Blues Special Tele
Versatile & Thick Tele Tone
$120 – $240
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 |
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).
Blues Special Tele Dimensions:
All dimensions include a covered Neck pickup to account for the slight increased size from the cover.
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 1 Week accurate?
It 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 beat our estimated Lead Times.
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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. To measure, hold the correct side down at its highest fret. Then, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Blues Special Tele. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" 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: $ 175
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: $ 105
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
358 Genuine Reviews for Blues Special Tele
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Absolutely a 5 star rating. I’ve played them now for 3 weeks and they are hands down the best Tele pickups. I have 3 other Teles with fender pickups and these are miles ahead. Worth every penny.
Thanks so much!
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Fantastic pickups.My guitar has come alive. It was a good guitar before and now its fantastic. So glad I bought them although here in the UK the complete cost with freight and import tax makes them expensive but still worth it.
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I bought a tele professional II which came with v-mod 2 pickups which I liked but wasn’t ecstatic about. After about 6 months I thought I’d get the blues special set. After putting them in first day I liked them but admittedly thought the price was a little much. Second day I was thinking ‘yeah, they’re not bad pickups’. By the third day I thought these pickups were amazing and well worth every penny- my ear just took a few days to really appreciate them. Great pickups!!
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I needed a slightly over wound neck pick up to compete with a bridge humbucker and the Blues Special is no disappointment…a bit more oomph, while still retaining the classic tele neck pick up vibe….5 stars all the way….great products and great customer service….what more do you need?
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The pickup sounds fantastic, wide open and rich.
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Awesome set of pickups. What else is there to say. Customer support is second to none and answered all my questions. Awesome company with an awesome product.
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Awesome pickups. Made one of the prettiest sounding guitars I’ve played.
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I received the Blues Special Tele pickup set and installed them on my Fender MIM Thinline (2016). I want to thank you for the excellent instructions. My first time installing a set of pickups! I want to let you know that my Fender Thinline sounds AMAZING, everything I was looking for! You guys make a very high quality product! Your willingness to help and friendly service was so appreciated.
THANK YOU!!!!
Mike
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I received the Blues Tele pickup set and installed them on my Fender MIM Thinline (2016). I want to thank you for the excellent instructions. My first time installing a set of pickups (also installed a Tele Vintage from GS guitarworks). ( I do have some experience with a soldering iron, though :-).) I want to tell you my Fender Thinline sounds AMAZING! Everything I was looking for from a sound perspective.
You guys make a very high quality product!
THANK YOU!!!!
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The process for getting Lindy Frailin pickups could not be better! I was not very knowledgeable in pickup polarity and selected to give notes for the polarity issue on my guitar project. I was surprised when I got a call from Lindy Fralin himself! He explained what would be best for my guitar and what he would do to customize the pickup for my project. I am very impressed with the amount of customer service and care given to ensuring I would get my money’s worth. I recommend that everyone who wants to go all out and compromise nothing in their guitar go with Lindy Fralin Pickups.
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I haven’t installed it yet. But I’m sureit will be fine. It’s a higher output than what’s in there and it will match the Blues Special that’s in the lead position. Thanks for making great pickups.
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Excellent pickups! These brought my old telecaster back to life. These added more punch and sound excellent. I selected fralin after researching pickup reviews. Fralin was always at the top of the reviews. I fully agree!
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5 stars, all the way. The blues special telecaster pickups are the best pickups I’ve ever heard in a telecaster! So much so, this is my 2nd set , (more to come) they have that twang when needed, but can dig in and grow, like zztop. Lindy himself provided amazing customer service, as my neck pickup was not functioning properly when first installed, after trouble shooting with me personally, via telephone, I sent the pickup back, for inspection. Lindy not only fixed the problem, but it was under warranty and my shipping cost was comped, due to a technical issue, at factory level. Everything was taken care of and handled professionally. Great sounding pickups and excellent customer service. Highly recommended!
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Well the Blues Special Tele pickups are a definite must in a mahogany bodied
Sire T3.
A way better tone range with Fralin.
Whether you are putting these in your primary guitar or you are putting them in a donor, you can’t go wrong. -
Exceeded all my expectations! Just the volume and tone are enough to use you guys all the time! Incredible! I don’t even have to run it through any type of pre-amp pedal or volume booster. This thing rules! It turned my Tele into an AWESOME guitar! Thank you so much!
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Very high quality sound.
Each string sounds well balanced. -
Just installed my special blues Pickups today on my MIM Telecaster.
The Sound is amazing, I honestly couldn’t stop smiling when I was playing with the Pickups for the first time. What an amazing Sound.Shipping was also super fast.
Greetings from Germany.
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Really excellent pickup, and especially excellent customer advice and service–very responsive to questions. I bought a Blues for my Telecaster neck. I have a very hot stock bridge pickup, and decided to try and use my Tele for Jazz for a change from my 335. This pickup definitely did the trick–hotter and thicker soloing on the neck, warmer rhythm sound with both pickups. Thanks for the great help and great pickup!
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Greetings from Finland…Just got installed this Blues Special Tele set. Very happy with it. Previous pickups very all too bright. Now I can enjoy playing upper register. Good job. These even look better without neck pickup cover…
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I bought a new Fender Player Plus Nashville Telecaster that sounded terrible to me.
Fralin Blues Special Tele pickups matched with Blues Strat middle pickup immediately put a big smile on my face. It’s now fun to play.
I’ve now got a excellent Tele sound and a Strat pickup that sounds great all by itself.
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