Prewired Telecaster Control Plate
$120 – $135
Customize and upgrade your Telecaster, instantly with the Lindy Fralin Telecaster Control Plate. 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.
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Features
Our Pre-Wired Telecaster Control Plate is designed by you and built by us. Chrome and Aged Nickel Prewired Control Plates come loaded with the highest quality materials available – from CRL® Switches to CTS® Pots. Of course, all our parts are made in the USA and are assembled and wired by hand in Richmond, VA.
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:
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 CRL: This will give you normal Telecaster functionality – Bridge Only / Bridge – Neck / Neck Only.
- 5-Way CRL: This is perfect for Nashville Telecasters, with three pickups.
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.
Tone Cap Value:
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.
FAQs
- Can you wire it up without the Chrome Plate? As it turns out, No. If this matters to you, you can pull out all the wiring once you receive it to put it in your Control Plate. It’s just too time-consuming and unsafe to ship without a solid control plate holding everything together.
- Can I return my Control Plate? No. Since these are so custom and made to order, all Telecaster Control Plate sales are final, and not available for exchange or return.
- 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.
Installation
Installation is easy, and only takes a few steps. Check out our in-depth Telecaster Control Plate Installation Guide Below:
Telecaster Control Plate Installation Guide
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
Blender Pot 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.
Prewired Telecaster Control Plate Dimensions:
Customer Reviews
159 Genuine Reviews for Prewired Telecaster Control Plate
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Great quality and construction. The checking on the control knobs is outstanding and crisp. The installation and instructions are easy to use even for a novice.
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New Control Plate for 2002 MIM Tele
This review is an update from a previous one. Since Tyler responded to my original posting with a solution to the resistance issue on the volume knob, I made the adjustment and now it is a smooth experience from 1 to 10. If only everything was so simple! I felt the need to change my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars. Thanks again, guys …
Tyler Delsack (Store Manager) June 29, 2021:
Hey Peter, Thanks for your review! Regards to the tone knobs, try unscrewing the set screw a touch and backing the knob away from the plate a tiny bit. We check this at the shop but sometimes they slip through. That should fix your issue.Original posting (June 26, 2021):
At the same time as replacing my pickups, I ordered a new pre-wired control plate with jack, as the original 3-way switch, wobbly knobs and jack had a tendency to make cracking sounds. The new switch and knobs no longer feel unsure of themselves, and am happy with the results. I give this product 4 stars in lieu of 5, as the volume knob feels like it has some resistance on the first half – the other half is very smooth. On another note, I never used the tone knob on my Tele in the past, as it just made the sound muddy, but found that it is now a lot more musical and will be utilizing it in the future. Nice job, guys! -
Top quality components. Easy enough to install with very basic soldering skills. The temporary lead wires that are removed when you connect the pickup wires are a great idea – error-free installation. I went for the parallel/series mod and this adds a great tone with both neck and bridge pickups active in series – huge sound. The knurling on the knobs is great, too. Makes for easy volume swells. I had to rout out about 1/4″ from the middle section of the control plate cavity in my Mexican Tele (for the push/pull volume pot with treble bleed option) so be prepared for that if you go that way. Couldn’t be happier.
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Customer added no additional comments
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Let me get to the point. If you need any help in how to wire like I do, then Fralin is THE thing. They put sample wires on the proper connections. All you have to do is replace those with your own. They are clearly labeled and just what I needed. I’ve bought several of these now and will never buy anywhere else. Fralin understands not all have the same kind of expertise.
As for the quality: second to none. You might find some cheaper but these give you the confidence of knowing you’ll never have to replace them down the road unless you choose too. Can’t say enough about how these are the best. Same for their pickups. Thanks Lindy and colleagues.
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Sounds like heaven! Fralin products perform beyond my imagination!!
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I put the pickups and the control plate in my American Pro Telecaster. The stock PUs sounded good but a bit sterile to me. With the +2 pickups however the tone is so lively and it responds so much better to pick attack. Harmonically rich tones. Rings out beautifully. Installation was very easy because labeled temporary wires were soldered to the control plate so I didn’t need any wiring diagram. Highly recommended.
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New Control Plate for 2002 MIM Tele:
At the same time as replacing my pickups, I ordered a new pre-wired control plate with jack, as the original 3-way switch, wobbly knobs and jack had a tendency to make cracking sounds. The new switch and knobs no longer feel unsure of themselves, and am happy with the results. I give this product 4 stars in lieu of 5, as the volume knob feels like it has some resistance on the first half – the other half is very smooth. On another note, I never used the tone knob on my Tele in the past, as it just made the sound muddy, but found that it is now a lot more musical and will be utilizing it in the future. Nice job, guys!-
Hey Peter, Thanks for your review! Regards to the tone knobs, try unscrewing the set screw a touch and backing the knob away from the plate a tiny bit. We check this at the shop but sometimes they slip through. That should fix your issue.
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Customer added no additional comments
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Tele Pickups
Had an old Tele with old pickups. Decided to install some REAL pickups ! Lindy’s are THE BEST. You can’t ask for better
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Prewired Tele Control Plate – Excellent!! Great labeling of the wires so set up is pretty much foolproof. Very clean!
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Totally Worth It
Normally when I change pickups I just wire everything up myself but glad I decided to go with the pre-wired control plate and very happy with it. Easiest and fastest pickup change ever. Seem to be top quality parts and it works great.
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More than perfect. Incredible quality and outstanding sound!
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Wonderful! This was a custom wire job that turned out great I’ll be ordering another soon! I used to do all my own wiring but not anymore! Thanks again!
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I bought a Prewired Tele Control Plate as an upgrade for my partscaster. Standard configuration, chrome finish. The quality is excellent. Outstanding looks and performance. Thank you!
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The Fralin Team makes this an easy process with emailed instruction and soldered wires that tell you how to connect your pickups. Works like a charm.
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It’s not the first time (or the last) that I use your pickups in a telecaster, because they’re simply the best.
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Good show. Very well made and fairly priced. It was easy to install and worked well with my Fralin pickups. I appreciate the “marker leads” to indicate exactly where to connect the pickup leads; very thoughtful.
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High Output Esquire
I paired this control plate with the Fralin High Output humbucker, wired to turn the 3-way switch into a coil tap and the push/pull 2 tone cap mod. Installation was a breeze, all of the included parts are high quality, and the entire setup is extremely versatile.
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Perfecto!
Built my first guitar and decided to go with first class electronics. For a rookie like me the prewired control plate was an easy choice. Good instructions made the job simple. I also used a set of Fralin Blues sprecial pickups which I’m in love with. Great service. Will use again for sure. Thanks
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NOTES ON FINISH:
- Aged Control Plates are aged by hand 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 Control Plate.
HARNESSES:
- Our parts and wire lengths are designed to work seamlessly with our Prewired Telecaster Control Plate. Due to various guitar and instrument designs, we cannot guarantee that our parts will fit properly, and due to this, we do not offer Wiring Harnesses.
