Amalfitano Pickups Glendale Model

Single coil / non reverse wound / neck pickup has chrome cover / bridge pickup is raised flush mounted

Fender Telecaster / alder body maple neck / glendale bridge and saddles

I recently installed this set in an alder body maple neck tele with Glendale hardware throughout and after a month of live shows and using it on a record project, I wanted to share my thoughts about this set.

The sound is srtong and well defined with all of the classic tele tones. There is no harshness and over brightness that many other models suffer from. The unmistakable twang, bite and quack is there with no hint of the compressed sound that seems to be prevelent with so many after market tele pcikups. It???s a bit stronger than the early 50???s designs but the increased output doesn???t darken the sound which feels just right no matter what your playing.

Chording and fingerstyle come through nice and clear with a real warmth and articulation as the notes blend together. The bridge pickup displays a responsiveness and definition when playing fills or soloing that is just right. One of the cool things about the bridge pickup is it seems to give you a wider range of usable settings on the amp.

Usually, I have to watch the highs which can get harsh quickly but this bridge pickup doesn???t seem to mind a little more high end cranked in. This allows it to cut a little more than I???ve been used to with other designs and the reaction has been pretty amazing. This bridge pickup lets enough low end and mids in to round out the sound but not enough to muddy it up and it has never squealled, even with my overdrives on and amp cranked.

I use both Zen Drive models with a Keeley Katana boost and a Barber Tone Press and the pickups react perfectly with the pedals through some custom tube amps.. I haven???t said a lot about the neck pickup because about 90% of what I play is on the bridge but the neck pickup is perfectly balanced with the bridge and the tone is wonderful. This is a neck pickup you can use for soloing and sounds great in the middle position too. Dale has told me these are NOT reversed wound so the tone is the same in the middle position and I have not experienced any increase in noise on the live show. Actually, these pickups are about as dead quiet as it gets for single coils. I thought this set was going to sound great in the studio and it did. Both artist and engineer had commented on how great the guitar sounded which is always a concern deciding what instrument will sound best for a project.

All in all, this is the best sounding classic tele set I have ever used and I???ve been through just about every concievable combination. I have a SD (Stephends Design) Black Guard 51 in another tele that nails the 50???s sound which is about the only thing the Glendale set wasn???t intended to duplicate, but from the classic 60???s to now, this set is amazing. In all the years and countless pickups I???ve gone through, this is by far, the most impressive sounding set. They are extremely well made (hand wound to Dale???s spec???s) by Jerry Amalfatano of Amalfitano Pickups in Keller, TX. This set gives me the very best of the classic telecaster tones and a lot more.

Before I bought this set, I had heard some great things about Amalfitano pickups so when I found out Dale was working with Jerry to develop this model, I figured they had to be good. I didn't expect them to be this good! Very Highly Recommended.