Good cheap tele pups?

Don Tonberry · Fri May 29, 2020 6:11 pm

Getting tired of the dual humbuckers in my Tele and am looking to get it to regular ol tele configuration. Anyone got suggestions for some good sounding Tele pickups that won't break the bank? I don't really know much about them but I tried a Fender offering at GC one time. I think it was a Twisted Tele and Nocaster? Those are out of my price range but hoping to get something somewhat in the ballpark.

uwmcscott · Fri May 29, 2020 6:49 pm

I don't know if they are even in business anymore, but I had a set of Dragonfire pickups in a Douglas Tele and they were great - I think the Texas tele model or something like that? Very affordable too. You could always have Buddha tim make you a set too, everything he has made for me has been great and very reasonably priced for a custom set.

aullucci · Fri May 29, 2020 7:38 pm

I've gone with Buddha twice for pickups and been very happy. There's also a place called Bootstrap which I think is just a dude in his garage that has excellent reviews and reasonable prices.

golem · Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:25 pm

I don't know what your price range is. I've gotten Wilde Bill Lawrence pickups pretty cheap. In terms of going to someone who has a full time business, that's probably the best you can get in or around $100. Granted, his designs can be a bit odd for some. He's not the best for traditional sounding pickups.

TDPRI Just Pickups seems to love this guy: http://www.frettech.com/ as Rob Distefano is a regular guy on the forum. He's kind of a no BS sort of dude who calls it like he sees it. Anyhow, his prices are reasonable. Maybe once or twice a year he blows them out on TDPRI for excellent prices.

Buddha and Rob make great pickups. I don't know if they've signed up here yet but I can find they're contact info.

Cyphre · Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:28 pm

Go with Buddha

He just made me some mustang pick ups and they are excellent sounding

honyock · Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:41 pm

if looking for cheap decent stuff. the Guitar Madness pickups I've tried thus far have all been good bang for the buck.

I picked up a lil 59 here and sadly have not yet had a chance to finish up the guitar they are in. I found an alnico tele neck pickup though hiding in my parts bin, so it may finally get finished up this month...

My Agile tele has a Fender '62 bridge setup that I swapped over to a left handed baseplate.

https://darrenriley.com/store/fender-am ... 056069049/

Not a horrible deal for $56.

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stacks · Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:13 pm

I've got tele pickups from Buddha as well as a few sets of the Cavalier's from Rob.
Can't go wrong either way.

howardlo65 · Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:25 pm

I have a Sawtooth Tele that I got through Walmart a year or two ago when they were selling them for $56. Not a bad guitar at all. I upgraded, nut, tuners, and pots and switch. The original ceramic pickups weren't bad but I decided to change them with a set of alnicos. To keep the low cost guitar just that I decided to get a set from guitarmadness. I had used 4 or 5 sets of their pickups and have always been happy with them. Ordered a set of his Standard Tele pickups and put them in. Really happy with them as well, and for $26 for the set.

Keep in mind that my other Teles have Fender Original Vintage, Fender Pure Vintage and Fender Vintage '64 pickups for comparison.

jhull54 · Tue Jun 02, 2020 11:52 am

The pickups in my CV 50's are allegedly Toneriders (Vintage Plus IIRC) and they sound great. Fender Tex Mex set can be had for under $75 too.

TeleMan59 · Wed Jun 03, 2020 2:34 pm

aullucci wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 7:38 pm I've gone with Buddha twice for pickups and been very happy. There's also a place called Bootstrap which I think is just a dude in his garage that has excellent reviews and reasonable prices.

I got a set of the Bootstrap original recipe Tele pickups and they are great ($49.99). They even came with the extra ground wire on the neck pickup I needed to wire in a 4-way switch. I have Twang Kings in another tele and I like these better.

nomadh · Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:25 pm

I have 3 with std tele pickups. So not a lot of experience. Maybe like in much of my life I can help in what NOT to do.
I have a squier affinity bsb. Cheap ceramic pickups and the neck howls so I need to pot it but I actually like these. They are an interesting grainy twangy trash tele tone. Something very raw but still with the essence of tele.
I also have the sx ash furrian. These are actually decent pups too but they are smooth and have no twang. Very middle of the road. Some might say no character but I say they are not really a character but a nice upright citizen. Decent at everything but not excellent anything. Well really not good at twang either. Probably not what you are after. A 3rd tele actually has very nice tele tone pickups unfortunately I have no idea who makes them but they are certainly cheapies.

Mossman · Sun Jun 21, 2020 1:44 pm

For "inexpensive" pickups:

1) Buddha
2) Tonerider
3) GFS (I think they really shine in the Tele department)

Fender pickups can be had pretty cheap from the Stratosphere as well.

voodoorat · Sun Jun 21, 2020 1:59 pm

i have a gfs fatbody neck and a buddha in the bridge and they pair well (albeit the neck isn't a traditional sounding tele neck) and sound as good as any pickups i have in anything.

Gergo · Mon Jun 22, 2020 12:48 pm

Actually, to be honest, the GFS telecaster pickups sound pretty damn good....Possibly the best kind of pickups they make

rrobbone · Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:51 pm

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 6:49 pm I don't know if they are even in business anymore, but I had a set of Dragonfire pickups in a Douglas Tele and they were great - I think the Texas tele model or something like that? Very affordable too. You could always have Buddha tim make you a set too, everything he has made for me has been great and very reasonably priced for a custom set.

I had a fat tele set from GFS, but it shorted out (or something) and stopped working the day after installation. I contacted them, and was refused any sort of recompense, so f%$& those guys. To be fair, they did sound pretty damn good before they went tits up, and I've not read about anyone else having issues with reliability. I have, however, read plenty about their poor excuse for customer service - which I can attest to.

I've ordered three sets of pickups from Dragonfire (they're still around), never spent over $80 per set, and been very satisfied with what I got. I've never tried their Tele sets, but overall I'd say the tone is about 90% to the sets they model them after. Out of the inexpensive brands I've tried, they did the best. (FYI, I ordered a Phat Screamer set, one of their S/S/H sets, and Crusader set)

Having said that, I now stick with SD or Dimarzio. They've never failed me, I get exactly what I expected. No cheap way around it for what I want to hear, IMHO. I pay the premium because I know what I'll be getting.

Don Tonberry · Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:24 pm

Lots of great suggestions here. Was really more curious about what is out there more than anything else. I decided to go with Buddha once again but I'll have to check out some of the ones listed that I haven't heard about before at some point

BrianSkeezer · Tue Jun 23, 2020 8:39 am

I put a "52 set from the ebay seller True Custom Shop in a Grote Thinline. They're not bad to me, way better than the shitty stock pickups. They're low output with A5 magnets and sound similar to the Roswell pickups in my Harley Benton TE52, just clearer. I wanted to try a set of Duncan Quarter Pounders in it, but didn't want to pay for them because I'm a cheap ass.