Sheptone Telecaster 3 pickup setup

3 Single Coil passives

Bridge: Blackguard style (flat-pole) Tele bridge pickup w/standard resistance of ~7.5K.

Middle: Alnico V Strat pickup staggered pole around 6.3-6.5K (reverse wound)

Neck: Tele neck pickup 6.8K w/ chromed metal cover

This was a special non-standard order, not many 3 pickup Teles. I acquired a 1997 Tele Plus which had the 3 original Gold Lace sensor pickups installed in it. I love conventional Tele tone, and without any reservations I'm telling you the Lace Sensors don't cut it. They are glassy, shrill and harsh. I had to do something or hang the guitar on the wall as an expensive deco piece.

The output is slightly higher than stock Tele pickups I have on another American Tele. I use this guitar with a 59 Bassman LTD Reissue and also use Barber compression, Barber LTD and Ibanez AD9 delay. Previously with the stock pickups the tone adjustment went from mud to harshness, nothing in between. Basically stunk. With these pickups the tone control actually works, giving me complete control over an unending variety of sounds. If you're not familiar with the Tele Plus wiring, it's a 5 way switch with a mini-toggle which gives you all the Strat pickup configurations, plus neck and bridge only for True Tele combination, and lastly a combination of all 3 pickups at once. The Sheptones are well balanced and clear at each position I select, the neck is warm full Tele jazztones, the 3 middle switch positions give very convincing Strat tones (I know, I have a Strat to compare to). Sultans of Swing, anyone? Also, the 2 Tele combination is full sounding with some bite, and the bridge by itself is finally the way Alan Jackson's guitar player likes it! El Twango! Not thin or ear piercing, but instead full rich snap. Tele Tone. You Tele guys know what I mean. I play country and alot of classic rock. This thing now handles it all beautifully. Also handles overdrive smoothly. Check out the Sheptone website sound demos for Tele. That's what I'm getting with these pickups. There is a little 60 cycle hum, but we all know that's common with single coils so how can I complain, and they quiet down as soon as I step away from the amp about 3 feet. Yes, I've tried Fender SCN's before, sorry but they fall a couple feet short of twang territory. Close but not the same. As for the Gold Lace Sensors, I think they fall a few yards short.

Who steals a pickup?
I've played for 37 years, I cut my teeth on John Fogerty stuff in 1970 when I was 15. I still love listening to the guy.

When I realized I needed to toss the Lace Sensors, I looked at Kinmans and Fralins, both excellent pickup builders in my opinion, and Kinman even has a prewired 3 pickup Tele assembly, which looked tempting. But I had also been attracted to Sheptone pickups, discovering them by accident one day while on youtube. This is the guy on youtube who plays the 2 x 4 with one of his pickups on it. Clever marketing idea, gets your attention. Anyway I checked his website, was impressed by the Telecaster sound demos and also impressed by the reasonable price. I contacted him, giving him an overview of my crappy pickup dilemma, and he emailed me back within minutes. I was impressed! He said he felt that he could help me out, and after a few back and forth emails that afternoon, we agreed on a 3 pickup configuration that would suit my guitar perfectly, and the price he quoted me was great. He graciously answered all my questions and concerns I had, even the stupid ones, and was happy to help me figure out just what I needed to make this project successful. The guy treats his customers right and not everyone does that anymore, it says a lot! I have to give a 10 on these pickups, for both the sound and the service. Delivery took about a week, and when I told him I wasn't sure if I wanted white or mint green for my middle Strat pickup cover, he sent me one of each so I could put them both on the guitar and decide that way. The whole deal was an overall positive experience.