Sweeter tone from bridge pickup?

[Burny FLG]

Any ideas please.
First was a fender alnico copy

Second is a Fender Pure Vintage 64
Swapped the tone and vol pots to 1mg
This combo sounds like a new version of my 76 Tele but still clinical

Wondering if installing an actual vintage pickup will sweeten it up

Any suggestions?

 

[ARandall]

1 meg pots.......no wonder the tone ain't sweet.

 

[Burny FLG]

1 meg pots.......no wonder the tone ain't sweet.

1mg pots on the 76 Tele and the bridge is sweet as a nut.
Not so on this one.

 

[ARandall]

What has the 76 Tele got in it......the WRHB are ok with 1 meg.
The only thing that might work with 1 meg is a Broadcaster wind....which is punchy and 'fat'. The 64 is a bright and twangy pickup.

And whatever pots you switched from, the only way a 1 meg is going to sound is hugely brighter than what it was before.

 

[Burny FLG]

76 is a standard black guard Tele, std neck and bridge,

maple neck, ash body, came with 1 meg pots.
This ones a grandpa's axe with parts swap from the get go, currently -
Tele custom setup 2 vol, 2 tone
Alder body, maple neck,
SD Seth Lover neck,
Pots have been changed to 1 meg a while ago from oddly matched, (one was a 1 meg pot out of a 50's amp, one was 500k) but the bridge always sounded clinical with no real depth to the sound.
Neck pickup is fine and always has been.
Recently fitted a bigsby which has highlighted how bright the whole setup is.
So at this point wondering how to get it sounding sweet like the 76.
I play clean a lot too, so it's obvious.
Thanks

 

[LocoTex]

Seymour Duncan Li'' '59? Single-sized bucker.

 

[mdubya]

Is the tone connected to the bridge pickup? if so, roll it down to zero or one or two-ish.

 

[Burny FLG]

Is the tone connected to the bridge pickup? if so, roll it down to zero or one or two-ish.

even with tone off it's too bright. Normally have the amp treble on 5 but that's on zero too, I like the bigsby on, wouldn't mind getting it all working, maybe change the pots or the pickup like Mr Randall suggested but what?

 

[mdubya]

even with tone off it's too bright. Normally have the amp treble on 5 but that's on zero too, I like the bigsby on, wouldn't mind getting it all working, maybe change the pots or the pickup like Mr Randall suggested but what?

250k.

 

[Burny FLG]

With this setup maple neck alder body 1mb pots, Putting the bigsby on has increased he brightness 400%

 

[SFK]

Nocaster.

 

[Tubejockey]

I would suggest a 250k volume pot for the bridge, and a 250k or 500k tone pot with a 6.8nF-10nF cap. This will let you blunt the ice pick at the high end of the tone pot, with a meatier, fatter tone at the bottom end. Works great with any bright tele bridge pickup.

 

[dc007]

Get a P90

 

[Steven]

I know just what you mean op. My single coil bridge pick-ups are all too shrill sounding. Nice for some styles but annoying to my ears

 

[Steven]

Is the tone connected to the bridge pickup? if so, roll it down to zero or one or two-ish.

I've tried that, sounds horrid to my ears.

 

[Burny FLG]

Thanks for the responses, something about the bigsby has killed the tone. Can't put a p90 in (see pic) but will try a few things on the weekend, first is swap the saddle to a gibson with a block of wood under it, then some volume pot changes 500 250 etc

 

[diavolo]

maybe missed the obvious: have you tried adjusting the pick up height?

what do you mean change the saddle to one with a block of wood? you mean to the kind that belongs on a hollow body?
that wont do anything for the tone haha. its an electric guitar right?

check the pickup height and the break angles over the nut and the bridge.
if you havent put 250k pots in there yet, then do so.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Oh, just put a proper Tele neck p/up in it & leave the switch that direction; that's where the Tele magic is, anyway


And I gotta say, "sweet" isn't a word normally associated with any Fender bridge p/up; they're supposed to be nasty (though I do have the 2nd tone on my Strat hooked to work the bridge, too; don't need quite that much ice pick!)

 

[diavolo]

hell yeah! always got to hook up that bridge pickup to a tone control.
i love doing that, and 7 way switching mod too, or blender mod, and also might as well do a humbucker and coil split then.
or series / parallel. i literally have all that, and then some in many strats.

im down to just one tele, but it has 5 way switching. thats enough tele sounds for me, my strats do most everything else i want.