Advice on upgrading Tele pickups on Squier Affinity please

bigjon

I searched "Tele pickups" but amazingly no threads matching my (pretty common I'd have thought) criteria!

I have a Squier Affinity Tele which I got when I bought the Roland Guitar synth system which is mounted onto it. Never been a Tele player before, but I love it, plays like a dream etc. Only problem is the pickups are fairly noisy and sound weedy.

So my birthday present this year is going to be a set of upgraded pickups - my criteria are:
1) Budget up to about £150
2) Noiseless
3) Sound like a Tele!
4) Erring slightly on the hot / beefy side - for ballpark sound think Danny Gatton / Brent Mason etc.

I'll have them installed by a pro, so you can allow for expert shielding and positioning.
What would you folks recommend? Ta!

stimpsonslostson

You can't do better than OilCity/Mojo/Alegree. 


If pushed for specifics I'd suggest the Californian/Alligator 90 combo from OilCity. 

rossi

Danny Gattons pickups were twin blade humbuckers so start there and you have ticked off  two of your specs already .no idea about them as I have never used them .Gatton used Joe Bardens .I suspect Dmarzios will have something  similar but thats only speculation .

stimpsonslostson

Whatever you put in remember to keep the old pickups. That way should you ever sell the guitar you can sell it as stock & keep your upgrades for a new project. 

guitarfishbay

From a quick google it looks like Brent Mason uses a Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack in the bridge.  You can get a set of Duncan Vintage Stack Tele pickups for your budget, though I haven't used them.

I have tried the Dimarzio Area T set.  They're decent, but personally I went back to regular singles - my current favourite set being the Bare Knuckle Flat 50s.  I found the Dimarzios had a spike somewhere that didn't sound right to me, but they were otherwise pretty obviously Tele sounding.  YMMV

Rowby1

Aren’t 2 and 3 mutually exclusive? 

Jimbro66

Noiseless? The Joe Barden “Danny Gatton” pickups meet that requirement and sound pretty good in a Tele. I particularly like the neck pickup. Downside is that a new pair will be £100 over your budget. Maybe look for a decent used pair?

There are a lot of really nice sounding Tele pickups around that are within your budget but they are not noiseless. Most players put up with that.

Jimbro66

guitarfishbay said:

............You can get a set of Duncan Vintage Stack Tele pickups for your budget, though I haven't used them.

I did have a set of those in a Tele a few years ago. It was just for those few venues where normal single coils picked up a lot of noise. They sounded fine but not as traditional as good single coils. I doubt the audiences noticed

prowla

I'd beware of sinking too much money into an Affinity - the budget there is more than the guitar is worth.

I've got an Affinity Strat and I offered it plus a Squier practice amp to someone for £100 today.

Funkfingers

Rowby1 said:

Aren’t 2 and 3 mutually exclusive? 

IMHO, yes.

guitarfishbay said:

Duncan Vintage Stack Tele pickups ... I haven't used them.

I have. They both sound *wrong*. The STKT-1N has something of the Gibson LP Deluxe mini humbucker about it. I happen to like this. The STKT-3B has no high frequency bite. The Duncan Custom Shop noise-cancelling Telecaster replacement pickups are better but still not entirely right.

Barden pickups use two side-by-side coils to reject hum and interference. By definition, the stacked coil designs are considerably taller than the vintage single coil designs on which they are based. Check the depth of the Squier Affinity pickup cavities. This may restrict your options considerably.

bigjon said:
2) Noiseless

3) Sound like a Tele!
4) Erring slightly on the hot / beefy side 

If I recall correctly, compared to the bridge/Treble pickup rout on a vintage piece, the Squier Affinity Telecaster rout is very generous. Maybe, sufficiently generous to accommodate a Filter'Tron style pickup? With some strategic changes to the bridge, that could be 2), 3) and 4).

rossi

prowla said:

I'd beware of sinking too much money into an Affinity - the budget there is more than the guitar is worth.

I've got an Affinity Strat and I offered it plus a Squier practice amp to someone for £100 today.

I bought a Affinity Strat ,amp and  pack gubbins for 60 quid  a few months ago and an as  new  burst Affinity for £40 .They dont fetch much ..Once sorted out not too bad but not worth throwing money at .I did a fret level and installed new pups in the burst but only because I had a loaded pickguard spare and can do a fret level .Dont throw money at an Affinity but if you like it then go ahead  .Its your guitar and may well be perfect for you .

kt66

wouldn't it be better to sell the Affinity add the £150, and get used Classic Vibe? 

Panama_Jack666

Dimarzio Area T's!

HAL9000

stimpsonslostson said:

You can't do better than OilCity/Mojo/Alegree. 


If pushed for specifics I'd suggest the Californian/Alligator 90 combo from OilCity. 

^ This. Well the OilCity Alligator 90 anyway. Got one in an Esquire-alike and it is an excellent pickup. Does everything from smooth to quite snarly and has a decent amount of 'thump' too.

bigjon

The reason I want to keep the Squier Affinity Tele and upgrade its pickups rather than upgrade the whole guitar is because it is already fitted with the Roland Synth pickup system. Plus I really like the guitar, apart from the pickups :-)

That said, I am contemplating transferring the synth pickup to my Strat instead, as I play that more often and in contexts where I might want the synth sounds at my disposal more. Then I'd just wait for any old cheap Tele pickup upgrades which would do a reasonable job.

meltedbuzzbox

Mojo broadcaster set

They aren't noiseless but they sound amazing

Rocker

Thread hijack @bigjon, apologies for this but what does the Roland Synth pickup do?

ash96

I'm really interested in the Hot Rod Pickups T90. Its basically a single coil pickup that nearly sounds like a P90. Its still got that singlecoil chime, but just a bit fatter and ballsier!

Their pickups (and guitars, under the brand Eternal) are awesome value for money. I went to their workshop with @ChrisCox1994 recently and the quality blew me away.

ChrisCox1994

He right^ @ash96 ;


And they wind them right there in front of you and can do custom sets, I have a balanced set in mine thats a T90 in the bridge and a PAF style low output humbucker in the neck with a push pull pot on the tone to coil split it with the regular 3 way switch. 

It doesnt sound like a p90 though, its definitely still very much a tele sound but just a little more of the good stuff and a little less harshness - still plenty of bite and attack that you want from a good tele sound. 

Dave_Vader

I was given a set out of a Classic Vibe from a friend who had to have bareknuckles in his CV.

They are brilliant, if you can find some, get them.

bigjon

Rocker said:

Thread hijack @bigjon, apologies for this but what does the Roland Synth pickup do?

It's a Roland GK2 pickup system, @Rocker - it converts the string vibrations into midi data which goes into the floor unit GR33 synth. Model names are from memory so could be wrong!