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
Tonal Graph for Blues Special Tele:
The tone graph below for our Blues Special Tele features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack:
Sound Clips for Blues Special Tele:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
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
Sizing
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
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.
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
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS
334 Genuine Reviews for Blues Special Tele
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STAY IN TOUCH
I installed the Telecaster control plate and Blues Specials about 10 days ago. Wow! A whole new guitar! Couldn’t be happier. You guys do great work! I’ll be back. Frederick Noland – Fountain Hills, AZ.
Beyond happy with these pickups! They sound incredible.
Just got these installed and they sound fanatic in my Tele through an Orange Tremlord 30. Unbelievable tone and range. Very articulate and responsive.
I bought just the bridge pup and matched it with an Unbucker in the neck..I’ve had it for over a month and wanted to make sure I gave it plenty of time before I posted a review……
well the honeymoon is over…this is one of the best pickups I’ve ever heard…….I spent a good bit of time adjusting the pick up height…playing, readjusting, closer to the strings, further away from the strings…the sweet spot came when I had the low E at 1/8″ and the high E a 16th less….
snap, snarl, bite and zip…you name it…its got it….it loves to be overdriven..without being overly harsh or fizzy…and it just loves to play Folsom Prison Blues!….and I can’t help but strut around the room when I’m doing it…..;-0
Seriously, this is a fantastic pickup, well worth the money, and I’d give it more than 5 stars if I could……..Thanks to all of folks at Fralin for putting a big huge smile on my face…..
I had my guitar shop order a Blues Special neck pickup for a Fender Baritone Telecaster that I was hoping to have rewired. The factory pickups were just junk. They finished the install and rewire for me just here the other day and I wanted to write a letter praising the tonal quality of your pickups. I have it with a 4 way switch and paired with a RailHammer bridge P90. Just amazing. The neck tone is buttery smooth, and when run in parallel & series with the P90 its something to behold, especially in series. Previously my baritone guitar sounded muddy and the neck position was almost unusable. My guitar has new life with your blues special neck pickup.
I had ordered another (reputable) company’s PU’s and was not at all happy with them. I had all but stopped playing my Telecaster because of this. On a recommendation from my tech, I called and actually spoke with Lindy about the issue. On HIS recommendation after our conversation, I ended up ordering a set of the Blues Specials for my Tele. The very minute they were in the guitar I could immediately hear the difference. A few days later, I was using them onstage in front of a large, very rowdy crowd, and the guitar was so alive and responsive… the difference was like night and day. I absolutely LOVE these PU’s!!! Meaty, but not too dark, clear, but not too shrill… VERY toneful, for lack of a better description. Well, maybe that IS the best description… Thanks Lindy. I have my Tele back!!!
I ordered a set of Blues Specials along with a new control plate for my FCS tele. It all got here fast in about 1.5 weeks. The guitar came with HW Texas Specials which are pretty hot, I love the guitar but hated the pickups. In a nutshell, these pickups are the BOMB. So very lively, powerful, and toneful…my tele immediately sounded so much better. The bridge has the ‘magic cap’ so when dialing back tone it becomes more ‘Gibson’. I like it back when using overdrive and tone on about 8 when playing clean. The middle position sounds incredible, and really cuts through. I got the open top cover for the neck and it sounds & responds very ‘strat like’, which is what I was after. Everything arrived neatly boxed and clearly labeled, including temporary wires showing where to make connections. My only question about soldering the two hot wires across 2 lugs (instead of one lug as I had always done in past) was answered and explained by Lindy himself when I called. I recommend this set to anyone wanting authentic yet bolder & robust tele tone.
Bought and installed the Blues Tele set for my Tokai Japanese Tele. I used the standard stagger. The neck pickup was sans cover. The new pickups are amazing in tone versus the originals. I wanted more mids and a fuller warmer sound, this I did achieve, with the Fralins. These pickups also have more gain than the originals. I play more rock and am not a a fan of the very thin sounding pickups. It is an upgrade well worth the money spent, I am really loving the guitar. The service from Fralin was great I confirmed the pickup options with them. The interaction was smooth and friendly. Would I recommend these, certainly.
Love them.
I have them on two guitars.
Blues specials on the bridge for both.
Blues specials at the neck of one, and a p90 on the other.
I’ve had my Custom Shop ’59 Journeyman Tele for five years and felt it was a tad thin sounding and not quite living up to its potential.
Because I love the guitar, I researched alternative Tele pickups online and it was obvious that the Blues Special Tele pickups were the most highly regarded. Having had a Fralin bridge replacement pickup in my ’62 Strat for over 25 years, I knew of their quality. I bought the Blues Specials in good faith and they perform as I expected: authentic, yet fuller sounding; a nice but subtle mid-range boost and a warmer sound overall but with the classic Tele tonal attributes. This nicely crafted guitar is now allowed to sing to its full potential. Thank you, Lindy. And a shout out to Trevor Healy and team who are my electric guitar doctors.