That's the sweetest- sounding Tele neck pickup I've ever heard. Later, when Kris mentioned it was his favourite, it made sense. We tend to play our favourites with more passion and love than the rest. Guitars are very sensitive and intuitive beings.
For me as a mostly clean player, the P90 followed by filtertron delivers the best neck pickup tone. I do love the Tele sound though. Strat neck pickups always surprise me too. Despite this, I invariably end up playing a humbucker!
Honestly I love the single coils with the high gain. They have this... out of control(?) feel that I prefer over the other types of pickup. It's weird, since they generally are lower output, but always feel like that to me.
Well I have my first amp with gain and am looking forward to running my Tele through it But have been toying with the idea of putting something different in the neck but not in a rush I have vintage P90's a Ttop HB a Filtertron and a soap bar so plenty of choice's mostly vintage so doing a little research
Searching for a matched neck pickup. I like tweaking my guitars myself. I upgraded my Squirt vintage vibe Telecaster with a 4 way switch / Oak Grigsby with supposed matching 50's era pickups. I like the bridge not the neck pickup. My two favorite pickups I listened to are Tele and P-90. As always, thanks for sharing your time and all that goes into making these videos. Nathan
My favourite by far is the Tele one. It's the main one I use for my clean big reverb tones and it is just superb. The active one was surprisingly good tho!
That was so wholesome when your kid walked in 😃 Nice comparison video, I’m forever on the lookout for the right neck pickup for my Les Paul that doesn’t sound muddy and has enough punch to it.
Excellent video Kris! Thanks for the comparison. The neck tone of your Tele is exactly what I want from mine. Which pickup specifically is in the neck of your Tele? I'd also like to know the name of the riff you start playing at 2:55. Cheers!
Thanks, Kris! Also it would be nice to add Wide Range pickups to the 2nd episode. I use tele with custom built neck and SD 1/4 pound bridge. Also PRS /w 85/15s and Jamstik /w ARB Punchers - both very bright with coil splits. Very like feel and sound of Filtertron in neck position. Very clear and open.
I bought a Vintage V6 Icon, sounds very good, All Wilkinson pickups, with a Hambucker in the back and two singlecoils in middle and neck. The "strat.pickups" singelcoil has different hights on the stubbs. But the "stubbs" does not have any grove / slit for a scruvdriver. Is it anything I should adjust in any way, or not? I never seen single coil with so different hight on any other guitar. Please edvice?
03:21 I can't with that "tubular" sound of single coils, so scooped so harsh. I prefer humbucker in neck, more rounded sound. Any way to improve single coil sound in neck?
Great pickup comparison. Tele neck pickup is my favorite but I hear good sounds out of all of them. I just prefer my tele neck pickup over the rest. Thanks Kris Take care
I really liked the tele, P90, strat, active humbucker and filtertron. Although, I think your tele neck pickup is voiced more like a broadcaster neck pickup than a tele neck pickup. Also, the filtertron sounded a bit lo-fi ... my filtertron neck pickup sounds brighter in my Gretsch. Great video for sure. Thank you.
P90 in a Tele gives me a great tone, my other guitars don't have, especially in the Middle position, I put a humbucker sized P90 in my SG for same reason. The P90 is great for keeping volume level balanced with the humbucker.
Each pickup is unique. But some of them are having details in common. Telecaster's neck pu is something really special with a different sound philosophy from others. Vote for telecaster!
I’ve played for a very long time. No matter what guitar I play, I’ve never had any issues with any bridge humbucker. But the neck pickup that suites me was elusive. Until I discovered the tele neck pickup. Probably the most versatile pickup I know of
Great overview, thanks! I think, to a large extent, the guitar sort of dictates the pick-up but of course there are no rulz! I am happy with the original humbuckers in my 1968 LP Custom - the neck is great clean for lines, I tend to use the middle position for chordal stuff. P90 neck in my Casino & Duesenberg - both great with the semi-acoustic guitars, also in my Combinata - fatter vibe in the solid body - P90s have been a recent discovery for me and I really like them. Filtertrons in my solid Gretsch - perfect for early Beatlish stuff. Strat neck is fine for me, don't own a Tele but impressed with your intro - great sound!
Great video! I came here wanting to put a p90 in my tele and ended up loving the tele sound over p90. Got any suggestions on tele pickups? Lollar, Ron Ellis, stock fender, etc???
Man, the more I watch your videos, the more I like them. always informative and fun. And the playing parts !!! They are great. You make me jealous. I kinda see how the poor Guillaume feels when you shoot for Thomann :-) And BTW, these PJD guitars sound very good. I would love to try one.
Ahh man, thanks so much!! 🙌 G has nothing to worry about when making videos together, he developed such a tasty style, I love listening to his playing. And the jams are simply awesome fun. 🤩
I have grown fond of P90 pickups, I have a Lambertones Ristretto P90 in the neck of my custom build right now. I also like the Filtertron and Tele pickups, this was a really good video!
I'm primarily a Strat and LP user so it's Strat single coils and humbuckers. In the bridge, I'm almost exclusively humbuckers with a few Strats having Strat single bridges. I recently have started playing with Telecasters. I have two that have very different pups installed. One is a HH, while the other is a stacked SSS with a Tele neck and bridge and a Strat middle. I'm building a third Tele with a normal Tele neck and bridge pups.
Quick question. I have a Gibson les Paul standard, and I know P90 are the best pickups for the neck because it provides the most warmth and roundness. So my question is, what p90 pickup is the warmest and roundest? Is it this one that you use? Or so you recommend another. A lot say the Seymour Duncan Antiques but I find it too rough for the neck, more like a bridge pickup.
well very hard to chose one 🙉🙉🙉 i think for my personal taste Filtertron in clean (hmmm is that a Ebony fretboard? 🤔 ) then the Blond Tele Neck , and Fluence were a delight 😱 , in crunch maybe Tele , strat and p90 . High gain for me is the les paul with uncovered humbuckers is the winner ( with all their ingredients that help ) Great video ! Episode 2 is a must 😃👍
Watching this video I stick to my preferences, namely single coils. I have a Stratocaster whose neck pickup I like, but the telecaster's is really good, the P90's too. I have a Duesenberg Caribou with p90 and it's superb. On the other hand, I am impressed by the fishman, whose sound range is strongly reminiscent of either the p90 or the telecaster neck, superb for me who was only thinking of vintage humbuckers. Bravo for this very informative video.
for a Tele. a good mini-humbucker with coil split option. a coil-split mini sounds very close to a "trad" Tele neck pup when in the neck of a Tele. so you get to keep the original sound for Tele "middle", but get all the focused beef of a mini when u want it. for Les Paul. well, p90 of course.
A good Tele neck pickup is sooo nice... I like a Broadcaster style with some crunch. And a P90 - I've got Lindy Fralin P90s in my LP DC Special and they are just perfect for crunch and drive ala Who Live at Leeds.
Really cool demo. Surprising results for me. I always think of myself as a “Strat guy,” and I hated teles for 40 years, but I probably preferred the Tele here, and then the P90, and then maybe the Strat? Fortunately, I have all three of those guitar types now, but I may be spending more time with the Tele going forward. Weird, also, how so many people say the Tele neck pickup is that guitar’s weak point. But I can’t really find a use for the bridge and live on neck and middle with that guitar.
Yeah I really don’t understand why some people complain about the tele neck pu. It’s one of the best sounding and versatile neck pickups. The only thing I can think of is that they had a bad experience with a specific weak tele neck pu once and they assume all are bad. 🤷♂️
@@KrisBarocsi Maybe. Whatever the reason, it's a sad myth. I just finished playing some Pearl Jam on my Nash tele (with Lollars) and now i'm GASsing and thinking about making a partscaster with those 51 Nocaster pickups.... But, wondering if the result would be different enough from what i have to make it worthwhile.... You're the tops, Kris. Always looking forward to your next video.
Are all Filtertrons created the same or are some better? I have been listening to GA-20 a lot recently because I want a simple (guitar,amp and maybe a pedal) setup with a gritty bluesy sound. Opinions welcome.
For me, neck pick up on strat is still my fav for single coil. On the brigde is Tele 😄 But, I like the sound on that Fishman Just curious how a Minihumbucker will fit on Tele, will wait to see you review it 🙏
I would have to go with the L P neck its fat clean and sassy that's my favorite. Then p 90s. Then tele. Great video..your playing is insanely good. 2thumbs up.
Wow that was a nice demo the clean mode really distinguishes them apart. I thought the filtertron only sounds very good clean. The p90 really out shined the others. Thanks
My ears are always going to prefer Teles (both in neck and bridge), especially in a band mix. I also really love a nice Jazzmaster neck tone - that would be the one thing I'd like to see included in this comparison. Of course I'm waiting on parts for an offset Tele routed for a Jazzmaster pickup in the neck, so I'll find out for myself eventually.
Recently I saw a video that highly touted the mini humbucker for the neck pickup...I'd love to see it in comparison to others, as I'm considering purchasing one. Thx..!!
Hi Kris! Please help! :D Is the Gretsch Filtertron compatible with fender pickups? As in if they have phase issues in middle position of the tele. Thank tou
Hey, I never tried it, sorry. But it’s not an issue even if they are out of phase in the middle position. Then you just swap the two cables of one of thr pickups (thrn black is hot and white goes to ground) and tadaaa, they are in phase again.
I love the p90s and single coils.. i got a brent mason tele, it has a mini humbucker in the neck and it sounds 🔥 ..so good, especialy for jazz..hell the guitar as a whole is 🔥 imo, love it.
Hey Kris, as someone who doesnt know much about pickups, ive come to the conclusion that i really dont like humbuckers anymore. Ive always had humbuckers on my guitars for years until i got a G&L Tribute S-500 that I absolutely adore its tone and fell in love with single coils. now my question for u is, would replacing my stock pickups in my PRS SE 24 Custom with something like a p90 get me in a similar single coil type of ballpark? I know the S-500 has the strat 3 pickup configuration and the PRS would have a completely different positioning on its 2 pickups, but if can get closer in tone to my S-500 on my PRS I would be very happy. I just cant stand the tone of the stock pickups in my PRS and i would prefer to find a new set up pickups rather than selling it or hold onto it and let it collect dust. Its a beautiful guitar. That PRS does have coil spitting which gets me closer to the sound that i want but its still too mid focused. Not sure if p90s would be any better or not since i have never tried them before. I should also note that i play clean most of the time, so a good clean tone is my biggest priority. The PRS stock pickups sound fantastic with dirt, but sound VERY muddy clean. Maybe a pickup height adjustment might make an improvement? If anyone has any suggestions for replacement pickups i am all ears. Idk if u have a video posted on this topic or not, but would u possibly make a new pickup video on clean tones?
There are plenty of humbucker sized P90s which should do the trick for you and some have alnico slugs rather than the traditional magnetic bar which makes them sound more Strat like. A GFS Surf 90 comes to mind
Actually they all sounded good, though somewhat different. Surprising for me, I've got lots of guitars, but none with a FilterTron, and this one really stuck out in this test, even in high gain mode.
Hey Kris, great vid as always! Loved the short surprise 🙂👍 I've never played a Tele before but in this comparison it almost sounded the best on both clean & crunch but then I heard the Fishman ...WOW Great upgrade you did to that guitar ! 👍🤘
Chris, could you please teach how youd record videos of you pplaying (even better with a backing track) recording with a camera/phone but with the sound recording it separately on your DAW? Nobody else seems to explain this. Thanks!
I’m actually planning on making that exact video. Haha! I’ll split it in two (making a backing track and recording yourself) because it might be interesting for a different audience bit I’ll make both. 👍
Dig these type of comparison/contrast videos. I was caught off guard a bit with the Fishman’s (actually liked). Additionally, the P90 has a unique quality, in that it kind of sits between a SC (single coil) and a HB (humbucker). And let’s not forget that wobbly tooth sound 😂🤙☮️
Great episode. For me strat and P90. But for exemple I have a style les Paul junior with P90 neck an hunbucker bridge and I can't find a good hunbucker bridge for matching with the P90.. Any suggestions,? high output, or vintage, or middle? Alnico V, ll? I need your wisdom
Great video mate! The wobble tooth made me chuckle 😉 Anyway, I’m putting a baritone thinline tele together, what pickups would you advice? I’m thinking a Jazzmaster pickup in the neck & a vintage alnico 5 in the bridge, but I’m open to suggestions.
Hi Kris, the best neck pickup - for a Telecaster - would be another tele bridge pickup in the neck position. The same degrees slanted like the actual bridge pickup. This needs routing the wood, well it is quite out of scrope for most of us. But you know, in case you tinker with a DIY tele body, maybe you can do it for lulz. Though based on one guy's video, a tele bridge pickup in neck position would kinda sound like a P90. What would be interesting to handmade a modern ashtray bridge (without side walls), that is so long it extends towards the neck and encaspulates the 2nd bridge pickup in the neck cavity.
@@KrisBarocsi I have no idea. But two tele bridge pickups, those are beasts! The bridge type pickup is not wood mounted, it seems so easy to drill 3 screw holes in the pickguard where pickup hangs if you already have the cavity, and a bit dremeling the plastic. With 500k vol/tone pot and .047uf cap on tone, and of course switch in middle position wired to series?
They all sounded great. It mainly comes down to what kind of music you play. One of them might fit that style a little better. I like the humbucker with nickel cover or P90.
Id say humbucker on Les Paul. Because of the singing vocal like lead tones from Gary Moore and Slash. Tele neck has special place for me too. And special case is Strat neck with Octafuzz and playing around 12th frer.
I find that overall I prefer single coils in general, except for active humbuckers. They usually don't sound as muddy as regular humbuckers. For the bridge I'm more into passive though, so no luck...
Hey, it’s a heavily modified 2000 American Standard. Well, it’s only the body left of the original. Warmoth neck, nitro refinish, Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups.
@@KrisBarocsi Thank you very much teacher. You teach us wonderful things. I am an earthquake survivor in Turkey and I keep my morale high with your videos. Please keep playing the guitar all the time🤘🏼
@@oguzbarlas1900 My thoughts are with you, what a terrible disaster. 💛 We just donated cloths and other things and my wife’s colleagues drive to that region to visit their family. I wish you and your loved ones the best. And of course thanks for the kind words.
@@KrisBarocsi Thank you on behalf of all the people for your good wishes. I don't want to bother you any more. I will get a 2000 model strat's neck pickup as soon as possible😃 It's very enjoyable to listen to this. Thanks again🙏🤘🏼
I might be the only one, but i thought the filtertron was a juicy tone, lot of possible variables too. The hummer is great too. The tele was clean but seems dry to me. I love strats but they can be overrun on comparing.
thats a great comparison video ...my conclusion is its not so much about the pickup its more about the neck of a guitar because the better it feels under your fingers the better you will sound ?
ahh , nothing beats the combination off a good strat neck pu and a overdrive / tubescreamer ( alone or even better , stacked ) pedal if you want the ultimate texas blues sound .
Best clean tone- strat no contest Best non strat clean tones were the p-90 in the red guitar then the covered humbuckers in the semi hollow guitar, tele was also good just not as bright. The les Paul was good with distortion but the P-90 as good if not better. The covered humbucker also very good all around. Just my opinion of what I heard in the video
Thanks for the comment! I’m a huge strat fan too and exclusively played one before I got my first tele. Then I had to admit that I chose the tele over the strat for a neck pickup tone on recordings. It just fits so perfectly in every mix.
#1 Dad!!!! I am going to take the easy way out and say I liked them all but the Filtertrons. Never have cared for the looks or the sounds. Key word, and I know it, subjective!!!! All of the others have their own take so what am I in the mood for? I'm a LP guys so.... My lord I am in love with PJD guitars at this part. God help my bank account. Great job Kris!!!
Thanks a lot Steve. My little boy is my favorite human being so it’s really easy for me to love him. 🤩 I know what you mean with the Filtertrons. They are really different than all other pickups and they can be tricky.
I miss Lipsticks - they are the most underrated PUs imao. It's good to have the choice between different PUs - depending in which mood i am i pick up the guitar and play the stuff that fits my feeling :-)
For me, I cut my teeth playing 80's metal, so beyond a fat neck, high gain tone, can't say I put much inquiry into it...until grunge took over. This led to playing (believe it or not) gospel/funk/r&b, which caused me to reevaluate my neck pickup situation. But even so, I've not put much investigation into it until I recently ran across a video here where a guy had one of those guitars you could instantly switch pickups in & out (and split coils). He essentially did what you did (only clean tones). The pickup that caught my attention--which would've been blasphemous in the 80's for metal players) was none other than the Filtertron. I'm the guy that says I'd rather have a great clean tone (hint funk) than a dirty tone. The Filtertron kept a fullness of the tele (although not as full) & had a pronounced jangle to it. My current goal is to outfit a tele with a neck Filtertron. But I appreciated your review of the Filtertron in all 3 stages (clean, crunch, high gain). It provided SO much more! And yes, I loved the Filtertron's high gain tone...
That's the sweetest- sounding Tele neck pickup I've ever heard. Later, when Kris mentioned it was his favourite, it made sense. We tend to play our favourites with more passion and love than the rest. Guitars are very sensitive and intuitive beings.
For me as a mostly clean player, the P90 followed by filtertron delivers the best neck pickup tone. I do love the Tele sound though. Strat neck pickups always surprise me too. Despite this, I invariably end up playing a humbucker!
Honestly I love the single coils with the high gain. They have this... out of control(?) feel that I prefer over the other types of pickup. It's weird, since they generally are lower output, but always feel like that to me.
Yeah that’s cool about them! It’s probably because they’re not as compressed as humbuckers.
I prefer lower output for distortion
S
Well I have my first amp with gain and am looking forward to running my Tele through it But have been toying with the idea of putting something different in the neck but not in a rush I have vintage P90's a Ttop HB a Filtertron and a soap bar so plenty of choice's mostly vintage so doing a little research
@@paulcowart3174 to each their own :p you'd have to pry my tele's single coil neck pickup from my cold dead hands.
P90 my favorite!
Suggestion for the second episode: strat neck rails style single coil sized humbucker. It has something of its own.
Great vid! P90 all the way for me. Just love them in the neck, clean and high gain.
P90 rules the neck!
Searching for a matched neck pickup. I like tweaking my guitars myself. I upgraded my Squirt vintage vibe Telecaster with a 4 way switch / Oak Grigsby with supposed matching 50's era pickups. I like the bridge not the neck pickup. My two favorite pickups I listened to are Tele and P-90.
As always, thanks for sharing your time and all that goes into making these videos.
Nathan
My favourite by far is the Tele one. It's the main one I use for my clean big reverb tones and it is just superb. The active one was surprisingly good tho!
Really love P90s in the neck, I’m about to pair a soapbar neck with a PAF bridge and I think that’ll be my ultimate guitar
Great combo :)
So, how it went?
@@smalljohn2238 hahaha i literally want to have this aswell, i do have the dimarzio single coil in the bridge and its really good and loud
@@SergeiVlassov I just recently did it and it wokrs great, I especially love mixing both PUs asynchronous.
Tele. Do I need to say more? Okay… I do love the P90. The real surprise though was the active. I did like it a lot. Maybe too much.
Tele sound is one of my fav too.. but strat tone is the legend everyone love.
Humbucker or P90 in a 335 is pure gold.
I've recently come across your channel, what a score! I've been thoroughly informed with your content and truly appreciate your effort. Good work!
Welcome aboard! Dude that's awesome to hear. Enjoy the channel!
That was so wholesome when your kid walked in 😃 Nice comparison video, I’m forever on the lookout for the right neck pickup for my Les Paul that doesn’t sound muddy and has enough punch to it.
Excellent video Kris! Thanks for the comparison.
The neck tone of your Tele is exactly what I want from mine. Which pickup specifically is in the neck of your Tele? I'd also like to know the name of the riff you start playing at 2:55. Cheers!
Thanks, Kris! Also it would be nice to add Wide Range pickups to the 2nd episode.
I use tele with custom built neck and SD 1/4 pound bridge. Also PRS /w 85/15s and Jamstik /w ARB Punchers - both very bright with coil splits.
Very like feel and sound of Filtertron in neck position. Very clear and open.
It's the Tele neck for me as well. I love the smooth rich tones.
I bought a Vintage V6 Icon, sounds very good, All Wilkinson pickups, with a Hambucker in the back and two singlecoils in middle and neck. The "strat.pickups" singelcoil has different hights on the stubbs. But the "stubbs" does not have any grove / slit for a scruvdriver. Is it anything I should adjust in any way, or not? I never seen single coil with so different hight on any other guitar. Please edvice?
Hmmm strange My Vintage LP is pretty much like a regular one
03:21 I can't with that "tubular" sound of single coils, so scooped so harsh. I prefer humbucker in neck, more rounded sound.
Any way to improve single coil sound in neck?
I really like my Gibson SG's P90s and the Hot Rails in my Framus Diablo. But then also the Texas Specials in my Strat has a great sound!
Strat neck pickup high gain... dial the tone back?
Great pickup comparison. Tele neck pickup is my favorite but I hear good sounds out of all of them. I just prefer my tele neck pickup over the rest.
Thanks Kris
Take care
. . . how's about a rundown of pickups comparing Alnico 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's, and let's not forget some good ceramics as well !!!!!
Depends on what tone you need for the project. Why you can never have enough guitars and basses! That's my story and I am sticking to it! 😊👍
Samson Simpson, I stick by my story!
Tele for me too but I also love the P90 pickup in my LP Special. Great playing Kris!
I really liked the tele, P90, strat, active humbucker and filtertron. Although, I think your tele neck pickup is voiced more like a broadcaster neck pickup than a tele neck pickup. Also, the filtertron sounded a bit lo-fi ... my filtertron neck pickup sounds brighter in my Gretsch. Great video for sure. Thank you.
P90 in a Tele gives me a great tone, my other guitars don't have, especially in the Middle position, I put a humbucker sized P90 in my SG for same reason. The P90 is great for keeping volume level balanced with the humbucker.
What maker HB-sized P90 do you use?
Tom Anderson has a nice one@@SergeiVlassov
Each pickup is unique. But some of them are having details in common. Telecaster's neck pu is something really special with a different sound philosophy from others. Vote for telecaster!
I agree!
Tele neck is magic, but you have to find the right one, which can take some searching. I stay on the neck pickup on my Tele 80% of the time.
The sound of the Tele is so fun, and dirty and alive. I love it!
I’ve played for a very long time. No matter what guitar I play, I’ve never had any issues with any bridge humbucker. But the neck pickup that suites me was elusive. Until I discovered the tele neck pickup. Probably the most versatile pickup I know of
It's got the funk
god that p90 dirty tone just hits all the right spots in my brain
Great overview, thanks! I think, to a large extent, the guitar sort of dictates the pick-up but of course there are no rulz! I am happy with the original humbuckers in my 1968 LP Custom - the neck is great clean for lines, I tend to use the middle position for chordal stuff. P90 neck in my Casino & Duesenberg - both great with the semi-acoustic guitars, also in my Combinata - fatter vibe in the solid body - P90s have been a recent discovery for me and I really like them. Filtertrons in my solid Gretsch - perfect for early Beatlish stuff. Strat neck is fine for me, don't own a Tele but impressed with your intro - great sound!
Great video! I came here wanting to put a p90 in my tele and ended up loving the tele sound over p90. Got any suggestions on tele pickups? Lollar, Ron Ellis, stock fender, etc???
Jazzmasters with vintage style pickups have great neck tone.
The staccato riffs you were playing didn't show off the chime and jangle of the filtertron
Great video Kris, you should make a follow up for bridge pickups!
Tele and specifically low output humbucker are my 2 favorite pickups. Also definitely would like to hear those other pickups in a future video!
Man, the more I watch your videos, the more I like them. always informative and fun. And the playing parts !!! They are great. You make me jealous. I kinda see how the poor Guillaume feels when you shoot for Thomann :-)
And BTW, these PJD guitars sound very good. I would love to try one.
Ahh man, thanks so much!! 🙌 G has nothing to worry about when making videos together, he developed such a tasty style, I love listening to his playing. And the jams are simply awesome fun. 🤩
I have grown fond of P90 pickups, I have a Lambertones Ristretto P90 in the neck of my custom build right now. I also like the Filtertron and Tele pickups, this was a really good video!
I'm primarily a Strat and LP user so it's Strat single coils and humbuckers. In the bridge, I'm almost exclusively humbuckers with a few Strats having Strat single bridges.
I recently have started playing with Telecasters. I have two that have very different pups installed. One is a HH, while the other is a stacked SSS with a Tele neck and bridge and a Strat middle. I'm building a third Tele with a normal Tele neck and bridge pups.
what model is that Harley Benton and PJD?
Good video buddy. Love the Silver Harley Benton guitar. With the roasted maple neck. Thanks man 😎👍👌💯🎸🎸. Big Fan of EMG pickups!!
Quick question. I have a Gibson les Paul standard, and I know P90 are the best pickups for the neck because it provides the most warmth and roundness. So my question is, what p90 pickup is the warmest and roundest? Is it this one that you use? Or so you recommend another. A lot say the Seymour Duncan Antiques but I find it too rough for the neck, more like a bridge pickup.
the p90 and the fluence okay and the bare knuckle. Outstanding review Kris.
I have been loving my Charlie Christian in the neck of my telecaster. Everything from jazz to country.
well very hard to chose one 🙉🙉🙉 i think for my personal taste Filtertron in clean (hmmm is that a Ebony fretboard? 🤔 ) then the Blond Tele Neck , and Fluence were a delight 😱 , in crunch maybe Tele , strat and p90 . High gain for me is the les paul with uncovered humbuckers is the winner ( with all their ingredients that help ) Great video ! Episode 2 is a must 😃👍
Would be nice to see a Dimarzio Bluesbucker in the neck position.
Watching this video I stick to my preferences, namely single coils.
I have a Stratocaster whose neck pickup I like, but the telecaster's is really good, the P90's too.
I have a Duesenberg Caribou with p90 and it's superb.
On the other hand, I am impressed by the fishman, whose sound range is strongly reminiscent of either the p90 or the telecaster neck, superb for me who was only thinking of vintage humbuckers.
Bravo for this very informative video.
for a Tele. a good mini-humbucker with coil split option. a coil-split mini sounds very close to a "trad" Tele neck pup when in the neck of a Tele. so you get to keep the original sound for Tele "middle", but get all the focused beef of a mini when u want it.
for Les Paul. well, p90 of course.
A good Tele neck pickup is sooo nice... I like a Broadcaster style with some crunch.
And a P90 - I've got Lindy Fralin P90s in my LP DC Special and they are just perfect for crunch and drive ala Who Live at Leeds.
I agree 100%! 👍
Hi Kris, could you please show us how to wax pot a microphonic pickup?
Really cool demo. Surprising results for me. I always think of myself as a “Strat guy,” and I hated teles for 40 years, but I probably preferred the Tele here, and then the P90, and then maybe the Strat? Fortunately, I have all three of those guitar types now, but I may be spending more time with the Tele going forward. Weird, also, how so many people say the Tele neck pickup is that guitar’s weak point. But I can’t really find a use for the bridge and live on neck and middle with that guitar.
Yeah I really don’t understand why some people complain about the tele neck pu. It’s one of the best sounding and versatile neck pickups. The only thing I can think of is that they had a bad experience with a specific weak tele neck pu once and they assume all are bad. 🤷♂️
@@KrisBarocsi Maybe. Whatever the reason, it's a sad myth. I just finished playing some Pearl Jam on my Nash tele (with Lollars) and now i'm GASsing and thinking about making a partscaster with those 51 Nocaster pickups.... But, wondering if the result would be different enough from what i have to make it worthwhile....
You're the tops, Kris. Always looking forward to your next video.
Are all Filtertrons created the same or are some better?
I have been listening to GA-20 a lot recently because I want a simple (guitar,amp and maybe a pedal) setup with a gritty bluesy sound. Opinions welcome.
For me, neck pick up on strat is still my fav for single coil. On the brigde is Tele 😄
But, I like the sound on that Fishman
Just curious how a Minihumbucker will fit on Tele, will wait to see you review it 🙏
I've been waiting for this video all my life.
P90 is the best unique sounds for a neck pickup then the tele single coiled. Both cut through well.
I would have to go with the L P neck its fat clean and sassy that's my favorite. Then p 90s. Then tele. Great video..your playing is insanely good. 2thumbs up.
Thanks so much James! That’s a really good pickup selection you got there. :)
I love hearing the pick contact sound on the string.
Wow that was a nice demo the clean mode really distinguishes them apart. I thought the filtertron only sounds very good clean. The p90 really out shined the others. Thanks
My ears are always going to prefer Teles (both in neck and bridge), especially in a band mix. I also really love a nice Jazzmaster neck tone - that would be the one thing I'd like to see included in this comparison. Of course I'm waiting on parts for an offset Tele routed for a Jazzmaster pickup in the neck, so I'll find out for myself eventually.
Lovely to see your boys wobbly tooth moment, thank you for sharing. We were just as excited with my kids wobbly teeth too.
Thanks! 😆 Yeah this was his first tooth. Since then he lost already two. It’s insane how fast it can go. And such a sweet moment in life.
Recently I saw a video that highly touted the mini humbucker for the neck pickup...I'd love to see it in comparison to others, as I'm considering purchasing one.
Thx..!!
Whats the neck pickup you have in that strat?
They all sound great! I would pick a Humbucker with split Option.
Thanks for all the good videos. I think some of your guitars are tuned down a semitone - less tension = easier to play?
Hi Kris! Please help! :D Is the Gretsch Filtertron compatible with fender pickups? As in if they have phase issues in middle position of the tele. Thank tou
Hey, I never tried it, sorry. But it’s not an issue even if they are out of phase in the middle position. Then you just swap the two cables of one of thr pickups (thrn black is hot and white goes to ground) and tadaaa, they are in phase again.
What’s the exact p90 pickup you used? Can somebody help me out ❤
Hey man, it’s a Bare Knuckle Blue Note p90 ( or Blue something… or something very similar 😂). It sounds great, nice and chimey.
What is the pickup you have in the neck of your tele? Sounds wonderful.
Handwound Nocaster he says in the video about his tele.
Same with bridges?
I love the p90s and single coils.. i got a brent mason tele, it has a mini humbucker in the neck and it sounds 🔥 ..so good, especialy for jazz..hell the guitar as a whole is 🔥 imo, love it.
Hey Kris, as someone who doesnt know much about pickups, ive come to the conclusion that i really dont like humbuckers anymore. Ive always had humbuckers on my guitars for years until i got a G&L Tribute S-500 that I absolutely adore its tone and fell in love with single coils. now my question for u is, would replacing my stock pickups in my PRS SE 24 Custom with something like a p90 get me in a similar single coil type of ballpark? I know the S-500 has the strat 3 pickup configuration and the PRS would have a completely different positioning on its 2 pickups, but if can get closer in tone to my S-500 on my PRS I would be very happy. I just cant stand the tone of the stock pickups in my PRS and i would prefer to find a new set up pickups rather than selling it or hold onto it and let it collect dust. Its a beautiful guitar. That PRS does have coil spitting which gets me closer to the sound that i want but its still too mid focused. Not sure if p90s would be any better or not since i have never tried them before. I should also note that i play clean most of the time, so a good clean tone is my biggest priority. The PRS stock pickups sound fantastic with dirt, but sound VERY muddy clean. Maybe a pickup height adjustment might make an improvement? If anyone has any suggestions for replacement pickups i am all ears. Idk if u have a video posted on this topic or not, but would u possibly make a new pickup video on clean tones?
There are plenty of humbucker sized P90s which should do the trick for you and some have alnico slugs rather than the traditional magnetic bar which makes them sound more Strat like. A GFS Surf 90 comes to mind
Actually they all sounded good, though somewhat different. Surprising for me, I've got lots of guitars, but none with a FilterTron, and this one really stuck out in this test, even in high gain mode.
EMG 89 neck & middle position pups at same time alternating with neck only ❤ and I love P90s
Hey Kris, great vid as always! Loved the short surprise 🙂👍
I've never played a Tele before but in this comparison it almost sounded the best on both clean & crunch but then I heard the Fishman ...WOW
Great upgrade you did to that guitar ! 👍🤘
Köszi Attila! I gotta say I really enjoy playing Sparkle with the Fishmans. It was a good choice I think.
@@KrisBarocsi can you give us the reference of these Fishman? Realty impressed by them. Thanks!
Chris, could you please teach how youd record videos of you pplaying (even better with a backing track) recording with a camera/phone but with the sound recording it separately on your DAW? Nobody else seems to explain this. Thanks!
I’m actually planning on making that exact video. Haha! I’ll split it in two (making a backing track and recording yourself) because it might be interesting for a different audience bit I’ll make both. 👍
@@KrisBarocsi that would be awesome
Dig these type of comparison/contrast videos. I was caught off guard a bit with the Fishman’s (actually liked). Additionally, the P90 has a unique quality, in that it kind of sits between a SC (single coil) and a HB (humbucker).
And let’s not forget that wobbly tooth sound 😂🤙☮️
Strat with Kinman noiseless neck pickup - stacked humbucker with full, rich tone, my favorite.
A bit late to the party, but AWESOME video!! Gotta love a Tele neck pickup. :)
You’re never too late buddy! 😅 And yes, tele neck pu is magical. 🔥
Great episode. For me strat and P90. But for exemple I have a style les Paul junior with P90 neck an hunbucker bridge and I can't find a good hunbucker bridge for matching with the P90.. Any suggestions,? high output, or vintage, or middle? Alnico V, ll? I need your wisdom
Alnico VIII?
@@MaartenAnna perhaps is more for high gain not?
@@macauley70 Yeah, I think it is. Take a look a Daryl Braun guitar, he did an episode on the different types of magnets, including tone examples.
I liked the tele and active pickups the most.
Great video mate! The wobble tooth made me chuckle 😉
Anyway, I’m putting a baritone thinline tele together, what pickups would you advice?
I’m thinking a Jazzmaster pickup in the neck & a vintage alnico 5 in the bridge, but I’m open to suggestions.
By the way that PJD Elite guitar looks & sounds awesome, though I’m more of a strat/tele guy myself.
I have a supro gold foil in my tele. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
Awesome! I really should try gold foil pickups someday. I have the feeling I’d love it.
Good call to keep the guest cameo. Cute, unscripted reality is appreciated.
Slight crunch I preferred LP, clean I preferred Tele or p90. That's why I have partial splits on my humbuckers tho I guess
Hi Kris, the best neck pickup - for a Telecaster - would be another tele bridge pickup in the neck position. The same degrees slanted like the actual bridge pickup. This needs routing the wood, well it is quite out of scrope for most of us. But you know, in case you tinker with a DIY tele body, maybe you can do it for lulz. Though based on one guy's video, a tele bridge pickup in neck position would kinda sound like a P90. What would be interesting to handmade a modern ashtray bridge (without side walls), that is so long it extends towards the neck and encaspulates the 2nd bridge pickup in the neck cavity.
Ohh gosh, that sounds fun but when should I have time for something like that? 😂
@@KrisBarocsi I have no idea. But two tele bridge pickups, those are beasts! The bridge type pickup is not wood mounted, it seems so easy to drill 3 screw holes in the pickguard where pickup hangs if you already have the cavity, and a bit dremeling the plastic. With 500k vol/tone pot and .047uf cap on tone, and of course switch in middle position wired to series?
I have a Japanese LP with in house ceramic PAF, It strikes me as part PAF part P90.
They all sounded great. It mainly comes down to what kind of music you play. One of them might fit that style a little better. I like the humbucker with nickel cover or P90.
Id say humbucker on Les Paul. Because of the singing vocal like lead tones from Gary Moore and Slash.
Tele neck has special place for me too. And special case is Strat neck with Octafuzz and playing around 12th frer.
100% my man! 💪
I find that overall I prefer single coils in general, except for active humbuckers. They usually don't sound as muddy as regular humbuckers. For the bridge I'm more into passive though, so no luck...
Tele and Strat of course! thank you very much!
Tasty playing again. I'm a Strat guy and a one guitar guy so...Strat. But I like the sound of all sorts of guitars.
What models strat pls pls plssss🙏
Hey, it’s a heavily modified 2000 American Standard. Well, it’s only the body left of the original. Warmoth neck, nitro refinish, Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups.
@@KrisBarocsi Thank you very much teacher. You teach us wonderful things. I am an earthquake survivor in Turkey and I keep my morale high with your videos. Please keep playing the guitar all the time🤘🏼
@@oguzbarlas1900 My thoughts are with you, what a terrible disaster. 💛
We just donated cloths and other things and my wife’s colleagues drive to that region to visit their family. I wish you and your loved ones the best. And of course thanks for the kind words.
@@KrisBarocsi Thank you on behalf of all the people for your good wishes. I don't want to bother you any more. I will get a 2000 model strat's neck pickup as soon as possible😃 It's very enjoyable to listen to this. Thanks again🙏🤘🏼
I've been wondering about this for 2 weeks as I have been in the market for a neck pickup. Thanks
Perfect timing then, isn’t it? 😆🔥
@@KrisBarocsi Yup, still have to choose between a hot single coil or a humbucker but I'm really leaning towards the YJM fury or something.
I might be the only one, but i thought the filtertron was a juicy tone, lot of possible variables too. The hummer is great too. The tele was clean but seems dry to me. I love strats but they can be overrun on comparing.
What strings do you use on your CS Tele? I mean brand aand gauge. Thank you Kris
Hey, Fender Vintage Nickel 10-46. I love them on this guitar. Cheers
@@KrisBarocsi oh nice!!! I’m
Ordering them big time!
thats a great comparison video ...my conclusion is its not so much about the pickup its more about the neck of a guitar because the better it feels under your fingers the better you will sound ?
Absolutely true! The neck is as important as anything else on a guitar.
ahh , nothing beats the combination off a good strat neck pu and a overdrive / tubescreamer ( alone or even better , stacked ) pedal if you want the ultimate texas blues sound .
Tele/strat both my favorite for different things, then p90
Best clean tone- strat no contest
Best non strat clean tones were the p-90 in the red guitar then the covered humbuckers in the semi hollow guitar, tele was also good just not as bright. The les Paul was good with distortion but the P-90 as good if not better.
The covered humbucker also very good all around. Just my opinion of what I heard in the video
Thanks for the comment dude! Digging your selection. 🙌
I'm a stratocaster fan (I have 7 of it) but I must admit that Tele neck pickup is It is well above all the others!
Thanks for the comment! I’m a huge strat fan too and exclusively played one before I got my first tele. Then I had to admit that I chose the tele over the strat for a neck pickup tone on recordings. It just fits so perfectly in every mix.
@@KrisBarocsi actually that Tele really sounds good... very good!
Great videos, Kris!
Thanks so much!!
#1 Dad!!!!
I am going to take the easy way out and say I liked them all but the Filtertrons. Never have cared for the looks or the sounds. Key word, and I know it, subjective!!!! All of the others have their own take so what am I in the mood for? I'm a LP guys so.... My lord I am in love with PJD guitars at this part. God help my bank account. Great job Kris!!!
Thanks a lot Steve. My little boy is my favorite human being so it’s really easy for me to love him. 🤩
I know what you mean with the Filtertrons. They are really different than all other pickups and they can be tricky.
I miss Lipsticks - they are the most underrated PUs imao.
It's good to have the choice between different PUs - depending in which mood i am i pick up the guitar and play the stuff that fits my feeling :-)
For me, I cut my teeth playing 80's metal, so beyond a fat neck, high gain tone, can't say I put much inquiry into it...until grunge took over. This led to playing (believe it or not) gospel/funk/r&b, which caused me to reevaluate my neck pickup situation. But even so, I've not put much investigation into it until I recently ran across a video here where a guy had one of those guitars you could instantly switch pickups in & out (and split coils). He essentially did what you did (only clean tones). The pickup that caught my attention--which would've been blasphemous in the 80's for metal players) was none other than the Filtertron. I'm the guy that says I'd rather have a great clean tone (hint funk) than a dirty tone. The Filtertron kept a fullness of the tele (although not as full) & had a pronounced jangle to it. My current goal is to outfit a tele with a neck Filtertron. But I appreciated your review of the Filtertron in all 3 stages (clean, crunch, high gain). It provided SO much more! And yes, I loved the Filtertron's high gain tone...
Supposedly Tom Morello used his Tele neck pickup for all the heavy stuff So Tele neck pup into a Marshall JCM
Jazzmaster is my second favorite. First is Tele of course.