duncan 52 tele pickup, what do you guys think?

[kurt1981]

Hey all, wondering how this pickup sounds? I'm looking to get a more traditional 50's tele bridge tone out of my tele, looking for that Duke Levine type of tele tone, with my crap playing, of course,
Thanks,
Kurt

[RockStarNick]

Great pickup. Definitely cleaner and twangier than their Broadcaster pickup, which is also awesome.

I've seen the 52's pop up for $40 used, which is just hard to beat.

[kurt1981]

Thanks, how does the 52 differ from the broadcaster, is it overly bright? I've got a great tele, made by a guy here in Seattle to be a 50's replica, but the bridge pickup that's in there now just doesn't have that sparkle or twang I want.
Thanks,

[mark norwine]

52RI pickups are perhaps some of the nicest "stock" pickups to ever grace a "modern" fender.

When you say "broadcaster", are you speaking of the duncan broadcaster? That's an excellent pickup! Not "brighter" per se, but more "alive"....

Does that make sense?

I have a duncan broadcaster in the bridge of my #1, and it's NOT coming out....

[RockStarNick]

It's very strange. It's got the same magnets (AV), and less windings, so you'd ASSUME that it would be brighter. And it is, bit in a sweeter way.

The Broadcaster has more mids, more bite, and a touch more aggression.

The 52 has more of that sweet twangy chime thing going on.

Both are great pickups. I like the 52" in ash/maple.

[kurt1981]

Cool, that helps a lot, what neck pickup do you like with either? Thanks,
Kurt

[sixty2strat]

might also look at the tele antiquities, put 2 in an 80 mij squire I had, ithad an amazing neck and a ok body but the pups were awful. These ethings made it sound so good never bother to get a 52 ri tele.

[wingwalker]

Are you guys talking about the Duncan VIntage 54 pickup or the Duncan 5/2 pickup?

[mark norwine]

which "you guys"? I'm talking about the duncan broadcaster....

Originally Posted by kurt1981

Cool, that helps a lot, what neck pickup do you like with either? Thanks,
Kurt

I cheated....I routed the body. The pickup is a Seth

[RockStarNick]

Originally Posted by wingwalker

Are you guys talking about the Duncan VIntage 54 pickup or the Duncan 5/2 pickup?

Good catch!

Duncan makes the 54 and the Duncan Broadcaster.

Fender makes the 52.

[kurt1981]

duncan also makes one called a 52, check the site. That's why I'm confused, and trying to get the differences, the site's pretty generic.

[mark norwine]

Let's back up, because I see confusion here....

- Fender makes a guitar called the '52RI....and the stock pickups are often called '52RI pickups because of this. They're said to be spec'd like & true to the 1952 design. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but they're actually quite good, but...

- ....but don't confuse them with duncan's 5/2 tele pickups. These are called 5/2, [or, actually five-two], NOT because of the year 1952 but because they use three (3) AlNiCo5 magnets on the bottom strings and three (3) AlNiCo2 magnets on the top strings. 5/2...Bright bass, mellow treble. Me = not a fan.

- Duncan also makes a vintage '54, which is spec'd like a 1954 pickup. It's nice.

- Duncan also makes my personal fave: the broadcaster.

(Plus a billion other pickups are available....)

Sorry....I'm sure you all know this, but I thought I was seeing confusion between the 52RI, the 5/2 and the '54.

[wingwalker]

Originally Posted by kurt1981

duncan also makes one called a 52, check the site. That's why I'm confused, and trying to get the differences, the site's pretty generic.

No they don't...

They make the "Five-Two" which has the model number STL-52 but it has nothing to do with 1952.

Then there is the Vintage 54 which is modeled after a 1954 pickup.

Then the Broadcster which despite being a great pickup has little in common with a real Broadcaster pickup.

[kurt1981]

Okay, my mistake, so, can anyone tell me how the duncan 54's differ from the fender 52 pickups, and how the broadcaster fits in?

[wingwalker]

Originally Posted by kurt1981

Okay, my mistake, so, can anyone tell me how the duncan 54's differ from the fender 52 pickups, and how the broadcaster fits in?

The pickup that comes stock in the 52ri is what Fender calls the "American Vintage Tele Single-Coil Pickup" and I know very little about it so I'll leave that alone.

The Duncan 54 uses the post 1953 magnet diameter of .187 (vs the pre 1954 diameter .197) and the magnets are staggered which started sometime in 1954. These pickups are cleaner and brighter and more scooped sounding that the earlier Telecaster pickups.

The Duncan Broadcaster uses the earlier .197 diameter magnets but they are alnico 5 (the earlier Telecasters, Esquires, Nocaster and Broadcasters) used alnico III magnets in the bridge position. The Duncan Broadcaster also uses 42 gauge wire (real Broadcaster pickups use 43 for the bridge).

The Duncan Broadcaster is fatter and nastier tone with more midrange and a bigger sound overall that said it's not a true 1950 Fender sound by a long shot.

What kind of sound are you looking for?