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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OUTSTANDING! Just had Blues Specials installed in a 2019 Fender Rarities quilted maple top Tele and results are exactly as advertised, greater clarity and thickness over the “stock” ’51 Nocaster and ’64 Pure Vintage pickups that came in the guitar. The neck position pickup is clearer with more string definition but still nice and fat, and the bridge sings without the harsh edge that was there before. Big improvement over custom shops and well worth it.
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The best thing that ever happened to my sound
I have a pedalboard that, to date, I’ve probably dumped $5,000 (and counting) into. Yet, this $100 (neck) pickup has by far, made the biggest single impact on my overall tone of anything I’ve done so far. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing the first time I fired things up after having them (went with a Steel Pole 42 in the bridge) installed. The description on Lindy’s site is very true to what you can expect from the Blues Special and you will definitely not be disappointed. Previously, I always felt like my stock pickups were a) weak and generally speaking, just very thin sounding and b) when pushed to try and solve problem -
More than I hoped for.
I watched videos and read reviews and found that the Blues Special Tele set was what I was looking for for my Tele build. They sound even better than I thought they would after watching the videos of them being tested. I’ll definitely be using more Fralin pickups for my future builds! -
Blues Special
Amazing sound, per usual! Thanks, Lindy and team! -
Love them.
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I bought the Blues Special set to upgrade my Aria Pro II Backaroo Tele. The sound is fantastic! Brilliant highs, great pronounced middle and FAT bottom!
Thanks, Lindy.
Vlad
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Very nice open top neck pickup. Also sounds more open. Good output and frequency range with both pickups. Quality made. Nice to deal with you. Thanks …
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Huge Improvement
Every guitar that I have replaced the stock pickups with Fralin pickups has shown a huge improvement in tone. The Telecaster that these pickups are in now sounds great. Still has the classic Telecaster sound but with just a little more beef. You cannot go wrong with any of the Strat or Tele pickups that Fralin makes. -
Best pickups ever!
These pickups are AMAZING! I’ve tried several over the years but these are beautiful. Top and bottom end just sings, the mids are so powerful. Bright and crisp without being snappy, such depth. The guitar tech who fitted them for me was also blown away, he said these are the number one pickups he will be recommending. Get them now, you will not be disappointed! -
Responsive!
The depth and brightness definitely surpassed my expectations, they’re not overbearing though and respond really well to articulation. Lots of room to get loud but they sound just as great quiet.
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Great set of pickups!
I upgraded to these from stock Fender Tele pickups and the clarity in note definition is second to none! Great sounding pickups that sound great clean and overdriven. I also have a set of Fralin Vintage Hots in my Strat. I couldn’t be more pleased with the tone. Thank you! -
These pick-ups are staying put.
Extremely happy with this set. Neck pick up is punchy and bright, and what I’d call milky; love it. The clears that come out are gorgeous. The Bridge pick-up has some serious bite without losing articulation. Very low-noise (if any at all). I installed these in my first partscaster, and will say it’s my favorite sounding -
Awesome pickups
Thank you, Lindy! All I can say is Awesome! These are just what I was looking for and they sound great in series with the 4-way setup. Very happy! -
The name says it all.
Words aren’t enough to describe the Blues Special – Tele. This pickup adapts to any genre or playing style. Country players will dig the spank and the blues players will appreciate the smooth low-end. Don’t hesitate to buy it and try it. -
Blues Special – Tele
I am so happy with these pickups…my Tele sounds like a Tele should! The neck is warm and clear, and the bridge has a nice bite that is never harsh or brittle sounding like lesser Tele pickups…the output balance between the two is perfect. When overdriven, the bridge sounds amazing, providing that organic pushing-a-tube-amp-to-breakup sound…try a Stones/Faces/Black Crowes tune and you’ll see what I mean. Could not be happier with these pickups. -
Love the full laid back sound. I just got my guitar back from my local shop that installed these with a 920D Three-way switch with a push-pull series/parallel selection. Love the sound, still fiddling around.
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Less shrill telecaster tone, with more body and drive.
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HSS Tele
I outfitted a Telecaster with a full set of Fralin pickups and it just turned out amazing. With two single coils and a humbucker, this guitar has a complete range of sounds. Thanks to Lindy for helping me out. -
Excellent pickups, excellent customer service.
Big improvement in the tone of my Tele, great communication, very fast turnaround time, I received the pickups well before I expected them. All around an excellent product and experience.
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Recently purchased a brand new 2019 Tele Elite. I was not happy with the stock Noiseless 4th Generation pickups. Decided to go with LF Blues Specials. Gave me the tone and extra output while still maintaining the characteristics of a Telecaster. A major improvement and the perfect marriage for this guitar.
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