Squier Telecaster Classic Vibe Stock guitar pickups VS Fender Custom Shop Texas Special pickups
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Comparison of the stock Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster guitar pickups and the Fender Custom Shop Texas Special pickups. Includes audio samples in all pickups settings with Clean, Crunch and Gain settings. Complete guide to Installation of pickups and upgrade to US made Telecaster bridge.
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This just prove for another time that CV pick ups are all right... swaping them is just a waste of time and money... Just PRACTICE!!!
I listened with high quality headphones and I couldn’t tell the difference in any meaningful way. The differences were extremely subtle and neither sounded “higher quality” than the other. Thanks for this valuable shootout.
Nah bro, even with shitty Bluetooth headphones you can clearly tell that the set b is way more articulate and precise
Don't get me wrong I really like the vibe of the CV but there definitely is a difference in audio quality
Overall it's not worth uprading if you re on a tight budget imo
Original pickups sound just fine !
Didn’t care for them too much. Duncan quarter pound bridge and a Duncan hot rail neck with 500 k pots. It really rocks
@@williamdon3442 Sure it does !
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 Sorry,dident quite catch that,could you repeat it but going into greater detail.!!
@@Sweetbabaloo1001 well i mentioned a youtube channel at the end called “Christ forgiveness ministries” and you can check that out but there’s a different channel that i think you should go and listen to as soon as you have time, you should find it when you search up “living waters”
God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ!
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 Nobody cares.
Plot reveal......The Squier Classic Vibe comes as standard with a set of Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials 😎😆😲👍
So close that I don't think I'd bother changing. Thanks for the straight to the point video. No unnecessary chatter. Stay blessed!❤️
You're welcome Max! Thank you!
Jesus Christ loves you so much and He will save us from our sins if we put our faith and trust in Him! because we all sinned and fell short of Gods perfect glory (romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is eternal death! (romans 6:23) but the gift of God is this
john 3:16-21
"for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposes. but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
and romans 10:9-13
"if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. as scripture says, "anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame. "for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
so God is coming at a time we least expect, and if we put our faith and trust in Him He will gift us His grace and clothe us with the righteousness of His blood (but of course death could not hold Him, He is risen!) and we will have eternal life in His kingdom where there will be there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying. there will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. because He loves you so much! (romans 5:6-8) but if we deny and reject Him and don't repent from our sins to follow God, then we will have our part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. because no liar, no thief, no blasphemer (using Gods name in vain as a cuss word to express anger or disgust) and no adulterer (Jesus Christ says in matthew 5 that anyone who just looks at someone to lust for they’re an adultery at heart) will enter the kingdom of heaven. so hear these words, repent and believe the gospel! accept Jesus Christ and confess your sins to Him so that He will forgive you and give you a life with truth and real love and joy and peace that this world can never give you or fulfill in you you! and the love and joy and peace that He will give you will never fade away or perish. this is all if you haven't done this yet and Jesus Christ hasn't saved you yet, also when you have time please you should watch this channel here on youtube called "Christ forgiveness ministries" and hear what they have to say, glory to God. God bless you! 🙌👑💟
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 AMEN brother.
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 “and the Lord said unto them ‘thou shalt not spam your brother’s TH-cam channel comments with unrelated religious content’.”
My pleasure! Thank you for posting a comment!
The Classic Vibe pups held their own. Which doesn't surprise me. The CV line has always been impressive. Every model in the CV lineup has strong, articulated pickups. Well done🤔
Set A wins every time in neck and middle. Set B wins mostly every time in bridge. But so close you can hardly tell. Not worth spending the extra money.
Seems like the Classic Vibe pickups were modeled after these Texas Specials. Extremely close in sound, no need to change. Only if you need higher output, and I don't. Thank you for saving my time and money on this!
There’s not enough difference to justify the cost . Played a G and L tribute Tele recently and much preferred it to the CV and Player .
Jesus Christ loves you so much and He will save us from our sins if we put our faith and trust in Him! because we all sinned and fell short of Gods perfect glory (romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is eternal death! (romans 6:23) but the gift of God is this
john 3:16-21
"for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposes. but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
and romans 10:9-13
"if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. as scripture says, "anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame. "for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
so God is coming at a time we least expect, and if we put our faith and trust in Him He will gift us His grace and clothe us with the righteousness of His blood (but of course death could not hold Him, He is risen!) and we will have eternal life in His kingdom where there will be there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying. there will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. because He loves you so much! (romans 5:6-8) but if we deny and reject Him and don't repent from our sins to follow God, then we will have our part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. because no liar, no thief, no blasphemer (using Gods name in vain as a cuss word to express anger or disgust) and no adulterer (Jesus Christ says in matthew 5 that anyone who just looks at someone to lust for they’re an adultery at heart) will enter the kingdom of heaven. so hear these words, repent and believe the gospel! accept Jesus Christ and confess your sins to Him so that He will forgive you and give you a life with truth and real love and joy and peace that this world can never give you or fulfill in you you! and the love and joy and peace that He will give you will never fade away or perish. this is all if you haven't done this yet and Jesus Christ hasn't saved you yet, also when you have time please you should watch this channel here on youtube called "Christ forgiveness ministries" and hear what they have to say, glory to God. God bless you! 🙌👑💟
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 Go away.
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 I thought we were talking about guitars, did JC play guitar? then if not, try someplace where someone may listen, "Go Away Nooow"
@@trustinjesuschrist6933 cool story bruv, but what evidence is there to support your claims? (FYI, the Bible is the claim, not the evidence)
@@davidcroft9320 Jeebuz rocked an SG through a Marshall…😄
Man… I wish I had found this video two weeks ago! I sort of did the same thing. I had bought an Affinity Tele to tinker with during the lockdown, and ended up ordering CS Texas Special pickups for it. The only difference really was that I wanted to put a 4-way switch in so I could get parallel and series tones, and since I was doing this much, I decided to go ahead and swap out the dime sized pots for Emerson 250K pots. And I had to switch the pick guard out because the stock one wouldn’t quite allow the new neck pickup to fit. The first time I ever did ANYthing like this. I didn’t do a side by side comparison, but I went into it knowing what I didn’t like about the stock Squire pickups & knowing what I would like to find in the new CS pickups. I learned a TON and really enjoyed myself. But wow was I nervous doing it. I really do wish I had seen this video prior to jumping in with both feet. LOL
My end result was a bit different too. The stock pickups were ‘OK’ but to my ear they just sounded a little thin. And being a novice I thought the CS Tx Specials being rated “hot” would be cool. The output did jump a fair bit higher with the new pickups, and sounded much fuller. Especially in the mid-ranges. But you’re right in that it wasn’t a HUGE difference, and not as drastic a change as the price might lead one to think. The pickups were almost what I paid for the guitar. I’m still glad I did the swap, mainly because of learning so much and how much fun it was. Novice soldering can cause quite the case of fear sweat though.
Transparent butterscotch blonde with a black pearl pickguard, and I love it! The whole experience takes me back to being 15 years old in my neighbors garage with friends… rattling the fillings out of the neighborhood’s dental work. Absolute fun times..
Thanks for an awesome video!
Wow Doc, you made my evening! Thank for the compliments and I really appreciate it! Please subscribe I've got more content coming.
@@airtimedesign Thanks, it’s good to hear that. Not to worry, about two minutes into the video I started to feel like it was one of those coincidences that’s a little too coincidental to not take notice of, so I paused, subscribed, and clicked the notification bell. So I’ll be on the lookout for your next one!
Take care 👍🏼
I thought A had more of a vintage style tone. Once I found out B had 10 gauge strings, that sealed the deal for me, A all the way. Thanks coz you helped save me the cost of new pickups in my CV BSB. Going from 9-10 gauge strings made a huge difference in tone.
Try some 11s
@@craiglinderman5249 I will in Eb 👍
Thank you so much! you have quite literally saved the cost of a set of Texas specials. I was about to order a set for my Classic vibe, but after listening to your examples it is very hard to justify the outlay. Like you I thought it would hugely change the tone, but it just goes to show that we guitarists buy a lot of stuff because we "think" it will deliver our holy grail tone. Well done Squier! and well done you!
I preferred - just by a little bitty bit - what turned out to be the Texas Specials, because they sounded a tad bit thicker. But then you revealed you used a heavier gauge string set for the TS soundbites, so I'll contribute it to that. Thank you! You saved me some $$$ !!! Very nice comparison, BTW. You gave us more than enough samples to base a decision on. Very much appreciated!
Thanks George and I'm glad you enjoyed the review. I am working on another review comparison of the stock CV pickups with the Fender Tex Mex which are much more affordable. Please subscribe, thanks!
Thank you for the comment, I appreciate it and I'm glad I was able to help!
I got a Squire Bullet Tele at the end of 2020. The cheapest Squire Tele of the line. OG price $200, got it on Black Friday + trade in discount for $75. I swapped out the stock for Texas Specials (whole point of me getting the cheapest tele was to mod everything and learn). The difference between the stock squire Bullet tele pickups & the Fender TS picks ups was like night and day. With the TS pickups and a few other mods, this Tele is one of my favorites now to play. For me it was a big jump and change in sound. The middle position even gives me a “quacky” sound like position 4 on a strat. But maybe the huge jump in tone for is that I swapped them in from the cheapest tele on the market.
i got the butterscotch bullet tele and did the same thing...now its my favorite guitar
Somebody I know has a set of Texas Specials they don't want, so I just picked up a Bullet to put them in. Did you run into any issues with installing them? I'm already planning on replacing the pots and switch etc. but not sure if there are gonna be any fitment problems or anything.
I love the bullit pickups.
Very surprised... I guessed the Texas Specials as "A", although throughout the demo I changed my mind a couple of different times depending on the level of dirt vs. clean. Those new Squier pickups hold their own.
I to thought they were A.
I changed out the stock pickups on my 2010 CV for the Texas Specials and found that there was practically no difference.
I also installed a Fishman piezo bridge and preamp and use the acoustic more than I thought I would. It was well worth the investment for the Fishman but I would easily go back to the original pickups.
Hey Rick thanks for the comment. So did you find my comparison about what you expected?
@@airtimedesign actually, yes. I was wondering if you would reach the same conclusion that I did. I wasn't disappointed with the original pickups but wanted to compare to something more "Fender" .
I have the Texas Specials in my American Special Tele and absolutely love them. I picked that they were set B, but only on a couple of the demo sets. The slightly smoother chime on the clean neck position was the give away, but that is also my favourite part of the TS sound so I was listening for it. All in all I agree, very similar performance across most of the demo.
I just upgraded the pots and wiring with the Tone rider kit that’s provided cts pots. Made a huge difference. No reason to change pick ups.
I struggled to pick out which set was which and flipped a few times in my guesses as the samples played through. Both sound great.
Both fine in solo and band settings.
I have a blonde Classic Vibe Tele and I changed the pickups to Fender NoCaster and the difference was quite significant. I will never get rid of this guitar, it is amazing!
I wonder how Nocaster pickups would sound with a 4-way switch?
I liked A the best. I had no idea they would be the the Squiers! Wow ! I am Gobsmacked ! Thanks you for this video...a real Eye Opener. I was just sure A would be the Custom Shops..
You're welcome! Please subscribe I have another Fender pickup comparison coming.
I could tell a noticeable difference on the neck pickup but not much at all at the bridge. Been playing guitar for 60 years and heard a lot but now that I seen your demo I would just change the bridge plate and leave the original pickups in. Thank you for the demo. Good job !!!
You welcome John. Thank you for the comment and please subscribe. I appreciate it!
thanks for this. It tells me that I won't be upgrading pickups on my newly bought classic vibe. lol. You just saved me a bucket of dough. The stock vibe pickups sounded almost as if not just as good as the Texas. IMO.
You're welcome Muttley! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. It's true the TS are not night and day different from the stock CV pickups but they do have a difference that, for some people is worth the money. I ended up keeping mine and the advantages are more apparent when you play through a good amp. Comparing them direct into my audio interface and my DAW is a good start but not the whole story. The bottom line is the CV pickups compare very well to high end pickups and it's hard to justify spending more money for a very small difference in sound.
@@airtimedesign yea, I understand for gigging or recording the extra $ is justified, but, for one's bedroom or home use? To me , it's not worth the extra $. I did buy some Dimarzio's and Duncan's to replace stock pickups in a couple of my Teles, but, have not changed them yet and I honestly don't know if i will. lol
honestly the only thing i kinda wanna replace on my CV is the scratchplate because it warped. but i dont wanna give up that classic black guard look
I just picked up a new 2018 old stock CV butterscotch today. It's made in china and doesn't have neck pup mounted to the guard. I had to remove it to raise it a tad.
But it's a great guitar and I'm glad I found it!
I have a 2016 CV Vintage Blond also made in China with as advertised AlNiCo 3 low output pickups. The Butterscotch was advertised with AlNiCo 5 high output pickups... Both guitars play and sound great! and both have medium jumbo fret wire opposed to the newer models having narrow tall fret wire. Years ago I had a CV Thinline that I swapped out the pickups with Texas specials and it sounded great clean and dirty through a Blues Jr...
that was a cool video!
I think both pickups sounded fantastic, to be honest, it's hard to justify the cost + effort of changing the pickups when the stock ones are so good. A CV guitar sounds like such a good value tbh.
Hello Gerair, That was my take away also. I would be happy with either set of these pickups.
@@airtimedesign thanks for the video, I’m warming up to the idea of getting a CV as my next guitar. How do you feel the neck of the CV as compared to a slightly higher end t-style?
@@geralr I love the neck on the Squier CV. There is a video of a blind comparison with high end Tele and CV Tele and I think you would find it helpful.
th-cam.com/video/QCEdT2d43jU/w-d-xo.html
@@airtimedesign thank you very much!!
@@airtimedesign for me the CV neck is kinda sticky -too much lacquer maybe ? Don’t like satin necks as were available on the old Mexican Fenders , much prefer a thin layer lacquer .
I could tell the difference, but the stock pickups are perfectly fine for me. They are already in place, without the extra spending and work, time devoted to replacing them. Thanks.
I prefer the stock pickups. Texas Specials are too hot. The originals sound more vintage and nicer to my ear.
On all tests I preferred set B, the Texas Specials. That said it was a preference and only a slight one. If you leave it stock you'd be happy and have saved the cash.
I think performance of both back to back was well within the margin of what pedals and amps can do to sound. Spending the money there and leaving the OE pups alone is a FAR better investment, IMO.
Its not only about the sound of the pickups...Its about the time and the work that is put to craft the instrument. The feel of the neck, the fret work, the paint, the bridge quality (types of metals used), the electronic parts quality, the wood quality and the number of wood pieces used to craft the body of the guitar... maybe some more.
There was a difference that became more pronounced in “crunch”. The Tx pups seemed “richer” to me. BUT the difference was not $250 worth.
Eye opening experiment. Thanks!
Thanks Matt I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Please subscribe!
Such a small difference they could have been the same pickups from different sets. Not surprised. Appreciate the honest comparison!
Or just giving it a notch more gain.
There was very little difference between the two but it was noticeable. I imagine it would have been even closer if 10-gauge strings had been used with the original CV pickups. Swapping to slightly heavier strings is probably the best way to go.
I picked B without peeking at the end. To me there was a definite difference. The A Squire pickups sounded hard and brash. While the Texas Specials sounded warmer. I would definitely go with the Texas Specials.
I agree
Great video. I would not spend that money. I like the sound in the stock pickups in my Classic Vibe Tele.
Thank you for the compliment! It really is not as big as an upgrade as I was hoping. The stock pickups are not as hot and do not have as much output but that's not a big deal. Just turn up the amp a little more and get the gain. I now have 2 Squier Tele's and one has the TS and the other has stock pickups. I like having both and they both sound great.
Very close Comparison I have a classic vibe tele 50s and a classic vibe strat 60s and I won't change the stock pu's because they sound good !!! These guitars are so good they can compete easy with the midrange Fenders any time good work Squier .
I have the CV 50 and 60 Tele and a Custom shop Tele. Also the CV 50 and 60 strat, and 2 Fender custom shop Strats , and the Classic vibes sound the best , as well the Teles as the
strats, believe it or not !
Real close, I’ve got the 70’s classic vibe 70’s strat & 50’s classic vibe 50’s tele & I’m very satisfied with the pickups on both, good demonstration, I may go with the titanium saddle & bridge and change the output jack but other then that I’m very happy with Fender on the Classic line
I just ordered this exact guitar and it will be here later today and was wondering about this very subject. You've given me the answers I needed. I will not think anymore about if I need a pick up upgrade for better recording. Thanks . I can hardly wait for it to arrive.
Set A was the best sounding imo.Set B is brighter in the neck pickup, nearly harsh sounding.
I'd be happy with both. I was preferring B throught the test (mostly), but it went down to nuances.
Absolutely impressive
I also went back and forth while I was listening, but at the end I agree with you - not very much difference for the effort and the extra money. One thing is that I'm really falling in love with that twangy Tele sound. I may have to get one of those bad boys!!
Hey Gary! Thanks for the comment. I never owned a Tele until I bought the CV a few months back. At $399 it was a lot easier to try it out than buying a more expensive Tele. Now I understand why there are so many avid Tele players. It's got that twang thang!
Thanks for your comparison. Goes to show, a $100 dollars spent is $99.50 for nothing. Don't forget the shipping. Love my CV Squire Tele.
The TS sounded actually thinner to me on the cleans but definitely hotter once you added the gain. Great review!
Thank you and I glad you enjoyed the review, please subscribe!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I really couldn't tell the difference .And I have pretty good speakers on my PC. Very surprised. I just ordered one of these Teles from Sweetwater earlier today. So the results are making me smile. Thanks for video. Also great playing in the demo, awesome!
Thanks Peter I'm glad you enjoyed the review. The Squier is hard to beat for the money. Please subscribe to see more reviews!
Wow, I liked the stock pickups more. Although I love the extra chime and articulation that 9's give single coils and that could be some of the difference I hear. I liked the darker fenders when clean but I liked the brighter stock pups more when dirty. Great video!
Thank you Steven, glad you enjoyed it. Please subscribe, there is more on my channel.
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Clean tones CV all the way, especially on the bass notes. Like the TS on most of the crunch but not all. My vote is CV!
I thought the B pickups definitely sounded a bit more brash with a little more top end sizzle but whether that means they are better... I don't really think so.
I picked it right, and thought the clarity and musicality of the Fender pups was significantly better. The Squiers sounded a bit thin and distorted in comparison. Very thorough explanation and demo!
Thank you Jimmy! I appreciate the compliment and glad you enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
They were so close. I preferred the Texas Specials, but it was sooo close and I thought on some settings the CV pickups sounded better. Knowing that you changed the strings also, I would not change out the stock pickups. There is just no way that the difference in sound justifies the price. The only thing I would change would be to put in the brass saddles. That is it!
Thanks for your comment Chuck!
Since the TS have more mid range, they sound fuller and more rounded. All my teles have a lot of high end. The TS give me something different and I love it!
Great review ! Blind, I chose A. They had more ring without Nasty spiking. B sounded like it had dead old strings on higher notes. On paper, new strings and higher quality pups, B should have killed it. Just love blind tests for a reality check. Glad my ears like cheap.
I thought the same as you.
A was bright bright BRIGHT and glassy. B is slightly thicker and more balanced. Idk sometimes I think classic vibe pups are too bright but no listener is gonna notice
@@gnoogie You can dial down brightness, but not the other way round.
@@douglasalexander4348 tru, but it's kinda like if you dial in a alot of bass for your guitar tone then high pass the bass. it still sounds bass heavy but not bassy if that makes sense. harmonically different guitars/pickups will sound different even if the difference is mitigated thru eq. no listener cares, but those minute little differences add up in the context of a full songs mix
@@gnoogie Yes, also on early Chinese models there are two cv models, one with alnico 3, 50’s butterscotch (mine), and one with alnico 5, 60’s white. Think the earlier Chinese models had the best pickups, allegedly made by tone rider. Later models had fender A5 on both ? So reviews may differ depending on model and country of origin which is rarely mentioned. Anyhoo, a guitar at this price years ago would have been junk, but this cv is great. I’ve now also got a 2021 Mexican player, I much prefer the neck. It has a different more twangier tone, but still love the vintage looks and warmer tone of the CV so, despite my intentions, couldn’t part with it. Those two guitars and flavours for the price of the vintera modified….
I could hear the difference immediately and was only confirmed through the additional demos. The tone was similar but you can hear the harsh frequencies that the CV pups had that the TS pups cleaned up. Not night and day, more professional sounding though.
Neither sounded consistently better than the other IMO. I’m sure there are times when replacing pickups is really worth it but this doesn’t appear to have been one of those times.
Because both pickups used the same garbage wiring and pots. Texas Specials in my Mexican Strat sound as good any custom shop. Why? I used the same wiring as Fender uses on their custom shop guitars.
@@Somnospeed 🤣
I liked the “A” selection pickups better and thought they might be the Texas Specials. What really surprised me was that you said you went from 9s to 10s for the “B” selection. I would have thought they would have made the Texas Specials even “fatter” but that didn’t seem to be the case. I have a Tele with Texas Specials in it and I have a set of CV pickups lying around. I will check the resistance CVs to see if they are in that 7.5Kohm range and if so may just swap them and put 10’s on (up from my 9s) on that Tele. Thanks for the great review and demo and the excellent playing. I will have to check out your streaming music! All the best to you!
I thought pickups A sounded a little darker and a bit muddy, whereas set B sounded more jangly and clear, but the difference wasn’t extreme
I thought the Squire was at times a little scratchy, the custom pickups, on occasion sounded slightly richer in tone and clearer in the middle position. But the difference was only slightly audible on some sttings and really not at all on others. Very thorough test, thank you.
I've just put some uk Mojo pickups on my Tele, broadcaster bridge and p90 staple neck and they sound to my ears wonderful. But then again .......
Honestly I flip flopped more than once on which was which. In the end I was like it's not worth doing the swap to me but I'd change that switch in a heart beat hahaha. Makes me want the scv now
Hey Jeff, yeah I'm probably going to change the switch and the pots. Not that it will have any effect on the sound but it's just nice to have better components. The switch actually has pretty solid but after my less than perfect soldering it has developed some static. I think the pot that I soldered the grounds to also has developed some issues. I probably got them too hot.
I did this exact swap about 4 years ago. I wish I didnt waste $200 like that. Great information! Awesome video!
Original Pickups sounds fine..just would upgrade all electronics, pots, switch, cap, plate and wire..Jescar EVO frets!
lol....thats 500 dollars..
@@jacobbrown1690you still end up with a better playing and sounding guitar than a off the rack custom shop fender telecaster..$500? Not quite, I pay $300 for a fret job..I do everything else myself.
The Squire pick ups are very good. Really don't need to replace them. I found just adding a better cap really opened them up. Maybe that is also the limiting factor with the Texas specials.
Definitely prefer the A's stock pups.
not sure what everyone’s on about, i do think the squier ones sound okay for a squier set, but compared to the texas specials they sounded dead. i was able to tell off the first few clips that pickup set B was the Texas Specials. I guess the bridge pickups are less noticeable but the neck pickup the difference was massive, and i’m listening through my iphone speakers.
There wasn't much difference but I was going for set B all the way through the tests hoping they would be the stock pick ups. But who knows how much the string swap made the difference.
The strings and the bridge
Ha, funny I did the same thing with my Squire Tele. I did not do the comparison recording like you did, I just changed them. When I done and I played the guitar for a while, it did change the character tones enough for me to notice. I was not as pleased as I expected. The guitar had a different vibe and I needed to play it slightly different.
After about 2 years using it, I left the Texas neck in and put back the original vibe back in the bridge. Now, that actually gave me a difference I liked working with.
The squire tele is a prety good guitar and sometimes I like the way it feels better than my American made tele.
I just wanted to toss that all out there if anyone was curious.
Sounded to me like the B Texas Specials had more low end and low mids. It was more noticeable, to me, on the clean samples. Both A and B on the crunch and gain sounded like you had the high end rolled off.
could that be bc he also changed the saddles to brass?
@@justray510 The CV has brass saddles too. They're chrome plated.
I built a custom Telecaster and I wanted the best pickups so I used the Texas Specials and a 4 way switch for series wiring in position 4 and I love them
Neither were really better, just different.
Same way I felt Scott. Thanks for the comment.
I own three classic vibe teles, and it was immediately clear to my ear they were set A. For a less expensive guitar, they can deffinately work. However, I have changed the pick ups out in all three, (that is one of the main points in buying these guitars). You can swap pick ups and not feel guilty about it. I am pretty sure if you play on it long enough, you will realize there are better options that will suit your ear and playing style better. Fender pure vintage 64, and the Texas Special will both out perform the original pick ups. Clean players will appreciate the pure vintage 64 for the real tele twang and snap. The texas special, retain a respectable amount of that, but are a bit more mid range sound, they give up some bite, but they really shine when you go to the overdriven sounds. The point I'm making is the original PU's can work, but they are not in the same wheel house as these other pick ups. If you decide to upgrade, replace everything in the control cavity too, pots, switch, wire, capacitor, and even the jack. You wont regret it.
Thicker strings don’t sound more full. BB King used 0.008” for his high E, and no one ever said his sound was “thin”. The Classic Vibe pickups are excellent. No need to swap them out. If you want a fatter sound, then add a tube screamer set to very low drive to fill out the midrange.
I thought I was tone deaf ! I couldn’t tell a difference in most comparisons! Some seemed a little brighter , some seemed a bit louder , some were a bit more full ! In short , the money spent on the the Texas pick ups was un substantiated ! Very interesting though ! Thanks for the vid
Glad you enjoyed the video OPEN YOUREYES. I've mentioned this in the comments but although it's hard to justify the price the TS are worth checking out. As always the real test is how they perform in your guitar with your amp and at volume everything changes! Please subscribe for see my other reviews!
My only gripe with the squiers was they use really poor quality fret wire on them I had a CV tele and I had played it to the fingerboard in a year.
I have a MM tele now no such issues and it gets just as much use.
I have a Vintera Tele, coming up on two years now, and the fret wire is getting pitted. I did play it a TON the first six months, I really do love the guitar, but the frets are wearing fast.
@@Kenzabukuro my MIM tele is getting a little pitted. But the frets are not wearing flat to the wood like the squier did.
That said I often use the guitar 35-50 hours a week in sessions. I’m still a couple of years till a refrett.
I should do SS frets but I’m really not fond of the feel of them.
The sound difference wasn't huge overall, but I much preferred the treble on the second set. The law of diminishing returns seems to apply here, a lot of money for minor tone improvement. But, if you have the money, the Texas Specials have a more refined treble for recording, in a live gig with overdrive - who would know?
Very close comparison. I gave a slight edge to the A Pickups!!
I upgraded my player telecaster with Texas specials so it was easy for me to tell that B was the real deal. I love the Texas specials. The difference may not be much to the average listener but to me it’s a revelation. It was definitely worth upgrading the pick ups in my MIM tele. I would never go back to the pick ups it came with even though they were pretty nice alnico’s.
You ruined the test using different string sizes. 😢 video was great up till that point.smh
lol r u serious
Idk what y'all are on but the difference in audio quality is really striking on the middle and neck pickup, even with cheap headphone you can really tell the set b is way more articulate and precise.
I think the cv is a really good budget option and it's probably not worth upgrading except if you use lot of effects
I have installed older version Classic Vibe pickups in many Guitars I own, because I’ve liked them a lot, since the first time I played a Guitar with them in it.
Thank you for the comment BadChizzle, I'm now uploading another comparison of the Classic Vibe Stratocaster with the Fender American Pro. You might enjoy it. Please subscribe Thanks!
@@airtimedesign Done
@@airtimedesign By the way… I’ve had Custom Shop Texas Specials in my 2006 Highway One Tele for years. I did so just to keep it all USA parts pretty much… ha ha… and they are also very good. Also I thought the Highway One pickups were a joke in construction compared to even some very inexpensive alnico pickups. Plus… the sound was very lackluster.
Off topic:
I’m an Alnico person and have done many A B tests with ceramics… and maintain my opinion that alnico is much better to my ears. Just put that out there as maybe a conversation starter… not an argument with anyone who may read this.
Waiting for your Strat video,
Chizzle
I got them correct but the difference is so minimal. I have a 2014 CV 50's BB Tele made in China and won't be changing the pickups under any circumstances save for a failure. It has been my go to guitar until last year when I bought an FSR USA Strat for my 60th. great video Brooks, thank you.
Thank you Jon! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. It's hard to beat the CV. I have a CV Tele and Strat and for the money they are hard to beat. I appreciate your taking the time to comment. Please subscribe to see more reviews!
@@airtimedesign I did listen with my Sennheiser HD350's which are decent cans.
@@J0nny61 YEah they are! I love Sennheiser headphones!
I thought the Texas specials were maybe 5-10 more full sounding. I would recommended cutting your sample size down. I scrolled through the second half as i bet most people did. Good video.
Played a $2,200 American telecaster with noiseless custom shop pickups last week along with a MIM. The American tele maple neck was way smoother but the pickups on the MIM were wayyy hotter and sounded better with a lil dirt so for 1/3 of the price I snagged the MIM. And guess what, I can upgrade the neck to an American made and still only be in half the cost. 💪🏼
That Texas Special neck pickup comes pre-wired for the series + parallel option. All you need is to order the afffordable Fender 4-way switch that comes with instructions or they are easily found on the net plus you 'll be rid of that cheezy PCB switch.
Although I swapped out my Tele pickups for Texas Specials, I have to agree with Max.
In my opinion, I find pickups B to be slightly fatter than pickups A. But they’re so close I wouldn’t bother changing them out. You could easily make up the difference with pedals. That said, thanks for getting straight to the point and dispensing with senseless chatter.
As a Tele player, it was immediately noticeable. The Texas Specials were much more lively and that’s with just my iPad audio.
I’m not a pickup snob at all, either, it’s just the TS’s are the exact sound profile my ears gravitate to.
I’m about to swap China-built Squier 60’s Classic Vibe pickups for Seymour Duncan Hot for Tele pickups.
But I will definitely hold on to those stock pups from China. Thanks for this video!
Hi Woody and thanks for the comment. I think it's pretty clear from the video review that the Squier pickups aren't bad. Please subscribe to see more of my reviews. Thanks and Happy New Year!
Changing whole harness improved my guitar almost the same amount as pickup swap did. Just change it all.
I agree with you it’s hard to hear any difference. In some places the original pickups sounded a little clearer and less compressed.
Great comparison. I was surprised that both sets sounded fairly close. So close that the ultimate decision as to which is superior is a matter of taste, as neither clearly outclasses the other. With that in mind, my preference was for the Texas Specials, because of the fuller tone and articulation. However, that may have been due to string gauge which likely means that if the CV pickups would have sounded just a bit fuller as well. Thanks for the demo!
I love the Telecaster. The classic config is just the best and quite frankly there’s really nothing else I’d rather play. A guitar salesman told me this and I was like, whatever but I do like it. He was right. To ME…ME…nothing feels quite as cool as playing a Tele.
Yea. I bought Texas Specials for my MIJ strat to replace the ceramic pickups that came stock. My results were much the same. It was an improvement, but so minimal it wasn’t really worth the money.
A made in Japan Strat came stock with ceramic pickups?? That’s insane considering MIJ are (or were once) Fender’s second highest line of guitars.
Man you just saved me a lil cash, I couldn’t hardly hear a difference, the originals were just a tad brighter, imo. Great video
Subjective - I was just GUESSING all along the Fender's were A, shows to go you. A was brighter smackier. 👀 Love them CVs!!!
I've been playing Squiers for years. I love the Classic Vibe series. I've been shopping for a new set of pickups because the magnets are degaussing on a couple poles. Might go with the Texas Special. Good comparison. I could tell the difference and I knew A had to be the Squier.
Hey Larry, Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Please subscribe!
I could hear the difference and I did have them correct, but for the money they were WAY too close in sound. In fact, I would bet if you didn't hear them back to back that no one would ever know which is which.
I own 2 Chinese CV50' s the #1 stock alnico 5, and they sound great, #2 i found used with fender No-caster C-shop pups and they sound like a nice old tele, both guitars are great players, and 2 guitars for under $700 unbeatable!
Extremely close. I did guess the classic vibe right because I have one and it has bright pickups...so figured B must be the custom shop. I'm not sure which sounded better... maybe "B"... but depends on how bright of a tone you want...both good .. amazing how good CV sounds in comparison. Great video thanks!
Kudos on your A/B methodology! I've never seen one done better. I'm wondering why TH-cam's algorithm waited so long to show this to me? I listened two times, on two different setups. The differences are minor, but consistent for me:
1) The "B" neck pickup are slightly muddier
2) The "A" bridge pickup Had a smitge of twang missing from the "B".
For me, "A" is best. So I was real surprised to find that's the stock Squier CV set! I know you said the "gain" was set identically. But did you even out the resulting volume on the takes? That's the only way this result makes sense: that the Texas specials are louder but consequently lose some of the brightness/clarity of the originals.
I bought a MIM Tele a few years ago. It had Custom Shop Texas Specials in it. I replaced them with DeMarzio Twang Kings.
This just proves to some ppl are sensitive to sounds than others.
I guessed right after only a few of your compared licks especially the bridge.
Love the faded white paint.
On clean you can tell A was a little brighter but distortion was much harder to tell. Also being you changed from 9's to 10's the 9's would be a brighter sound. I don't think it's worth changing. I think people just think straight out of the box the pickups that come with the cheaper guitars are junk along with tuners. When in fact some are pretty good & I think they are wasting their money but it's their money. Thanks for taking the time & sharing your experience.
You're welcome The Cleaner. I'm glad you enjoyed the review.
They both sounded great but the 2nd example sounded
just a smidge hotter. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome Scott! Glad you enjoyed it.