Split Steel Poled Tele
Noiseless P90 Tone in a Tele Bridge Position? Yep – we got that! Enter the Fralin Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge: a Noiseless P90 for Telecaster. This pickup features a fat, thick midrange and aggressive highs. It’s a perfect drop-in replacement for any Fender Telecaster Bridge pickup and for those looking for that versatile, unique P90 tone for their Tele. Get inspired and discover what you’ve been missing.
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P90 Tone, Zero Hum.
Want to learn more about our Split Steel Poled Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
Split Steel Poled Tele FEATURES:
- Noiseless, Fat And Full Tele Bridge Tone
- Huge P-90 Midrange and Thickness
- Direct Replacement For Tele Bridge
- Two outputs for fine-tuning your unique tone
- Unique left-right coil design for 100% noiseless operation
- Adjustable Steel Pole Pieces for fine-tuning string balance
- USA-Made Precision Injection Mold, and USA-Made Ceramic Magnets and Wire
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
- Risk-free 30-day exchange policy
Overview
The Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge provides an authentic P90 tone without the noise. If you’re not happy with your bright, noisy bridge pickup, we invite you to check this pickup out. Featuring adjustable USA-Made Pole pieces and a thick, dynamic midrange, you will be amazed at the clarity, versatility, and articulation coming from your Tele’s bridge position.
Based on his Split Blade design, Lindy created this pickup to get more aggression out of the bridge position while still canceling out hum. Installation is a breeze, as this pickup will drop right into your Telecaster with no modifications necessary.
Sound
Are you seeking something unique for your Tele’s Bridge position? Are you looking for a “secret weapon” in your guitar’s arsenal? Look no further than our Split Steel Pole Bridge. With a unique design comes a familiar (yet unique) tone. This pickup features a thick, bold midrange, a percussive treble, and a familiar P90 growl.
Wound strings are crystal-clear yet loud, and Treble strings have the Tele Twang, but with a rounder quality. With an accentuated midrange and warmer highs, this Bridge pickup is perfect for those trying to tame a twangy Tele bridge.
Whether you play with distortion or not, you’ll undoubtedly cut through in the mix with our Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge.
OPTIONS:
Choose Stock Output: If you want the thickest, beefiest tone. The midrange will be loud and full. Highs will be slightly darker.
Choose -5% Output: If you want a little clearer tone and more articulation. Highs will be more present, mids slightly scooped.
Video
Take a listen to our friend Mike Hermans use our Split Steel Pole Tele in the Bridge position of his Tele:
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Split Steel Poled Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Ohm Reading: | 9.8K (Stock) |
| Polarity: | This pickup's polarity is reversible with 3-Wire configuration |
| Magnets: | USA-Made Ceramic |
| Wire: | USA-Made 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Bobbins: | USA-Made Precision Injection Mold |
| Baseplate: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K* |
* 500K Pots will provide a clearer, brighter tone
Sizing
Split Steel Poled Tele Questions And Answers:
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS
40 Genuine Reviews for Split Steel Poled Tele
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Guys,
I just purchased and installed the split steel poled tele pickup and I just wanted to say I have not been able to put the guitar down! Truly amazing tone. It’s still got the spank you might expect from a stock tele bridge pickup, but the p90 warmth and grunt and absolutely no 60cycle hum. Amazing design! I thought i’d give this a try because I already have a stock 71 tele and the fender pickups that I bought for this one were ridiculously microphonic and made the guitar unusable for a gig. I could talk to truckers on I-95 with my guitar!! (not really) Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.
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This pickup is a great option for achieving hum cancelling, traditional appearance, and the spit and bite of a P90. Highly adjustable with lots of warm clarity and air, unlike many stacked, single-coil-sized humbuckers that sound plugged up with an ice pick top edge. Highly recommended!
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I purchased a SPLIT STEEL POLED TELE pickup to To complement a JBE Danny Gatton neck pickup on my project custom built Tele and “wow” man it sound great !!! The sound I was totally what I was looking for….
A warm ,fat & punchy but still retaining some top end sparkle that really cuts through the mix …
Thank you ! Lindy Fralin ,
for a great pickup and steering me in the right direction for the sound I was looking for. -
Hello, I’m thinking of using this pickup in a Tele that currently has DiMarzio Area T humbucking Tele pickups. I would replace the bridge with this one. Using my “little magnet in a clear plastic tube” device, I see that the DiMarzio’s have a “south up” magnet orientation. Since I’m keeping the DiMarzio in the neck, will I be OK regarding polarity combining the DiMarzio neck and Fralin bridge? BTW, I will order the three wire configuration on the Fralin as you suggest. Please advise. Thanks
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I installed the normal-wind pickup in a swamp ash Telecaster with 500k pots. There is plenty of clarity and articulation, just no shrillness. It can produce a really pretty and round clean sound but there’s enough snap and attack to still do Tele things.
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Perfect Fit
I put my split steel pole in my Esquire copy; man, it just sings now. Playing clean, it’s just crisp and clear as a bell. Turn on some dirt or overdrive and this thing snarls with the perfect amount of midrange. It’s a beautiful thing. Just recently I plugged my Esquire into an octave up fuzz that I was about to give up on, but the split steel pole through a fuzz box is the creamiest, most perfect fuzz I’ve ever heard. This pickup has made my Esquire sound exactly how I’ve envisioned it should. Absolutely brilliant.
Yes – 500K pots are recommended for these models.
Hello, I’m thinking of using this pickup in a Tele that currently has DiMarzio Area T humbucking Tele pickups. I would replace the bridge with this one. Using my “little magnet in a clear plastic tube” device, I see that the DiMarzio’s have a “south up” magnet orientation. Since I’m keeping the DiMarzio in the neck, will I be OK regarding polarity combining the DiMarzio neck and Fralin bridge? BTW, I will order the three wire configuration on the Fralin as you suggest. Please advise. Thanks
Yes, since both of these pickups are hum cancelling, polarity simply comes down to coil direction. Select the 3-Wire wiring option, and we’ll make the pickup reversible for you.
Greetings, I bought this pickup for an esquire build. I like a nice fat sound but I don’t want it to be muddy. Do you recommend 500k pots for the split steel pole? Also what value cap? .022 or .047? Thanks for the help.
We would recommend 250K pots for this pickup for the thickest tone. Tone caps are a personal choice, but I recommend 0.022 as a really versatile cap that is not too dark.
Hi, I am building a hybrid Strat/Tele guitar using Tele body with a universal route under the pickguard. I am thinking of using a SD Little 59 in the neck and a SD Duckbucker in the middle as I already have those pickups sitting in a drawer collecting dust. As I recall, they give a nice versatile tone, thick neck tone, stratty out-of-phase tone in position 2 and 4, and a glassy strat tone in position 3. Their outputs are as follows, Little 59 – 9.8k, Duckbucker – 2.5k. Your Split Steel Pole Tele bridge is 9.8k. Would it pair well with these other two pickups? Would I have any polarity issues if I purchased the 3 conductor wire option? Thanks so much. I really love all the pickups I have purchased of yours! Really amazing stuff!
Hey Jeffery,
There is really no way to compare these pickups as they have different pickup designs, and their ohm readings are not useful. I can guarantee that if you get the 3 Wire Option, you won’t have any polarity issues. I would imagine that you wouldn’t have any issues with output as this pickup has enough output to play with medium – high output pickups.
What is a good humbucker sized neck pickup to match the split steel pole bridge? Looking at P-92, Big Single and Twangmaster.
Hey Sean,
The P-92 (Stock Output) will match perfectly. That’s truly a matched pair.
Hi, I currently have the Steel pole 43 in my telecaster (500k pots) and I absolutely love it (Thank you !) but I’d like to go noiseless. Plus, I wouldn’t mind having just a little bit beefier bridge pickup. Does this pickup have similar tone and output ? With 500k pots, is it brighter/thinner or darker/ beefier than the SP43 ? Thanks.
Hey Nicolas,
As it turns out, the Steel Pole 43 is the hottest Bridge pickup we make for Tele. The Split Steel Pole Tele Bridge is a bit cleaner and clearer than the Steel Pole 43 but thicker-sounding than our Steel Pole 42 – it’s right in the middle.