Mid 70s Telecaster Bass Pickup questions

I had one years ago and mine had a lot of output too, with it right against the neck it should be all bottom. I would think that the Guild would probably be more clear with better top end.

 

The Tele and Bi-Sonic are apples to oranges. The Tele is a split coil that is like a super P bass pickup on steroids. A humbucker, but different from what you'd see in a Gibson EB-0 for example, design-wise. The Bi-Sonic is a single coil...a VERY big single coil. They both cover a lot of ground sonically, but are two different beasts that have to be taken on their own merits.

 

If you're going to replace it with anything, hunt down a no longer made Hammon Darkstar. Hard to find and expensive when you do find one (they run around $300) but worth it IMO.

That said, the much easier and less expensive to get Bi-Sonic is no slouch either. Neither that nor the Dark star will sound like what you've got in there - or what you remember hearing. But the Guild pup is pretty awesome sounding as well.

You might need the magnets in the Fender pickup re-magnetized. Your memory isn't faulty. Those old Tele basses were total dragons and thunder when you played them. They had a thick and powerful output. Mot overly subtle. But if you needed to put a bass wave out there (especially in an open air venue), the Tele was the tool to do it.

 

i know this is a year old but did you end up getting this monstrous pickup?

 

That looks like there cigar box pickups together. I'm looking at this for my EUB build, if I can work out where the coil pickup wires are so I can trim the width. It would be interesting to know how that one sounds. Almost tempting to further Franken my Frankenstein jazz with it....