Prewired Telecaster Harness
Mod, Drop In, Plug In, Play
$135
New & Improved Design
Built With Premier Pro Pots
Customize and upgrade your Telecaster instantly with our Prewired Telecaster Wiring Harness! With over 150 combinations available, you can select your options, and we’ll wire it up just how you like it. Installation involves soldering a few wires into place. As always, we only use the finest-quality USA-Made parts we can find.
Quick Links
Jump to Sound Clips and more info
Our Wiring Skills, Your Personality.
Want to learn more about our Prewired Telecaster Harness? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
Our Pre-Wired Telecaster Wiring Harness is designed by you and built by us. Chrome and Aged Nickel Prewired Harnesses come loaded with the highest quality materials available – from CRL® Switches to Emerson Premier Pro pots. Of course, all our parts are made in the USA and are assembled and wired by hand in Richmond, VA.
How It's Made:
Look & Feel
We offer Chrome Telecaster Control Plates and Aged Nickel Telecaster Control Plates. Aged Nickel Telecaster Control Plates all have a unique patina to them to make them look slightly reliced and older. Due to the aging process, each Aged Nickel Telecaster Control Plate is unique, and no two are alike.
Orientation
Choose how you want your Control Plate to work in your guitar
We can wire up your Tele Control Plate a couple of different ways: Normal Orientation and Flipped Orientation.
- Normal Orientation: With a Normal Orientation Telecaster Control Plate, your switch is closest to the headstock.
- Flipped Orientation: With a Flipped Orientation, the Control Plate orients with the Switch closest to the Output Jack, and the Volume Pot closest to the headstock. This is great for those who love to utilize volume swells.
Wiring
We can wire up your switch a couple of different ways – here are your options:
- 3-Way: This will give you normal Telecaster functionality – Bridge Only / Bridge – Neck / Neck Only.
- 5-Way: This is perfect for Nashville Telecasters, with three pickups.
Pot Value
Choose your Pot Value
- Choose 250K Pots if you have single-coil Telecaster pickups or pickups that are brighter. 250K pots will make darker sounding pickups too dark and muddy.
- Choose 500K Pots if you have Humbuckers, P-90’s, or other dark-sounding pickups. 500K pots will make single-coil Telecaster pickups sound too shrill.
Cap Value
Choose how you want your Tone Pots to sound
Read up on our Tone Caps here.
- .02 mfd sounds excellent on most Fender guitars and will give you a medium roll-off in tone.
- .05 mfd will offer a much deeper and darker roll-off than .02.
- Magic Cap: This is a low capacitance cap (.0015 mfd) and only works on the Bridge Pickup only. The effect is extremely subtle – not like a regular cap. It tends to make treble strings sound slightly fatter.
Installation Instructions
In this guide, we're showing you how to install our Prewired Telecaster Harness. Installation is super simple, and most can handle it with without the help of an experienced luthier. That said, if you're uncomfortable with soldering, take your guitar and harness for installation. Doing it yourself? Let's dive in.
Tools Needed:
- Soldering Pencil & Solder (We use Kester 60/40)
- Wire Cutters (for trimming excess wire)
- Screwdriver
- 1/2" Hex Driver (For removal and installation of pots).
Installation Overview
In a nutshell, you're simply removing the existing electronics or control plate, and replacing them with the new ones. You want to be careful to label each wire so you can put them back where they belong.
Step 1 - Remove your existing harness
- Unscrew the two screws holding down the control plate to the body
- Remove the guitar's jack cup (Some feature two screws, others are press fit)
- Carefully flip the control plate over, and identify where each wire goes. Most Telecaster pickup wires exit in logical places, you can easily see which wires belong to the Bridge and Neck pickup, respectively.
- Unsolder and label each wire - you should only need to unsolder a White and Ground for simple setups. Ground connections are usually soldered to the casing of the volume pot.
- Use the 1/2" Hex driver to remove the output jack, if it has it - if no hex nut is present, you have an Electrosocket jack mount and the jack is threaded into the jack mount itself. Unthread it.
- Once everything is unsoldered, the existing control plate should be able to lift out of the control cavity freely.
Step 2 - Transfer Hardware (optional)
If you did not purchase a completed Harness with a plate and knobs, you'll need to transfer your plate and knobs to the new harness.
- Remove the Harness from the harness board
- Install your existing plate, knobs and switch
Step 3 - Wire it up
We've made this as simple as possible. If you purchased your harness with push pull modifications, you'll see marker wires with a label (i.e. Bridge White). These marker wires are designed to be removed by unsoldering them and carefully placing the corresponding wire in it's place. If you don't see marker wires, you ordered a simple plate and the wiring is as such:
Normal Orientation
Flipped Orientation
Step 4: Reassemble
Once your soldering is complete, perform the following steps:
- Install the new output jack into your existing Jack mount or plate
- Flip the control plate to it's normal place and use the screws to install it
- Test the guitar by plugging it into an amplifier (low volume) and playing it
That's it! Installation of our Prewired Telecaster Harness is complete. It's quite simple. Enjoy your new harness!
Push-Pull Pot Mods
There are a few Push-Pull pot mods available with our Telecaster Control Plate. Here's what they do:
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1
Bright Switch
Add a touch of brightness to your Tele
Down
In the Down Position, your tone is unchanged, and your volume and tone pots work normally. Up
In the Up Position, your pickups connect direct to the output jack, bypassing your volume and tone pots, giving you a brighter tone. Note: -
2
Push Pull Volume Kit
Add and remove the Volume Kit when you want
Down
In the Down Position, the Volume Kit is out of the circuit. Up
In the Up Position, the Volume Kit is in the circuit, and rolling down your volume gives you a brighter tone. Note: -
3
Series Parallel Mod
Add 4-Way Switching to your Tele with a 3-Way switch
Down
Your Tele's wiring is a normal 3-way telecaster wiring Up
The "Series" sound is on (think of it as the 4th position on your switch). Both pickups are in Series, giving you a bigger, more humbucker-like tone. Note: -
4
Two Tone Cap Mod
Have two tone cap values on one pot
Down
Engage tone cap #1. Up
Engage tone cap #2. -
5
Blend-Tone Mod
A Fralin Pickups exclusive
Down
In the Down Position, your tone pot is a normal tone pot. Up
In the Up Position, your tone pot transforms to a Blender Pot. Your tone pot will not work normally until pushed down.
Pickup Dimensions
Prewired Telecaster Harness FAQ's
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Prewired Telecaster Harness. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" in the Quick Links section above.
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Can I purchase a Control Plate & Knobs with my Harness?
Yes! In the “Options, Mods & Upgrades” menu, you can complete your Tele Wiring Harness with a Chrome or Aged Control Plate and knobs.
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Can I return my Tele Harness?
No. Since these are so custom and made to order, all Telecaster HarnessesWirin sales are final, and not available for exchange or return.
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What if I don’t see what I want?
Please use the “Notes” field on the checkout screen to type in any special requests. Use this field to describe how you want it wired as well if you wish to have anything customized. We’ll make it to your specs.
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Can I use the Series Parallel Mod and Blend-Tone mod together?
No – these are completely different mods that don’t play nicely together. As a company, we decided to not allow them to exist on the same plate.
Premium parts. Pro results.
Upgrade our Prewired Telecaster Harness with the best pots in the industry.
We are thrilled to announce the latest upgrade to our Prewired Lineup: Emerson Custom’s Premier Pro Pots! Our partnership with Emerson Custom guarantees that your next Prewired Pickguard, Control Plate or Harness will feature the highest-quality pots available in the industry.
At Fralin Pickups, we are committed to sourcing the best parts, and when it comes to pots, Emerson Custom’s Premier Pro Pots are the finest we have ever used. These pots boast a sturdy build quality, a custom audio taper, and exceptionally tight tolerances. You can confidently upgrade, knowing that each pot is reliable and built to last a lifetime.
Need Guidance?
Contact our Prewired Craftsman Directly
Builders Love Our Prewired Telecaster Harness
These are just some of our talented builders that use our Prewired Telecaster Harness
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
175 Genuine Reviews for Prewired Telecaster Harness
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Great, works well.
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Control plate does everything it’s supposed to do. Looks cool, tone pot has a very nice even roll-off. And very easy to solder for a fumbler like me, the tagged leads indicating what goes where is a great idea. Very satisfied.
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Amazing product, the harness made a noticeable improvement to the sound of the Tele. Easy to install with high quality parts.
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Excellently wired, soldered control plate, pots, and switch. Would buy again.
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I’ve trusted Fralin pickups for years. I have two Telecasters that I’ve built. One has Fralin’s Vintage Hot SC’s along with a prewired control plate from Fralin. The other one has the Split Blade Telecaster pickups with a reverse switch pre-wired control plate. I also purchased a set of Pure P.A.F. Humbuckers for my Gibson LP. I just haven’t found another pickup manufacturer that comes close to how good these Fralin’s sound! The Craftsmanship is always first class. I’m a believer!
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Perfect sound.
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Everything is working and sounding great. I am real happy I chose Fralin pickups for my guitar. If I decide to build another guitar, I will choose you all for my pickup needs. Thanks
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I have a sunbucker blues for the neck and a split blade single coil for the bridge. They complement each other really well. Your control plate really did the trick. Thank you for the help. I need to take soldering classes. But, until then, I can play to my heart’s content. Thanks again. If I decide to build another guitar, I will be contacting you for all my pickups. Thanks!!
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Your control plate did the job. Everything sounds great. I am waiting on a new Fender neck now, it will be icing on the cake. Thank you. I also ordered some new how to solder books. I will learn.
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I like that you soldered wires to the controls. Excellent!
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The Telecaster Control Plate made a BIG difference on this guitar which had import quality pots and electronics, and the wrong value, 500K!
It’s not just the pickups that make the difference, the quality of the pots and electronics are very important!
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Excellent product matched by excellent communication with staff.
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Just like their pickup selection, the custom, made to order control plates are impeccably clean and labeled, ready for your build! You can’t ask for more than that. It’s the whole enchilada right there.
Woodsy Owl Guitars -
love your control plate, easy to install, nice tone control
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I just wanted to say thanks for the incredible gear you guys sent me and the useful tips for install and set up. It gets quite expensive being in Australia and paying US dollars but in this case it was well worth it ! This thing is incredible now. Thanks again and look forward to dealing with you in the future
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NOTES ON FINISH:
- Aged Control Plates are chemically aged and feature slight defects and a raw look. We cannot guarantee that the plate you receive will look like our photos - they are all unique.
- We cannot guarantee finish matching of the plate and knobs perfectly. Because of this, we cannot provide a return to you if you are unhappy with the finish matching of our Prewired Telecaster Harness.
