Strat pickup on a Telecaster?

Alanstrainor

Alright lads, i came across a bargain on ebay last night that i just had to buy, a texas special pickup for €30 delivered. Now i have a strat with seymour Duncan Antiquity 2s that really are great, i had initially thought of replacing the neck pickup but now i'm thinking about throwing it in my Telecaster neck position.
So what do you guys think, would it work as far is sound, it would probably involve gouging a hole in the guitar for it to fit in, and modifying the pickguard but i'd imagine that'd all be pretty easy. It would be replacing a Fender Telecaster Texas special pickup, but the sound is very different comparing texas specials in tele's and strat's so it's not like i would be replacing like with like.

Ravelleman

I don't see the point. Are you not happy with the sound of your Tele?

Alanstrainor

Ravelleman wrote: »

I don't see the point. Are you not happy with the sound of your Tele?

Never liked the neck position of my Tele tbh. Love my Strats and was pondering the idea of having the strat neck position sound i love so much with a tele bridge. I will agree it's a bit on the crazy side, just wanted to see what all you think of my crazy idea!

NoQuarter

Nothing ventured nothing gained(no pun) AL! it can always be reversed(if you go easy on the gouging!:eek: )

now just throw a les paul humbucker in the middle and your away!

Dord

I've seen people put Strat pickups in the middle position on a Tele. I believe it's referred to as a Nashville tele. Fender made/make a model like this.

You should be able to get the wiring diagram for this on Fender.com or maybe Seymour Duncan.com



Other than that, if you don't like the neck position in your tele then you should get a new pickguard and turn it into an Esquire!

It's a whole different beast then!

Alanstrainor

Ah yeah i know about the nashvilles alright, that could be an option! pick up a five way switch on the cheap, perhaps stagger the middle pickup? make it that bit more unique? i've got a bit of thinking to do!
Cheers Lads!

BuddhaJoe

Go for it dude! Strat pickups sound great in a Tele!

Alanstrainor

Right lads, i've decided, nashville it is, Might buy another pickup to through into the neck position too, thanks for the advise!! :pac::pac::pac:

Alanstrainor

Sorry for dragging up this thread again, but i've only just gotten to the wiring stage of this project. Now here's the question, i have a 5 way switch, do i wire it up like a strat (neck, neck mid, mid, mid bridge, bridge) or do i try and keep that quintessentially telecaster neck and bridge position? ie (neck, neck mid, neck bridge, mid bridge, bridge)?????
I know it's ultimately up to myself, just looking for a second opinion! Cheers Lads.
Alan.

Dord

Here's the Nashville wiring diagram.

http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf_temp1/telecaster/0135300_02B/SD0135300_02BPg2.pdf

Alanstrainor

Thanks, but which wiring would you go with? A strat esque wiring, or the nashville wiring?

Dord

I'd go for the Tele one, I think the mid in combination with the others would be more useful. Other than that I think I saw a mod before where you have strat wiring and a seperate miniswitch to turn on and off the neck pickup in any setting.

Seziertisch

It might be worth your while to check out what capacitors and resistors are wired up for the neck pickup already.

I know, for example, that stock 52 Reissue Teles come with a capacitor wired up for the neck which makes the pickup sound great in the mid-position in combination with the bridge pickup, but sounds quite muddy on its own. Perhaps your guitar has something similar.

Sometimes even a change of pot value might work wonders on the sound. I know a few Tele owners that swear be 1m Ohm tone and volume pots for the neck pickup vs. the 250k Ohm ones that come as standard in most guitars. Basically the higher the value the more treble the pickup will have.

You could find that some experimentation in these areas might transform the sound of the neck pickup you already have.

Alanstrainor

Mods, sorry for dragging this up!

Anyway, i'm actually kind of shocked at how long this project has stalled for! I got the body routed for the pickup but no matter what i tried i couldn't wire it up correctly, as the squire was not wired up the same as any wiring diagrams i could find....that and im woeful at wiring! But i just ordered a pre-assembled control plate for a telecaster with 3 pickups, but it's got added goodies like a push-pull pot for out of phase positions. All i have to do is solder the pickups into her and the wiring to the output jack and i'll be sorted! And of course when i'm done i'll post pics!

IVRZ

interesting, where can you order one of them? Guitarfetish only do prewired strat guards. I'd be interested in trying one out

eoin5

Good job going for the phase switch, really nice option to have.