling when the neck and bridge are combined.

That's really a great set of pickups and extremely versatile.

Lew

I did what I should always do, and just refer to the soundclips on this site.
I wish they'd put the Antiquities on there, but so far I like the Jerry Donahue bridge and am debating whether to go with the 54 neck, APII, or one of the Ant's. Will one of the Ant's NOT jive with the JD, because of polarity?

I think it will work, but I'm not positive. If you like a big, open and dynamic tone, I would recommend the Antiquity I flatpole, which naturally works very well with the Antiquity I rhythm. They are hum-canceling when combined. I like the JD very much and pair it with a Phat Cat neck (they are RWRP, too), but it sounds more compressed with less lows and highs available compared to the Antiquity I flatpole lead. For that reason, and especially if you're going to use a vintage Tele rhythm pickup or a Strat or Firebird neck pickup, I would go with the Antiquity over the JD. I also use the STL-2 Hot Tele lead with a HB at the neck, and they sound really nice as well. But when push comes to shove, I'd take the versatility and dynamics of the Antiquity with a good OD pedal to fatten to taste.

Thanks for the info guys. I think it's down to the Ant I set (probably flatpole), or the JD/APII.

You know you need the JD. It sounds sooo good with the tone rolled back and a bit of drive-a touch of natural compression too. I think you'd love it.

After many people on this forum recommended me to try the Alnico 5 Hot for Tele tapped, i bought it (the exchange policy doesnt apply here in NZ), i found the vintage output was no where the tone of the broadcaster, way more mids less bite and i couldnt find a useable tone out of it, I just kept it on full output, which sounded very middy but helped improve the treble.

I could not exchange it so i bought a broadcaster for tele, whiih was a huge improvement, less mids more sparkle and bite, nicer clean sounds and sounded fantastic with overdrive aswell.

If your guitar is very bright i think the Hot for tele wouldnt be a bad choice it would certainly beef up the bridge slot. If your guitar is not as bright the broadcaster with defintely add some nice high end bite, and vintage qualities but it has enough mids to be heardf in the mix, i highly recommend it.