I'm pretty much a Strat man. But the other day, rather impulsively, I bought a Tele (a CS 1962). I've always loved the idea and looks of Teles so I thought I'd give it another go (I've got to admit I was swayed by the looks of this thing). Anyway, I don't know much about them so a simple question if I may? When I put it in the middle position the sound is very nasally and "honky", kind of plinky....and the volume level dips a bit. Neck position and bridge position are as I would have expected and normally powerful. Is this correct and how it's meant to be? Or is there something going on with the wiring? A while ago I had a Nocaster which had a 4-way selector but each of the positions gave different but "expected" tones and in none of them did the volume dip. The pickups in the '62 are '63 Tele in the neck and Texas Special in the bridge.
Tbh I don't mind it too much as it's not a tone I've got anywhere else and it doesn't sound too bad but I'm just curious.
Many thanks.
Comments
Try switching hot/ground from the neck pickup.
The Fender neck/Rhythm position pickup should have two conductor wires. In order to to reverse its phase, you need to break the existing connection between the soldering eyelet for the black (coil start) conductor and a tab on the metal cover of the pickup.
The cheapskate option is to transfer the cover ground connection across to the white (coil end) conductor soldering eyelet. The more useful option is to add a separate ground wire for the metal pickup cover. This way, you can make phase reversal switchable or give yourself the option of series interconnection of the two pickups.
Another option is to ditch the Texas Special Tele Lead pickup for something of the same phase as the stock neck/Rhythm pickup.
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
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@Funkfingers are there only certain bridge pickups that will combine with this neck pickup then? How do you know/tell which ones will work?
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If you are not confident and/or experienced in handling guitar pickups, it is probably advisable to turn the work over to a professional guitar technician.
Various contributors have suggested altering the neck/Rhythm pickup for the simple reason that it is easier to access than the bridge/Treble pickup.
If I were being pedantic (Wot? Moi?), I would argue that, on a Fender Custom Shop guitar, the Fender Custom Shop pickup is original and the retro-fitted Texas Special is an interloper. There is an argument for leaving the Fender C.S. pickup alone and making all changes to the non-original pickup (or replacing it).
The word "combine" also carries the secondary sense of appropriate sonic tastes. Those are entirely subjective.
Once upon a time, before an outside contractor ****ed it completely, the Seymour Duncan website published magnetic polarity and coil winding direction information for its Antiquity replacement pickup range.
Conventionally, Fender single coils send the start of the coil as ground (black conductor) and the finish as hot (white conductor).
If you know both coil direction and magnetic polarity, you can create pairs that will operate together in the correct phase relationship - either with (partial) hum-cancellation or as Nature Leo intended.
In this instance, there is no need to take a soldering iron to anything.
Instead, set the neck/Rhythm pickup as close to the strings as you dare. Then, lower the bridge/Treble pickup to obtain a better output balance. If the Roy Buchanan snarl diminishes, you have lowered the bridge pickup too far.
If you are flush, it might be worth paying either of the pickup builders who has responded to your question to modify the Texas Special lead pickup. Have the coil partially unwound to give a D.C. resistance meter reading in the area of 6.0 to 6.7 Kilohms and add a secondary output conductor. The remaining copper wire is then rewound on the bobbin to provide the full "Texas" output. It will be necessary to add some means of switching between the two output levels of the bridge/Treble pickup.
Possibly not to everyone's taste but I really dig the bling and the double binding. It has a 10' radius which I'm getting used to (I usually prefer 7.25'). It's very responsive and dynamic but I'm still ambivalent about the out of phase middle position. Let's see!
The bridge saddles have been changed from "threaded" steel to compensated brass. Who knows what else about the guitar is non-standard?
Is a pic of the selector switch and pots just a matter of undoing the screws and lifting the plate up?