The Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele Pickup Set for Telecaster

The Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele Pickup Set is our neck and neck favorite with the Nocaster Pickup set. The Twisted pickups are rooted in the vintage world but modernized with some sleek, under the hood design changes that have made this the favorite pickup of many Telecaster Players.

As far as Fender Pickups go, the Twisted Tele bridge pickup certainly qualifies as high-output. With 10 k of resistance and 4.2 henries inductance, this pickup has an attitude at full bore. It bites and barks, responding beautifully to a dynamic touch. These pickups cluck, strut, and get greasy with the best of them. Alnico 5 Magnets help provide the output that pushes amps to brown out earlier than most other Fender Telecaster Pickups.

The Neck Pickup offers a unique blend of Telecaster and Stratocaster tones in one pickup. The Formvar coated neck pickup with Alnico 5 Magnets is featured on several, much-loved Strat Pickups including the Fat '50s. The nickel cover keeps it looking classy and decidedly like a Telecaster neck pickup. Many players find the Twisted neck pickup is the answer to the question, "why is the Tele neck pickup so dark?"

Personally, I hear these pickups as being similar to the Nocaster Pickup Set through an Xotic AC Booster with a nice 2-3db boost and some added treble. Backing off on these pickups yields some fantastic sounds that have less edge and bite as you roll down. In fact, taking the volume down to about 7.5 makes the Twisted Tele's sound (to my ears) about indiscernible from the Nocaster set, aside from the neck pickup having a more open, airy sound but a slight roll-off of the tone takes care of that.

We order them as a Handwound set as well, and these truly are the pinnacle of fantastic Fender Pickups. Their Hand-winding process adds MORE dynamic capability, richness, and mojo. Hand-wound's seem to play better with potentiometers as well, rolling off smoother yet retaining the character that defines them. Since spending a couple of hundred bucks isn't feasible, or even worth it for some players, we find the stock Twisted Tele Pickups are better than good enough but when you NEED simply the best... A Handwound Set from Josefina is second to none!

We have been selling the Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele Pickups set for years as an upgrade or replacement part. However, over the last few years, we have been ordering them in our 1 Piece Ash BodyTele Relic's that has become one of our best selling models of all time! Everyone who plays them remarks about how deeply rooted the tones are but perfectly 'seasoned' with the right amount of extra heat and air. Seldom does one pickup make the Vintage AND modern guy happy but somehow Fender figured it out!

• Fender Custom Shop
• Twisted Tele Pickup Set
• Model #: 0992215000
• Nickel Neck Pickup Cover
• Alnico 5 Magnets
• Formvar-coated neck pickup magnet
• Enamel-coated bridge pickup
• 5.9k Resistance Neck
• 2.2 Henries Inductance Neck
• 10.0k resistance Bridge
• 4.2 Henries Inductance Bridge
• Fiber Bobbin
• Flush Mount Pole Pieces
• Cloth Covered Lead Wire
• Output Scale: 4 of 5

From Fender.com...
"Fender Twisted Tele pickups deliver hot high-output Telecaster guitar tone with a dash of sparkling Stratocaster® guitar character. Each pickup is tailored to its position (neck and bridge) to achieve its individual sonic character. The neck pickup's taller bobbin is designed to accommodate more windings, combined with a slightly shorter bridge pickup bobbin for dark full-bodied midrange."

Guitars that feature Custom Shop Twisted Tele Pickup Set include....

Fender Custom Shop 1 Piece Ash Body Tele Relic

Fender Custom Shop 1960 Telecaster Custom w/ Handwound Twisted Tele Pickups

Fender Custom Shop 50s Telecaster Relic in Vintage Blonde

Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele Relic w/Bigsby