We’re asked weekly what our recommendations on three-pickup Nashville Tele setups are. The thing about a Nashville Telecaster is that it’s meant to be as versatile as possible, and not necessarily to have all three pickups match volume and output perfectly.
There’s no real rule for a specific set we make for a Nashville style, three-pickup Telecaster, but we have a few pairing suggestions that may help you.
Set One:
• Blonde Middle Position Flat Pole Pickup
This set will give you more of a vintage Telecaster pickup sound with a nice late 50s Strat pickup for the middle position. All three pickups have outputs that work well together, and they all have a similar scooped midrange.
Set Two:
• Special Strat Middle Position Flat Pole OR Sixty-Four Middle Position Flat Pole Pickup
Although the Special Strat and Tele pickups are actually very different in design, they will complement each other nicely. The feel and output will be similar, as will the midrange emphasis in both.
The alternative Sixty-Four pickup for the middle position will be more dynamic, with a wider frequency response than the Special S. You’ll notice that positions two and four on a five-way switch will have more of a Strat quack with the Sixty-Four in the middle than the Specials.
The bridge and middle position pickups from this second set suggestion will also pair nicely with a full-size humbucker like our Imperial, Mini-Humbucker, or Firebird in the neck. You’ll also be able to select a four-conductor lead wire, which will give you more wiring options for hum canceling combinations.
Speaking of hum canceling…
Depending on which pickup combinations you’d like to be hum canceling, we may need to build a custom set.
Our three-piece sets (like Strats) will have an RWRP middle position pickup for hum canceling in positions two and four with a five-way switch. The two and four positions are either the neck and middle pickup, or middle and bridge pickups run together in parallel. Our two-piece pickup sets (like Teles or P-90s) will have a bridge pickup that’s RWRP from the neck — these are meant to be used with a three-way switch. The second position on that three-way switch will be the neck and bridge pickups run in parallel.
You’ll need to determine which combinations you would like to be hum canceling for your set with a five-way switch. If you want the typical Strat five-way switching setup, we’ll need to make you a special non-RWRP Tele bridge pickup. Then, you can use the normal neck and middle position Strat pickups with your set or with any of our other single-coil neck pickups.
Others players might want unique configurations. For instance, if you want the neck and middle pickups to be hum canceling with the Tele bridge pickup, you’d need to order the stock Tele neck pickup. That’d let you use either the neck or bridge pickup for the middle position on the guitar.
This setup would mean that the neck and middle positions pickups would be non-RWRP, and the Tele bridge pickup would be RWRP. In other words, the neck combined with the bridge pickup, and the middle position pickup combined with the bridge pickup will be hum canceling, but the neck and middle position pickup combined will not.
Without getting too complicated about the numerous options and configurations, these recommendations should offer a useful starting point. But the possibilities are virtually limitless.
As always, if you have any other questions, please feel free to email info@lollarguitars.com for any assistance. We’re here to help.