To a Telecaster purist this is heresy, but I have never been able to get along with stock Tele neck pickups. My first Telecaster served as a test bed for a variety of unusual vintage bargain bin electronics, usually sourced from 50s Chicago Kays and Harmonys or 60s Japanese Kawais and Guyatones. After a series of experiments with various types of DeArmonds, Danelectro lipsticks, a Filtertron, and a huge microphonic monstrosity extracted from a decomposing Kent cheapo, a friend of mine gave me a 1940s Gibson P-13 pickup. Although used very briefly by Gibson (between the Charlie Christian pickups and the introduction of the P-90), the P-13s found themselves on a variety of Harmony lap steels and archtops. Mounting one in a “parts” Telecaster has given me the best approximation of a big jazz box sound I have ever been able to coax out of a solidbody guitar. It is a rather microphonic pickup, with many of the characteristics of an early P-90, but with the midrange “hump” extending deep into the bass frequencies as well. Paired with the right amp (something saggy and low-headroom, preferably), it produces a delightfully woofy early jazz or jump blues tone that sounds big at the lowest volumes.
Encouraged by the results of my P-13 equipped Telecaster and my obsession with Valco electric guitars, I outfitted another “parts” Telecaster with a 60s Supro pickup. I decided to mount the pickup the way it would have been mounted on a Valco guitar; via mounting ring screwed into the body. While the resulting Frankenstein Suprocaster Frankenstein Suprocaster doesn’t sound identical to a Valco guitar (a big part of that sound is the idiosyncratic neck construction and body attachment methods employed on those instruments), it succeeds at pummeling the bejeezus out of any amp’s front end with 9.6K of brutal bass and low mids. As to be expected with these pickups, amp selection is crucial in determining how the neck pickup sounds. Something like a blackface or silverface Fender makes a Valco pickup sound dull and clunky, while earlier, simpler amp circuits (a Tweed Fender, for instance, or better yet, a Valco amp) bring out their howling hugeness. For added hilarity, this guitar is wired with a 4-way switch for both series and parallel combined pickup settings, the two pickups in series produce ridiculous amounts of output. – Zak Izbinsky
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