Lipstick pickup and Telecaster neck pickup. What goes where?

Posted by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on March 1, 2019 at 1:22pm

Ready to start my next build and going through the planning stage at the moment. I’m trying to use up spare parts I already have rather than buying more stuff. Got to keep costs down.

Here’s the question anyway. I’ve got a Telecaster neck pickup and a lipstick pickup that I’d like to use. Would you put the Telecaster neck pickup in the neck position as it was designed to be used or would you put that one in the bridge position to give the lipstick pickup pride of place in the neck position? If folks could say which way they’d do it and perhaps why (so I can learn from the accumulated knowledge of Cigar Box Nation) then I’d really appreciate the help.

Thanks in advance and best regards to you all.

Bear :0)

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Replies

  • Paul Craig March 1, 2019 at 4:31pm

    If your doing one in the neck and one in the bridge position, put the hotter of the 2 in the bridge. use a 3-way blade switch or a 4-way blade switch for extra series option.

    You could put both side by side in the middle and wire them to a 4-way switch. You could use either pickup alone or both in parallel or series. Or both in the neck or both in the bridge. Lots of options.

    • Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear > Paul Craig March 1, 2019 at 4:41pm

      Thanks for coming in to help again Paul. Always great to have your opinion on things. Well, a lot of that went totally over my head but it gives me words to base my research around so thank you yet again. I’ll particularly look at wiring in series and in parallel. I particularly like the idea of looking at the possibility of having them both towards the neck position. That sounds exciting.

       Thanks again and hope you’re doing okay? I really appreciate you coming to my rescue as you always do.

      All the best.

      Bear :0)

    • Paul Craig > Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear March 1, 2019 at 5:26pm

      Google search for Telecaster wiring scheme will help you with a regular 2 pickup wiring. 4-way switching is a bit more involved, but I have a schematic for that(did it on my green glitter avatar git) and I'll help you along.

    • Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear > Paul Craig March 1, 2019 at 5:31pm

      That will be great. You’re a star Paul. Thanks again and speak soon. Off to bed here but will message when I’m at the wiring stage of the build. Really appreciate your help. :0)

  • David L. March 1, 2019 at 3:40pm

    Hi Bear,

    Usually the higher output pickup goes in the bridge position (particularly when you buy a paired set).  For a telecaster neck pickup and a lipstick pickup both are fairly low output so I doubt it will make much difference.  Normally you aim for both pickups to be of a similar volume so there is no large noticeable difference when you switch from one to the other.  The strings move less at the bridge so a higher output pickup is used.  If you find a noticeable difference you can always adjust the output by adjusting the pickup heights (nearer the strings = more output = louder) to get a volume match.

    Pickups vary in their tonal "voice" so you might find one does sound better at the neck or at the bridge.  Like Skeesix suggests doing a quick check will let you know.

    Regards,

    David L.

    • Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear > David L. March 1, 2019 at 4:34pm

      Hi David.

      Good to be speaking with you. Thanks for coming in and offering your help and advice too. I didn’t know that both of my available pickups were fairly low output so that helps and good to know that it won’t make much difference which way around they go. I’ll definitely give them a test placement first though so thank you both for that. The distance from the strings information will definitely help so that’s gone in the old skull bank ready for when I get to that stage of the build! All really useful information and I’m very grateful for it.

       Thanks again David. Hope you’re doing well and good to hear from you again. Had some potentially bad news this end and have an appointment booked with the neuro surgery team in early April. Staying positive though and believing that all will be well in the long term. No point getting all down about these things and the treatment may not even turn out to be surgery anyway, right? It’s amazing what those guys can do nowadays.

      Anyway, good to speak with you again and thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

      Bear :0)

    • Paul Craig > Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear March 1, 2019 at 4:39pm

      Hope every thing goes well with the surgery or whatever treatment they do.

    • Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear > Paul Craig March 1, 2019 at 4:43pm

      Thanks again Paul. I’m believing everything will be fine :0) Positivity goes a long way I believe!!

    • Paul Craig > Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear March 1, 2019 at 5:23pm

      Me too, your in my prayers.

    • Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear > Paul Craig March 1, 2019 at 5:27pm

      Thanks Paul :0)

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