High Output Tele
High Output Tele Pickups are wound with more wire than the Stock Tele set for a lot more power and darker sound. Fralin High Outputs are perfect for those looking for more power than our Blues Specials. They are dark and thick, perfect for balancing a bright Telecaster or mixing with P90’s or Humbuckers.
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Aggressive, Mean Tele Tone
Want to learn more about our High Output Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
High Output Tele FEATURES:
Are you looking for the thickest Telecaster Tone you can get with traditional looks? Lindy Fralin’s High Output Telecaster Pickups are for you. These pickups have the most output out of our Alnico Telecaster line. If you have a bright-sounding guitar, this set will help balance the treble and emphasize the mids. Because Fralin High Outputs sound best with 500K Pots, this makes them an ideal choice if you plan to combine with a humbucker or P90. Here is a birds-eye view of the Fralin High Output Telecaster Pickups:
Features:
- Modified Fender specifications for boldest tone
- Loudest and highest-output Telecaster replacement we make
- High output so you can mix with P90s and Humbuckers
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- USA-made Alnico 5 Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- Two magnet staggers available for different fingerboard radiuses
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built fiberboard Bobbins for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Sound
Tonal Graph for High Output Tele:
The tone graph below for our High Output Tele features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Dynamic & Full
How do they sound? Thick, dark, and quick to break up! Whether you play clean or dirty, you’ll be impressed by the massive midrange and smooth highs this set provides you. You’ll notice the compressed beefy tone and low-end growl, perfect for combining with other pickup designs, like a Humbucker or P90.
You can expect a less emphasized attack as the highs are smoother and darker than our Standard Tele sets, like our Blues Special, which features a more pronounced pick attack. Due to this set’s compressed, thick nature, you can expect to move away from the tone of the Telecaster. With distortion, you’ll notice a smooth grind that will transform your Tele into a real tonal powerhouse.
Are you looking for a Hum Cancelling Tele pickup that actually sounds like a Tele? Check out the High Output Model of our Split Blade Tele Pickups
It all starts here: Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our High Output Tele Pickups consist of locally-stamped fiberboard and USA-Made Alnico 5 Magnets – in fact, 100% of the High Output Tele set is USA-Made, including every part.
We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time, and wind each pickup using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to prevent microphonics and to preserve the pickup for years to come.
Sizing
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our High Output Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 8.7K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 10K 1 |
| Neck Polarity: | Counter-Clockwise Coil Direction, North To Strings |
| Bridge Polarity: | Clockwise Coil Direction, South To Strings |
| Wire: | USA-Made 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 5 |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
| 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.
High Output Tele FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your High Output 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 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 High Output 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.
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GET IT PREWIRED
Go the extra mile and combine our High Output Tele with a Telecaster Control Plate!:
OH MY DOG!!! This pup is the best I have and quite frankly everything I need.
Definitely increased the output on my ESP Tele!
The Archetypal Tele Tone: Everything you want from a tele pickup without the thin shrill quality so many have.
This pickup is very good not only for clean tone but also for dirty tone
Dear, Even when using a single-coil, there are times when I want to add deep distortion like a humbucker, but at that time, I think this pickup is the best. I think that the appearance is not a twin blade, but a normal single coil is also cool. Also, I am glad that I can purchase from your website even in Japan. Before, it was hard to get Lindy’s pickups in Japan. Thanks, Shigeki
The right choice!
Love these pickups. They spank and sparkle clean, snarl with high gain. Very well made!
Great Sound!!
This is my first Lindy Fralin pickup, and I must say, I don’t know why I didn’t buy one sooner! I put this bridge high output Tele pickup in my first Tele build, and it makes my first build sound like a professionally made, high-end telecaster! I cannot be happier with the pickup itself as well as the customer service! Upon purchase, I left a note mentioning how I’m pairing the high output Tele pickup with a Seymour Duncan sh-1b ’59 that I’ve had for a while. I got a personal call from Lindy after the speedy delivery, instructing me on how to install the pickup and ensuring that it will not give any interference with the SD pickup. Honestly, the only issue I have is that I did not buy this pickup sooner and I will certainly be placing all Lindy Fralin pickups in my next build!
High Output Tele Bridge
Essentially it works as advertised. It is about as hot as you can get, without starting to sound like a P-90. You can get some really nice clean sounds rolling back on the volume. Great for putting a little hair on the sound or really driving your amp
Per the recommendations on this page, I purchased the High Output Tele Bridge in combination with a covered Blues Special neck because I just couldn’t imagine my Tele without a cover on the neck pickup. I also switched to 500K pots and a .022 Microfarad tone cap with a treble bleed consisting of a parallel 240 picofarad cap and a 100K resistor. This particular set uses a 5% overwind on the bridge and hybrid stagger to match the guitar’s 12″ radius.
Since this is the High-Output page, the review will deal mostly with the bridge pickup, but the neck pickup will be mentioned in brief towards the end. The Blues Special set doesn’t seem to need too much help selling itself anyway.
The guitar in which the pickups were installed was a G&L ASAT Classic AlNiCo which had previously been equipped with its factory Paul Gagon AlNiCo pickups. This guitar, which has an Ash body and a rosewood board with brass saddles, had no tonal deficiency with those pickups; they were great for a classic Tele tone. I would have been glad to leave them in it, but they were not giving me adequate output and thickness, particularly of lead tone, for the band I’m playing in now, and switching between the ASAT and my humbucker and/or P90 guitars would cause us to have to stop and readjust levels, which is always a pain. Plus, while the guitar was beautiful for cleaner classic rock solos, it just didn’t fill enough air in a hard rock band.
So, the Fralins went in. Having had them in place for a few days, and having recorded a few demos with them to give myself a chance to sit back and listen to how they perform, I am perfectly happy with the results. The High Output Bridge does precisely what I needed in the configuration described above: That is to say it provides a more focused, raunchier version of the tone I already loved about this instrument. I can tell it’s the same guitar, but it sounds noticeably meaner now, with a smoother, more pronounced mid-range that grinds through distortion boxes or a cranked amp. It could be described as Jerry Donahue’s attack with Mike Ness’ note bloom and decay; a great Tele tone meets a great P-90 tone. Shaken notes sustain very well, and even a clean sustain or slid-in note holds out with a P-90-like groan. The guitar stands out between the bass notes, vocal, and drummer’s cymbal work to the point my band mates were, for lack of a better term, “flipping out” over how good the solos sounded when we listened back to the demos we recorded last night.
It blends with the Blues Special neck for a middle position that is unquestionably Tele, but crunches up for a vicious alt rock to even metal-sounding chug when palm muted under heavy distortion. Played clean, the 500Ks and treble bleed leave no doubt you’re hearing a Tele in the middle. You want a nasty Southern Rock chickin pickin’ tone, this combination is your bag. I hybrid pick a lot, and the balance between the pick strikes on the wound strings and the finger style on the plains is very pleasing.
The neck is just what I’d expect from any Fralin Blues Special set: a fatter, punchier version of that jazz to classic rock rhythm thing that a Tele’s neck position does so well, with excellent articulation and good responsiveness. The thickness added is perfect for the job. I was worried I’d need to rout that guitar for a mini bucker to get rid of what I felt was excessive twang and thinness in the neck; not anymore. Since this is the High Output page, I won’t spend too long on the neck, except to say that for how well it plays with the High Output bridge, if you want to keep a cover on your neck, follow the recommendation in the page info and get a covered Blues Special, then switch to 500Ks and a smaller value tone cap. The balance across switch positions is great, and you can always move the neck pickup a touch closer to the strings if you’re not satisfied with its output.
The .022 Microfarad cap and 240pf/100K treble bleed described above give a very smooth curve when rolling the volume and tone, with very little noticeable tone difference on volume swells, or when using the volume as a gain control. If you buy these pickups, I recommend planning on making a few tone circuit mods as well, as I strongly suspect you’ll find them too dark with 250Ks. If you have an especially dark guitar, like an all-rosewood Tele, or an alder or mahogany-bodied guitar with a rosewood fingerboard, you might even consider 1 megs pots, but I have every faith you’ll get a solid, useful balance from these pickups with a little value tweaking.
For my uses, in this guitar, I cannot imagine I would find a better set of pickups, and being a guy who likes slightly hotter pickups in general, as much as I liked the originals, I doubt they’ll ever go back in. The guitar is too well balanced and works too well with my play style for me to consider changing it after this. I think I have found my long-term Tele tone.
Televised…
It must have been the mid-nineties when I ordered my first Lindy Fralin pickups. A set of three for a Strat. Lindy answered the phone himself and we talked through what I was looking for and they were in my hands in just a few days. Before long I had all my Strats equipped with Fralins. Soon, I got a Tele. His overwound standard pickup worked like a charm. I’ve been dialing in my Teles for years and that pickup found its home in my best guitars over the years. Recently, I decided to put together an ultimate Tele. This time, Lindy didn’t answer the phone himself. His company had grown- and gotten even better! Tyler handled my call and spent quite some time answering all my questions and making sure I got what I needed. He was SO helpful. I ended up getting a High Output Tele bridge pickup that sounds as great as I’ve come to expect from the Fralin crew. It was in the mail in a couple of days, was packaged carefully, all the polarity and other specifications were spot on, and sounds great. Smooth highs, punchy lows, no compression or microphonics, perfect string balance ( I got the ‘hybrid’ pole pieces for my flattish neck radius ), good mounting hardware and three-conductor wiring for phase options, etc. Just a great product with unparalleled customer service. Thank you!
High output Tele Bridge Pickup is Tone Heaven
Always wanted a 72 style Tele with a humbucker neck and single-coil bridge pickup. I found a used one that I really like the neck. The previous owner upgraded the stock neck wide range humbucker pickup with a Shawbucker 1T but left the stock bridge pickup. A friend of mine who puts Lindy Fralin pickups in his teles told me about them. So I decided to get a high output Tele Bridge pickup as a replacement as the tone was just okay with the stock pickup. After replacing, the tone difference is way better. My 72 Vintage Tele now sounds as good as my two more expensive professional models. Can do twang, blues, rock and sounds awesome. Pairs very nicely with the Shawbucker 1T neck pickup in the middle switch position. Very responsive to touch and picking style. Lindy Fralin pickup fan for life!!