Steel Pole 42 Tele
Enter the world of the almighty P90 pickup, and discover what you’ve been missing with our Steel Pole 42’s. Featuring the perfect balance of a traditional Tele pickup and the P90 tone, we’ve achieved hybrid tonal bliss! Expertly crafted by hand, we guarantee this tone will inspire you for years to come.
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Telecaster, Meet P90.
Want to learn more about our Steel Pole 42 Tele? Here's all the information you'll need:
Steel Pole 42 Tele FEATURES:
Steel Pole 42 Tele pickups are an exciting blend of a P90 and a traditional Tele pickup. Thicken up your Telecaster’s tone with a snarly and warm midrange and a stiffer, percussive treble. Hand-built with USA-Made Steel Pole Pieces, Ceramic Magnets, and a low-output wind, we guarantee the unique tone produced by this set will inspire you.
Featuring a thicker and warmer tone than our Stock Teles, you’ll be impressed by the unique pick attack and versatile nature of this set. Hand-built with Steel Pole Pieces and Ceramic Magnets, Steel Pole 42s feature a stiffer top-end and midrange snarl. If you play with distortion, you can expect a faster break up and a “chainsaw” grind.
Perfectly fusing the clarity and dynamics of a Tele pickup and the midrange aggression and bark of a P90, we’re sure that this is one of the most versatile and unique-sounding pickups on the market today.
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
- Backed by our 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
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.
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, using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Winding pickups this way gives each pickup a sweet, clear tone. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Steel Pole 42 Tele.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading: | 7.7K* |
| Bridge Ohm Reading: | 6.7K |
| Neck Polarity: | Counter Clockwise Coil Direction, North To Strings |
| Bridge Polarity: | Clockwise Coil Direction, South To Strings |
| Magnet: | Ceramic |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-Gauge / 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 250K |
| Recommended Cap Value**: | 0.02mfd |
**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.
*The Neck reads higher due to the use of 43 Gauge Wire, outputs are compensated
Sizing
Steel Pole 42 Tele Questions And Answers:
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Have a question about our Steel Pole 42 Tele? Ask it here. Your Question will be publically visible. If you want to ask a Private Question, please contact us through our Contact Us Form.
If you have multiple questions, please call us at (804) 358-2699.
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Hey Lindy. I have had P90s with Alnico magnets that I liked. Can you make these with an Alnico II bar magnet? I love what you do. I have many of your pickups and swear by them. Thank you
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Q Hey Lindy. I have had P90s with Alnico magnets that I liked. Can you make these with an Alnico II...... Read moreA
Hey Carl, as it turns out, we cannot make this pickup with Alnico 2 Bar Magnets - we do not have them in the custom size required to make them work. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I'm very fond of the sound of the Steel Pole 42 bridge pickup. Which of your neck humbuckers would pair best with this pickup in an American Performer Telecaster Hum? I was thinking the Pure PAF with a nickel cover. Or would a noiseless P-90-Humbucker be a better choice for volume balance? I'd like to keep the original pots in place.
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Q I'm very fond of the sound of the Steel Pole 42 bridge pickup. Which of your neck humbuckers woul...... Read moreA
Hey Joel, that's a good question. If you're looking for a traditional PAF tone, I'd go with our 7.5K Pure P.A.F. Otherwise, our P-92 would be a great choice.
I have a Player series Telecaster. I'm looking to get a thicker tone without sacrificing the Tele vibe. I'm also looking to do the 4-way switch mod. It seems the SP 42 set is what I'm after, but was wondering if you had any other recommendations.
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Q I have a Player series Telecaster. I'm looking to get a thicker tone without sacrificing the Tele...... Read moreA
Hey Noah, either the Steel Pole 42 or Blues Special will work perfectly for what you're after. The Blues Special will retain 100% of the Telecaster vibe while providing a thicker, warmer tone with tapered highs. The Steel Pole 42 will give you a fat midrange with stiffer treble and more growl.
I'm preparing to install a SP42 in a Tele with a Fender Noiseless at the neck. Is this going to be a problem to reverse if they are out if phase?
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Q I'm preparing to install a SP42 in a Tele with a Fender Noiseless at the neck. Is this going to b...... Read moreA
Hey Jimmy, no it shouldn't be hard to reverse. It will be easier to reverse the Fender if you don't have the 3-Wire Option on our Steel Pole 42.
I have the 42 in the neck position but I don’t have the chrome cover… is there any special installation I need to do for this? Also do you have this in stock?
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Q I have the 42 in the neck position but I don’t have the chrome cover… is there any special instal...... Read moreA
Hey David, as it turns out, we don't sell the covers individually. However, you'll need a cover like this to make the modification work. - Tyler
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GET IT PREWIRED
Go the extra mile and combine our Steel Pole 42 Tele with a Telecaster Control Plate!:
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
These sound just as advertised. I’m gonna have them for a long time.
Best quality, as always. Love this pickup in my Tele, sounds even better than the Blues Special in my other guitar.
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!
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.
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!!
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.
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 !
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.
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.