The only thing I’ve found with the stock CV pickups, is that they needed their height adjusted for optimal output, and to balance the levels. They sound wonderful now.
did same thing AFTER I ordered my Lindy Fralins (coming tomorrow)...sure hope it sounds noticeably better. Will do my first solder job...looking forward to it.
@@Baci302 Only burned myself once...then got the bug and started doing other small solder jobs....including speaker swaps. LOL. The Fralin Blues Special on a Tele are amazing....I like the CV50 Squier with these Fralins as much or better than my recently acquired Fender Tele Pro II. I want to try a set of Lollars someday...
You can achieve this by adjusting tone knob, but the stock CV pickups cannot go the other way (brighter) Tho I like twisted tele/No caster better than this one
Original pickups are good enough. They are honestly good all around. The replacement ones are admittedly better but not without trade offs. Cons: I don't like too much bite, it's just not versatile regardless of how a tele is "supposed to be". Pros: Definitely outweighs the cons. The bridge pickup notes blooms into breakup much better in a more linear fashion. The neck notes are more dynamic between volume changes - cleaning up to a very nice tone as well. I do think the new pickups are installed at least closer to the strings or at least have a stronger output somehow. Overall, I would say these pickups are worth the change, but the original ones will make great music in the right hands.
Stock pickups are great in my CV Custom Tele and the stock bridge pickup in the 60's CV Strat is likely the ballsiest I've ever heard in any Strat. Any pickup modification might "change" the tone/output but in my opinion the stock ones are so good it would not be cost efficient, unless of course you are totally flush with cash and time.
Bro I love the classic vibe 60’s pick ups!! I compared these versus a stock player, an american, and a japanese 50s strat and the classic vibe 60’s has this super glassy rich tone that i love for cleans! Any idea why this is or what is specific about this pick up? Do you think a Fender Fat 50’s or Texas specials would have more of this glassy tone or not really ?
The Classic Vibe pickups in my 60’s strat are legit. Never tried the tele ones, but I expected to need to replace my strat pickups when I first got it , but ended up enjoying them too much to see a need to change them.
Same with me and my Classic Vibe Mustang. Everything about it was perfect other than the little bit of fret end dressing it needed. Otherwise, it is amazing. Tuners too.
I have the 60’s strat as well….I went into it thinking I would change them …I haven’t done it yet..They actually sound good and tone wise there is a huge difference on each setting with the 5 way switch. I run it through a Blackstar studio 10 6L6..They are a great paring.
I think I agree with you. The pickups on my CV 60's (which are supposed to be similar to a Tonerider model) are very good. Perhaps the best stock pickups that I've come across on a Squier. And, even though I will replace them for a Dimarzio Area Set, I'm considering installing the CV pickups on my Variax Standard, because its pickups are completely sterile and lifeless compared to the Squiers....
Honestly, I thought the stock pickups sounded great! At least before the comparison. A pickup swap can totally transform a guitar, so it’s nice to see a comparison. Thanks for the video!
Big difference for the better. The reason I like your channel is because you actually play chords when demonstrating rather than endless blues bending which is great for 20 seconds or so but to hear each string ringing clearly is a joy!
Almost all pickups are usable. I love SD, Lollar, DiMarco and most of the big pickup companies. But consider players like David Lindley... he used guitars like Danelectro BECAUSE they had weaker pickups and coupled with amp like a Silvertone to get a unique, different tone.
FYI The older classic vibes (09-18) had very different pickups. They were rumored to be tonerider made. From experience the construction of them is different then current models and to me of much higher quality. I’m very happy with my 2013 stock telecaster vintage blonde 😁
@@SchmittPhysics I got a used one for $200 (2016 also). Had a few bumps but so what? It plays and sounds great and is one of my favorite guitars to play (out of 18). SOLID Tele!
2014 Butterscotch Blonde Tele here. Alnico 5 pups. I think the stock Toneriders sound good and if nothing else different from my other Fender/Squier style guitars which I like. Want my guitars to all sound different.
got an 2020 70s strat(hss) changed the pickups to tonerider city limits because i wanted sss and sold the hss pickguard. i liked the stock singlecoils much more than the tonerider ones
I have a 60s thinline CV Tele. Personally, I love the tone out of the pickups. That being said, I’m always interested in your opinion on pickups and guitars. Differences of opinion is good. I don’t like peaty scotch, my buddy does. We both enjoy scotch is the only relevant point.
@Lewis Dunkley mine was an Indonesian made model (2020). Not sure if they’re toneriders but when I took the pickguard off and took a peek, the pots are full size Korean made (didn’t recognize the stamp on them) and the switch is not a PCB. Overall, I’m happy. I did like Dylan’s pickups though. May need to think about those.
I like the stock pups in mine. They actually surprised me! The only work it NEEDS is some fret leveling which is par for the course when it comes to guitars under $500 or even $1000. I’ll probably put a set of Brandonwound 60’s T-styles in it because they’re a local company to me and make fantastic pups at decent prices. But the stock pups DO sound pretty good. The Jack and shielded wiring are definitely crap, must admit. Will be replacing both.
Amazing improvement indeed. Few weeks ago I installed Custom Shop Texas Special pickups on my Squier Tele Offset and the tone change was impressive like in this video. I also found that the Squier pickups had plastic plates, they were not that bad but the new are awesome.
I just did an A-B comparison on the stock vs the new pickups...And in my opinion the originals sound better or more Vintage like...So can be a personal thing...But the airy Vintage Vibe pickups actually made by ToneRider for Squier sound very authentic Vintage Fender..
I’ve owned and played almost every range or tele and the classics vibe is a steal long as you don’t get stuck on the fact it doesn’t say fender.I’ll say with a good setup and possibly new pups(depending on your preference) you can have a guitar that completes with an American tele easily for about 1K less.I’m really annoyed that the two player series teles I owned had un rounded frets and fretboard to the point it was cutting my fingers.they aren’t bad guitars but for they money you expect something’s to automatically just be taken care of.the squier cv had everything from rounded fretboard and frets to pretty good fret work out the box.The neck was straight , no glue marks or anything unlike more player series I’ve seen and played.I’m not saying any guitar is bad but for 350 (possibly less if pre owned) you have a great looking and feeling guitar that is ready for upgrades if you see fit!
I wonder why Dylans pickups sounded so much different, he was right his pickups have more output punch, clarity, and bite. It was like the tone control as missing the upper range like he said was very interesting.
This was quite interesting to me. I used to have this exact guitar and I actually really liked the sound of the stock pickups when I bought it which sound exactly like they do at the start of this in this video, very smooth and almost Strat like especially in the neck where I do most of my playing. One thing I did notice was that the sound was scooped, lacking in mids, which I perceived as a problem at the time and I changed them for a set of boutique ones (handmade by a uk based company that no longer exists). The new pickups sounded great too and had the midrange definition that I was missing, they sounded more traditionally "tele like". The weird thing is, a few years later I sold the guitar to upgrade to a japanese version of the same model and changed the pickups back to the stock before putting it on the marker and realised that the original pickups were much better than I remembered them being. Just like on a strat, the relatively thin sounding pickups really sing with some pedal mid boost and the resulting sound was something I'd probably choose over the more generic tone I got from the "correct" sounding higher quality pickups.
If your guitar was from before 2019 it will have had different pickups than this one. Fender/Squier moved production from China to Indonesia and made a few changes to the specs with the move, one of them being switching to a different pickup manufacturer.
Just ordered this tele and plan on making all these upgrades myself! A little apprehensive since I've only changed strings in my guitars, but since this Squire is so economical, I'm going to go for it. Thanks, Dylan! The difference between pickups was amazing! 🙏😊
sorry but I don't think the new bridge pickup made things better.. it sounds horrible. it may be what you like.. but it is not a good sound to my ears (using my in ear monitors) and the bridge is just a little less muddy. Not sure if that is amp EQ or pickups or both.. but I'd not be able to play more than one lick like that
Is there a reason people don't make comparisons re-using the same set of strings through a totally dry amp (no reverb)? Your pickups sound good, I've just long wondered about this common protocol. I hear short details in my own dry playing that gets de-emphasized when the reverb goes on.
I just bought a Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Strat. The pickups sound excellent. The newest iteration made In Indonesia has Alnico 5’s in it as does the Tele and they are much better than the ones built in China.
NOOOOO, Dylan the pickups on my CV tele and CV 1960s strat are great. To each his own I guess. Great video though. To be honest I would like to find out which pickups squier puts on the teles, so I could put them in my MIM tele.
I would’ve just dropped a 500k volume pot and bypassed the tone knob. Then strung up some D’addarios nickelwounds tuned to ‘F’. That’s how I do my telecaster ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
Great video and very timely. My 50s CV is off to the tech tomorrow for the very same thing. I thought the Squier stock ones were great in a home studio situation at low volume, but I did the first gig with the guitar last week and they sounded shrill, weak and tinny at higher stage volume. With no definition or push when trying to cut through against real drums.
One thing about good pickups is that they feel different, they make you play differently and pay more attention to the little details of your playing, which is something that doesn't come across through a TH-cam video.
@@DylanTalksTone No, but the psychology of people is pretty easy to understand. Read the comments and you will see that others think their pickups sound good.
@@DylanTalksTone Well why you dont test the old pickups with new strings (same model and gauge) put the height at the same level with the strings in both ( i see in your pickups was much more close to the strings) and show us the settings in your amp !!! Then maybe i m gonna believe your are honest...
For a while real wow moment! Nowadays you can’t almost hear difference between pups, pedals etc. but this is something. Thanks for doing this good work!
I like both pickups- but l’m somewhere in the middle of them concerning gain breakup- one’s too little and one’s too much- for me a real tele sound is more defined by eq than just breakup- it’s the bandwidth presence in relation to point of breakup- l think you interpret gain related breakup as the sound and l think it’s an eq curve that gives more bark than bite- ( it’s a mid high cut and a high bass cut more than distorted edges ) for me…
Ok kiddies, I would definitely change out the electronics before the pup's on the later CV squire's. If you're not still satisfied, then she'll out on pup's. You may fine you don't need to.
Don't know.... The original neck pick up sounded clearer to me. I play mostly clean neck and middle: personally I would prefer the stock. Years ago I replaced the pickups on an $89 Amazon Tele with some from one of your competitors. Day and night difference so I agree, quality pickups can be a game changer.
Your pickups sound awesome. Which, even coming from a YT video is impressive. The question I have is, does the pickup height from factory to custom install have a major factor in the overall sound of the pickups? I'm thinking a factory worker isn't going to tune the height like a professional would.
I bought my Classic Vibe Tele about 6 years ago. I bought the Blonde Tele with the Alnico III pickups in it and they sound just fine (BTW - Butterscotch had Alnico V’s in them). I love the Tele so much that I modded it for weight relief. It originally weighed close to 9lbs. I gave it an arm cut, belly carve, and I routed under the pickguard. It took 2lbs off of it. I also refinished it with Purple Leather Dye and it’s a beautiful see thru purple now. It can be seen on my Instagram page under my same name.
They have a nice chime, but lack in mids. A lot of new players hear treble as clarity or sparkle and will be satisfied for awhile, until they notice their tone is a bit thin.
Or here's an idea... You could roll up the mid control on the amp or roll down the tone control on guitar. Adjusting pickup height also shifts eq around and can give statisfactory results in most cases
All these people in the comments are coming to grips with the fact that Lee Anderton may not have been entirely truthful when he sold them their Squier Classic Vibe.
I tried a 40th anniversary Squier tele. Amazing guitar. These guitars are supposed to be alternate versions of the classic vibes with satin finishes and binding. The pickups, however, were so weak and a bit dark. I knew I’d need to replace those if I bought it. The neck pickup was pretty much unusable.
I had a similar experience with my mij fender tele. Stock bridge pickup was okay, but I found myself working too hard to make it bite. Neck one was just boring and dull. So very similar. Replaced them with Lollar Vintage set and it took a guitar to a completely new level. Although the set cost me 1/3 of what I paid for the guitar, it's totally worth it.
Well if pickup manufacturers would give us the specs of their pickups then people could learn what kind of pickups they like and they would buy the ones they want at the cheapest price. mind you anyone with a $30 inductance meter could get those specs or very close to it, provided they actually have to buy the pickup first. Fender Custom shop Original Vintage Tele Pickups are 2.4 h in the neck and 3.6 h in the bridge (7.2k DCR and 6.6k DCR). My CV Paranormal Offset tele is brighter in the neck pickup at 1.96 h (7.14k DCR), and brighter on the bridge at 2.7h (7.07k DCR). The Tonerider Vintage Plus is similiar to the CV at 1.9 h in the neck but a bit darker than the CV at 3.0 h in the bridge. To say that one pickup is 'better' than another is probably misleading. It simply depends if you want a brighter or darker pickup (to simplify). Brighter pickups are more balanced, and cut through the mix, but may sound fizzy. Darker pickups may make the lower strings more fuzzy and louder although may make the treble strings sound quite smoother and mellower.
i really trust you dylan on a lot of aspects of guitars that you discuss but i think with pickups you got a bit of snobbery in you man. These pickups, as with most, are probably totally fine. The proper proper naff ones are the super hot ceramic humbuckers you find in low nd jacksons and shit like that
I have more than a bit of snobbery in me about a lot of things. Pocket knives, bourbon, watches, cars, motorcycles, clothes, etc. if you think I am a snob about guitars, you must not be paying ANY attention. I love this guitar and have said so MANY times.
Its crazy that you wouldn't trust the pickup guy based on his experience. He lives and breathes these things. Would you also say the same thing to Seymour Duncan? Dylan has experience. The more you play guitar, the more your ear can pick up these subtleties that people talk about. I can hear the difference with Dylan's pickups, and it's night and day. I can tell the difference on a phone speaker. I thought the break up with the volume knob demo made his point very clear. Seriously though, never mix up snobbery with experience. Dylan is very down to earth.
He said they were ok. There's a difference though. A 78 Maverick will get you around town just fine, but once you ride in a Cadillac you will never forget the difference. There's nothing wrong with "ok" sounds, but once you reach the next level, "ok" won't be ok anymore.
i totally can hear what he is talking about. there is some sort of weird muffledness of the CV pickups, I don't know how to put it in words really, maybe some would say 'lack of definition'. or they are just flatter, less lively? not sure how to phrase it really but i can totally hear it. i mean Dylan did not say they are junk either. they are just not good enough if you really want a top guitar. or maybe the pickup quality does not match the quality of the body/neck, other parts of the guitar. but the way he was talking about it, i totally got that. maybe the thumbnail of the video goes beyond that but you've got to make a statement with your title and thumbnail, otherwise people just won't click.
The “ pop” you spoke of seemed to be in large part your picking technique…just sayin’. The fact is, more wire gives you quicker breakup and more note definition. Those are facts
huge diffrence in tones there! i had a tele built from parts i got on ebay from all over the usa.... the pickups are 52 "re issue" wound by a company called "true custom shop"...i dont think theyre affilliated with fender...i took a chance on these pups not knowing anything about them... after the shop finished i went to pick up my "butterscratch" tele... the guy played it thru i believe it was a blues jr amp and all i can say was wowwwzerz! neck was thick n bluesy/mid was nice n chirpy/and the bridge would make brad paisley proud! the pups you installed in your tele are sweet as well....mine costed 60bux for the set...i gotta watch every dollar and have limited funds for hobbies.... great video and thanx for explaining details about diffrent guitar subjects!
Back then, I had a CV strat 50s, the early release of squier CV series. Which still had an alder body (the recent release doesn't use alder) and one piece maple neck which had a little flame maple grain. I really love the stock pickup, it was specified clearly on the website, an alnico III magnet pickup. Now it's not specified clearly anymore. The tone is very round and balanced.
Hi Dylan, thanks for your very instructive vids. This one prompted me to unscrew my CV 50s Vintage Blonde Tele and check under the bridge pickup. It's got a heavy, thick copper plated steel plate with no holes in it. The bottom plate is marked "TCA2B(fender)-BT." Maybe my 2011 Blonde (and some other CV variants) shipped with good pickups, other variants of Classic Vibe Teles shipped with the "holy" sub-par pickups you found in the more current 60s model?
I also got a CV 60s tele, still the early ones, with alder body. I do agree with you, the pickups are quite weak and not clear enough. It was stated an alnico V at that time.
my strat cv 50s does that, i have really good control over the breakup of the amp just by playing strengh, I have stock pickups. stock electronics, mine is a made in china, not one of the newer ones, which is said to be better than the newer ones, personally i've seen quite a few videos where people change the pups on a 50s cv same as mine and I usually prefer the stock ones. It's my main guitar and i love it.
Honestly, I only have good things to say about the pickups on my Classic Vibe 50's Tele. Especially the neck pickup, it's fabulous. I had a set of Lollars installed that a friend kindly gifted me. (Royal T neck + Vintage T bridge). They're great but I like the stock ones better for that guitar. I think that Lollar set would fit a 60's rosewood tele better. You can also hear it on my video that I did about this. The stock ones aren't that far off from the Lollars.
Hi Dylan, Since the Classic Vibe pickups have plastic bobbins, are they or are they not wax potted? I would think not but would like to know what you found and does that account for some of the sonic differences?
Cool demo. I agree your pickups sound better than the stick ones. What is the difference? Higher windings? Different types of wires/magnets? Edit: never mind! Just checked out your site and you explain it pretty well there. Am definitely interested in trying out a set as I have relatively flat radius necks. Rock!
Is it needed to also change condensators or the pontentialmeters? Some people recommended that. I want to change the stock pickups with Fender 51 Nocaster Pickup Set pickups. I think the stock pickups are not bad for the price of the guitar at all (about 400 €) BUT I feel that the neck pickups sounds a little more muddy compare to my FGN Tele or my MEX tele. If you play not too loud it ok, but with an Marshall and louder enviroment like Band contex they sounding more muddy . The bridge pickup is okay, but compare to a Lollar (which cost much more) PU there is some articulation missing. So it is also a matter of taste, but often cheap PU sounding good at home but not good on stage.
yep i thought the cv .s sounded better more trad tele . the replacements sounded hotter but lost some tele character . clarity is not usually an issue with teles . you usually have to knock the tone back a tad on the bridge . horses for courses
I was a die hard fan of the cv 60s strat... thought it sounded super good... when I experienced cs pickups in the vintera 50s mod tele I instantly knew how wrong I was.
I love how your pickups can change the character and tone of just about any guitar. Your loaded pick guard made my Squier Affinity Srat HSS sound amazing. I understand basic electromagnetic physics pretty well but you must have it ALL figured out. Anyone that hasn't tried Dylan's pickups is depriving themselves.
I have a cv 60s thinline and it is better than my usa tele and japan tele the cv is perfect. Just listened to your demo sorry cv is better all around.😊
We cannot trust in someone that is "reviewing " the pickups that hes selling in hes website !! Probably used another Eq in the new ones ,and for sure the height in the new ones are much closer to the strings and that make them bite more !! And more hott pickups dont equall quality!
wow a great diff, I mean much diff. between the PU's . Wow. Amazing. fralin, seymore duncan, fender custom shop girl name wound, gibson murphy, seth lover, Scared. neodymium active afraid. even though I'm still new to electric (i'm more n2 vacoustic) and that tele sounds like a boutique one with your pick ups. man I'm sold, if I ever get into electric guitars I'll def get your pick ups. I still have to learn how to solder LOL. imagine if you upgrade the rest of the electronics . . .
aquired a chinese cv thinline a few years ago. It sounded too bass and harsh for my pref. Rumoured to have tonerider pups but i changed to tonerider vintage, put brass saddles for sweetness, CRL 5 way which i wired HOOP, and 500k pots. Final mod was changing speaker in my Egnater Tweaker for WGS alnico..Now sounds really great, to my ears anyway. Have been thinking to get a cheap thinline and put in lipstick pups, have you tried these in a thinline, how do you think theyd sound. Chris
The only thing I’ve found with the stock CV pickups, is that they needed their height adjusted for optimal output, and to balance the levels. They sound wonderful now.
did same thing AFTER I ordered my Lindy Fralins (coming tomorrow)...sure hope it sounds noticeably better. Will do my first solder job...looking forward to it.
@@lazvt8469 I'm impressed. How'd the solder job go? Sounds better?
@@Baci302 Only burned myself once...then got the bug and started doing other small solder jobs....including speaker swaps. LOL. The Fralin Blues Special on a Tele are amazing....I like the CV50 Squier with these Fralins as much or better than my recently acquired Fender Tele Pro II. I want to try a set of Lollars someday...
can't agree more CV pickups are good
People forget that. You will be surprised what a difference it makes when you set the pickup heights correctly.
I prefer the CV pickups. It sounds warmer as well, perfect for neo soul and jazz
The ice pick is obvious, Those replacement pickups suck. People can't leave well enough alone ( gotta get hotter pickups BS)
You can achieve this by adjusting tone knob, but the stock CV pickups cannot go the other way (brighter)
Tho I like twisted tele/No caster better than this one
Original pickups are good enough. They are honestly good all around. The replacement ones are admittedly better but not without trade offs. Cons: I don't like too much bite, it's just not versatile regardless of how a tele is "supposed to be". Pros: Definitely outweighs the cons. The bridge pickup notes blooms into breakup much better in a more linear fashion. The neck notes are more dynamic between volume changes - cleaning up to a very nice tone as well. I do think the new pickups are installed at least closer to the strings or at least have a stronger output somehow. Overall, I would say these pickups are worth the change, but the original ones will make great music in the right hands.
Stock pickups are great in my CV Custom Tele and the stock bridge pickup in the 60's CV Strat is likely the ballsiest I've ever heard in any Strat. Any pickup modification might "change" the tone/output but in my opinion the stock ones are so good it would not be cost efficient, unless of course you are totally flush with cash and time.
Bro I love the classic vibe 60’s pick ups!!
I compared these versus a stock player, an american, and a japanese 50s strat and the classic vibe 60’s has this super glassy rich tone that i love for cleans!
Any idea why this is or what is specific about this pick up?
Do you think a Fender Fat 50’s or Texas specials would have more of this glassy tone or not really ?
The Classic Vibe pickups in my 60’s strat are legit. Never tried the tele ones, but I expected to need to replace my strat pickups when I first got it , but ended up enjoying them too much to see a need to change them.
Same with me and my Classic Vibe Mustang. Everything about it was perfect other than the little bit of fret end dressing it needed. Otherwise, it is amazing. Tuners too.
EVERYTHING is taste, man, your guitar, your music, your taste. You go brother!
I have the 60’s strat as well….I went into it thinking I would change them …I haven’t done it yet..They actually sound good and tone wise there is a huge difference on each setting with the 5 way switch. I run it through a Blackstar studio 10 6L6..They are a great paring.
Ditto...My CV 60'sstrat has Alnico pu's and and Alnico hb in the bridge. I'm beyond impressed.
I think I agree with you. The pickups on my CV 60's (which are supposed to be similar to a Tonerider model) are very good. Perhaps the best stock pickups that I've come across on a Squier. And, even though I will replace them for a Dimarzio Area Set, I'm considering installing the CV pickups on my Variax Standard, because its pickups are completely sterile and lifeless compared to the Squiers....
Honestly, I thought the stock pickups sounded great! At least before the comparison. A pickup swap can totally transform a guitar, so it’s nice to see a comparison. Thanks for the video!
Big difference for the better. The reason I like your channel is because you actually play chords when demonstrating rather than endless blues bending which is great for 20 seconds or so but to hear each string ringing clearly is a joy!
Wow Tough Crowd , I’m just Happy Someone’s Manufacturing Something Cool and Quality in the USA , Thanks Dylan !
I must be crazy, but I liked the stock pups.
I agree, new pickups are very fuzzy. Not what I look for and not very pleasant sounding, imo.
Stock pickups were better this is a sales pitch.
Both sounds good. New pickups are hotter sounding, but the stock sounded fine.
I didn’t see a “ night and day” difference.
@@moogsmiley4157 Well you see that he puts the new pickups more close to the strings to have the "bite that he wants "" Cannot trust nobody nowdays!"
Before you replace the pickups put brass saddles on it like the older cvs had it makes a world off difference
yup and topload the strings for good measure ;)
@@pagesegovia2026… with a Bigsby!
Makes a huge difference if you set the pickup heights correctly.
Almost all pickups are usable. I love SD, Lollar, DiMarco and most of the big pickup companies. But consider players like David Lindley... he used guitars like Danelectro BECAUSE they had weaker pickups and coupled with amp like a Silvertone to get a unique, different tone.
FYI The older classic vibes (09-18) had very different pickups. They were rumored to be tonerider made. From experience the construction of them is different then current models and to me of much higher quality. I’m very happy with my 2013 stock telecaster vintage blonde 😁
I did change the pickups on my chinese Cv Squier tele and few weeks later I put the originals back in !
@@SchmittPhysics I got a used one for $200 (2016 also). Had a few bumps but so what? It plays and sounds great and is one of my favorite guitars to play (out of 18). SOLID Tele!
Yes, they were toneriders indeed. So had the classic vibe stratocaster.
2014 Butterscotch Blonde Tele here. Alnico 5 pups. I think the stock Toneriders sound good and if nothing else different from my other Fender/Squier style guitars which I like. Want my guitars to all sound different.
got an 2020 70s strat(hss) changed the pickups to tonerider city limits because i wanted sss and sold the hss pickguard. i liked the stock singlecoils much more than the tonerider ones
Night and day....sounds great man.
I have a 60s thinline CV Tele. Personally, I love the tone out of the pickups. That being said, I’m always interested in your opinion on pickups and guitars. Differences of opinion is good. I don’t like peaty scotch, my buddy does. We both enjoy scotch is the only relevant point.
Well said :) I wish more people had an attitude like that. Cheers, mate !
Yeah. Not all recipes call for salted butter!
@Lewis Dunkley mine was an Indonesian made model (2020). Not sure if they’re toneriders but when I took the pickguard off and took a peek, the pots are full size Korean made (didn’t recognize the stamp on them) and the switch is not a PCB. Overall, I’m happy. I did like Dylan’s pickups though. May need to think about those.
@Lewis Dunkley what puts did you get as replacenent?
I like that this tele is already routed for a wide range! Endless opportunities!
I mean, if they're just gonna cover the body with a pickguard, they might as well just rout it for everything they'd put in it
I like the stock pups in mine. They actually surprised me! The only work it NEEDS is some fret leveling which is par for the course when it comes to guitars under $500 or even $1000. I’ll probably put a set of Brandonwound 60’s T-styles in it because they’re a local company to me and make fantastic pups at decent prices. But the stock pups DO sound pretty good. The Jack and shielded wiring are definitely crap, must admit. Will be replacing both.
I thought the stock pups sounded good, but when you played your new ones, the headroom was a significant difference. Nice video.
Amazing improvement indeed. Few weeks ago I installed Custom Shop Texas Special pickups on my Squier Tele Offset and the tone change was impressive like in this video. I also found that the Squier pickups had plastic plates, they were not that bad but the new are awesome.
I just did an A-B comparison on the stock vs the new pickups...And in my opinion the originals sound better or more Vintage like...So can be a personal thing...But the airy Vintage Vibe pickups actually made by ToneRider for Squier sound very authentic Vintage Fender..
I’ve owned and played almost every range or tele and the classics vibe is a steal long as you don’t get stuck on the fact it doesn’t say fender.I’ll say with a good setup and possibly new pups(depending on your preference) you can have a guitar that completes with an American tele easily for about 1K less.I’m really annoyed that the two player series teles I owned had un rounded frets and fretboard to the point it was cutting my fingers.they aren’t bad guitars but for they money you expect something’s to automatically just be taken care of.the squier cv had everything from rounded fretboard and frets to pretty good fret work out the box.The neck was straight , no glue marks or anything unlike more player series I’ve seen and played.I’m not saying any guitar is bad but for 350 (possibly less if pre owned) you have a great looking and feeling guitar that is ready for upgrades if you see fit!
I wonder why Dylans pickups sounded so much different, he was right his pickups have more output punch, clarity, and bite. It was like the tone control as missing the upper range like he said was very interesting.
This was quite interesting to me. I used to have this exact guitar and I actually really liked the sound of the stock pickups when I bought it which sound exactly like they do at the start of this in this video, very smooth and almost Strat like especially in the neck where I do most of my playing. One thing I did notice was that the sound was scooped, lacking in mids, which I perceived as a problem at the time and I changed them for a set of boutique ones (handmade by a uk based company that no longer exists). The new pickups sounded great too and had the midrange definition that I was missing, they sounded more traditionally "tele like". The weird thing is, a few years later I sold the guitar to upgrade to a japanese version of the same model and changed the pickups back to the stock before putting it on the marker and realised that the original pickups were much better than I remembered them being. Just like on a strat, the relatively thin sounding pickups really sing with some pedal mid boost and the resulting sound was something I'd probably choose over the more generic tone I got from the "correct" sounding higher quality pickups.
If your guitar was from before 2019 it will have had different pickups than this one. Fender/Squier moved production from China to Indonesia and made a few changes to the specs with the move, one of them being switching to a different pickup manufacturer.
@@meadish from Indonesia to China
@@destrosoHi there, Meadish was correct the production moved from China to Indonesia
@@marcotaticchi5343 oh
Just ordered this tele and plan on making all these upgrades myself! A little apprehensive since I've only changed strings in my guitars, but since this Squire is so economical, I'm going to go for it. Thanks, Dylan! The difference between pickups was amazing! 🙏😊
Yup sounds nice and twangy with those new strings😁
sorry but I don't think the new bridge pickup made things better.. it sounds horrible. it may be what you like.. but it is not a good sound to my ears (using my in ear monitors) and the bridge is just a little less muddy. Not sure if that is amp EQ or pickups or both.. but I'd not be able to play more than one lick like that
Is there a reason people don't make comparisons re-using the same set of strings through a totally dry amp (no reverb)? Your pickups sound good, I've just long wondered about this common protocol. I hear short details in my own dry playing that gets de-emphasized when the reverb goes on.
agreed - new strings will be brighter and twangier, so it's not a fair comparison. and reverb colors the sound as well.
I just bought a Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Strat. The pickups sound excellent.
The newest iteration made In Indonesia has Alnico 5’s in it as does the Tele and they are much better than the ones built in China.
NOOOOO, Dylan the pickups on my CV tele and CV 1960s strat are great. To each his own I guess. Great video though. To be honest I would like to find out which pickups squier puts on the teles, so I could put them in my MIM tele.
Chinese CVs had Tonerider pickups in them
I would’ve just dropped a 500k volume pot and bypassed the tone knob. Then strung up some D’addarios nickelwounds tuned to ‘F’. That’s how I do my telecaster ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
Love the stock pickups alnico 5 but did change height of them and put compensated brass saddles and that made a big difference to tone for me.
Yes, that's the way to do it. No need to get expensive pups.
few years ago they used Tonerider made pickups in CV '50 and '60 strats, very decent pickups
Exactly! (2009-2018) run.
Very different pickups much higher quality, great sound.
I thought the original pickups sounded better.
Agreed
Yes!!!!
You've gotta being kidding! That or dead ears!
The stock pickups lack 'sheen'.
Agreed but I'm thinking like he said at the beginning he wanted more "bite" to the sound. A Tele Vibe rather than anything else
Great video and very timely. My 50s CV is off to the tech tomorrow for the very same thing. I thought the Squier stock ones were great in a home studio situation at low volume, but I did the first gig with the guitar last week and they sounded shrill, weak and tinny at higher stage volume. With no definition or push when trying to cut through against real drums.
One thing about good pickups is that they feel different, they make you play differently and pay more attention to the little details of your playing, which is something that doesn't come across through a TH-cam video.
The pickups sound fine on the Squier, seems like you are trying to convince everyone to buy your pickups. Great sales pitch for the blind!!!
You must be new here.
@@DylanTalksTone No, but the psychology of people is pretty easy to understand. Read the comments and you will see that others think their pickups sound good.
Snake oil.
@@DylanTalksTone Well why you dont test the old pickups with new strings (same model and gauge) put the height at the same level with the strings in both ( i see in your pickups was much more close to the strings) and show us the settings in your amp !!! Then maybe i m gonna believe your are honest...
For a while real wow moment! Nowadays you can’t almost hear difference between pups, pedals etc. but this is something. Thanks for doing this good work!
I like both pickups- but l’m somewhere in the middle of them concerning gain breakup- one’s too little and one’s too much- for me a real tele sound is more defined by eq than just breakup- it’s the bandwidth presence in relation to point of breakup- l think you interpret gain related breakup as the sound and l think it’s an eq curve that gives more bark than bite- ( it’s a mid high cut and a high bass cut more than distorted edges ) for me…
Ok kiddies, I would definitely change out the electronics before the pup's on the later CV squire's. If you're not still satisfied, then she'll out on pup's. You may fine you don't need to.
Don't know.... The original neck pick up sounded clearer to me. I play mostly clean neck and middle: personally I would prefer the stock. Years ago I replaced the pickups on an $89 Amazon Tele with some from one of your competitors. Day and night difference so I agree, quality pickups can be a game changer.
Everything you said I can hear 👂 exactly that dead-on point.👌
Your pickups sound awesome. Which, even coming from a YT video is impressive. The question I have is, does the pickup height from factory to custom install have a major factor in the overall sound of the pickups? I'm thinking a factory worker isn't going to tune the height like a professional would.
I mean, yeah, the $150 pickups are going to sound better than the ones in a $400 guitar made in China. I would damn sure hope so!
I have a squier classic vibe and the pickups are excellent. ❤️🎸.
You seem pretty picky about the clarity of the CV pickups but not that picky about intonation. Guitar sounds out of tune.
more powerful though. more important than perfect tuning
Yeah, my pet peeve is out of tune playing.
Very nice sounding new pickups! Fair play!
I bought my Classic Vibe Tele about 6 years ago. I bought the Blonde Tele with the Alnico III pickups in it and they sound just fine (BTW - Butterscotch had Alnico V’s in them). I love the Tele so much that I modded it for weight relief. It originally weighed close to 9lbs. I gave it an arm cut, belly carve, and I routed under the pickguard. It took 2lbs off of it. I also refinished it with Purple Leather Dye and it’s a beautiful see thru purple now. It can be seen on my Instagram page under my same name.
Anything he would play with any pickups would sound terrible as long as he has that overdrive sound going on!
You not much of a rocker old man?
The sound is a definite change after the pickup install. That's cool 😎😎😎
They have a nice chime, but lack in mids. A lot of new players hear treble as clarity or sparkle and will be satisfied for awhile, until they notice their tone is a bit thin.
Or here's an idea... You could roll up the mid control on the amp or roll down the tone control on guitar. Adjusting pickup height also shifts eq around and can give statisfactory results in most cases
EQ can’t create detail, clarity and overtones that aren’t there in the signal to begin with
@@ilmisxx2 mids are where a guitar shines, the higher end is just for clarity and “sheen”. But a guitar is a mid/upper mid instrument.
@@areyoujelton I do not disagree with that statement
All these people in the comments are coming to grips with the fact that Lee Anderton may not have been entirely truthful when he sold them their Squier Classic Vibe.
I took a 50’s CV tele and re wired for a 50’s tele style & that opened up the tone for sure ! But the CV I believe is in phase & just way too muted
I tried a 40th anniversary Squier tele. Amazing guitar. These guitars are supposed to be alternate versions of the classic vibes with satin finishes and binding. The pickups, however, were so weak and a bit dark. I knew I’d need to replace those if I bought it. The neck pickup was pretty much unusable.
I would be curious to put a solid plate on the bridge pickup to see the difference on the squier pick up
I had a similar experience with my mij fender tele. Stock bridge pickup was okay, but I found myself working too hard to make it bite. Neck one was just boring and dull. So very similar. Replaced them with Lollar Vintage set and it took a guitar to a completely new level. Although the set cost me 1/3 of what I paid for the guitar, it's totally worth it.
Remember the old Peavey guitars that had phase switch. The easy fix for the guitar would to flip one of the pick-ups so and use the middle position.
I have a set of 60s CV p’ups in my partscaster, and I love them. Great product on your end though 👍
Well if pickup manufacturers would give us the specs of their pickups then people could learn what kind of pickups they like and they would buy the ones they want at the cheapest price.
mind you anyone with a $30 inductance meter could get those specs or very close to it, provided they actually have to buy the pickup first.
Fender Custom shop Original Vintage Tele Pickups are 2.4 h in the neck and 3.6 h in the bridge (7.2k DCR and 6.6k DCR).
My CV Paranormal Offset tele is brighter in the neck pickup at 1.96 h (7.14k DCR), and brighter on the bridge at 2.7h (7.07k DCR).
The Tonerider Vintage Plus is similiar to the CV at 1.9 h in the neck but a bit darker than the CV at 3.0 h in the bridge.
To say that one pickup is 'better' than another is probably misleading. It simply depends if you want a brighter or darker pickup (to simplify). Brighter pickups are more balanced, and cut through the mix, but may sound fizzy. Darker pickups may make the lower strings more fuzzy and louder although may make the treble strings sound quite smoother and mellower.
i really trust you dylan on a lot of aspects of guitars that you discuss but i think with pickups you got a bit of snobbery in you man. These pickups, as with most, are probably totally fine. The proper proper naff ones are the super hot ceramic humbuckers you find in low nd jacksons and shit like that
I have more than a bit of snobbery in me about a lot of things. Pocket knives, bourbon, watches, cars, motorcycles, clothes, etc.
if you think I am a snob about guitars, you must not be paying ANY attention. I love this guitar and have said so MANY times.
What you call snobbery, I call ears
Its crazy that you wouldn't trust the pickup guy based on his experience. He lives and breathes these things. Would you also say the same thing to Seymour Duncan?
Dylan has experience. The more you play guitar, the more your ear can pick up these subtleties that people talk about. I can hear the difference with Dylan's pickups, and it's night and day. I can tell the difference on a phone speaker.
I thought the break up with the volume knob demo made his point very clear.
Seriously though, never mix up snobbery with experience. Dylan is very down to earth.
He said they were ok. There's a difference though. A 78 Maverick will get you around town just fine, but once you ride in a Cadillac you will never forget the difference. There's nothing wrong with "ok" sounds, but once you reach the next level, "ok" won't be ok anymore.
i totally can hear what he is talking about. there is some sort of weird muffledness of the CV pickups, I don't know how to put it in words really, maybe some would say 'lack of definition'. or they are just flatter, less lively? not sure how to phrase it really but i can totally hear it. i mean Dylan did not say they are junk either. they are just not good enough if you really want a top guitar. or maybe the pickup quality does not match the quality of the body/neck, other parts of the guitar. but the way he was talking about it, i totally got that. maybe the thumbnail of the video goes beyond that but you've got to make a statement with your title and thumbnail, otherwise people just won't click.
I have 4 Squier fsr teles all with changed pups and wiring looms and 2 Fender teles performers they got changed pups too
I thought the replacement pups were more dynamic with nicer upper mids and more balanced top to bottom. Just better tone overall.
The “ pop” you spoke of seemed to be in large part your picking technique…just sayin’.
The fact is, more wire gives you quicker breakup and more note definition. Those are facts
Except… that’s not true actually
Your pickups sound fantastic. It's like night and day.
huge diffrence in tones there!
i had a tele built from parts i got on ebay from all over the usa....
the pickups are 52 "re issue" wound by a company called "true custom shop"...i dont think theyre affilliated with fender...i took a chance on these pups not knowing anything about them...
after the shop finished i went to pick up my "butterscratch" tele...
the guy played it thru i believe it was a blues jr amp and all i can say was wowwwzerz! neck was thick n bluesy/mid was nice n chirpy/and the bridge would make brad paisley proud!
the pups you installed in your tele are sweet as well....mine costed 60bux for the set...i gotta watch every dollar and have limited funds for hobbies....
great video and thanx for explaining details about diffrent guitar subjects!
The replacement pickups definitely leveled up the sound.
how did you feel about the clarity on those stock pickups? did you feel like there was enough there?
For a beginner totally, which is what the squire line is for.
Back then, I had a CV strat 50s, the early release of squier CV series. Which still had an alder body (the recent release doesn't use alder) and one piece maple neck which had a little flame maple grain. I really love the stock pickup, it was specified clearly on the website, an alnico III magnet pickup. Now it's not specified clearly anymore. The tone is very round and balanced.
I had read about the 2022 cv having alnico 5 pick ups
They are a5 magnets now.
Hi Dylan, thanks for your very instructive vids. This one prompted me to unscrew my CV 50s Vintage Blonde Tele and check under the bridge pickup. It's got a heavy, thick copper plated steel plate with no holes in it. The bottom plate is marked "TCA2B(fender)-BT." Maybe my 2011 Blonde (and some other CV variants) shipped with good pickups, other variants of Classic Vibe Teles shipped with the "holy" sub-par pickups you found in the more current 60s model?
Pre 2019 CVs have Tonerider pickups
Your CV was made in China I suspect? The Chinese versions have different pickups and a full plate below the bridge one particularly.
I also got a CV 60s tele, still the early ones, with alder body. I do agree with you, the pickups are quite weak and not clear enough. It was stated an alnico V at that time.
my strat cv 50s does that, i have really good control over the breakup of the amp just by playing strengh, I have stock pickups. stock electronics, mine is a made in china, not one of the newer ones, which is said to be better than the newer ones, personally i've seen quite a few videos where people change the pups on a 50s cv same as mine and I usually prefer the stock ones. It's my main guitar and i love it.
Excellent pickups.guitar sounds great now.
If tone is a "subjecctive" matter, then Dylan pickups does have better transient and clarity.
Such a huge difference from stock pickups!!!
Honestly, I only have good things to say about the pickups on my Classic Vibe 50's Tele. Especially the neck pickup, it's fabulous. I had a set of Lollars installed that a friend kindly gifted me. (Royal T neck + Vintage T bridge). They're great but I like the stock ones better for that guitar. I think that Lollar set would fit a 60's rosewood tele better. You can also hear it on my video that I did about this. The stock ones aren't that far off from the Lollars.
Hi Dylan, Since the Classic Vibe pickups have plastic bobbins, are they or are they not wax potted? I would think not but would like to know what you found and does that account for some of the sonic differences?
Big difference great sounding pickups man!!!
Cool demo. I agree your pickups sound better than the stick ones. What is the difference? Higher windings? Different types of wires/magnets?
Edit: never mind! Just checked out your site and you explain it pretty well there. Am definitely interested in trying out a set as I have relatively flat radius necks.
Rock!
Cool video. Should do a video on Summers Telecaster, used on early Police records, hits Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon for example.
Is it needed to also change condensators or the pontentialmeters? Some people recommended that. I want to change the stock pickups with Fender 51 Nocaster Pickup Set pickups. I think the stock pickups are not bad for the price of the guitar at all (about 400 €) BUT I feel that the neck pickups sounds a little more muddy compare to my FGN Tele or my MEX tele. If you play not too loud it ok, but with an Marshall and louder enviroment like Band contex they sounding more muddy . The bridge pickup is okay, but compare to a Lollar (which cost much more) PU there is some articulation missing. So it is also a matter of taste, but often cheap PU sounding good at home but not good on stage.
This was great Dylan, thank you for that. The ears don’t lie…mine sounds good but there’s the desire to want better….let the tone chasing continue…
Man that is night and day....nice job!!
yep i thought the cv .s sounded better more trad tele . the replacements sounded hotter but lost some tele character . clarity is not usually an issue with teles . you usually have to knock the tone back a tad on the bridge . horses for courses
I was a die hard fan of the cv 60s strat... thought it sounded super good... when I experienced cs pickups in the vintera 50s mod tele I instantly knew how wrong I was.
What do you think about the new thinline classic vibe? Fsr 60's
I was considering getting one
Single coil sound a lot more fender than humbucker
Big difference in the sound. The guitar sounds a lot more lively.
I have a CV 62 tele, I liked the original pickups but did sounded muddy. I replaced them with lambertones blondies and it was s huge difference.
A good eq pedal would probably do the same thing & more.
I agree. This PU swap was an upgrade!
Thanks Dylan, I really enjoyed that. Great tones!
Question would yoy shield this tele as well?
I love how your pickups can change the character and tone of just about any guitar. Your loaded pick guard made my Squier Affinity Srat HSS sound amazing. I understand basic electromagnetic physics pretty well but you must have it ALL figured out. Anyone that hasn't tried Dylan's pickups is depriving themselves.
Would have been nice to have a bit more analysis on the stock pickups.
New to the channel. You made those pickups! That’s cool.
I have a cv 60s thinline and it is better than my usa tele and japan tele the cv is perfect. Just listened to your demo sorry cv is better all around.😊
Nice job selling your pickups!
Yeah I'll bite... Same goes for me: I like the stock pickups in mine. Best tone improvement for 7$? Change your strings and pickup heights.
We cannot trust in someone that is "reviewing " the pickups that hes selling in hes website !! Probably used another Eq in the new ones ,and for sure the height in the new ones are much closer to the strings and that make them bite more !! And more hott pickups dont equall quality!
wow a great diff, I mean much diff. between the PU's . Wow. Amazing. fralin, seymore duncan, fender custom shop girl name wound, gibson murphy, seth lover, Scared. neodymium active afraid. even though I'm still new to electric (i'm more n2 vacoustic) and that tele sounds like a boutique one with your pick ups. man I'm sold, if I ever get into electric guitars I'll def get your pick ups. I still have to learn how to solder LOL. imagine if you upgrade the rest of the electronics . . .
good demo thanks... 😊
aquired a chinese cv thinline a few years ago. It sounded too bass and harsh for my pref. Rumoured to have tonerider pups but i changed to tonerider vintage, put brass saddles for sweetness, CRL 5 way which i wired HOOP, and 500k pots. Final mod was changing speaker in my Egnater Tweaker for WGS alnico..Now sounds really great, to my ears anyway. Have been thinking to get a cheap thinline and put in lipstick pups, have you tried these in a thinline, how do you think theyd sound.
Chris
i bought one these guitars, the tuners are non branded and mine are loose which ill change out and the pups im just not sure which one to go with.
i've gotten so much free game from this guy its crazy. I should be endorsing this man lmfao!
Thanks for watching. I appreciate it