Telecaster pickup replacement--your opinion?

[ifeellikeatourist]

Okay, so I love my telecaster and the sweet array of tones that I can get out of it, but lately I've been thinking. I've mainly been using the neck pickup lately, and it's always been the one that I dug the most, the one that I think gives it the most distinct telecaster sound. So lately I've been thinking, since I don't care much for the bridge pickup anyway, why don't I switch it out for one of those single-coil-sized-humbuckers (like this one http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Seymour-Duncan-SHR1-Hot-Rail-Stacked-Single-Coil-Pickup?sku=300300) so that I can have a humbucker in the bridge for the times that I want some extra oomph. I think this will make my tele a lot more versatile, and I'll actually start using my bridge pickup. Lately I've really been thinking about cutting down to just one guitar anyway, and I think that this might be a nice way to get a wide range of sounds out of one guitar rather than having a designated humbucker guitar and single-coil guitar. What do you think? Any pickup recommendations?

[Gunner Recall]

Been thinking of doing the same to my fat strat...

Duncan hot rails seem to have mixed reviews, a few mentioning it as a "one trick pony", though I suppose if you aren't swapping out both pickups you'd be ok. Probably still an upgrade over factory pickups. Personally i've been checking out gfs pickups over at http://store.guitarfetish.com/, seem to be getting rave reviews across the boards, and uber cheap to boot. They have a few of the "hot rail" style pickups worth checking out. I think theirs are slightly fatter in size though, so some may require some minor modification to the pickguard.

[ohsojayadeva]

i have the hot rails for tele in one of my guitars. it has the most midrange output of any of the telecaster pickups they make, which makes it incredible for live shows. i don't think that the output is so hot as to make it a 'one trick pony' though i have heard that as well... it's fairly versatile in this guitar, which also has a p90 in the neck.

my other tele has a (non humbucker) SD Alinco Pro II pickup which is also a great choice. it's got a more traiditional tele tone that's a bit more balanced and round.

teles rock!

[ifeellikeatourist]

Thanks for the replies. I guess what I want out of this pickup is just to get more distortion and a fatter sound. Since I use the neck pickup for my "tele sound," I thought it would be nice to have the versatility of a humbucker in the bridge, just to have it there when I need more output or something different. Honestly, I have a mexican tele, so I guess even if I replaced the stock pickups with some better fender single coils, it would probably make a huge difference. I've never been a big fan of altering the traditional tele single coils, but lately I've just been thinking that having a humbucker there would allow me to switch to a humbucker sound without having to switch guitars. I guess there's also the option of keeping both tele pickups and putting the hot rail in the middle...but that would require some work...

[ifeellikeatourist]

Okay, so I checked out guitarfestish, and now I'm trying to decide between the hot rails-style humbucker or the over-wound 60's style single coil. Also, does anyone know about their guitars? Are they any good? They're so incredibly cheap, if they're really as good as they claim to be, I might have to pick one up...

[ohsojayadeva]

man those are insanely cheap.

[Louie62]

Try Bareknuckle Pickups or Iron Gear

http://www.irongear.co.uk/
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/

Hope the links work.

[dorfmeister]

If you want more range and humbucker type tones out of a tele try some EMG tele pickups + the EMG SPC fat control. Will give you great range of tones and no noise. The EMG single coil pickups sound great.

http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.a ... talogid=51

http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.a ... alogid=131

[Gunner Recall]

Bareknuckle makes some great sounding pickups...shame they are so expensive. Oh, and if you live in the US they are even MORE expensive.