Blues Special Tele
Love playing your Telecaster again and know it finally has the voice it was always meant to with our Blues Specials. Wound with a 5% overwind from our Stock Teles, Blues Specials feature a punchy, warm tone that tames the harsh top-end from most Telecasters and helps you hear every nuance in your playing. Lastly, customize your appearance with our neck options and make your Telecaster a real eye-catcher with a look that suits you.
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100% Tele, Just a Bit Meaner.
Want to learn more about our Blues Special Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
Blues Special Tele FEATURES:
Discover what you’ve been missing with our best-selling Telecaster pickups. Blues Specials feature a 5% overwind that emphasizes the midrange while taming the high-end for a warmer, thicker Telecaster tone that still sounds like a Tele. Built with all USA-Made parts, you can take pride knowing Lindy designed his Blues Specials with the highest quality materials available.
It starts here: Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Blues Specials consist of local fiberboard and USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time, using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique for a sweet, unique tone. You can feel great knowing that we wound your pickups specifically for you. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Features:
- 5% more coil than our Stock Tele set for a warmer, thicker tone
- Modified Fender specifications, optimized for output
- High output, but still has Fender sparkle
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- Two different magnet staggers for optimizing pickups for your instrument
- 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
Sound
If you’re looking for balance – not too bright, not too dark, this set is for you. While playing clean, Blues Specials sound thick and creamy with open and clear highs and a thicker midrange. The overwound coil tames your highs and bumps your midrange – more than the Stock Tele Pickups, while you can expect more of a traditional Tele Tone than our Steel Pole 42s.
With distortion, you can expect a light compression, low-end growl, and a medium attack. Single notes sound thick and round, while chords have a full tone with an early breakup. Finally, Blues Special Pickups are for you if you’re looking for more output from your current pickups, but still want to keep that traditional Tele tone.
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 Blues Output of our Split Blade Tele Pickups
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Blues Special Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 7.8K* |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 7.3K |
| Neck Polarity: | Counter Clockwise Coil Direction, North To Strings |
| Bridge Polarity: | Clockwise Coil Direction, South To Strings |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42 / 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K |
*The Neck reads higher due to the use of 43 Gauge Wire, outputs are compensated
Sizing
Blues Special Tele Questions And Answers:
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Have a question about our Blues Special Tele? Ask it here. Your Question will be publically visible. If you want to ask a Private Question, please contact us through our Contact Us Form.
If you have multiple questions, please call us at (804) 358-2699.
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I want to get a Blue Special bridge pickup for my Classic player 60's Telecaster will my Fender Neck pickup be the correct polarity for it.
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Q I want to get a Blue Special bridge pickup for my Classic player 60's Telecaster will my Fender N...... Read moreA
Hey Phil, we're not sure - you'll need to perform the checks described in this article to confirm your polarity. What's The Deal With Pickup Polarity?
Whats the difference between the white and black string?
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Q Whats the difference between the white and black string?A
Oliver,
Purely aesthetic - one is white, the other is black. We wrap the bridge pickup in this string.
Is the only difference between The vintage hot tele & the blues special tele is that both neck and bridge pick ups are 5% overwound?
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Q Is the only difference between The vintage hot tele & the blues special tele is that both nec...... Read moreA
Hey Chris, there are two differences between the Vintage Hot Tele and Blues Special Tele:
- The Blues Specials are overwound by 5% on both neck and bridge
- The Blues Specials always come with raised D string for better string-to-string balance.
I’m after a Fralin bridge blues special pickup for my telecaster. The current neck pickup is a DiMazio true velvet, which I’m happy with. Are there any compatibility problems with this set up? Thanking you. Andy.
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Q I’m after a Fralin bridge blues special pickup for my telecaster. The current neck pickup is a Di...... Read moreA
Hey Andy, no, just make sure your True Velvet has multiple leads in case you need to reverse the polarity.
Can you tell me if there is a sound bite of the three cover options on the blues special pickup. I am aware of the opinions of the chrome dulling the sound, but thinking of the two nickel options vs no cover.
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Q Can you tell me if there is a sound bite of the three cover options on the blues special pickup. ...... Read moreA
Hey Edward, we do not, unfortunately. From personal experience, the tonal difference is incredibly subtle, as we compensate the pickup's winding to be brighter if a customer orders one with a cover. - Tyler
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Featured Reviews
Reviews we worked hard for, and are proud of.
Great sounding pickups. Really brought my Tele alive!
I have been collecting parts for a custom Tele and I decided to get the Blues Special with the 4 way switch. When the guitar was finished I plugged it in to a small fender style tweed with a bit of overdrive and tremolo…and Wow! This Tele is filled with rich and complex nuances, particularly when the pickups are in series. Clear and enhanced midrange cuts through with a Wampler Pantheon overdrive. I could not be happier. Thank you!
I got my Blues Specials a couple of weeks ago after having tried various PUs in my MJT Tele-style project (very traditional early 50s style thing). Until recently, I had been very happy with how the guitar looks and feels, just the sound … especially the sound of the bridge PU was sharp enough to cut your ears off. Now with the Fralin Blues Specials, I am perfectly happy also with the sound. To my surprise, the sound gained a lot of quality not only with tube amps at higher volume levels, but notably also at bedroom levels with small solid state practice amps, which is obviously very useful.