The anatomy of a Tele neck pickup. Photo courtesy of LeoSounds Pickups (leosounds.de)
Let’s face it: Few Tele players actually like the sound of the stock neck pickup. If you’re thinking of swapping it for something else, here are some time-tested options.
Now that we've explored Telecaster bridge pickups, we've arrived at the final stage of our journey: the neck pickup. Smaller than a Stratocaster pickup, the stock Tele neck pickup sports a closed metal cover and is usually installed with two wood screws that tap right into the body underneath the pickguard.
Few players really love the Tele neck pickup. Why is this? I think it has to do with the remarkable sonic differences between the Tele's two pickups. The bridge pickup has a crystal-clear, loud, and twangy tone, while the neck pickup delivers less volume and has a kind of husky, colorless sound. When you switch from the bridge directly to the neck pickup, it sometimes feels as if something's wrong. Most players (myself included) don't like its sound and simply don't use it. But it's a shame to only use one pickup in a guitar that offers two!
Most of the muffled sound is caused by the metal cover, especially when it's not made of German silver (an alloy consisting of copper, nickel, and zinc), so it's always a good idea to remove the cover to enhance the pickup's tone. After removing the metal cover, if the coil wire is exposed you can protect it by wrapping it in some pickup tape. The cover is there to provide shielding, and if you don't want to lose this benefit, install an "open-frame" replacement metal cover. Essentially, this is a ring that protects the pickup, but leaves the top open. This helps the pickup's tone a lot, yet maintains most of the shielding.
If this doesn't do the trick for you, it's time to think about a replacement pickup. But remember, unless it's a drop-in Tele design, installing a replacement neck pickup requires enlarging the pickup cavity and either buying a new pickguard or reworking your current one. You'll also need to decide whether you want to stick with the traditional mounting method (screws surrounded by latex tubing going directly into the wood) or use a Strat-style method of drilling two holes through the pickguard. That said, there are some superb alternatives to the stock Tele neck pickup.
Stratocaster.
We all know the magic tone of a Stratocaster neck pickup. It's the perfect mate to a Telecaster bridge pickup, and even some Fender signature models like the Jerry Donahue and Clarence White Telecasters leave the factory with one. The benefits? You get a true Strat tone soloing the neck pickup, and it also sounds great combined with the Tele bridge pickup because the Strat pickup contributes warmth.
When you switch from the bridge directly to the neck pickup, it sometimes feels as if something's wrong.
P-90.
One of my personal choices is a P-90 soapbar pickup, but you can also use a P-94 in standard humbucker size. A P-90 looks great on a Telecaster, and its fat single-coil tone is very versatile. An outstanding combination is an Esquire/Nocaster/Broadcaster-style bridge pickup plus a P-90 at the neck. Both sounds fit together perfectly, and when you use 4-way switching wiring with both pickups in series rather than parallel, you can make every tube amp sing.
Mini-humbucker/Firebird.
This is another great choice with a tone that's similar to a P-90, but a tad fatter and warmer—and naturally free of hum and noise because these are real humbuckers! The enclosed Firebird pickup offers a bit more high end compared to the mini-humbucker with its open pole-piece row. Nashville session giant Brent Mason orients his neck-position mini-humbucker so the open pole-piece row faces the bridge. Compared to the standard installation, this gives the pickup a little more treble bite. Sonically, this pickup type falls between a P-90 single-coil and a full PAF-style humbucker.
PAF-style humbucker.
Ah—the classic Keith Richards configuration. A full-sized humbucker delivers a Les Paul-inspired neck pickup tone, but because of the Telecaster's longer scale length, you get a stronger attack and more note definition. Surprisingly, the sound of a vintage-flavored PAF humbucker works well with a Tele bridge pickup, and playing them together wired in parallel results in a well-balanced tone in the P-90 ballpark.
Lipstick.
With its glassy, twangy tone, the lipstick pickup is a perfect choice for funk, ska, surf, or reggae players. I recommend pairing it with a warmer-sounding bridge pickup—a Nocaster-type or something in the overwound/Texas Special ballpark. A lipstick is also ideal if you want to imitate flattop strumming on your Tele: Roll back the volume to about 60 or 70 percent and make sure you're not using a treble-bleed network on the volume pot. Configured this way, a lipstick neck pickup sounds quite "acoustic."
Charlie Christian.
This design sounds marvelous on a Tele in the neck position, and not only for jazz, swing, and bebop. In addition to the original Gibson version with its metal frame, some companies offer CC pickups in a standard humbucker shape, so putting one in your Tele is much easier than it was years ago. This pickup sounds fat and mellow, but always defined with clear top end and tons of sustain.
DeArmond/Filter'Tron.
A great choice for classic rock 'n' roll, surf, and of course, rockabilly. Bright, warm, and twangy, the Gretsch-inspired pickup is a perfect mate for all Nocaster-style bridge pickups. Many rockabilly players prefer a Bigsby-equipped Tele with this pickup combination instead of a feedback-prone semi-hollow guitar. It's a fine way to get old-school tone.
Next time we'll put our Teles out of phase, and I'll share a funny historic story on this topic. Until then, keep on modding!
[Updated 7/27/21]
- How to Balance Pickups on Strats and Teles - Premier Guitar ›
- Mod Garage: Adding an Out-of-Phase Switch to a Telecaster ... ›
- Mod Garage: The Strat-o-Tele Crossover - Premier Guitar ›
- Humbucker-Sized P-90 Review Roundup - Premier Guitar ›
- Humbucker-Sized P-90 Review Roundup - Premier Guitar ›
- What’s the Difference Between Humbucker and Single-Coil Guitar Pickups - Premier Guitar ›
- Mod Garage: Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster Mods - Premier Guitar ›
- 10 of the Best Telecaster Pickups - Premier Guitar ›
- Guitar DIY: How to Swap a P-90 Pickup With a Humbucker ›
Pure nickel wound strings designed to capture classic tones. Available in popular gauges (9s and 10s), these strings are intended to offer rich, warm tones and longer string life.
The Seymour Duncan Antiquity series of pickups have always given musicians access to the true vintage tones of the most famous guitars ever produced. To further our commitment to capturing these influential sounds, Seymour Duncan is now pleased to offer the perfectly voiced companion, a set of Antiquity Vintage Modern Strings.
Before nickel-alloy plated strings became commonplace, pure nickel wound strings were found on most electric guitars. Their rich, warm tone became a crucial ingredient to the sounds of classic blues and rock & roll. An added benefit of a pure nickel wrap is a longer string life and a more consistent tone between string changes. Now our Antiquity Vintage Modern Strings bring you even closer to the sound of electric guitar’s early heyday. Pure nickel wound and available in your favorite modern gauges (9s and 10s), Antiquity Vintage Modern Strings are the perfect start to your signal chain in the quest to unlock your favorite classic guitar sounds.
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.
Big New York may have six strings, but he’s leading from the low end.
Bandleading on bass offers a unique challenge. Here’s how one player rises to the occasion.
Bassists are natural leaders, both rhythmically and harmonically, but filling the foundational function doesn’t always lend itself to becoming an actual bandleader or solo artist. For most of us, that’s just fine. We’re perfectly happy holding it down and creatively keeping things together. (Of course there are plenty of exceptions: Stanley Clarke, Les Claypool, Meshell Ndegeocello, Thundercat, and Victor Wooten, to name a few.)
But for those who do envision themselves centerstage, making the shift to leader requires a new way of thinking. To get some perspective, I wanted to talk to a bassist with recent experience transitioning to being in charge. I immediately thought of Big New York.
I met Big New York nearly 20 years ago at Bass Player LIVE!, back when Bass Playermagazine held its annual event in Manhattan, before moving it to Hollywood from 2008 to its final act in 2017. Christian de Mesones told me people only started calling him Big New York after he moved to Virginia, where his stature and distinctive accent stuck out. “In New York, there’s about a million guys who look and sound like me,” he laughs. It turns out that he lived in my sorta-hometown of Woodbridge, Virginia, where he recently retired after nearly two decades driving school buses.
Following his late ’70s graduation from the Bass Institute of Technology, Christian played in dozens of bands over the years. Then, ten years ago—with his wife’s firm encouragement—he decided to start leading his own project. Though he grew up listening to hard rock and heavy metal—kids loved it when he played AC/DC and Black Sabbath on his bus—his own sound blends soul and jazz with Latin feels. After steadily releasing singles and holding high-profile performances with special guests, Christian released his debut album in 2020, They Call Me Big New York. The following year, his track “Hispanica (Instrumental),” featuring legendary pianist Bob James, climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay charts. This spring he released his sophomore album, You Only Live Twice.
As a leader, Big New York is a composer, an arranger, a marketer, a strategist, a people manager, and a showman—all while still being a bass player. Here’s what he says about these different aspects:
On whether being a leader means always playing the lead: “I’ve always been writing music, from the day I first picked up the bass. I write everything on the bass—melodies, grooves, and chordal structures. I do almost all my writing on my Alembic Epic, but I don’t feel like everything I write has to be played on bass. There are only a few songs where I’m playing the lead melody on bass. If you’re coming into the market brand new, you can’t focus only on yourself or even be the best musician in your band. Believe it or not, the narcissism shows.”
On the critical importance of low end: “If you play lead bass, you have to have another bass player backing you because without it, the music drops. I don’t like that. That’s why I hire a keyboard player that doubles on bass. He keeps his bass nearby for when I play lead.”“I try to make that connection with the audience so they’re with us all the way.”
On having a leadership personality: “You’re taking care of so much—the payroll, the bills, and so many things. So you’ve got to deal with people in a way that they don’t take any energy from you. You may not want to hear someone say, ‘Sorry, my car broke down,’ or ‘My dog ate my homework,’ but that’s what you’re going to get, even from the best musicians on the planet. It’s up to you to bite your tongue, not flip out, and just say everything’s going to be alright. You’ve gotta have backup players, so if one horn player is gone for the gig, you can still do the show. You’ve always got to think of a way to not lose your cool, but it can be hard when it’s your money on the line.”
On showmanship: “When it comes to the dynamics of the show, I know where the lows should be, where the highs should be, where the climax should be. I create it; that’s part of the job. I usually put the bass-led songs near the end. On a recent show I brought in Bill Dickens and Al Caldwell as bass guests, and after the show they paid me a great compliment. They said they really loved watching me leading the band and communicating with the audience. I try to make that connection with the audience so they’re with us all the way.”
On the biggest challenge to being an artist and a bandleader: “The fight to stay relevant. I’m mature enough to realize if I get my few minutes of fame, someone else should get theirs. But when it happens once, you are hoping it’s going to come around again for you. You don’t want to fade away.”L-R: Gibson’s Cesar Gueikian, Mesa/Boogie’s Randall Smith and Gibson’s JC Curleigh, pictured when Gibson acquired the brand in 2021.
Over three-and-a-half years after Randall Smith sold Mesa/Boogie to Gibson, Smith has completed his time with Gibson as the brand’s master designer and pioneer. Through his ground-breaking work at Mesa/Boogie, Smith was responsible for innovative modifications that gave small amplifiers more input gain, making them much louder, as well as creating an all-new high-gain distorted guitar tones.
Mesa/Boogie began as a small amplifier repair shop and was founded 55 years ago in 1969, in Mill Valley, CA by Smith who simultaneously respected and improved the vintage classics with his inventions. Smith’s ear for tone, passion for tube technology, and vision for building handcrafted high-performance amplifiers continues to redefine how we experience sound. Beginning at Prune Music in Northern California, Smith reconfigured amplifiers for more sound and power for all the great San Francisco area bands over 50 years ago when vintage gear was new. Being close to so many great guitar players, from Bloomfield to Santana and The Rolling Stones, Smith learned the virtues and shortcomings of the era’s gear and began a process of innovation, excellence, and invention that continues at the Mesa/Boogie craftory in Petaluma, CA today. Mesa/Boogie was the first boutique amplifier builder and revolutionized amplifier performance in ways that impact rock music worldwide.
Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s a score of additional innovative and patented improvements saw Mesa Engineering emerge as the leader in tube amplifier technology. Today, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers and cabinets are renowned worldwide and unparalleled in performance and quality, every product is still hand-built, and our artisans are tenured with an average of 15 years at their post, many for much longer. We still hold true to the simple but increasingly rare principles Smith used to catapult Mesa/Boogie onto the world stage, hand-building the very best amps and cabinets and treating each customer as we wish to be treated.
Smith has positioned his legacy to be carried forward through the Mesa/Boogie team's continued commitment to quality and tone, and for the last two decades has been training the next generation of Mesa/Boogie designers.
Smith has been instrumental in growing the Mesa/Boogie portfolio with exciting new product offerings and overseeing the launch of the popular new Gibson Falcon amplifiers.
“I am incredibly grateful for Smith’s pioneering insights, design, and trust in Gibson,” says Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson. “Randy’s DNA will always be present, and over the last few decades he has trained the new generation of designers that have been leading the way for Gibson and MESA/Boogie amps. As we evolve our Gibson Amps collection, including our Gibson and MESA/Boogie brands, Randy, and his original design ideas, will continue to inspire us to make the best and highest quality amplifiers we’ve ever made.”
“We’ve all talked about this day and have prepared for it in many ways over the years, but Randall Smith is a ‘force of nature’, and you can’t imagine it coming to fruition,” adds Doug West, Director of R&D at Mesa/Boogie. “Now, I reflect on the fact that few in this world ever get the chance to be mentored, coached to excellence and to perform at their consistent personal best in the ways our design team, and everyone here at Mesa/Boogie, have under his tutelage. Randy leaves us in good stead to carry on his legacy and tradition of excellence. With our respect for him and our shared love for what Gibson and Mesa/Boogie represent to music, Randy can bask in the contentment of knowing he has spread Tone and Joy the world over with his creations and that his contributions to music have made an indelible mark on generations, and the sound of electric guitar and bass over the last 55 years.”
For more information, please visit mesaboogie.com.
This Delgado 6-string tres reflects the instrument’s global history. It’s made with a Sitka spruce top, Mexican rosewood back and sides, a Macassar ebony bridge, African ebony fretboard, and African mahogany neck.
Our columnist traces the history of the 6-string Cuban tres—from Africa, to Cuba, to the top of American country music.
I love that I was taught by my father and grandfather to build a variety of string instruments. I have continued to do this—I have built so many different types, and I learn from each one. I am currently building a nanga, a rectangular, harp-like African instrument played by the Ganda people of Uganda.
As I have been building this instrument and learning from the musician who commissioned it, I am often reminded of the influence Africa has on so many instruments, from drums to the banjo, or akonting as it was originally named. A popular instrument that I have recently been getting more requests for that is equally influenced by Africa’s music is the tres cubano, or Cuban tres.
In comparison to other chordophones—instruments whose sounds come from the vibration of stretched strings—from around the world, this instrument is relatively young, appearing first towards the end of the 1800s. The original tres is said to have three courses with a total of six strings, and while the 9-string version is now more associated to the Puerto Rican tres, a 9-string iteration of the Cuban tres is documented as early as 1913, though it’s believed that the Puerto Rican instrument influenced the additional strings.
Most early models of the tres have a similar body to a classical guitar or the requinto romántico, but the more common shape now is a smaller, pear-shaped body offered either with or without a cutaway. The tres has only begun to get more visibility in the past 25 years, so sizing can vary greatly from luthier to luthier, but to help players who are unfamiliar with this instrument to get a better idea of the size, here are some specs from a Delgado model.
“The note placements of the tres in a changüí summon something deep inside any musician who is stirred by tempo and a hypnotic rhythm.”
One of the models I make has a body depth of 4″. The upper bout is 9″ and the lower bout is 14 1/2″ with a scale length of 545 mm, or 21 1/2″. The tuning also depends upon the player, but the traditional tuning is G–G–C–C–E–E. The outer string pairs—the Gs and Es—are each tuned an octave apart. Their gauges, from top to bottom, are .031–.011–.014–.014–.012–.023.
Again, you will see a range of string placements, gauges, and differences in tuning, but this is the foundation to help give you a basic understanding.
Now to describe the sound and style of the tres—I am literally moving to the rhythms I hear in my mind as I write this. While my heritage is Mexican, I feel so in touch with so many genres of music from around the world, and the music from Cuba is one of them. I like to describe this instrument as a percussive string instrument, because the note placements of the tres in a changüí—the Cuban music form that gave way to the Son Cubano, or “Cuban Sound”—with its strong African-infused beats, summon something deep inside any musician who is stirred by tempo and a hypnotic rhythm.
Like how Linda Ronstadt was key in helping bring audiences to appreciate and invest in mariachi music with the release of Canciones de mi Padre, I would argue that Ry Cooder did the same for Cuban music when, after traveling to Cuba, he helped introduce the world to Cuban artists as old as 89 on the 1997 album, Buena Vista Social Club, the creation of which was captured in the 1999 documentary of the same name.
Since the release of this album, we have seen the tres grow in popularity and availability. Many artists and bands have fused the tres into their music, using it in untraditional styles, but the sound is still recognizable. We have even built custom electric tres cubanos for clients! Pancho Amat, an ambassador for the tres and arguably one of the greatest living musicians to play the instrument, blends his classical and jazz backgrounds with the tres’ natural sounds to create a unique sound. Thinking in terms of a drum pattern and African roots, you will have a better grip on the method when trying this instrument for the first time.
Now, do yourself a favor. Find an evening to relax, mix yourself a beverage—preferably a mojito—and rent the Buena Vista Social Club … then give me a call for your Delgado tres cubano.