Darrell, I see a potentially serious issue with this pickup design, similar to that of some “noiseless” pickups out there that have similar separate 3+3 coil arrangements: With the separate 3+3 coils, this could theoretically mean that if you bend the D or G strings, they could get pushed outside the magnetic field and thus go silent, more so on the neck pickup than the bridge, and most likely if you bend around the 12th fret, where the string can get displaced the most from its normal path. Is string bending a problem this way on these pickups?
Interesting design. Are they hum cancelling? From the tone it doesn't sound like it, but hard to tell from my phone speakers. Also, good note on the dime size pots. I'd believe the target consumer would value full size quality pots. I certainly would, for longevity and feel, in my case. Even if the impedance in dime size is the same and makes no difference in tone. Maybe the pot zise doesn't matter at all? What do you think Darrel? Good topic for a new video?
Interesting questions by the followers about bending and hum cancelling. I would add another: would you consider expading the review about how the tone pot affects the 2/4 positions?
What I'm going to comment on this video could extend to almost everyone, I'm a music lover and I love guitars, I'm 65 years old and you were by far the one who taught me the most about this instrument. It's also the one I understand the best, it's incredible. Thank you very much for your extraordinary work. A big hug from PORTUGAL.
Pups sound good on their own. But I think more versatile tones come from phase series parallel options. Darrell recommended the freeway switch and I never looked back. Easy to dial in and all supremely useful tones.
Yes! I got the freeway for my strat and love it but the freeway for the tele and the les paul are even better cause they have out of phase tones which are my favorite (specially for slide).
I dig this kind of out of the box pickup design. I was always a fan of Lace Sensors and Zexcoils because of their unique properties and tonal varieties. I'm now gonna obsess over these pups till I try them.
Yeah, absolutely. Currently doing multiple guitar best builds and one of the guitars will be equipped with a set of lace pickups, I like checking out different pickups, different types, different concepts, whether they're made by the Giants like Seymour Duncan, the growing newcomers like bare-knuckle or Fishman, established innovators like Eng or DiMarzio, or any number of smaller, the so-called Boutique builders
I think it would be nice to have a dual (stereo) output on the guitar and route one channel through an octave pedal. This way you have much more control compared to lowpass filter from a BOSS OC.
The idea of playing one instrument but having it sounds like many is pretty neat. Emily Hopkins is harp channel demoing effects pedals that can use separate effects chains on different registered pickups. Been thinking about this idea since discovering it. Turns out for guitar there are designs for hexaphonic pickups - six individual pickups for each string and normally use a controller to manage all the different routing configurations to two or more outputs.
Could wire it that way but you would lose the noiseless aspect of it unfortunately. You would have to stack each half with another bobbin underneath and use thinner coil wire for sure, maybe as thin as 44awg. I contacted them, wondering if they can design something like that. Hopefully I can collaborate with them on my guitar builds. I know I'm smalltime pissant luthier. Hopefully I can get to management. I can make guitars to easily incorporate these pickups.
@@UncleRoykus yes, that's basically how a midi-controller for guitar works as well. I am planning to do this idea with an acoustic guitar, but could be done with electric as well.
I don't know where you find this stuff, but you have the most interesting gear videos on youtube. I would highly recommend your channel to anyone who is sick of the mundane with guitars and might not want to burst the bank
Very interesting set up & sound!!! Traditional sounds gives no change. 👍🏻 Not a fan of pos 2 & 4 though 👉🏻 for me it comes a little short in attack and volume, but still interesting 🤔. It’s nice to know the possibility of these new wiring kits and pickups are available. I see this equipment as a great beginning to many new wiring configurations. Well done DBG!!!
Love the Bipolar Pickups ) . Professional mental health professional and guitar player. Love your channel. Received my first Eart Telecaster that I’m very pleased with. Love the video. Great lesson Darrell. Love “attack”
Awesome. I totally dig the sound samples of those pickups. I like to see those battle scars on the fret board of that Tele. Darrell have you done a review of Palace Guitars? Might be worth a look.
Is the diagram at 1:29 wrong, or am I mixing it up? The diagram says position 2 is both bridge/neck pickups, but when Darrell is doing the demonstration, position 2 is a half bridge/half neck and position three (middle) is a combo of full bridge/neck pickups. Is that right?
I must agree on the dime pots. After making the effort to swap all my guitars that had dime pots and meager caps over to the "CTS" style pots with big orange caps, I can't say I'd be glad to switch back. I have the feeling you could just insert a 5 way switch with phased out options on 2 & 4, and get a very similar result.
Thank you, Mr. Braun, I ended up giving these a shot in a newer G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy (semi-hollow). There was some indecision on my part concerning which beastie was going to get the bipolar pickups before settling on the G&L. I also went covered for the neck pickup, AlNiCo2 for the older tones, too. The one thing I would recommend is to have S&S Winding wire the kit with “bullets” (small banana plugs) as this will make the instal a serious breeze into whatever instrument you are using to host these pickups. My G&L went from a very sweet strat to a jazzy ice queen tele. I just wish there was more room to add more controls in order to get all combinations out of these pickups.
I have to admit, Darrell, that was far, far better than I was expecting. I didn't think I'd love it BUT I do - outstanding sounds from the two extra positions, especially position 4 ( sounded quite Strat-like to me ) Excellent sounding pickups all round. I really enjoy your videos Darrell. One of my favourite guitar channels. Thanks brother for the interesting content.
I agree about the pots. Full-sized ones won't cost Bipolar much to include instead of the el cheapos. I went a different route with my Glarry semi-hollow Tele. Swapped the bridge pickup for a DiMarzio Hot-T bridge model to balance the output, and added a Free Way 6-position 3-way switch. Comes pretty close to the tones in this video, Darrell…
How do you like the feel of the glarry tele? I have a glarry p bass and it's neck is extremely chunky and I was considering getting either one of those teles or a squier affinity tele for a mod project.
@@DarthCiliatus I have both a Glarry and Squier Affinity Tele (I have several low-end guitars). The Glarry is one of my favorites, and I like the neck just fine. It also weighs less than 6 lbs., a big plus.
Introduction: I listened the video with my cell headphones, so that said, I think they sound really good. Very interesting the position 2. I don't know if anyone else had the same perception, but I found the position 4 very similar to the classic 3 of the standard telly. But I might be mistaken for the low headphones quality. Perfect video as usual! 👍🏼🎸🇨🇦
I definitely want these pickups, but I don't like the in between sounds. Would rather use the bipolarity as an interesting way of getting a noise cancelling pickup (hopefully) and getting interesting voicings from the same pickup due to wiring the two halves in series or parallel
Absolutely, give me three positions all noise cancelling with true single coil tone. I think this company has the right idea about windings, but the wacky mix of coils would be of no use to me.
I'm 100% sure you could solder them that way if they're wound in different directions, I looked on the website and didn't see anything mentioning if each pickup half was reversed wound. I'd think there's an equal market there doing that. I don't know if you can just solder the start to stop and then back to start, like any other series humbucker....
It's wired like the old Burns Bison Jazz with pickup split - I would reverse 1 coil on each pickup like Fralins split blade and hope for thrue singlecoil sound with no hum - reminds of Fenders P-bass elements 😊
As soon as I heard the position 2 switch; it made me immediately think of a Candlebox song. Problem is I can’t remember the song to save my life… Which means in a couple of weeks it will just come to me. Anyway love the cool new pickup switching on the Tele!
Two thoughts: 1- Try adding some dirt in position 4. It should be the ideal setup for tight heavy riffing on the low end and mellow soloing high up. 2- Dime-sized pots: maybe that's something deliberately meant for Squier Bullet Tele owners so they don't have to do any routing?
Darrell, I am a little disappointed that you didn't tell us whether those pickups were hum cancelling. I'm sure that they are. That design is more an application of Leo Fender's split coil pickup designs as seen in the venerable P-bass pickup and the Wide Range pickup set from years gone by. Those were humbucking. All the settings of this new set should buck him as well. I'm just championing full disclosure and complete information. Obviously, hum rejection in all switch positions is a GOOD THING. Otherwise, Teles can be some NOISY critters!
I thought the sound of the traditional positions sounded rich and of high quality. The 2 split pickup positions 3/3 seemed a bit more on the gimmick side. I'm not sure that I'd use either of them very often if at all. Nice video.
I watch a lot of guitar channels and I think Darrell's videos are the best overall when it comes to being informative, entertaining and inspiring. Not too much B.S. but friendly without being creepy and always competant at the task whether it is the dialog, modding or playing portions of his episodes. This mod was nice with a Telecaster but I think the mod today might be even more awesome with a two single coil Gibson Melody Maker from the mid 2000s to early 2010s. People always complained about the Gibson pickups anyway...
They sound pretty good. A couple more sounds out of a Tele without having to add the middle pickup and a 5 way Super Switch as I have done. Position 2 n 4 are kind of unique sounding. I agree with you about the pots also. Tanks for the video Darrell.
I feel I have to mention that the size of a potentiometer doesn’t matter, it just matters how it was constructed. Bigger doesn’t mean better here-just bigger.
Okay, this has some great possibilities. Instead of the 5 way switch, put in 2: of the standard 3-way switches. One switch for the top halves of the pickups, one for the bottom half. Then, 2 output jacks. Each of the 2 outputs will take the audio from 3 of the strings. You can now run each audio channels in either stereo mode or even bi-amp.
Great Review, although I'm not a fan of the positions that combine half of each pickup. The "out-of-phase" sound on a Tele is just too thin for my taste. Thank for the Review.
The science shows that as long as the quality is good, pot size doesn't really matter at all. It is all about the quality of the pot itself. There has been some great vids done on this.
I love watching them novelties at your channel Thanks for being inspiration for modifying instruments I don't have yet (Although it's a Tele, I will get one for sure)
You contradicted yourself when it came to the positions? At first he said position 2 was bridge and neck as a whole and then after you wired the guitar you said that it was half bridge & half Neck in position 2? Also, I take it these are noise cancelling in the 2 “single pickup’ positions..?
Your review is spot on. Positions 1 and 5 sound REALLY good to me and I like the middle positions but probably for specific use cases. The smaller pots are unusual. I tried to see the brand of those pots as you held the control plate up close but couldnt see the brand but they are 250k pots.
If you're keeping this setup you could just upgrade to full size fender pots. It would be an inexpensive upgrade and would only take "a few moments..."
Much better than the four way switching mod IMO, even if we have to replace the guts of the guitar. Can't get onboard with the dime pots either, but so long as they do the job then it's good.
100% Darrell! Loved those tones but at the end of the day, did I upgrade or not??!! There are 2 Pots to install... How much difference in the upgraded cost for a kit? Most people are satisfied to pay the extra $5 to have better pots! Just sayin...
I’d definitely be putting the old pots back in. But those control plates that come pre-loaded with tiny pots often don’t have holes big enough to fit full-size pots. So perhaps just moving the switch to the old control plates is in order. But don’t put up with those pots, that’s for sure.
I like the idea, but I think it needs work. The treble strings sound weird (non-Tele) in the three regular positions, and I'd prefer to have the "new" positions "in phase." I was hoping to hear the "regular" bridge bass string sound combined with the "regular" neck treble sound, without the "phasieness" & quack. I suspect that would be a very useful sound for fingerstyle playing. Don't want quack on a Tele, I have Strats for that.
Can you confirm what the 'telegram' messages being reply posted to almost everyone are please? Or at least, block this person from responding to everyone's comment, saying they've been shortlisted for a prize? This is so obviously a scam am I am surprised you haven't actioned this.
The G&L Comanche 6 has switches that do that also. Also kinda reminded me of the new Espada which was Leo's last invention. The Espada is a great guitar by the way and very affordable. 🙋♂️
I had a similar idea to this like 3-4 months ago, but instead of tele pickups I had the idea to use strat hotrails, using only half of each bobbin from the south and north coil, I also had the idea of using only 1 bobbin to make thin single coils. Really weird seeing this video lol
Good sounding pickups and interesting design. I'd probably have to try them to know if I liked that setup or not. And, I'd have to test how the volume and tone controls worked with the split design. Personally, I'd guess that 2 tone controls and 1 volume would work better. That's what I did on my 2-pickup Strat. Regarding the size of the Tone Pots, the different diameter of the Pots would affect how fast the Wiper sweeps across the Resistance Strip. But, I don't know if that really makes any significant difference. Someone should conduct a test. Who knows, maybe smaller might actually feel better. A lot of RUclipsrs have commented about small size pots, but I don't know if anyone has done a good blind test to how well they perform and feel. Thanks
Can you review the 2021 Squier contemporary special strat? It has a really cool and unique bridge/middle pickup design and its nothing like I've seen before. And also interested in the build quality :)
Hi Darrel! I have been watching your channel a lot and enjoy the discussions you have on guitars, amps etc. I’m from India and have a Squier Affinity Tele which I picked up the second hand market. It’s in very good condition but I don’t like the sound of the pick ups. I want to upgrade the pickups and the pots. Could you please suggest something for me. I’m a home guitarist and don’t want anything expensive. It should have a decent tone.
Hey Darrell , I got an Epiphone guitar at a pawn shop going out of business auction and just thought it was a low end guitar so I stored it (temp.controlled) I recently got it out and it’s a Epiphone Demon V (E-Series ) Electric Guitar Flying V /Bikini Logo /Floyd Rose tremolo . It looks great and is in really good shape .Are you familiar with this model ?
5 way switching on a Tele is a pretty cool way to add some versatility without losing what makes the Tele so great!
Enjoy :)
Darrell, I see a potentially serious issue with this pickup design, similar to that of some “noiseless” pickups out there that have similar separate 3+3 coil arrangements: With the separate 3+3 coils, this could theoretically mean that if you bend the D or G strings, they could get pushed outside the magnetic field and thus go silent, more so on the neck pickup than the bridge, and most likely if you bend around the 12th fret, where the string can get displaced the most from its normal path. Is string bending a problem this way on these pickups?
@@zuperdee a very good point. I am curious about this too.
I could not fit full sized pots and the super switch on the control plate. I do use high quality BOURNS pots.
Interesting design. Are they hum cancelling? From the tone it doesn't sound like it, but hard to tell from my phone speakers.
Also, good note on the dime size pots. I'd believe the target consumer would value full size quality pots. I certainly would, for longevity and feel, in my case. Even if the impedance in dime size is the same and makes no difference in tone.
Maybe the pot zise doesn't matter at all? What do you think Darrel? Good topic for a new video?
Interesting questions by the followers about bending and hum cancelling. I would add another: would you consider expading the review about how the tone pot affects the 2/4 positions?
I really liked the position with sparklier highs and mellower lows. It sounded very open and versatile.
What I'm going to comment on this video could extend to almost everyone, I'm a music lover and I love guitars, I'm 65 years old and you were by far the one who taught me the most about this instrument. It's also the one I understand the best, it's incredible. Thank you very much for your extraordinary work. A big hug from PORTUGAL.
The sound can be even twangier than a telecaster. I had no idea that was possible 😂
Great idea! Btw, that other comment is impersonating Daniel. Report it if you get a chance.
Twangest
Thank you for showing a nice Tele mod, always good to see Tele's get some love.
Pups sound good on their own. But I think more versatile tones come from phase series parallel options. Darrell recommended the freeway switch and I never looked back. Easy to dial in and all supremely useful tones.
Yeah, I got the Freeway for my Squier Strat and I love it. Cheers! 😎
Yes! I got the freeway for my strat and love it but the freeway for the tele and the les paul are even better cause they have out of phase tones which are my favorite (specially for slide).
Fender sorta did the same thing in the 60's with staggered PUPS, sans 5-way switch. Pretty cool!
I dig this kind of out of the box pickup design. I was always a fan of Lace Sensors and Zexcoils because of their unique properties and tonal varieties. I'm now gonna obsess over these pups till I try them.
Yeah, absolutely. Currently doing multiple guitar best builds and one of the guitars will be equipped with a set of lace pickups, I like checking out different pickups, different types, different concepts, whether they're made by the Giants like Seymour Duncan, the growing newcomers like bare-knuckle or Fishman, established innovators like Eng or DiMarzio, or any number of smaller, the so-called Boutique builders
I think it would be nice to have a dual (stereo) output on the guitar and route one channel through an octave pedal. This way you have much more control compared to lowpass filter from a BOSS OC.
The idea of playing one instrument but having it sounds like many is pretty neat. Emily Hopkins is harp channel demoing effects pedals that can use separate effects chains on different registered pickups. Been thinking about this idea since discovering it. Turns out for guitar there are designs for hexaphonic pickups - six individual pickups for each string and normally use a controller to manage all the different routing configurations to two or more outputs.
Could wire it that way but you would lose the noiseless aspect of it unfortunately. You would have to stack each half with another bobbin underneath and use thinner coil wire for sure, maybe as thin as 44awg. I contacted them, wondering if they can design something like that. Hopefully I can collaborate with them on my guitar builds. I know I'm smalltime pissant luthier. Hopefully I can get to management. I can make guitars to easily incorporate these pickups.
@@UncleRoykus yes, that's basically how a midi-controller for guitar works as well. I am planning to do this idea with an acoustic guitar, but could be done with electric as well.
Just contacted Scott from S&S , seeing if we can make this happen. Really Excited!
I was LMAO when the vid caption came up "A Few Moments Later"... You count time much differently than we do in the States. 🤣
I don't know where you find this stuff, but you have the most interesting gear videos on youtube. I would highly recommend your channel to anyone who is sick of the mundane with guitars and might not want to burst the bank
Position 2 sounds amazing!
Do the split coils have any sort of noise cancelling/hum bucket effect?
Yes they do! Scott from S&S is a friend of mine. That’s the whole beauty is the hum reduction!
Very interesting set up & sound!!! Traditional sounds gives no change. 👍🏻 Not a fan of pos 2 & 4 though 👉🏻 for me it comes a little short in attack and volume, but still interesting 🤔. It’s nice to know the possibility of these new wiring kits and pickups are available. I see this equipment as a great beginning to many new wiring configurations. Well done DBG!!!
Love the Bipolar Pickups ) . Professional mental health professional and guitar player. Love your channel. Received my first Eart Telecaster that I’m very pleased with. Love the video. Great lesson Darrell. Love “attack”
Good thing you're not an amateur mental health professional....
Gives new meaning to "While my guitar gently weeps"
Awesome. I totally dig the sound samples of those pickups. I like to see those battle scars on the fret board of that Tele.
Darrell have you done a review of Palace Guitars? Might be worth a look.
Is the diagram at 1:29 wrong, or am I mixing it up? The diagram says position 2 is both bridge/neck pickups, but when Darrell is doing the demonstration, position 2 is a half bridge/half neck and position three (middle) is a combo of full bridge/neck pickups. Is that right?
I must agree on the dime pots. After making the effort to swap all my guitars that had dime pots and meager caps over to the "CTS" style pots with big orange caps, I can't say I'd be glad to switch back. I have the feeling you could just insert a 5 way switch with phased out options on 2 & 4, and get a very similar result.
Thank you, Mr. Braun, I ended up giving these a shot in a newer G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy (semi-hollow). There was some indecision on my part concerning which beastie was going to get the bipolar pickups before settling on the G&L. I also went covered for the neck pickup, AlNiCo2 for the older tones, too. The one thing I would recommend is to have S&S Winding wire the kit with “bullets” (small banana plugs) as this will make the instal a serious breeze into whatever instrument you are using to host these pickups. My G&L went from a very sweet strat to a jazzy ice queen tele. I just wish there was more room to add more controls in order to get all combinations out of these pickups.
I have to admit, Darrell, that was far, far better than I was expecting. I didn't think I'd love it BUT I do - outstanding sounds from the two extra positions, especially position 4 ( sounded quite Strat-like to me ) Excellent sounding pickups all round. I really enjoy your videos Darrell. One of my favourite guitar channels. Thanks brother for the interesting content.
I agree about the pots. Full-sized ones won't cost Bipolar much to include instead of the el cheapos. I went a different route with my Glarry semi-hollow Tele. Swapped the bridge pickup for a DiMarzio Hot-T bridge model to balance the output, and added a Free Way 6-position 3-way switch. Comes pretty close to the tones in this video, Darrell…
How do you like the feel of the glarry tele? I have a glarry p bass and it's neck is extremely chunky and I was considering getting either one of those teles or a squier affinity tele for a mod project.
@@DarthCiliatus I have both a Glarry and Squier Affinity Tele (I have several low-end guitars). The Glarry is one of my favorites, and I like the neck just fine. It also weighs less than 6 lbs., a big plus.
The switch is so big I could not get full size pots to fit. We do use high quality Bourns pots.
Introduction: I listened the video with my cell headphones, so that said, I think they sound really good. Very interesting the position 2. I don't know if anyone else had the same perception, but I found the position 4 very similar to the classic 3 of the standard telly. But I might be mistaken for the low headphones quality. Perfect video as usual! 👍🏼🎸🇨🇦
Darrell that’s awesome thanks for sharing and God’s blessings for you and all your family
Great review, but I miss seeing you fall in the snow. LOL
I definitely want these pickups, but I don't like the in between sounds. Would rather use the bipolarity as an interesting way of getting a noise cancelling pickup (hopefully) and getting interesting voicings from the same pickup due to wiring the two halves in series or parallel
Absolutely, give me three positions all noise cancelling with true single coil tone. I think this company has the right idea about windings, but the wacky mix of coils would be of no use to me.
Yeah, they should hum cancel, I didn’t hear him mention that.
@@bobstrickland4223 yup, at the end it should work the same as a P Bass pickup
I'm 100% sure you could solder them that way if they're wound in different directions, I looked on the website and didn't see anything mentioning if each pickup half was reversed wound. I'd think there's an equal market there doing that. I don't know if you can just solder the start to stop and then back to start, like any other series humbucker....
Pretty sure the EAD string magnets would need to point the opposite way to the GBE ones for hum cancelling.
"A Few Moments Later..." :) I really enjoy your videos, Darrell.
tbh this is the coolest thing I've seen on a Tele in a good minute...my GAS says I need it
It's wired like the old Burns Bison Jazz with pickup split - I would reverse 1 coil on each pickup like Fralins split blade and hope for thrue singlecoil sound with no hum - reminds of Fenders P-bass elements 😊
Sounds amazing! Like a custom shop! Unbelieveable! 🎸👍🏼🤟
As soon as I heard the position 2 switch; it made me immediately think of a Candlebox song. Problem is I can’t remember the song to save my life… Which means in a couple of weeks it will just come to me. Anyway love the cool new pickup switching on the Tele!
Two thoughts:
1- Try adding some dirt in position 4. It should be the ideal setup for tight heavy riffing on the low end and mellow soloing high up.
2- Dime-sized pots: maybe that's something deliberately meant for Squier Bullet Tele owners so they don't have to do any routing?
A 1960's Burns Split Sonic had the same set up so it is nothing new only forgotten.
Hey Darrell, great review! Could you tell us if they are hum-canceling?
Darrell, I am a little disappointed that you didn't tell us whether those pickups were hum cancelling. I'm sure that they are. That design is more an application of Leo Fender's split coil pickup designs as seen in the venerable P-bass pickup and the Wide Range pickup set from years gone by. Those were humbucking. All the settings of this new set should buck him as well.
I'm just championing full disclosure and complete information. Obviously, hum rejection in all switch positions is a GOOD THING. Otherwise, Teles can be some NOISY critters!
Maybe a obvious question, but how does the double coil aspect of the pickups effect their 60 cycle hum and output
I had the same question. Two coils, one reverse wound with magnets flipped should be humbucking?
I thought the sound of the traditional positions sounded rich and of high quality. The 2 split pickup positions 3/3 seemed a bit more on the gimmick side. I'm not sure that I'd use either of them very often if at all. Nice video.
But can you switch an SG or Les Paul to a strat or tele?🤔
Totally agree with the downsides. The dime pots and the strat-ish tip feels cheap. It’s a pity. The rest, nice set of options!
I watch a lot of guitar channels and I think Darrell's videos are the best overall when it comes to being informative, entertaining and inspiring. Not too much B.S. but friendly without being creepy and always competant at the task whether it is the dialog, modding or playing portions of his episodes. This mod was nice with a Telecaster but I think the mod today might be even more awesome with a two single coil Gibson Melody Maker from the mid 2000s to early 2010s. People always complained about the Gibson pickups anyway...
They sound pretty good. A couple more sounds out of a Tele without having to add the middle pickup and a 5 way Super Switch as I have done. Position 2 n 4 are kind of unique sounding. I agree with you about the pots also. Tanks for the video Darrell.
Here's another idea for this set of pickups for a bit more modern flair, a push pull pot to have them go between series and parallel
I feel I have to mention that the size of a potentiometer doesn’t matter, it just matters how it was constructed. Bigger doesn’t mean better here-just bigger.
That’s a brilliant idea! I love them.
Finally! Someone made pick ups for my wife's guitar.
Thanks for keeping us informed on junk like this, but to me it’s another solution looking for a problem.
Okay, this has some great possibilities. Instead of the 5 way switch, put in 2: of the standard 3-way switches. One switch for the top halves of the pickups, one for the bottom half. Then, 2 output jacks. Each of the 2 outputs will take the audio from 3 of the strings. You can now run each audio channels in either stereo mode or even bi-amp.
Stereo would be interesting, with different effects on the top/bottom strings.
Great Review, although I'm not a fan of the positions that combine half of each pickup. The "out-of-phase" sound on a Tele is just too thin for my taste. Thank for the Review.
The science shows that as long as the quality is good, pot size doesn't really matter at all. It is all about the quality of the pot itself. There has been some great vids done on this.
Interesting pickups. Though I didn't hear that much difference, though it could be the way it's coming across on here.
Very cool, but I'm a Nashville special Tele player so I kind of get what this offers. Have to say those pickups sound terrific
I love watching them novelties at your channel
Thanks for being inspiration for modifying instruments I don't have yet
(Although it's a Tele, I will get one for sure)
Love the 2 & 4 position tones. Very unique....and extremely cool! Yes, full sized pots should be standard.
Very interesting usable tones for a Telecaster, sounded good.....
Yeah the tiny pots, swap them out for large ones while the solder gun is out.....
You contradicted yourself when it came to the positions?
At first he said position 2 was bridge and neck as a whole and then after you wired the guitar you said that it was half bridge & half Neck in position 2?
Also, I take it these are noise cancelling in the 2 “single pickup’ positions..?
Your review is spot on. Positions 1 and 5 sound REALLY good to me and I like the middle positions but probably for specific use cases. The smaller pots are unusual. I tried to see the brand of those pots as you held the control plate up close but couldnt see the brand but they are 250k pots.
I cant stop thinking about Strat with 3 of those pickups and every possible combinations of sounds.
Wiring and swiching nightmare!!!
Great idea to split the pickups. It sounds really good! This could be also something for other guitars...
Are those similar to the Burns split sound pickups? They remind me of the sound of the Burns guitars that I had.
If you're keeping this setup you could just upgrade to full size fender pots. It would be an inexpensive upgrade and would only take "a few moments..."
Does the little pots sound different than the full-size ones? Or is it just a feeling-thing
Much better than the four way switching mod IMO, even if we have to replace the guts of the guitar.
Can't get onboard with the dime pots either, but so long as they do the job then it's good.
Postion 2 is very nice an funky and unique ! Also 1 3 5 are classic !
100% Darrell! Loved those tones but at the end of the day, did I upgrade or not??!! There are 2 Pots to install... How much difference in the upgraded cost for a kit? Most people are satisfied to pay the extra $5 to have better pots! Just sayin...
Will you keep them or switch back to the original pickups?
Man, those sound cool as hell!
Well if I want strat sound, I'll just grab a strat.
I’d definitely be putting the old pots back in. But those control plates that come pre-loaded with tiny pots often don’t have holes big enough to fit full-size pots. So perhaps just moving the switch to the old control plates is in order. But don’t put up with those pots, that’s for sure.
The six position “Freeway” switch for tele has been fun for me… new tones, and no new pickups to buy….
Dude, thanks for doing something different from every other guitar channel.
Hey Darrell, are the new positions in series or parallel?
Either I missed it or you didn't mention it. But I assume, that each pickup is also RWRP and hum cancelling in all 5 positions?
That is Maximum Quack! I love it.
what is the advantage of full sized pots?
Fantastic tone!
I like the idea, but I think it needs work. The treble strings sound weird (non-Tele) in the three regular positions, and I'd prefer to have the "new" positions "in phase." I was hoping to hear the "regular" bridge bass string sound combined with the "regular" neck treble sound, without the "phasieness" & quack. I suspect that would be a very useful sound for fingerstyle playing. Don't want quack on a Tele, I have Strats for that.
didnt you do something extremely similar to this but on a strat with the 5 way 10 position pickup selector?
I have a Seymour Duncan Apollo pickup in the bridge of my bass, which is also a linear humbucker. Single coil sounds with a humbucker.
Great show Darrell.
What if you were to swap the Neck and Bridge pickups themselves including the mount angles ?
One of those brilliant ideas that seems blindingly obvious after you see it actually done.
Can you confirm what the 'telegram' messages being reply posted to almost everyone are please?
Or at least, block this person from responding to everyone's comment, saying they've been shortlisted for a prize?
This is so obviously a scam am I am surprised you haven't actioned this.
Great review and excellent tone with the pickups split. However, I agree with you... pricey.
It would be more like a G&L with the split pickups (a Commanche?) instead of a Strat.
Very cool! I put in an Oak Grigsby superswitch to get five different tones. Tried one yet? It's pretty cool 😎
I love strat sounds but hate playing them, like teles much more. But always missed the stratty quack. Might just have to try this!
Darrell, as a telecaster lover I am interested but there are four version of pick ups on the site, could you tell us what ones you demonstrate.
The G&L Comanche 6 has switches that do that also.
Also kinda reminded me of the new Espada which was Leo's last invention. The Espada is a great guitar by the way and very affordable. 🙋♂️
Due to the two small winds, how does this affect the 60 cycle hum?
Wow, never seen any pickup configurations like this... neat but not sure if it would be for me
I had a similar idea to this like 3-4 months ago, but instead of tele pickups I had the idea to use strat hotrails, using only half of each bobbin from the south and north coil, I also had the idea of using only 1 bobbin to make thin single coils.
Really weird seeing this video lol
From Leo: Are they hum cancelling in position 1 and 5?
Reminds me of the old Teisco Spectrum 5, it was Stereo :D
Good sounding pickups and interesting design. I'd probably have to try them to know if I liked that setup or not. And, I'd have to test how the volume and tone controls worked with the split design. Personally, I'd guess that 2 tone controls and 1 volume would work better. That's what I did on my 2-pickup Strat.
Regarding the size of the Tone Pots, the different diameter of the Pots would affect how fast the Wiper sweeps across the Resistance Strip. But, I don't know if that really makes any significant difference. Someone should conduct a test. Who knows, maybe smaller might actually feel better. A lot of RUclipsrs have commented about small size pots, but I don't know if anyone has done a good blind test to how well they perform and feel. Thanks
Can you review the 2021 Squier contemporary special strat? It has a really cool and unique bridge/middle pickup design and its nothing like I've seen before. And also interested in the build quality :)
Are some sized pots really THAT much of a downgrade? Or is Darrell just picky?
Hi Darrel! I have been watching your channel a lot and enjoy the discussions you have on guitars, amps etc. I’m from India and have a Squier Affinity Tele which I picked up the second hand market. It’s in very good condition but I don’t like the sound of the pick ups. I want to upgrade the pickups and the pots. Could you please suggest something for me. I’m a home guitarist and don’t want anything expensive. It should have a decent tone.
I know the neck position of a Telecaster and position 5 sounds like both pickups in parallel but nevertheless that's a nice sounding set.
This isn’t new, it’s existed in old Sears guitars from way back if I am not mistaken.
Hey Darrell , I got an Epiphone guitar at a pawn shop going out of business auction and just thought it was a low end guitar so I stored it (temp.controlled) I recently got it out and it’s a Epiphone Demon V (E-Series )
Electric Guitar Flying V /Bikini Logo /Floyd Rose tremolo . It looks great and is in really good shape .Are you familiar with this model ?
Genius none the less