MY
CART (0)
Steel Pole 42 Tele
$105.00 – $210.00
Fralin Steel Pole 42 Tele Replacements: 50% Single Coil, 50% P90 Tone! Built with adjustable steel pole pieces, these pickups take on some of the character of a P90 for a big, round Tele tone. These pickups sound big, bold, and mean!
Steel Pole 42 Tele Info:
Want to learn more about our Steel Pole 42 Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
Steel Pole 42 Tele FEATURES:
- Original Fender Size, Lindy Fralin Design
- Strong and bold – lots of midrange and snarl
- USA-made Ceramic Magnets for aggressive tone and output
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- RW/RP Neck pickup for a hum-canceling middle position.
- Adjustable Steel Pole pieces for fine-tuning string balance
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
OVERVIEW
Steel Pole 42 Tele pickups are the perfect blend of a P90 and a traditional Tele Pickup. If you’re looking for a thick, warm, and beefier sound, you will love the sound this model could provide. Steel Pole Pieces and Ceramic Magnets give this pickup a harder top-end. The midrange is also beefier than High Outputs, making it ideal for a Bridge Position. Distortion will yield a faster break up and a chainsaw grind.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Steel Pole Pickups consist of a precision injection mold and USA-Made Steel Screws. We use aggressive USA-Made magnets to make this model scream. Each bobbin is carefully inspected and cleaned before winding.
We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound
Steel Pole 42’s sound larger and richer than traditional Tele pickups. You’ll notice more midrange, especially in the lows and highs when played clean. The midrange is prominent on this pickup, and it sounds great on 250K pots. These pickups are not as dark as a P90 but have a beautiful openness and clarity. Steel Pole 42’s sound thicker in the midrange with more of a “chainsaw” grind. For musicians looking for more of a traditional P-90 sound, we recommend our Steel Pole 43 Pickups.
Finally, Steel Pole 42 Pickups are for those who need more output from their stock pickups. If you’re looking for something different, these may be right for you. Also, if your current pickups are too bright or thin, you will love these. These tend to be warmer-sounding, and a bit aggressive.
FAQs
- How will this pickup differ from a standard Tele pickup? Because of the Ceramic, the Steel Pole pickups have a harder and more aggressive treble than the softer, more sparkly treble of a normal Tele pickup with Alnico magnets. The Ceramic will cause this pickup to sound slightly more aggressive in the midrange and will be darker.
- How far away from the strings does the pickup need to be? Push your Low E String down at the highest fret. Measure from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. The ideal starting location should be 1/8? on the bass string, and 1/16? on the treble string, when the High E string is pushed down at highest fret. You can adjust the stagger from there with the pole pieces.
- Wiring Diagrams? Here!
Tech Specs
Materials:
- 42-Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire in the Bridge and 43 Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire in the Neck
- They use USA-Made Ceramic Magnets
- USA-Made Steel Screws
- 250K Pots Recommended
Resistance Readings:
Steel Pole 42’s will read approximately 7.7K in the Neck and 6.7K in the Bridge. The Neck will read higher because we use 43 Gauge wire, which has more resistance. The outputs are compensated and this set has matched volume.
Sizing & Wiring Diagrams
WIRING DIAGRAMS:
We do not offer installation help or guidance, but we do have easy-to-follow, beautiful Wiring Diagrams! Click below:
- Original Fender Size, Lindy Fralin Design
- Strong and bold – lots of midrange and snarl
- USA-made Ceramic Magnets for aggressive tone and output
- Compensated Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- RW/RP Neck pickup for a hum-canceling middle position.
- Adjustable Steel Pole pieces for fine-tuning string balance
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Steel Pole 42 Tele pickups are the perfect blend of a P90 and a traditional Tele Pickup. If you’re looking for a thick, warm, and beefier sound, you will love the sound this model could provide. Steel Pole Pieces and Ceramic Magnets give this pickup a harder top-end. The midrange is also beefier than High Outputs, making it ideal for a Bridge Position. Distortion will yield a faster break up and a chainsaw grind.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Steel Pole Pickups consist of a precision injection mold and USA-Made Steel Screws. We use aggressive USA-Made magnets to make this model scream. Each bobbin is carefully inspected and cleaned before winding.
We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Steel Pole 42’s sound larger and richer than traditional Tele pickups. You’ll notice more midrange, especially in the lows and highs when played clean. The midrange is prominent on this pickup, and it sounds great on 250K pots. These pickups are not as dark as a P90 but have a beautiful openness and clarity. Steel Pole 42’s sound thicker in the midrange with more of a “chainsaw” grind. For musicians looking for more of a traditional P-90 sound, we recommend our Steel Pole 43 Pickups.
Finally, Steel Pole 42 Pickups are for those who need more output from their stock pickups. If you’re looking for something different, these may be right for you. Also, if your current pickups are too bright or thin, you will love these. These tend to be warmer-sounding, and a bit aggressive.
- How will this pickup differ from a standard Tele pickup? Because of the Ceramic, the Steel Pole pickups have a harder and more aggressive treble than the softer, more sparkly treble of a normal Tele pickup with Alnico magnets. The Ceramic will cause this pickup to sound slightly more aggressive in the midrange and will be darker.
- How far away from the strings does the pickup need to be? Push your Low E String down at the highest fret. Measure from the top of the pole piece to the bottom of the string. The ideal starting location should be 1/8? on the bass string, and 1/16? on the treble string, when the High E string is pushed down at highest fret. You can adjust the stagger from there with the pole pieces.
- Wiring Diagrams? Here!
Materials:
- 42-Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire in the Bridge and 43 Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire in the Neck
- They use USA-Made Ceramic Magnets
- USA-Made Steel Screws
- 250K Pots Recommended
Resistance Readings:
Steel Pole 42’s will read approximately 7.7K in the Neck and 6.7K in the Bridge. The Neck will read higher because we use 43 Gauge wire, which has more resistance. The outputs are compensated and this set has matched volume.
WIRING DIAGRAMS:
We do not offer installation help or guidance, but we do have easy-to-follow, beautiful Wiring Diagrams! Click below:
GET IT PREWIRED:
Go the extra mile and combine our Steel Pole 42 Tele with a Telecaster Control Plate!:
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
16 reviews for Steel Pole 42 Tele
Trying to leave a review for our Steel Pole 42 Tele? Leave one here.
Billy Busic (verified owner) –
Love these in my Tele.
Wanted a little more bite and gain from my Tele and these work perfectly. Thank you Lindy for talking to me personally to see what I was looking for.
Jim Titus (verified owner) –
Glad I went with SP 42 in bridge and SP43 in neck
This pickup is also better than I expected, especially when mixed with the SP 43 neck pickup. Sweet sounding and versatile. I love how they nailed the mix of P90 while keeping that classic Tele bridge pickup sound. I love both sounds and this captures that great mix. And, again, like I mention in my SP 43 review, the unexpected increase in sustain that seems exponentially improved from the stock pickups, which were pretty good. I have owned, and currently own, guitars with Barden’s, Fender Custom Shop, Lollar’s, EMG, Seymour Duncan and they’re all great. I kept hearing about how good Fralin’s are and now I know why for real. Seriously considering an SP43 set for my Strat now, when/if the budget works. Thank you!
Stephen Eich (verified owner) –
Flawless and balanced
For a rich velvety tone, especially on the neck, these were just what I was looking for.
Stephen Eich (verified owner) –
Flawless and balanced. For a rich velvety tone, especially on the neck, these were just what I was looking for.
Sam Mcquate (verified owner) –
Customer added no additional comments
Nathan Gist (verified owner) –
My 2 cents
The p90 is my favorite pickup as mentioned in my review of the split poled Tele bridge pickup. I’m very happy with this combination I love the nature of the telecaster and I have a road-worn that Larry Cragg set up with his LC Special Fralins but I can’t always play at the volume I need to achieve the overdrive tone I crave and want, though I can use a pedal and have plenty I prefer to just plug and play most of the time. It’s great to just have a good setup great pickups a cord and a good amp with a little reverb turned up to smooth out my mistakes. So pure and raw. With these in my other Tele, I can get that all-day at low volume. The neck pickup is punchy crisp and if I were to call it a bass pickup as some do it’s clear with drive. The lead tone I get sounds like the blistering clear notes that Dickey Betts rolls out. Thanks, Lindy and the helpful staff, I love your products I have them in teles strats and few Gibson’s too.
Steven Litvak (verified owner) –
Not your Granddad’s Tele Pickup!
I received my Steel Pole 42 to put in the bridge of my mid 80’s ESP Series 400 version of a ‘62 Telecaster. I decided to make it into an Esquire. And replaced the cheap old Japanese electronics with a whole rewire kit, especially useful as I really use the volume and tone controls. This beast really delivers Fralin’s claim of a P-90/Telecaster hybrid. Especially the chainsaw grind, which is beautifully full of glorious midrange. But it’ll clean up nicely easing of the volume and retains the much-loved Twang Factor. If you only have one Tele and want to go traditional, Fralin has better models. But if you want something a bit more Rockin’, this is your choice. I’m forming a CowPunk band right now, this is filling the bill nicely. I bought my first Fralin in the mid ’90s, a P-90, and it’s served me well. Never had, or heard of any quality issues from anyone that bought a Fralin. Great pickup winder, one of the first boutique cats, still going strong
Glenn Winburn (verified owner) –
These sound just as advertised. I’m gonna have them for a long time.
Bryce Lewis (verified owner) –
Best quality, as always. Love this pickup in my Tele, sounds even better than the Blues Special in my other guitar.
Richard Branson (verified owner) –
I never thought my 2007 American Series Tele could sound this good… beefy, fabulous mids and low end. I’m at a loss. I actually like the bridge pickup more than the neck. I always have a hard time describing what I hear. The low end is not boomy, and the high end is not twangy, but it still has a lot of Tele flavor. With stock pickups, I preferred the neck pickup because I tend to gravitate toward a warmer, Jazzier sound. With these pickups, I prefer the bridge and middle positions just because they sound so damn good!
Adam Iredale-Gray (verified owner) –
Love the Neck, not sold on the bridge
I love the warm fat and loud sound out of the Neck pickup. just what I had hoped for. I think I am going to look for something different for the bridge position though. a bit too mid focused for me.
Greg Day (verified owner) –
Absolutely perfect! We installed these into Tim Armstrong’s telecaster that is his ska and reggae beast and he loves them! Great set Of pickups we love lindy over here at Ugly Guitars!!
Adam Iredale-Gray (verified owner) –
I love the warm fat and loud sound out of the Neck pickup. just what I had hoped for. I think I am going to look for something different for the bridge position though. a bit too mid focused for me.
Roger W Owen (verified owner) –
Replaced the N3 noiseless pickups in my American Deluxe with steel pole 42’s and couldn’t be happier. Much fuller sound and no spikiness. Bridge pick up is sweet with the tone rolled back a little. It took a while trying to figure out just what pickups I wanted …but these are perfect ! They really do fit in between stock tele sound and P-90 sound. Very pleased !
Jason Olsen (verified owner) –
I just installed a set of these in my Telecaster. They sound phenomenal. Great full Tele sound when playing clean, and a little more bite when overdriven than stock Tele pickups. No lack of twang, but definitely a fuller sound over all. I couldn’t be happier with these.
Peter P. (verified owner) –
Just installed the Steel Pole 42 bridge in my stock early ’67 Tele and it really adds body while keeping plenty of twang and treble for clean country – a very good solution for thinner sounding Telecasters. The Blues Special was great too but this particular piece of ash seemed to need the Steel Pole 42 to get body. Thanks again as always. One could have a nervous breakdown reading all the mojo out there while shopping for pickups. I like Fralins – staightforward, simple, and natural sounding.