Tele with a bridge PU

[Pekka]

I decided to mod my Tyyster Telecaster bass with a bridge pickup. I will never sell it, the original sound (the front pickup only) is still available and the original luthier did the job plus it's my bass.



With the scratchplate:


Haven't decided with which look is better. The "plain Bain" or with the plate (or guard). Anyway, it sounds really good. Here's a Jeff Beckish riff I recorded straight to the desk:


The pickup is a slightly wider version of the normal SCPB. When both pickups are on they are in series. There's something in the sound that reminds me of a Ric and I also did a comparison with a Jazz Bass ( JV Squier with Dimarzio DP123 pickups) :


The Tele sounds more arrogant, a bit more throaty. The bridge pickup is approximately in the 70's Jazz position.

[Alanko]

Very Chris Squire! 



I'm liking yours much more than his!

[Dave W]

Looks good either way.

[Pekka]

Very Chris Squire! 



I'm liking yours much more than his!

Thanks! Squire's Tele was my main excuse for the mod. I love the sound he got on "Lucky Seven" and "South Side Of The Sky". Don't know if he had a Jazz bridge pickup or a scpb beneath that Jazz ashtray.

[gearHed289]

Cool mod. I like it with the guard on. Bet it kills a Jazz Bass!

[Pekka]

I recorded a small Squireriff -medley (all the riffs off the top of my head, I hope he doesn't turn around in his grave...). Both pickups on and straight to the board. I split the signal, the other is dry and the other goes through my Rotosphere Leslie pedal with the break on, to add some amp-ish grit.

[Hörnisse]

I've always wanted to do this mod ever since I purchased Rainbow On Stage in 1978.

[Rob]

That sounds great!  And rickish to my ears too.

[Pekka]

I've always wanted to do this mod ever since I purchased Rainbow On Stage in 1978.

Gotta admit, Bain's bass was the first GAS -inductor and Squire's pushed me over the edge. 

I first saw Jimmy's Tele on the back cover of "Rising". The bridge pickup looks like a SCPB and is even nearer the bridge. I wonder how the polepieces matched the width of the strings?

He also added a very large pickguard sometime in 1976. To cover up something perhaps?

[gearHed289]

I recorded a small Squireriff -medley (all the riffs off the top of my head, I hope he doesn't turn around in his grave...). Both pickups on and straight to the board. I split the signal, the other is dry and the other goes through my Rotosphere Leslie pedal with the break on, to add some amp-ish grit.

Cool. It sounds like a nice mix of Ric and Fender tones. I think you got yourself an excellent "studio bass" there.

[Pekka]

Cool. It sounds like a nice mix of Ric and Fender tones. I think you got yourself an excellent "studio bass" there.

Indeed. It has already been in heavy use in both of our albums with the original PU configuration and will gain more work now.  I used it last Saturday when I played a restaurant gig with a sax-gtr-bass-drums -combo. Worked great.