Tell me about the Fralin Blues Special Tele pickups

[halfnote]

sliders

[Groberts]

I just installed a set of Fralin Blues Special Tele PU's in my 2002 Am Std Alder/RW guitar. I was about to sell the darned thing. NOW? .....Unbelievable the transformation! This guitar just KILLS. It twangs, it does rock, blues, the middle PU position is classic tele funky spank.

I also have a covered 2% overwound Neck Fralin. But decided to try the full SET of Blues Specials first. Right now, I am not even interested in changing to the 2% overwound neck. I did compare just the neck PU's once before and agree with what's been said. The 2% overwound, covered neck PU is a bit more pure and clear. But honestly, the balance of the full set of Blues Special neck and bridge work amazing together! I am stunned and thrilled with the performance.

[russiancrowe]

I have a '89 MIJ Tele that I was going to sell because I never played it. I descided to put a set of Fralin Blues Specials in it and now it's my favorite Tele. It's like I bought a new guitar when I put them in. I was amazed at how good that guitar sounded. The original pu's were just weak and muddy, now the guitar sings. I LOVE those pickups and plan on putting them in my other Teles now too.

[Polynitro]

listen to brad paisely. his number 1 paisley tele has blues specials. he uses that guitar all the time.

Ive got stock Fralins and they are great so you cant go wrong with Fralins.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by Polynitro

listen to brad paisely. his number 1 paisley tele has blues specials. he uses that guitar all the time.

Ive got stock Fralins and they are great so you cant go wrong with Fralins.

+1 Million!

[cap217]

Originally Posted by Polynitro

listen to brad paisely. his number 1 paisley tele has blues specials. he uses that guitar all the time.

Ive got stock Fralins and they are great so you cant go wrong with Fralins.

This is interesting. I remember an early interview on why he has a fralin in the guitar and he said bc his pickup went bad and he needed to replace it (before he was really big). He said that it sounded most like the original 68 pickup.

This is weird to me because I have played a few mid-late 60s teles and they are bright and clear but the fralin isnt bright and clear (I think lollars are bright and clear), the fralins are more punch and bite and warmer/darker.

As always, its a combo of the guitar and everything so its a hard choice. But brads tele is alder and is very heavy.

[Polynitro]

Originally Posted by cap217

This is interesting. I remember an early interview on why he has a fralin in the guitar and he said bc his pickup went bad and he needed to replace it (before he was really big). He said that it sounded most like the original 68 pickup.

This is weird to me because I have played a few mid-late 60s teles and they are bright and clear but the fralin isnt bright and clear (I think lollars are bright and clear), the fralins are more punch and bite and warmer/darker.

As always, its a combo of the guitar and everything so its a hard choice. But brads tele is alder and is very heavy.

try the stock Fralins-they are bright and clear. Youtube MyTwangyGuitar that guy uses stock Fralins in his orange Tele.

I always thought Brad chose the Blues Specials because if you look at all his Teles, most have a bridge that is around 7K, his real 52 Tele is 7.1K so I figured that was his benchmark.

I have the stock set in my CVC (alder) and they are very nice. they are 6.6K A5 mags. The neck is wondefull too, very open, not dark or muddy at all.

But for my money the twangiest, most bakersfield/don rich bright ass Tele pickups I have are Novaks. They are not wax potted, use really tall magnets and wound with 41 wire and only read 5.8K but they are KILLER. Very articulate.

I think its that they are really microphonic that makes them come alive. You get that sound Roy Buchanon and Mike Bloomfield had where you can hear them using the switch its so loud. You can literally sing into them and it comes through the amp.

theres a thread here about a guys 68 esquire as the best sounding bridge pikcup -Id wager its unpotted

anyway....too many pickups not enough guitars to put them in....

also one other thing theres a video of brad testing an amp and you can see his bridge pickup is set really high-like you can see 5-6 threads high. this makes a big difference in tone.

here's the Novaks you can see how tall the magnets are compared to the Fralins beneath

[Steve73]

I had the Blues Specials in an old MIJ Tele and they were a great compliment to the basswood body. They thickened it up but still sounded like Tele pickups, just warmed up the top end some.
I prefer darker Tele tones but the BS's still have some high end, depending on your picking attack and rig. Great Tele pickups IMO.