Did Fender Get The Telecaster Wrong?
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Another good video, Phil, but one of the Telecaster's most iconic sounds is the middle position. I really would have Loved to hear the difference in the middle positions with the pickups in their normal configuration and swapped around. Two bridge pickups would be cool to hear in the middle position too.
JunkfoodZombie This is also the point about/problem with Phil’s two bridge pickups suggestion: you’d lose/massively change one of the Tele’s most iconic sounds (as you so rightly put it).
In my opinion one of the best parts about the Tele is that it’s two pickups are so very different. It provides significant flexibility but also a gorgeous blend in the middle position.
Totally agree guys! There is magical two pickup Tele sound I think you get playing through something like a AC30 with a tiny bit of crunch. And the Tele neck pickup on its own gives such a distinctive "glassy" sound - very different from a strat neck pickup. Still - an interesting exercise.
Stevieboy130664 Agreed. I love my Teles through my Orange AD30 or Retro 50, both of which do a great low gain crunch tone.
I’d like to hear the middle position with two bridge pickups together, too.
@@corneliuscrewe677 Me too.
Any "tone change" associated with a tele bridge pickup being mounted to the "ashtray" bridge likely has less to do with the mechanical/vibrational linkage but with how the steel bridgeplate redirects the magnetic field from the poles, in a similar manner to the steel baseplate.
I can add to your sound analysis. If you take a Fender solid body guitar, a six string or bass, and cut the wood away just enough to hold the neck and bridge together, the tone gets a little more treble, and you can adjust a tone control to get back to where you were. You should see the tonal response when you have a "plate" of medium vinyl between the tremolo plate and the body. It softens the tone and allows more string feel, a medium between the string vibrations coming from the wood and what gets transferred to the metal.
I think there is a contribution from the mounting. The whole guitar vibrates when the strings vibrate. If the pickups vibrated the exact same way as the strings there would be no signal. The amount of dampening the mounting method creates between the body and pickups and which frequencies are dampened to what degree probably makes a difference but I'm not Eric Johnson so I probably can't tell
@@andrewosullivan2923 I doubt if Eric Johnson could tell either. However, as a 9-volt battery licker from the past myself, who knows, no-one knows, do you know, I don't know, who knows. guitar solo
The bridge pickup sounds great in the neck. I'm impressed.
Agreed!
fender did a guitar with 3 Tele bridge pickups lol, kinda like a jaguarillo
Wouldn’t that be like a Mustang or a Duo Sonic then?
@@ravendemo4980 Mustangs and Duo-Sonics use strat pickups, IIRC, not tele.
Thanks again Phil for giving a birthday shout out to Jack this past Friday. As you can imagine he was feeling pretty isolated, and was thrilled to be contacted from amongst " the whole internet!". Your advice was spot on and encouraging! There is no doubt, you are the best. Cheers!
I love the 8:51 sound. Awesome out of phase twang!
I think part of the reason Fender chose the pickup arrangement for the tele the way he did was the tone he was going for was a clean bright tone which made sense for the type of music that was popular at the time the guitar was introduced. Since then music tastes have shifted some and a the hotter, fuller sound of the dbl bridge pickup arrangement seems more fitting. I love a standard tele but I’d rock that bridge pickup in the neck position too. All in all what a great experiment! Totally successful imho
I actually really enjoyed the bridge pickup in the neck position
Yes, please - do phase two of this project (w/mini humbuckers, et al) Thanks Phil!
This is such a great series. You are providing objective information to replace the emotional mythology.
Yes, I'd like comparison. Agree on the bridge pu in the neck position. I guess that's why I have my G&L ASAT setup with the typical tele (well, G&L version) in the bridge and the humbucker in the neck (bluesboy). Just seems to fill better to me.
And that's the same reason that I love my G&L ASAT Bluesboy Classic, I never really found the neck pickup in a standard tele really appealing. The tone to me sounded really shrill, a little thin and pretty pedestrian.
That guitar seems to have been a great value for you. Nice to see it being used to it’s full potential. I’d never crack a fraction of what it can do.
This video is what know your gear is about :) keep showing the possibilities.
Thank you Gary, I had fun and Im glad you liked it
YES to the minihumbucker/humbucker pups.
I've been interested in replacing my tele's bridge with a left handed one to reposition the angle of the bridge pickup. In theory; I think I'd prefer snappier lows and smoother highs to the traditional layout of the bridge pickup but It would be interesting to see this demonstrated side by side. I'm sure someone out there has done this but I'm not aware of it.
Never would have thought of swapping those pickups, but I love the difference in sound. I'd love to hear more comparisons. I've been enjoying the hell out of this series, so thanks for that.
Great video! I just ordered my first brand new guitar from sweetwater and they asked how i heard of them and i of course said you. The salesman then pulled up your account and hooked me up with your guy there and it was an awesome experience!
I needed an audio example just for a taste and this video delivered. Thanks for the work!!
Keep on keeping on with the Telecaster pickup combinations. Very interesting to me and probably to others
When I first saw the Somnium i thought about it being able to be used like this compare pickups. I'm so glad you ran with that idea and are just trying out weird combinations that would be cumbersome to do on normal guitars.
Great guitar!! The Relish guitar does the same!
wtf this answers so many questions I had! Thanks!
Teles are awesome with any pickup configuration in them. They just beg to be played.
Totally agree
I think reversing the slant of the bridge pickup would take the crown in the neck position.
Interested in the mini-h, h-split & tele neck (and strat neck) comparison. I also wonder if a p90 would work @the tele neck
Also VERY interested in a SD P-rails review and comparison to pick ups they emulate.
I have a MIJ Fender Aerodyne Telecaster, and it has a P90 in the neck. Absolutely love it. I haven't played a ton of teles, but the warmer and higher output of the P90 seems like a good match for the super punchy and twangy tele bridge.
Jim Adkins telecaster is another oddball Tele with p90s
I have to get behind that idea of comparing the different humbuckers. And I would love any video about the SD P rails. I'm thinking strongly about getting a set so would appreciate your views. Thanks.
P90s, PAFs, mini hums, strat neck pups, lipstick pups, filtertrons are all awseome options for a tele neck. For some people just taking the chrome cover off a stock tele neck pup is all it takes to sound right.
And for me a standard tele neck pu is perfect as is ;)
Prails do not do anything well, they are a bit of this and a bit of that. They sort of get there, but not quite. I had a set in an custom made SG for about 9 years! Got rid of them last year, and replaced them with a custom made set of PAF replicas by Mr. Fabulous. The pick ups basically cost me NOTHING! Selling the Duncans PAID for the custom jobbies, and the installation! Got split coils & phase reverse in the middle posi if I want it! FAR more versatile!
Bridge pickup in the neck is a clearer punch with a little extra sizzle. I like it 👍
Hi Phil.
When you think about it, a tele bridge is a giant hunk of metal, so to expect it to change the behavior of a magnetic pickup isn’t really a stretch at all.
I tried a tele pickup with and without the metal of the ashtray bridge around it. It had a bit more low end with it which I find pleasing.
Good stuff as always.
That neck pickup in the bridge is a funk machine! Cutting out all the lows and leaving the sound tight across all strings sounds great in this application.
This video was real fun. This guitar just let's you try anything. It's amazing to see how the position in which you set the pickup makes a difference.
You should've shown how the middle position sound changes, too!!!
I think the neck pickup in the bridge would make more sense with more gain, or with the amp louder, but great video, its one of the things we always wanted to see, finally someone making it !
I did this back in 1992. I put a tele bridge pickup in the neck position in an 87 MIJ Strat. It still sounds fantastic.
Tele bridge pup in neck is uniquely awesome. I haven't seen anyone do this and the Somnium guitar makes it so easy. I imagine true Tele fans will shudder. But I like the sound of the Schecter PT Special with a P-90 in neck too. I owned a Tele Thinline but wasn't a big fan. The Peavey amp had a lot to do with that though I'll admit. Never played that neck pup through a proper tube amp. A friend played his Tele through a Bassman amp and it was a much nicer match. Be good to see further tests with this Somnium, go for it Phil.
I used to have a strat with a telecaster bridge pickup in the neck position. It was a really hot pickup for a tele, but since my bridge was a paf humbucker it was still a good contrast. I’ve always really enjoyed the sound of the slanted pickup in the neck position. Like you mentioned towards the end, the notes just pop out a little more. It’s a different vibe.
Yes, I'd love to hear you compare the humbucker to the mini-humbucker!
Hmm, interesting. I have a cheap, but nice Squier strat in my collection, and an old spare strat scratch plate. I'm tempted to mod it and put a tele neck pick up in the Squier strat's neck position and see what it sounds like. 🤔
I wouldn’t. Wrong spacing, wrong size, wrong mounting technique, etc. look at Fender Blacktop HSH Guitar’s. It uses a special trem bucker, tele, trem buckerconfiguration. You’d need a whole new guard.
@@michaelczesnozki1671 lame, are you a musician if so I bet you never break any of the rules because it would be "wrong".
gary jones no. I love breaking the rules. This is literally a tech thing. I come from a heavy jazz background and all we do is break rules. But I get what you’re saying. I’m just trying to help the guy out. It’s really hard to get a tele pickup into a strat guard. You gotta have chutzpah. Cheers mate!
I put G&B Ltd. Golden Age pickups in my Strat and i love em! Both pickups are wound totally different from each other; the bridge has 42-gauge wire while the neck pickup has a thinner 43-gauge wire winding which is also the reason why it has a higher multimeter reading than the bridge pickup. The neck positioned bridge pickup reminds me of Fender's Triple Player Telecaster which has three '51 Nocaster bridge pickups and it has a warmer sound w/its higher output.
You've done it again Phil !!! I love this series and would like to see the comparisons you mentioned using the humbucker and mini-humbucker. Would like to also see tele bridge in both positions at same time to hear that tele middle sound using both pickups. Looking forward to the live show this afternoon. I work at Hospital and haven't been able to watch the show live since this whole Pandemic started. This is great to get my mind off my work and pts there at least for a while. Thanks again as you are helping us all take our mind off things in the world for a bit 👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸😷😷🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🇺🇸🇺🇸
DAAAAYUM, that guitar is SO awesome! Your playing sounds great too Phil!
I love how you did this video. That is an awesome guitar. The bridge swap to me had a fuller more rock based vibe when used as a neck pick up. More of a Lead type vibe. But I also think the reverse set up is also a bit more funky. I kinda want that model guitar now haha
The one thing that most people won’t know or that they might forget about is that the original Broadcaster/Telecaster design was a modified Lap Steel Guitar. The reason Leo slanted the pickup was to accentuate the highs on the high strings and the lows on the low strings. Remember that there were very few amplifiers and they were all low wattage with 6” or 8” speakers. So Leo was doing what he could to get more out of them. His amps eventually got bigger and better and louder and so what we think of today as the perfect sound really became what it is with a hell of a lot of experimentation from a guy who was really not getting the sound in his head through his gear! Until he did! 🤗
Do it! I would also suggest: keep the technical pickup description which is very instructional and interesting.
Definitely carry on with the Tele pickup experiments. Many years ago l put the bridge pickup in the neck position and a humbucker in the bridge position... people thought l was nuts, but l had one hell of a ballsy Tele.
From Ray in Spain.
Year late but the coolest video you ever developed. So interesting to hear see.
Okay... that was cool. Thx for making this video. Since you asked, I'd like to see a tele bridge pickup vs a P90, because when you put the tele bridge pickup in the neck position, it sounded a lot like a P90 to me and I just want to know for sure. Thanks again.
I recently changed plastic p/u rings to chrome on '88 SG, (Bill Lawrence pups, which are great), there was an immediate difference in response that I hear as an improvement. As well I use a '67 Harmony Bobkat for slide, I installed bolt-in tuners and installed a tune-o-matic type bridge, again a noticeable difference in sound. The greatest difference on the Harmony was bolt-in tuners oddly enough.
Love the series, please continue Phil
The bridge pickup in the neck with overdrive sounds great.
Really enjoyed this Phil. What a versatile guitar. I agree bridge pickup X2 would greatly increase overall tone
If you really want to come up with some cool sound variations, try a Line 6 Variax through a Kemper Profiler. I've never had so much fun playing until I came up with that combination. Copying someone else's sound has become much easier these days than it was in a cover band during the 60s. But, when it comes to originality, 'tweaking' is the real secret to being unique in your style and sound. Great video!
Hi Philip great test on the tele. IMO the original pickups are fine from the 50s-60s. Just see countless recordings where you'll find the tele sound across multiple genres, that's truly versatile. My question is on a totally different pickups almost forgotten, DeArmond. I believe this are also unique and have a trademark sound, used from back in the day by
Gretsch and others. Could you please make a video about DeArmonds ? Thanks
Fender did a Telecaster in their Deluxe line in Mexico that had 3 telecaster bridge pickups in it. Clearly people have wanted to use the pickup in the neck position before. I have always hated the neck pickup on Telecasters. I would much rather have a twisted Tele neck pickup or a stratocaster neck pickup in a telecaster even the bridge pickup would work for me. Only question I have is if you do 2 bridge pickups in a telecaster what’s position 2 going to sound like? Position 2 is heavenly and position one is here for the party!
Would love to hear a lot of different pickups in there - hum bucker minihumbucker, and tele single of course, but also strat, p90, wide range, Charlie Christian, and gold foil. You know you want more modules!
Been wanting to hear the bridge pup in the neck.. Sounded really good and useful!
I really dig the 2 bridge PU on ur guitar, love the sound.
Nice series sir, keep makin cause I've always watch it. Thnx
I only care about clean, so just to say.... i like the neck better in both positions. Less mids I think. (Turn the amp up a little to compensate). However, the middle (both pups) wouldn't be right without the bridge in the bridge and neck in the neck. I've never liked any breakup except what an amp will do when played hard intermitently as one needs to do on certain songs. I.E. no OD for all notes, chords. Not musical to me. Leo had it right. Thanks Phil!
Yes. Tele-&Strato-caster bridge pickup *SKEW* is more suitable at the *NECK* position
- Really glad I'm not the only player that agrees.
The neck humbucker video would be amazing! I've been considering that combination. Great video!
great video.. the fact that you played differently.. is a key thing... I still love the tele neck pick up.. it just has a very unique tone.. it was made for the nexk position...It just sounds so full and pure clean.. unfortunately it is a tone that doesn't punch through.. and is not appreciated... so yes the stronger pickup will be more lively.. so it reaches out more... lets not forget though how the 2 pickups together give you the best of both worlds... so yes Leo got it right
Just purchased my first Tele and learning everything I can about them. Planning on modding and customizing to make it my own sound like my Strat and C-1. This vid is immensely helpful in understanding the profiles of both pups. Thanx. Thumbs up for the next pup swap vid.
I have a humbucker for my tele neck PU. It’s a pretty awesome combo.
GONZO PewPew That is a nice combo! I have a P90 in my neck pu of my Tele now
Keith Richards ha entered the chat
Andy Dion I was thinking about trying a P90 as well
Wow, Great video for a beginner like me. AGREED - LOVE to have 2 BRIDGE pickups on a TELE . Weill Done , Sir.
LOVE to hear the HUMMERs on the TELE in your next video. Thank you, I don't have the equipment to do what you just did. Thanks....
Love these pickup-centric videos, keep 'em coming!
Yes, please Phil... I personally would love to see the Tele-neck pickup vs. mini-humbucker neck vs. humbucker neck. I am in the process of building a Tele and have been considering a mini-humbucker in the neck, but not sure that's the route I want to go.
The Fender Telecaster is a work of art.
Ugly-ass headstock though
@@kailryu looks better with the big strat style headstock
@@kultofskaro 100% dude!
Trippin..I love the tele headstock..I love both strat headstocks too. But I like the smallness of the tele
I got a set of Stew Mac tele pickups for my Squire tele, and they are fine. Got them on sale for about $75 for the set, which was the thing that made me get them. I like them, they sound like a tele.
Loving these new pick up videos.
Keep up the good work, Phil!
Please do it Phillip, we need a lot more pickup videos. Keep up the wonderful job!!
Thanks, the bridge PU in the neck position sounds great! Yes, compare all four neck PUs. Also 2 tele bridge PUs with selector in middle please.
comparison of coil Humbucker and mini Humbucker would be great
Thanks Philip - this is such interesting stuff, and yes definitely please do the pick up comparisons on the neck position 👍👍
I agree. The slanted tele pickup is great for country tones but otherwise, the B and E strings get a bit ice picky and harsh. An unslanted pickup would be better for most applications.
There's a good reason why the outputs of the Tele bridge and PAF's are similar; vintage P90's are right there between 7 ~8 K as well, this seemingly a crucial crossover point.Not by any means an expert, but I know that paying attention to that has served me well, with anything hotter not remaining in for long.
If you look at the way Fender handled pickup design on later developments like the Jazzmaster , Duo Sonic, Jag, etc., you'll see a re occuring theme of changing pole pieces, wraps, and coil depth, but still maintaining close to that formula.Some later versions were made fairly hot in the bridge,(to meet later market demands) but the "vintage specs" remain more flexible and tonally vibrant, by most estimations.
Between these, and the Strats single's (& Filtertron's)operating at about half of that output, you see the full Sonic array of what non active pups can do.(Some of the most popular humbucker's , like the JB, are a couple K "hotter")
YES! Telecaster Bridge with a switch out between mini, actual (Humbucker) and traditional Tele neck would be great! I want to build/modify a Telecaster, and this is the biggest question I’m having. Keep the traditional setup for the great in between sound, or have a more balanced sound, with more switching options (w/ a 4 lead Humbucker)
@Phillip McKnight I don’t think the discussion on how the bridge affects the tone is about how it’s mounted but how the metal bridge plate affects the magnetic field. The same applies to the metal baseplate. They affect the magnetic field, changing how the strings and magnetic field interact.
With the bridge pickup in the Neck, It now sounds pretty close to how my '62 musicmaster sounds and Pops off. For all the same reasons you described Is why I've recorded with that guitar a lot.
Thanks Phil for all you do!!!!
One Question; What You think about mounting F Spaced pickup on neck; 52mm pickup on neck with 48mm. Two E strings magnets protrude beyond the string line. In fact, the string is in line with the end of the magnet. Do you think this will work well?
I LOVE this series! I wanna hear a P90 neck vs a Mini Humbucker Neck. But I love that guitar & these videos Phill! Thanks a million!
Wow, just got a lot of new inspiration. I am looking forward to hear all pickups this way.
I only have only one Tele...and it's the Fender Modern Player Plus...which has a standard Tele Neck pickup, a Strat style single coil in the middle...and a humbucker in the Bridge, with a 5-way switch and a toggle switch to split the coil on the hummer...totally not your usual Tele!!! I've often wondered if what I'd get out of this beast if I changed up the pups (this is the made in China one that they put the Fender and not Squire Logo onto it...they liked it so much)...or should I just be happy with what I have?!? This series is awesome! Thanks so much for what you do Phil!
Great video...please make the one comparing the hum, mini-hum and tele neck pickups
The question of where does the tone actually come from, I have thought about this like many have, and I have come up with some answers. First is the pickup, I know that is obvious, but the type of pickup is going to make a huge difference. Then there is how that pickup is constructed, not all single coils will sound the same. Then of course there is the position of the pickup on the scale of the guitar. That would include what this video shows, which is what happens when you take two pickups and flip them around, because you are changing where they are along the scale of the guitar. Once you get past the pickup type and how its constructed and where if is on the scale of the guitar, there is of course the scale its self, which will have a effect on the sound a guitar produces. Then you have how a guitar is wired, the pots and such will play a roll in the tone as well. Next would be the Amp, because we all know not all amps sound the same, that is another duh part of it all huh lol. The strings are going to play a roll as well, and the tuning as well. Finally we have the player themselves, no two players sound exactly alike and that is a duh part of it as well at this stage.
What I have not found, is any actual evidence, not easily explained, that the wood types play any roll in the tone or sound a guitar produces at all. Before anyone responds with a link to a clip of someone knocking on woods of different thicknesses and lenghts, in a attempt to prove tone would, I have already seen those videos already. I understand that if you have two pieces of wood that have different thicknesses and lengths and hit them with a hammer or a drum stick, they will make different sounds. that is a function of the differences in the lengths and thicknesses not the wood types. And before anyone bothers linking me to a video of someone making two guitars out of different woods and blaming the sound differences on the wood types, look at the pickups the two guitars are using, there is where your difference is coming from. :)
So, a experiment I would like to see, is someone find a way to instead of moving there pickups from front to back like this, in two static positions like this. I would like to see someone move a pickup one inch at a time or less, starting at the front and working there way back to the bridge. I think if you are using a single coil, at three points in the scale, its going to sound almost identical to a strat, even if you use a Tele body lol. It would be a fun thing to see someone do lol.
As far as this guitar, I would love to here a tele bridge pickup on the bridge and on the neck at the same time, that would be pretty cool if you ask me.
Great video. Now I’d be super excited to see a video where we could hear a bridge puckup in both spots with the selector in the middle position. 🤓 👍
Great videos all the time. Yes please make the video you were talking about comparing the pickups for a Telecaster. Thank you
Now I want to build a Tele with two bridge pickups (like I need another Tele!). And yes, a hum vs mini-hum video would be cool.
I hear the good things of the bridge pickup in the neck, but I also see the value of having a greater difference in tones from neck to bridge to have more colors to paint with. Do what ya like, make it work for you.
I'm definitely down with you making the other video switching out the other pickups!
I agree with the pickup mount to the bridge will get a different tone. I’m a guitar tech ive tried lot of possible combinations.
Yes please do the Tele neck pup versus mini bucker versus split coil humbucker. Love your videos!
Definitely would enjoy a video comparing telecaster neck pickup types!
Can you put the angled one towards the opposite direction? Loved this video. Thanks!!
I just don't like that bridge PU, although it sounds better in the neck position. I agree 2 neck PUs would be better.
Sounds like you'd love a Triple Tele Telecaster.
Allen Appel I have a Modern Player Tele that I absolutely love. So many tonal options.
Was gonna say that as well. I picked one of those up for about 350 on sale, and it sounds amazing
Seriously. Fender really needs to bring that back into production
I own a G&L ASAT 3.
thesandman775 I paid $160 and traded a Squier Tele that was about a year old. The one I got is beautiful but needed a set up. It plays amazing.
Distortion changes tone many pedals differ as well as types of amps if at the moment your going for that particular sound. Good video.thanks; maybe your right about all the build factors of the tele’s unique sound.
Yes phill I think the lipstick, mini hum and a split hum would be very cool, I’m looking forward to a DiMarzio super distortion comparison to a paf and maybe compare the DiMarzio to a couple of hot pickups Even to a emg
Bridge pickup at the neck is definitely interesting. One flaw in this comparison, is that this guitar doesn’t have an ashtray bridge, which effects the output and amount of highs you get from the bridge pickup. Bill Lawrence was The Man when it came to eddy currents, pointing out that the Telecaster bridge plate has a noticeable influence on the amplified tone, depending on the thickness and type of alloy used.
Super interesting video. Thanks for that 🙂👍 In general, this channel is just awesome. It's funny you should mention the mini humbucker vs humbucker w. split comparison. I own a Les Paul Deluxe which was born with mini humbuckers, but the previous owner replaced the bridge pickup with a solitcoil humb. I would love a comparison of that 🙂
Re Stew MAC pickups! They are great! I LOVE their Parson St P 90’s - the BEST P 90’s ever!
It's pretty darn cool that you can swap pickups like that
Metal pickup rings can alter the sound of the pickup by eddy current losses and/or increasing the inductance slightly. It's not a huge effect but it is measurable with aluminium pickup rings. It's not really an issue with covered pickups.
Great video! I also like the bridge pup in both positions. Slightly reminds me of when a guy I met had run the neck pup with no tone connection which he said made it pop more like a strat neck pup.
I would love to see the mini hum and humbucker comparison to the tele single bridge and neck also in both positions of that same guitar. I appreciate the effort. Lots of video work I’m sure!