Blues Special Tele
Versatile & Thick Tele Tone
$110 – $220
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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Jump to Sound Clips and more Info:
100% Tele, Just a Bit Meaner.
Want to learn more about our Blues Special Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
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
Sound Samples for Blues Special Tele:
Compare Outputs
We have 2 outputs of our Blues Special Tele. Compare them below.
About these Sound Clips:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Blues Special Tele:
The tonal graph below for our Blues Special Tele features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Dynamic & Full
Videos for Blues Special Tele:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Blues Special Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 7.8K* 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 7.3K 1 |
| 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 |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
More Information:
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: All of our coil directions are depicted from Ground (Black Wire, or Start Wire) to Hot (White Wire, or Finish Wire).
Blues Special Tele Dimensions:
Blues Special Tele FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Blues Special Tele have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 2-3 Weeks accurate?
It really depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to underpromise and overdeliver.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Blues Special Teles to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. Measure by holding the corresponding side down at its highest fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
These are frequently asked questions about our Blues Special Tele. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask A Question" in the Quick Links section above.
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How does the cover affect the tone of the Neck pickup?
It doesn’t – we use USA-made nickel Silver, the most sonically-transparent metal for covers. We also compensate the winding technique to make sure the Neck pickup sounds like we want it to.
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What is 4-Way Switching?
4-Way Switching adds a fourth position to your Telecaster’s switch to put both pickups in Series and Parallel. The 4th Position sounds like a big humbucker as a result. Read more on the topic here.
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What is required for my pickups to work with 4-Way Switching?
We apply tape to the magnets before winding to isolate the coil wire and the magnets. If you select a cover, we add a separate ground wire to permanently ground the cover instead of grounding the cover through the coil.
Pickup Pairing
Our Blues Special Tele pairs well with the following models:
Big Single - Neck
Starting At: $ 165
Pair A Blues Special Bridge with a Big Single 42 in the Neck for a killer combination.
View Product
Blues Special Strat - Middle
Starting At: $ 99
Nashville Tele? Our Blues Special Reverse Middle is the perfect match
View ProductGet it prewired
Go the extra mile and combine our Blues Special Tele with a Telecaster Control Plate!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
347 Genuine Reviews for Blues Special Tele
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Ordered a 7.5 k bridge.
Very happy.
Great for all styles and blues.
Not to trebly and very clear and crisp.
I was surprised how quiet it is.
Matches perfectly with the volume of my neck mini humbucker. -
Bought Lindy’s reversed Tele control plate for use with a set of “Blues Special” PUPs on my Partscaster. Works as advertised and really brings out the, darker, “more mids” character of the PUP’s that is more in line with my primarily rock playing. For a few hundred bucks, I now have a Tele that stands right with boutique specials costing thousands.
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I just completed a custom build (Black Cherry and Walnut Telecaster), using the Fralin Tele Blues Special pickups. They’re amazing. I’ve used a lot of different pickups and these are easily the most articulate and responsive I’ve ever played. They pick up every nuance of how you use your pick. Light pick, mellow sound. Attack the strings and things get mean. These pickups are great for mellow acoustic type finger picking, sweet blues or dirty rock and roll. I’m really enjoying them. They cost a little more than some, but they’re worth every penny and then some. I’m very impressed.
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They were better than I expected. Perfect for what I do.
Thank you!! -
Steel Pole 42 in neck and Blues Special in bridge…incredible…they replaced SD Antiquities that were way too brittle to my ears…with this pair of Fralins it’s the perfect combo of twang and growl…Both pickups can go from clear and bright with nice warmth and sustain to full on growl and grind in a flash depending on string attack and pedals…very happy
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Installed in a 2019 American Performer Telecaster. Like the 200 plus reviews already. This is a fabulous set of pickups. From an aesthetic point of the the raw nickel looks incredible.
Sound wise, just blows the stock Yosemites out of the water. There’s detail that wasn’t there before. I play a lot of jazz. And I always want that neck pickup to have clarity and thickness. The first lick I played after installing the Blues Special, I made an audible gasp. It’s what I’ve been looking for. Smooth, detailed, dynamic. I can’t imagine you would be disappointed putting these in any Fender telecaster currently made.
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Bought a set of Blues Specials to replace the Gen 4 Noiseless pickups in a Fender Telecaster Ultra. Also bought the prewired switchplate to go with them, as I did not need the S1 wiring. Great choice, exactly what I was looking for — bright but not ice picky, with just a touch more gain to drive an amp. Customer service was excellent throughout.
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Excellent pickups. Exactly what i was looking for in sound, quality and easy installation.
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I only write reviews on products I’m either very happy or very unhappy with, and when it comes to the blues special set I’m blown away by how good they sound!
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Lindy does it again. The way tele pickups should sound….absolutely beautiful.
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I have just installed a set of Blues Specials in my Tele. The build quality is superb, the clarity is almost HiFi like, but for me I found the bridge pickup 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings a bit too bright and sterile and not quite enough punch, which I could not dial out using the tone controls on the guitar and amp without it getting muddy.
No fault of the pickups, just not for me I’m afraid. I’ll keep them as spares. -
The Blues Specials are or should be, the defacto industry standard for how sets of Tele Pickups are ranked. Your tele comes to life with a voice that you’ve listened to/for your whole life and adds that same level of confidence to your playing as well. You simply won’t be failing to complete good phrases knowing the tone you want your audience to hear is supporting every note you play. That’s GREAT PICKUP making! Keep up the good work, Lindy..!
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I have these in a thin line Tele, they are a full round tone with plenty of “spank”. None of the harsh treble end that I was experiencing with the other pickups that were in the guitar. This is the second set of Fralin pickups I have purchased and I have been 100% satisfied with each purchase. Their crew knows the product and will take the time to answer questions and make sure you are getting exactly what you are looking for. I have the 4 way switch on this set and it is awesome! To my ear the 4 way mod puts you in Humbucker territory and adds to the versatility of the instrument.
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At some point, whether through necessity or curiosity, most guitarists are faced with replacing pickups. Most will opt for whatever they had in the guitar initially. If you’re the type of individual that looks for a better quality than stock, you will inevitably stumble into the complex and new world of “Boutique Pickups”. Any internet search for said pickups will lead you to Fralin Pickups. After you find this company, breathe a sigh of relief … you’ve reached your destination. Any questions will be answered and not in a manner to sell you their product (it sells itself), but rather to give a better understanding of your options.
I discovered the Blues Special Teles out of necessity. I bought the pickups because of countless five star reviews. When I played the Blues Specials for the first time, I knew instantly that I had made the right decision and that I would be purchasing another set of Fralin Pickups for my Stratocaster. I’ll be writing another five star review for the High Output Strat soon enough.
The sound of the Blues Specials is crystal clear whether your signal is on clean or overdrive. You will hear every nuance of your playing . Light and heavy pick attacks will give entirely different sounds. Heavy playing won’t be punished with muddled tones, it’ll be rewarded with complete clarity. Lighter playing will have equal clarity and give you similar expressive abilities as an acoustic guitar (like hearing your fingers move along the frets when changing positions). The sound of silence is quite impressive. Even with high gain on your pedals or amp, unless you’re playing it, you won’t hear much from your guitar.
The range of tones I can describe as, “what you want your telecaster to sound like, but way better.” The neck pickup is warm and familiar, but also full of expression and is very similar to the position 2 (neck and middle) on a Strat. I won’t go into the 4-way tele mod, suffice to say if you don’t know about it, do yourself a favor and learn. The neck and middle are a perfect balance of twang warmth. The bridge has certainly got the twang, but not so much that you go deaf after one practice. I have the original tone and volume controls and have no complaints.
The Blues Specials can’t be pigeonheoled into style. I’ve played them with light jazz and heavy metal (and yes … they can hangout with your friends’ humbuckers any day with no shame). Country and blues? No problem. Rock and hard rock? Why are you even asking? These pickups will work for almost any style you throw at them. The only thing I can think of holding them back would be the individual playing them.
Lastly I’ll mention aesthetics. Being a Telecaster your bridge pickup is just that. Your neck pickup, however, has a small but diverse set of options and I highly recommend checking them out. I opted for the polished nickel open-top. To me, it’s a beautiful blend of retro and retro (it just looks really cool).
If you’re serious about your tone and quality, you can’t go wrong with the Blues Specials. I’ve heard some complain about the price and it makes me laugh. The Blues Specials boast 5% overwound copper wire. I can’t be sure of the exact length, but handmade pickups with the combined length of over a mile of copper wrap … you’re not paying too much. I can’t thank the entire team at Fralin Pickups enough. I’m ecstatic that I found this great company and look forward to doing business with them again.
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At some point, whether through necessity or curiosity, most guitarists are faced with replacing pickups. Most will opt for whatever they had in the guitar initially. If you’re the type of individual that looks for a better quality than stock, you will inevitably stumble into the complex and new world of “Boutique Pickups”. Any search for quality pickups will lead you to Fralin Pickups. After you find this company, breathe a sigh of relief … you’ve reached your destination. Any questions will be answered and not in a manner to sell you their product (it sells itself), but rather to give a better understanding.
I discovered Blues Special Teles out of necessity. I bought the pickups because of countless five star reviews. When I played the Blues Specials for the first time, I knew instantly that I had made the right decision and that I would be purchasing another set of Fralin Pickups for my Stratocaster and I’ll be writing another five star review for the High Output Strat soon enough.
The sound is crystal clear whether your signal is on clean or overdrive. You will hear every nuance of your playing . Light and heavy pick attacks will give entirely different sounds. Heavy playing won’t be punished with muddled tones, it’ll be rewarded with complete clarity. Lighter playing will have equal clarity and give you similar expressive abilities as an acoustic guitar (like hearing your fingers move along the frets when changing positions). The sound of silence is quite impressive. Even with high gain on your pedals or amp, unless you’re playing it, you won’t hear earsplitting feedback.
The range of tones I can describe as, “what you want your telecaster to sound like, but way better.” The neck pickup is warm and familiar, but also full of expression and is very similar to the position 2 (neck and middle) on a Strat. I won’t go into the 4-way tele mod, suffice to say if you don’t know about it, do yourself a favor and learn. The neck and middle are a perfect balance of twang warmth. The bridge is certainly got the twang, but not so much t
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I ordered these from Australia.
They were shipped to me in next to no time.
I couldn’t believe how much these pickups transformed my Tele. They sound phenomenal. They have so much punch yet are incredibly articulate.
I love them. -
Replaced some old fender custom shop pickups with these and am very happy with the results. These seem to product much cleaner and fuller lows with puncher mids. Shipped quicker than expected as well. Thanks folks.
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Dropped these into a Squier Patanormal, it rocks. The instructions were super helpful, and it was super easy
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I have the Frailin Blues Special Tele pickups in my USA Fender Telecaster and I absolutely love them. They definitely provide the punch I was looking for. They still have that awesome “twang” but with more definition. I have a variety of different pickups in my three teles (wide range humbuckers, hot rails, standard Fender pickups) and my Tele with the Frailin pickups are always my go to guitar. Gotta love them and they’re made in my home state of Virginia!
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Put these in my homemade Tele-style guitar and don’t regret it. Really appreciate all the installation tips sent by the people at Lindy Fralin,as this was my first Tele-style build. They sound great with 4-way switch.
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