The Nashville Tele Problem
Nashville Telecasters are an interesting hybrid of two of the most popular guitar styles out there. Nashville Teles offer a Telecaster body and feel, and Stratocaster pickup layout. By adding a middle pickup in between the Neck and Bridge pickups of a Telecaster, you can get more of that traditional Strat ‘Quack’ out of your Telecaster.
Adding a Middle Pickup might seem like an easy modification to do, but be forewarned: it’s not that simple. There’s a problem with pickup polarity that I’m calling the “Nashville Tele Problem’. Single Coil pickups have two critical aspects to their pickup polarity: Coil Direction and Magnetic Orientation. For more information on this subject, check out our article on pickup polarity here.
The pickups in a Telecaster feature a standard wound Bridge, and a Reverse-Wound, Reverse-Polarity (RW/RP) Neck. See below for an illustration:
One can argue that these two pickups are in the best possible situation: they are In-Phase and Hum-Cancelling. For more information on how Humbuckers work, check out our article on that here.
The Nashville Tele Problem:
Now, let’s add a pickup in the middle of them. For a thought experiment, I’m just going to add a random polarity Strat pickup. Adding this pickup creates a new issue: We are out of phase in Position 4 (Middle & Neck). If we reverse the Strats’ pickup coil direction and magnetic orientation, we will be out of phase in Position 2 (Middle & Bridge). The idea here is that just putting a pickup in between can cause a few issues.
As a reminder, reversing the coil direction of one pickup will make the pickup out of phase with another of the same magnetic orientation. To put it back in phase, you need to reverse the magnetic orientation as well. See below for an illustration:
Simply reversing the leads in the control cavity does not solve this issue. Doing so creates a few other issues: Single Coil pickups will have ‘Hot’ magnets and covers, and will hum and buzz when touched.
Best Case Scenario:
The best-case scenario is to have the same polarity as your Bridge or Neck. You will at least be in phase, but not hum canceling. Take a look at the illustration below – here we are putting in a standard polarity Reverse Middle Strat Pickup in between:
Keep in mind, there are players that actually like this setup. If you use one of our Blender Pots, you can still achieve Hum Cancelling in the Bridge and Neck. So, dealer’s choice!
The Real Solution:
The real solution to the Nashville Tele Problem involves reversing the phase of one of the Telecaster’s original pickups. If you made the Neck the same polarity as the Bridge, you could put a RW / RP pickup in between. You’ll then have Hum-Canceling and correct phase in the entire guitar.
To reverse the phase of one of your pickups, it will need to be wound and magnetized opposite of what it is currently. This operation is time-consuming and expensive, so it’s worth looking at purchasing a calibrated set of pickups instead.
At Fralin Pickups, we make customized sets for our customers all the time. It’s a lot easier to do it when we make the pickups, not reverse them after they are wound and magnetized. If you are looking at converting your Telecaster into a Nashville Tele, take a look at our Telecaster Pickups and Stratocaster Pickups. You can select a Set of Telecaster Pickups and a Single Strat pickup and use the ’Order Notes’ field on the checkout screen to request a Nashville Polarity. We will make them customized for you – free of charge.
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With that wiring, you end up losing the “original” middle position (N+B). I made a different wiring in a partscaster strat that have a sepparate push switch that engages the neck pickup regardless of the pup selector (Gilmour uses something like this in his black strat). So, when in bridge position, I can engage the switch and have the telecaster middle position, in phase and hum cancelling. Of course, position 4 has a little bit of hum, but you can’t have everything XD
I built a Nashville tele with SD la brea pickup set and a spare Strat middle pickup. It turns out the 2 and 4 positions have a significant volume drop. I’m wondering if it’s anything to do with this problem.
Hey Simon, that’s kind of a side effect of Parallel Wiring. If you are out of phase, you’ll notice a super thin and hollow tone, but if not, as it turns out, a volume drop is a side-effect of Strats and Teles in Parallel wiring.
This is quite insightful. Im building a guitar in Nashville style, but want to keep (via p/p pot or switch) the Bridge+Neck of the classic Tele. The way to go would be having S-N-N and give up the hum cancel of position 2?
Thanks for the help!
This would work!
Would you recommend replacing one of the pickups with a single coil sized humbucker or P-90? I thought it may be a cool mod, but which pickup would you replace? Would the middle be a good location?
Sure! I don’t see why not. The Bridge position might be a good place to get some thicker tones and more bite out of.
I have pro 2 telecaster and have all ready up graded the pickups to Fralin stock pickups and would like to make it in to a Nashville telecaster can you suggest a proper middle pick up to do this.
Hey John, the Vintage Hot will be the perfect companion for our Stock Tele (Now re-named Vintage Hot Tele). Also, check out this article here regarding adding a middle pickup to a Tele set: The Nashville Tele Problem
I am interested in a set of your pickups to go into my Nashville Tele?
Give us a call or email us at [email protected] if you need help deciding! We’re happy to help talk through your tone to help you find the perfect set.
Does Gerherd #1 solution work ? ok then. 2nd comment; yes don’t wish to destroy or alter the original sound; even leaving the humbucker alone by itself ; on the 5 way is also an option. . can you switch in all 3 or; will it hum ? or again; in phase with the next to have the middle and next the same polarity
Did Gerherd plan work ? switch in middle alone and mid/neck can be switched ?
just get a middle pickup with the same polarity/orientation as the neck pickup. then wire your bridge pickup to the middle of your 5 way. 2 an 4 position work as planned.
Does it get more complicated with a humbucker pickup in the middle? Or can it work? I love the sound of my existing Tele pickups and to replace them would defeat the purpose.
I bought a Nashville tele a few months ago because like the out of phase Strat sound but very disappointed. Like dead sounding lack of power. Any ideas>
It sounds like someone installed a middle Strat pickup in between two Tele Pickups causing one out of phase tone as described in the article above. Do all pickups have lack of power? That would indicate that there’s something else wrong with your guitar, and it’s worth taking to a luthier to check out.
Hi Tyler, I’m building a Nashville deluxe using the Dimarzio area T bridge(418) and neck(417) with a Dual Sound (dp101) in the middle. The idea is to go with the standard strat wiring incorporating the Gilmore mod also including the mini toggle for the dual sound. The idea being that it preserves classic telecaster functionality with strat switching and single coil capabilities and also creates the potential to isolate the center pickup for whatever creative reason. 500k pots with resistors on the neck and bridge pickups. Could you crack a beer and explain to me where this idea is going to go wrong?
I just ordered the Split blade tele bridge, split blade strat middle and sunbucker neck…I’m going for the Brent Mason setup…already bought the control plate…I hope these are wound to accept it…..Lindy and I talked for a long time.
I have a Nashville Tele. Want to upgrade the stock pickups. Do mostly old RR and a bit of blues. What do you recommend for pickups and do you recommend any rewiring and or pot changes??
Hey Jan,
I would take a look at our Blues Special® Tele pickups for the style of music you play. If you want a complete re-wire with new parts, check out our Pre-Wired Customizable Telecaster Control Plate!
Why not use a Strat bridge or neck pick up in the middle position?
I am working on a Frankencaster build right now where the plan is to use a Telecaster bridge and pickup, a Stratocaster neck pickup in the center position and a Stratocaster middle pick up in the neck position on a mini strat. Would that work?
For background, the person I’m building this for is stringing it for Nashville tuning ( the octave strings of a 12 string set ) and wants the option to swap the middle and neck pickups back to optimize for Tele style bridge + neck or strat style before he settles on which way to keep it. Also he wants to put a push pull phase reversal switch in there too. Maybe that might solve the problem?
I’m looking to build a Nashville tele with B Bender wiring where position 3 is the classic neck/bridge tele sound. What’s the best configuration of pickups to keep all 5 positions in phase and hum cancelling? Thanks!
Hey Alan,
As long as all pickups are wired like a Strat, you’ll be able to get hum canceling in positions 2 & 4. Combining the Neck and Bridge will be in-phase, but not hum canceling.
If you want a Hum Cancelling Neck & Bridge, one of your middle positions will be in phase, but not hum canceling. It’s really up to you.
Oak makes a 6 way blade switch. this would make standard strat 5 positions .Plus Tele neck-bridge at either end of the throw of the switch. not hard to wire up at all.
Would putting a Stratocaster pickup set in solve this issue?
Polarity-wise, yes. Tele’s usually have pretty specific pickup routs though.
Tyler
Thanks Tyler! I’m looking to order a custom body from Warmoth with strat routing. Hybrid moreso than a Nashville Tele. This helps though. Thank you again!
What if you use hum-canceling pickups?
Hey Greg,
Great question. It gets a lot simpler when using Hum-Canceling Pickups. All you need to do is make sure they all ‘Meter’ the same way. For more information on that, check out this article here: How To Use A Multimeter with Guitar Pickups
Tyler
I bought a used Nashville Tele with Fralin SP43 pickups. While I have not spent much time with this guitar, I haven’t noticed any issues with the various pickup combinations and presume they were bought together as a set. I did find that the previous owner continued using the stock 250k controls, and so I changed the volume control to 500k, as recommended, and am very pleased with the results.
I have a Nashville Tele. The solution to my probem: When I bought a tele bridge, tele neck, and strat middle from Fralin the customer service person who helped me made sure I got the right pickups! Great customer service! Thanks, Fralin! I love my pickups!