FOUND entry-level alnico telecaster pickups

CKsam

Hello all,

I'm having fun doing up (what was) an awful Rocktile tele copy I picked up for next to nothing, and after a headstock split repair, fret level and dress, fretboard conditioning and set up I've decided it's getting somewhere and worth putting some better pickups in.

With the above in mind, do you have any (ideally vintage-voiced) alnico (V, III, II whatever) telecaster pickups lying around that you might part with? I'm not after spending much given what it's for, and am not all that fussy! Something like pickups pulled from a Classic Vibe, Harley Benton, anything like that would do!

Let me know what you have!

Sam

thomasw88

I'd just go for a set of these if I was you..

Vanson alnico telecaster pickups 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121433852158?hash=item1c460588fe:g:MEEAAOSwY3tbT1tk&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA0FDVOxqSVsfI3AaQpTn6cClObveCBSaLk2A0l7l53Ctt+bnjnazSJndD/PrGv7I4nux3seIDqh2+ELl9iEnyDq/WM5tr4lBd1cMnR04Oa9cFFgC+jE9ALlAK6nWK2hYyqfqtrIqLktDDIK8P0H9Ukd0TKckzwMMfF9RaBrzXrz3jHLIOClkFSVoY21o2oSWWo/k5uxiIGpd8FyNCMRuGJhHbradftWeBy6PQ2FT/ZVZ/IJ5Q7kDo3uaATi75Ei9z1TWltRbxlbn/kxTkp7Jn1jY=|tkp:Bk9SR57A_b6wYw

CKsam

Thanks! I had considered those. Are they the same as the Artec ones, does anyone know?

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Can't speak for those Vanson Tele pick ups, but based on how impressed I was with Vanson's '57 Alnico II Nickel PAF style Humbucker Set, which was 35 quid, I'd certainly try those Tele ones if I was in your shoes. Failing that, I'd go for some Warman pick ups, which are similarly inexpensive but usually also great.

CKsam

Funnily enough, I have also had a set of the same Vanson Alnico II PAFs! Hard to tell how good they were in the guitar I put them in, namely a 'Givson' I picked up in Nepal in 1999...

Funkfingers

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

Failing that, I'd go for some Warman pick ups, which are similarly inexpensive but usually also great.

I have a Warman T-Rail Blazer bridge position pickup going cheaply. 

Warman doesn't offer a matching neck position Rails pickup but Artec does. (Model TRA-73N.)

For more vintage voicing, I have a Chapman Mojo Hand Zero pair.

I think that I have a DiMarzio Fast Track for Telecaster stashed away somewhere. Good pickup but likely to be over budget.

BillDL

I can recommend the IronGear Steel Foundry Tele pickups, but they are more expensive than the Vanson "Vintage 50s" pickups.  I THINK they use Alnico V polepieces on the bass side and Alnico II on the treble side, and they give a really well balanced sound. I already had a set of these Steel Foundry in the standard lower output "vintage" wound option and bought a set of the Vanson ones for another guitar.  I know I am comparing one guitar to another, but they sounded too much the same to know which was which.  The only reason I bought another set of the IronGear Steel Foundry pickups rather than the cheaper Vanson ones when I needed another Tele set was because I wanted the higher output and beefier sounding overwound ones that time around, and I absolutely love them in the overwound output.  They sound like a Tele when the volume is backed off but when increased they definitely give you more versatility to drive effects and amps a bit harder.

IronGear:
https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_033.htm
Bridge: 6.0 kOhm (Overwound: 9.1 kOhm)
Neck: 6.6 kOhm (Overwound: 8.1kOhm)
£54.95 for the standard wound set and £56.95 for the overwound set, with free economy shipping or about £4 more expedient shipping.

Vanson:
https://www.vansonguitars.com/collections/pickups/products/vanson-vintage-50s-alnico-v-chrome-pickup-set-for-fender-telecaster-electric-guitar
Bridge: 6.0 kOhm
Neck: 6.5 kOhm
£34.90 for the set with free 48 hour shipping or £2 for 24 hour shipping by Royal Mail.

The Alegree "Old Timer" pickup range, that are production line machine wound pickups which supplement his hand-wound pickup business, offer very good value for money.

Alegree Old Timer "Hybrid 5 & 2" Telecaster pickups (same idea as the IronGear Steel Foundry I think):
https://www.alegree.co.uk/collections/old-timer-pickups/products/old-timer-hybrid-telecaster-pickups?variant=44929356562729
Bridge: 7 kOhm
Neck: 8.5 kOhm
(Different gauges of wire in each.  The DC resistance difference doesn't mean the neck is higher output than the bridge).
£37 for a set plus £3.50 shipping.

Alegree Old Timer "Twang" set:
https://www.alegree.co.uk/collections/old-timer-pickups/products/old-timer-twang-telecaster-pickups?variant=44929345618217
Same resistance values as above but Alnico V rods across all 6 strings.
£37 for a set plus £3.50 shipping.

Others might disagree with me, but I have usually found that Artec pickups represent good value for money and work well.  It's always been Strat, humbucker and piezo Artec pickups I've bought, so I have no experience with their Tele pickups.
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/collections/artec-pickups-shop?filter.p.m.custom.pickup_type=Telecaster&sort_by=best-selling

The cheaper of the Wilkinson Tele pickups are pretty good but are around the same price or a bit more expensive than the IronGear ones.

Funkfingers

BillDL said:

Alegree Old Timer "Hybrid 5 & 2" Telecaster pickups
Bridge: 7 kOhm
Neck: 8.5 kOhm
(Different gauges of wire in each. The DC resistance difference doesn't mean the neck is higher output than the bridge).

Well explained, sir.

Alegree Old Timer single coils are probably better than the Chapman MHZ pair I offered earlier in this thread.

If possible, I would mix 'n' match the Alegree models. Alnico 5 "Twang" neck and Alnico 2 (or 5/2) bridge.

The 11k A2 Incinerator model looks interesting but is currently out of stock.

CKsam

Many thanks for all of this help! I reckon I'm going to take up Funkfingers' offer of the Chapmans, which sound entirely appropriate for this project (as they also need a bit of work!). It's likely I'll end up donating the guitar to a charity shop at the end of all this, but it's fun making it into a better guitar.