The new Sheptone Tele pickups are of vintage construction featuring either staggered pole pieces or flat-pole blackguard on the bridge pickups. The neck pickup is available with a chrome, nickel, or gold cover. The bridge pickup is wound using #42 enamel wire with a standard resistance set of 7.6K, and the neck to 7.3K with #43 enamel wire. Alnico 5 magnets are standard on both. Pickups are wound to eliminate the large volume difference between the pickups of a typical Telecaster set. Sheptone does allow custom orders, making Alnico 2 magnets and custom windings available upon request. The neck pickup is reverse wound and reverse polarized to eliminate noise and then is potted upside down to completely eliminate squeal by filling the airspace with wax. To further reduce feedback, the bridge pickup is potted in wax as well.
To give insight as to what drives Shep’s pursuit, he states “My philosophy is simple...pickups should be transparent and allow the primary tones of the wood to come through. It is a wooden instrument after all. If you really listen to those classic riffs and tones that we all know, you can hear the wood and that is the key. While some secondary tone is inherent to each pickup’s design, the job of the pickup is to respond to the players' touch (dynamics), enhance the natural harmonics and overtones that accompany each note, and transfer this "voice" to the rest of the signal chain.”
MSRP starts at $90 each or $169 per pair.
For more information:
Sheptone
