Vintage Hot Tele
Vintage Tone & Twang
$120 – $240
Experience the ultimate in clarity and articulation with our era-authentic Fralin Vintage Hot Tele set. Warm, clear lows paired with brilliant highs, our Vintage Hot Tele set will inspire you with all the twang you desire. Built with all USA-Made parts, you can take pride in knowing we made every aspect of your pickups with the highest-quality materials possible.
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The Ultimate in Tele Twang
Want to learn more about our Vintage Hot Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
Are you looking for the cleanest and most transparent tone out of your Tele? We got you! Vintage Hot Tele Pickups: our second best-selling Tele set. This set features a bright, pure sound that allows you to cut through the mix and hear every nuance in your playing. Wound by hand to ’50s specs, you can feel great knowing your pickups were wound by our expert craftsmen, specifically for you.
Features:
- Original Fender specifications, with modern output
- Clean and clear, lots of Fender sparkle and twang
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Two magnet staggers available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built fiberboard Bobbins for unrivaled quality control
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
- 6.6K Bridge, 7.4K Neck
Sound
This pickup set is perfect for those looking for the most traditional Tele twang out of their Telecaster. Vintage Hot Tele Pickups excel at cleaner styles of music. Expect a robust and open midrange, clear bass strings, and bright and sharp-sounding plain strings. The break-up is smooth and late, ideal for cleaner players or a softer playing style.
Vintage Hot Tele Pickups are for those who need the most traditional Vintage Telecaster tone. If you’re playing style involves more distortion, or, if you prefer smoother, darker-sounding pickups, you might like our Blues Specials a bit more. However, If your current pickups are too dark, or if you’re looking for some added definition and clarity, you will love these. You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch earlier.
Are you looking for a Hum Cancelling Tele pickup that actually sounds like a Tele? Check out the Vintage Output of our Split Blade Tele Pickups
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. These Telecaster pickups consist of local fiberboard and USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics. Rest assured: when you receive this pickup, you’ll know it’s painstakingly made with love.
Sound Samples for Vintage Hot Tele:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Vintage Hot Tele:
The tonal graph below for our Vintage Hot Tele features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Bright & Sharp
Videos for Vintage Hot Tele:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Vintage Hot Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 7.6K* 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 6.8K 1 |
| Neck Polarity: | Counter Clockwise Coil Direction, North To Strings |
| Bridge Polarity: | Clockwise Coil Direction, South To Strings |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42 / 43 Plain Enamel* |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
*The Neck reads higher due to the use of 43 Gauge Wire, outputs are compensated
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
Note: We depict all our coil directions from Ground (Black Wire, or Start Wire) to Hot (White Wire, or Finish Wire).
Vintage Hot Tele Dimensions:
All dimensions include a covered Neck pickup to account for the slight increased size from the cover.
Pickup Pairing
Our Vintage Hot Tele pairs well with the following models:
Vintage Hot Strat - Middle
Starting At: $ 105
Pair a Vintage Hot Tele Set with a Vintage Hot Strat Middle for a Twangy Nashville Set!
Real '54s - Middle
Starting At: $ 105
Pair a Vintage Hot Tele Set with a Real '54 Strat Middle for the ultimate "Quack" in positions 2 & 4.
Get it prewired
Go the extra mile and combine our Vintage Hot Tele with a Telecaster Control Plate!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
162 Genuine Reviews for Vintage Hot Tele
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I have a Fender Tex Mex Nashville Tele. Great playing guitar, but I didn’t really like it through my Vox AC15. It sounded anemic. I upgraded to the Fralin Vintage Tele pickups with a Fralin Strat 54 in the middle. The difference is amazing. I love how the pickups interact with the dynamics of the Vox. It has all the spank and chime you can ask for played clean and plenty of grind when you push it. This the most versatile setup I’ve played, and I’ve been playing for over 40 years with lots of years of gigging. I play country, modern country, blues and classic rock. This rig will do it all and do it well.
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Great tone! These pickups sound very open/woody and have great response when using different picking dynamics.
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Stock Telecaster 5%
Lindy,
These pickups have the wonderful tone of a 50’s era telecaster! They have just the amount of edge that suits my desired tone and playing style. Best to you! Wayne Mrdjenovich -
Great Classic Tele Sound! I’m very happy with these. They sound awesome. Best option for classic Tele tone! Now I want Fralins in my other guitars. And I’ll probably get them sooner or later! I’ll definitely buy more Fralins in the future.
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Pure sound. Easy install for the sound I described to Lindy. Thank you Lindy for your personal guidance gaining the sound I strived to achieve.
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I just put my new Fralin “Stock Tele” pickups in my part-o-caster last night. Wow! What a revelation. The contrast between the Fralins and the stock Fender pickups was quite remarkable. I felt inspired to play guitar – which is really what it’s all about, right? One of the unexpected changes was that I found myself using the volume and tone controls much more. Previously, I’d typically just kept them wide open all the time. But with the Fralin pickups I found that there were pleasant, different sounds available throughout the range of the controls. Even if I rolled the tone all the way down it didn’t sound like mud. Thanks, Mr. Fralin!
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I put the stock tele set in my USA Fender Nashville B-Bender with a Vintage Hot Strat RW in the middle position. They sound so good! These are my first Fralins. I have pickups from one of the big pickup brands in most of my other guitars and they’re good, but I think these Fralins are the best pickups I own. Also, their service is great. Even though I wasn’t getting a custom order, Fralin makes it feel like they’re giving you custom care. I requested a RW middle pickup and they put all three in a package together like it was a custom set. And they shipped quickly. I will definitely buy more Fralin pickups in the future!
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What a Tele Sounds like in my head. I’ve come to believe Fralin is what a Tele sounds like— I’ve used other “vintage style” pups and they always left me wanting. Little output, overly dark or overly light…. I like the slightly extra output a Fralin gives, but a nice balanced pickup. This is my 3rd set and it took a fantastic boutique guitar OVER THE TOP! The Standard Tele with a 2% overwind is my favorite, with my second favorite being the Jim Weider wind. Get them!
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Excellent sounding pickups. Also purchased a set of Vintage Hot Strat pickups that sound excellent also
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These pickups sing beautifully! An immense improvement over the Tex Mex pickups that I had.
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The best – I can’t imagine any tele pickups sounding better than this. With this set, the bridge pickup does everything I expected, but the neck pickup also provides a really usable tone. The combined sound is just a magnificent creamy tone that I can’t stop using.
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I love these stock tele pickups from Fralin. I have several teles with different brands of custom pickups and these are my favorite for country, blues, and Southern rock tones.
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When I was a child I remember hearing my dad play his 1961 Supro Coronado. The pickups of that era had a sounds that I have never heard in a modern pickup until now. I bought a Fralin stock Tele for the bridge and a Pure PAF for the neck in my Tele project. The second I heard those pickups ring out I felt like I was listening to my dad play when I was a child. Now I realize the pickups in his guitar were vastly different than the ones I bought from Fralin, but that feeling was there. That clear airy sound of a vintage pickup. So open, so round and organic. I’ve never heard any modern pickup come close to what Fralin has accomplished. I’m so pleasantly surprised that I feel like a kid at Christmas!
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Sounds amazing! I’ve been playing 32 years, these are the real deal. But for some reason the tape that goes around the bridge pickup coil is rather frayed. Only the appearance is affected, but it’s right there on the bass side of the pickup where I can see it & have to look at it. I would have given 5 stars otherwise.
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Hey Steve,
We’re sorry about that frayed cloth wire. There should be enough wax on it that you can simply push it in and it will stay!
Tyler
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These are the guitar tones that I’ve been hearing in my head but couldn’t find until now. Thanks!
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I have several tele’s with one that was a problem child since i bought it thirty years ago. Nice sunburst custom with a ’67 neck MIJ body, plays nice but never really loved the sound. Finally thought I was ready to sell it, and as a last resort, ordered a set of stock 2% pickups, which have completely transformed the guitar. It now has the snap, chime, bite, and honk I’ve been looking for! Harmonics throughout the neck are rich, and very balanced neck and bridge volume, very responsive to pick attack. Thanks for saving me from a bad decision to sell one of my favorite guitars- should have done this years ago!
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I’ve had a custom telecaster for about 10 years that I’ve been almost thrilled with. The sound was missing something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. What the guitar was missing was the 2% overwound tele pickups you sent me. ( These replaced pickups made by another well-known “boutique” pickup source.) Huge improvement, they opened up the sound of the instrument. Now it sounds exactly as I’ve been wanting it to.
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I ordered a 2% overwound stock neck pickup. It arrived within days. It sounds exactly like it did in Lindy’s demo video. Pure Tele with some grit when you dig in. The pickup is very responsive to the manner in which you cause the string to vibrate. It is often said that tone really comes from your fingers (or pick). This is even more true if you have a pickup that can capture even the most subtle of those nuances. I can go from clean to chime to dirty-sweet simply by varying my pick attack, but it’s all pure classic Tele. Totally perfect for my jazz-blues style.
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Imagine what a great Tele pickup should sound like. That’s what Lindy Fralin pickups sound like.
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I have installed the “Stock Set” on many T-Style guitars with about every combination wood for fretboards and bodies. In all instances they have a brite tone that is very suitable for country music. I tell customers it is a “Bakersfield” tone and captures that sound very well. Yet the “Stock Set” does have the ability to tone down with the rich yes even lush neck pickup tones. Great for Blues and even Jazz. Then there is the take it to the bank chime produced by both pickups. This nails the vintage tone that so many players aren’t finding with their factory wound instruments. They might have more than you expect but that is why the tone knob is there. I nearly forgot Rock,,,,,,how many of the oldies were recorded on the Tele? Funny how the new ones don’t sound like that anymore but Fralin has the fix. So if you want that fabulous vintage tone or wonder how those guys in Nashville are getting that tone, here it is. Try them with a rosewood fretboard. You can spend more but you’ll never find a better pickup than Fralin.
Bob Coleman
Coleman Custom Guitars
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