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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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
345 Genuine Reviews for Blues Special Tele
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Installed a 4-way switch, CTS linear volume pot, no load tone pot, 0.02 mfd cap and overwound Blues Specials on my Squier Offset Telecaster. Compared to the tone to my Fender Limited Edition Offset Telecaster, the Squier tone is fuller with a wider range, bell ringing (not ice pick sharp) and I love the series position for an immediate volume and fullness of tone increase. Also with the tone knob rolled all the way back, there is a noticeable difference in tone between the switch positions with the Blues Specials (not so evident on my stock Fender Tele). A great upgrade!
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Pick ups sound great but the best part of my experience with fralin pick ups was being able to call and talk to someone in person and ask my questions about ordering the pick ups and the installation i got the humbucker in the neck and the tele bridge pick up and a pre wired control plate everything worked out great
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4th or 5th set.
Part of my list of preferred tele parts for quite a while.
Fralin products are all great, I’ve had B.S. Tele, B.S. Strat, SP43 Strat, Dog-ear P90.Thank You Lindy Fralin for all the great tones I’ve gotten.
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My 62 Re-issue Tele is almost 30 years old. The copper plate on the bottom of the bridge pick up had fallen off, a repair was made but the pick up never sounded the same after that. Living in Richmond, I have heard of Fralin pick ups for some time. Nothing but praise! So while shopping for a new bridge pick up I decided to check out the Fralin website. I figured a bridge pick up would be in my price range, man was I pleasantly suppressed that an entire set was with in my range. So I popped on a set of the Blues Special Tele’s. The whole experience was nothing but Top Notch. I had a few questions, which were answered quickly, the price was great, and they were finished and delivered ahead of schedule. The installation was easy, I have changed pick ups before, but the notes and emails from Fralin pick ups were great, and helpful. Once installed I fired up the old amp and Holy Smoke, nothing but that Sweet Tele Twang came out of the bridge pick up. I forgot how good the twang could be on a Tele, but these are better than the original pick ups! The neck pick up was awesome also, great for chords and rhythm and anything else. I now play the Tele daily, where before I played it a couple of times a week. A big thanks to Fralin Pick Ups for getting my Tele back to me!
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Unbelievable!
I didn’t know what to expect with the mahogany tele body but these blues specials are unbelievable!! Like butter!! -
Great pickups, cannot say anything bad about them. Replaced my 2000’s American Standard Tele, and I recommend them to everyone. Although I own a 1965 Custom Shop Strat with Ybarra pups in it, I typically grab the tele….that says a lot!
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Incredible pickup, unmatched clarity and tone, brought my guitar to life
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The Tele I have was already pretty sweet sounding. But the pickups were lacking a “bit of beef” if you will. Since I put a set of Fralin’s in my Les Paul and was completely happy with the switch, I ordered a set of Blues Specials for my Tele. What an amazing difference!! They are so 3D sounding! Very responsive to touch and volume control, Bright and punchy yet tight in the bottom end. DO NOT HESITATE to get a set of these pickups. There is no downside to these pickups, Fralin pickups are THE BEST!
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The bridge pick up on my ’96 Tele was in bad shape, the bottom copper plate had detached and the even after having it repaired it was sounding a little weak, A good friend recommended Fralin Pick Ups, so I ordered the Blues Special. The Pick Ups breathed new life in to the old Tele. Holy Smoke I had forgotten how good a Tele could sound. The bridge is snappy and has the Tele twang but with a nice warm tone. The neck pick up was a nice surprise! The stock pick up was OK, but was a little muddy, basically a Tele neck pick up. The Blues Special has more punch than the stock one, bit retains a neck pick up tone. I have actually been playing through it a lot. Which is something new for me. And the middle switch position, with both pick ups is Fantastic! The balance is perfect with enough twang shining through but a bit darker than the bridge alone.
The customer service was great and the pick ups were ready much earlier than expected. The next time I’m in the market for oick ups, Fralin Pick Ups is at the top of the list! -
I ordered these pickups as a Nashville set for a knockoff Telecaster that I essentially got for free as part of a trade. I figured since I didn’t pay for the guitar, I’d spend a decent amount of time and money on upgrades to make owning it worthwhile. I really wanted to convert it into a Nashville Tele, and found that Fralin is pretty much the only company that makes it straightforward to order a Nashville set, aside from getting the stock Fenders (also I hate how all 3 pickups look different on actual Nashville Telecasters). After routing and installation, I plugged in and these pickups blew my mind. Along with a couple minor hardware upgrades and some fit & finish work the guitar needed, they turned a sub $200 knockoff Tele into a serious workhorse instrument that looks, sounds, and plays like $1200 easy. Worth every cent, and I’d buy them again in a heartbeat.
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I put a set of Blues Special Nashville setup in a new build tele-type guitar. I wired them per the recommendations on the Fralin Website.
I love these things. This is my personal guitar and generally I run it directly into a Fender Blues Junior tube amp. Pedals kind of defile what is natively a rich and soul filled tone. I could get out a thesaurus and try to find new words to describe it further, but there are hundreds of reviewers who’ve already done it and it would be repetitive. The Nashville setup with a 5-way switch is well worth it and gives more tonal range.
Also the customer service from Fralin is great. Stuff comes when they say it will, or sooner. When I needed to contact them for an order modification the response was fast and from a real human. Great products. Great people.
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I love these pickups! I installed them into a Squire Affinity Telecaster along with an upgraded 4 way control plate from 920D. Firstly, I am by no means a professional player. I have been playing for 35+ years but only recently joined the “cheap guitar/expensive guts-pickups” movement, lol. After playing a friends Fender Player Tele he had put these pickups in I had to see how much better they could make my squire sound. Amazing is how it sounds! The amount of nuance and dynamics I can get out of these pickups vs the stock pickups is just crazy. I did an A/B recording of the stock vs blues specials and the difference in output is clear as day looking at the wave forms with the Fralins being obviously louder. I never liked the stock bridge pickup, I always found it was really thin sounding. The bridge from Lindy is full and bright, and I love it! Right amount of Twang but it can drive the front end of may amp to a nice breakup. With the 4 way switch and these pickups I have so many different sounds from a Tele. The Neck pickup in the out of phase setting with the Bridge pickup through an acoustic simulator is bang on closest I can get without actually plugging in my A/E guitar. Highly recommend the blues specials and will be grabbing his P90’s to put in a cheap FireFly SG copy soon!
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These pickups are so full and rich sounding and then will absolutely scream when asked. Sustain for days and no more searching for tone. It’s all right there and the overwind was just what I was looking for on the neck pickup. Warm and rich until I attack and let the grime out! I thought the V-Mod pickups that I had were good but not even in the same ballpark as these Blues Specials. I installed these with a pre wired control plate which has proved a winning combo. 100% satisfied and can’t recommend enough!
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I did not dislike the stock pickups in my Mexi Tele, but I just wanted to get a little thicker and more complex tone. These Fralin Blues Specials did that and then some!! Thank you for excellent products and stellar customer service!!!
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Anybody who says this pickup is too hot or thick is silly. This pickup has that wonderful tele chime but isn’t piercing or thin. I play on a Vox so I’d say on occasion it’s as bright as I’d ever want a bridge pickup to be. But on the other hand it can give you some heft when needed and is a pickup that actually lets you use the tone knob with great effect. A versatile pickup that can give you any sound you want really, I’d pick it over anything.
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Still pretty traditional on gain, tho I was surprised that the neck pu was hotter than the bridge (even with height adjustments) this may be normal though. This is my third set of fralins and definitely has the overtones and chime that you expect from an upgraded pickup. No issues and they came faster than the quoted lead time
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Like thousands before me, I recently bought a Squier CV50 Tele and loved it…but felt it could be taken to the next level (USA/Japanese) with a pickup upgrade. My research and spidey senses led me to the Fralin Blues Special and I’m so pleased with the tonal/balance/clarity improvement over an already decent set of stock pups. The ordering process was exceptionally easy and clear, even for a lefty like me, and I was able to know exactly what I ordered and why. Super happy customer!! Been recommending them all over social media as the opportunity arises…which is almost daily. Thanks Lindy and Co.! P.s. Unless you’re a pro jazz performer, disconnecting the tone pot from the neck also improves balance/output/clarity…just a suggestion.
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These pickups are the bomb! I have an early American Standard Telecaster from about 1989 and could never come to terms with the bridge pickup. I swapped these a few years ago for a set of vintage-style pickups from another manufacturer and also installed a 4-way switch. This tamed the twang from the bridge and kept the melodic sound of the neck pickup so I was happy, but I wanted to get more of the Strat chime from the neck pickup. The uncovered neck pickup on the Blues Specials delivers both output and chime. If you want the softer neck tone, just roll back the tone knob, and you’re back, but with some added brightness when you need it. Together, this pair really are a match with output and clarity and I am enjoying the middle position more than ever too. The only negative is the 4th position, with the two pickups in series, doesn’t seem to have the same thickness of tone as before, but maybe that’s down to the added oomph of the set! That’s the sound I was looking for, and is good for blues (obviously), country, rockabilly and some overdriven hard rock licks.
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These really impressed me. Really wasn’t expecting them to sound so perfect. I replaced a set of Fender 57/62s with these wanting a bit of more fattness, but not over the top. The BS’s perfectly nail the tone I was looking for and still sounds like a strat. Perfect.
Thanks. Excellent helpful service too. -
Wonderful snarling Telecaster tone, a hot rock and roll pickup. Endlessly fascinating how it talks to the #2 tube in my old Mesa Boogie.
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