Tele Pickups

[jim]

Does anyone have any suggestions for Tele pups that are a little over wound, but still maintain that Tele twang? I am thinking about replacing my saga pups because they sound a little weak and the neck sounds a little muddy.

I am also considering rewinding them, but i don't know if this would help with the clarity or do i need higher quality magnets like alancos?

I don't want to drop a ton of cash on something thats going in my saga when I'm gathering parts for a full custom.

[cknowles]

Before buying new Pups, consider replacing the wiring and Pots first.
The Pots on my Saga LP were tiny things, high quality replacements from Guitar Fetish cost me only about $20 and made a huge difference.

[jgnov99]

Jim that's good advice from CK. Just like troubleshooting a car...start with the cheapest thing first (that is unless you know exactly what to do already). Look at all the electronics, i.e. pots, wiring, caps, etc. If you need a cheap alternative for Pups look up GFS. They sound good and are MORE than reasonable. Of course rewinding is a VERY intriguing alternative.........

Joey

[jgnov99]

By the way, just for the sake of information, Alnico (ALuminum, NIckel, & CObalt) is not neccesarily a higher quality magnet, just a different material (hence a different sound). There are quite a few different types of Alnico (II, III, IV, V, VIII...) and they all produce different sorts of tones. Some of the Ceramic magnets make for some very good tones, too.

Joey

[jgnov99]

"I don't want to drop a ton of cash on something thats going in my saga when I'm gathering parts for a full custom."

Jim, what kind of custom build are you doing?

Joey

[godzilla]

As JGNov99 said check out Guitarfetish and the GFS pickups. They are reasonably priced.
I just installed the Hot Lead Li'l Punchers set in my Saga Tele tonight and they rock !! Lots more sustain and clarity.
And you can still get some of the Tele twang and quack with them.
I also replaced the pots and soldered all the wiring instead of push in connectors.
Change the pots first as mentioned with CTS or Alpha pots. This makes a world of difference in the tone of the guitar as CKnowles mentioned.

store.guitarfetish.com/singlecoil.html

Mark

[jim]

Thanks for all the input! I had changed out the pots to alphas and changed out the cap, but i have not rewired it with a higher quality wire. It just seams like the pickups are a little to weak, mostly the neck pickup, no matter what height i set it at. I'll definately check out those GFS Pups.

The custom I am going to build is a semi-hollow body. I am not exactly sure what style I should make the body though. I am thinking of mixing it up by making the body a LP style, the neck a Strat, and the bridge and Pups a Tele. Or maybe just a Tele style body, but I am pretty set on the Strat neck. I'll probably start it within the next few months once i finish my current project.

Jim