The Dirtiest Fingers: Fender Guitars & Gibson Pickups

[Jeremy Kill]

Okay, so last week I made the decision I was going to put a Gibson Dirty Fingers humbucker into my Tele instead of getting the Tom DeLonge signature guitar. Initially, I thought it would be weird to put a Gibson product into a Fender product, but I didn't really care too much about it. But when it was getting worked on, the guy installing it says that the route is too small and needs to be opened up more to fit in the Gibson humbucker properly. So needless to say, I didn't get the pickup installed, but I did get a new 500k pot put in and it really makes the JB currently inside the guitar sound really nice. And I did purchase the pickup in case I find a guy who can open up the cavity and install it.

Do you guys think it'd be worth it? Switching the JB with the Dirty Fingers?

I also have pictures, or else it didn't happen.

The case the pickup came in.

A close up of the Dirty Fingers.

What my guitar would look like if it had the Dirty Fingers installed.

What it looks like right now.

[Nic]

That's a squire right?

[Jeremy Kill]

That's a squire right?

Nope, it's a Fender Tele '72 Deluxe.

[Nic]

That's a squire right?

Nope, it's a Fender Tele '72 Deluxe.

Oh shit, so you just made it look like Deryck's; you didn't buy his signature or anything?

[Jeremy Kill]

That's a squire right?

Nope, it's a Fender Tele '72 Deluxe.

Oh shit, so you just made it look like Deryck's; you didn't buy his signature or anything?

Yeah, part for part, it's all in this topic, lol. I did buy the signature too, eventually, cause I needed a beater guitar.

http://theresnosolution.com/forum/viewt ... f=8&t=2138

[Nic]

Well isn't his signature just a Squire? That deluxe is way better than a Squire.

[Jeremy Kill]

Yeah, the deluxe is way better. I just got the Squire too for the sake of it being a signature guitar and being really inexpensive.

[Nic]

Yeah, the deluxe is way better. I just got the Squire too for the sake of it being a signature guitar and being really inexpensive.

Yeah, isn't it like $250 USD?



I love that photo by the way.

I have the Tom Delonge Fender Strat.

[Jeremy Kill]

I have the Tom Delonge Fender Strat.

That's a guitar I really want to get as well! I kinda wish they had one made with a racing stripe though.

[Nic]

I have the Tom Delonge Fender Strat.

That's a guitar I really want to get as well! I kinda wish they had one made with a racing stripe though.

Haha, I got mine for like $800 USD on eBay. Kinda got ripped off but eh, I still got my baby.

[Jeremy Kill]

Yeah, part for part, it's all in this topic, lol. I did buy the signature too, eventually, cause I needed a beater guitar.

Well isn't his signature just a Squire? That deluxe is way better than a Squire.

I think I finally know what you thought I meant when I said that now, haha. I meant "beater" as in just some guitar I can let get beat up and worn out and be a backup for my Deluxe.

[Nic]

Yeah, part for part, it's all in this topic, lol. I did buy the signature too, eventually, cause I needed a beater guitar.

Well isn't his signature just a Squire? That deluxe is way better than a Squire.

I think I finally know what you thought I meant when I said that now, haha. I meant "beater" as in just some guitar I can let get beat up and worn out and be a backup for my Deluxe.

Oh lmao! I thought you said BETTER. My bad.

[erkwhy]

thas cool:)

[Jeremy Kill]

Does anyone know if Gibson Humbuckers are made to fit Fender Guitars too? Or are they specially made for Gibsons, Epiphones and any other guitar?

[SociallyInept]

I want a dirty fingers so bad, I'm gonna put in my Epiphone Les Paul Junior :)

[Hentaiman]

I don't its worth putting something more than stock on Epihpones, thats why i'm saving for an actual Gibson Les Paul/SG ><

[tanguyen]

I personally don't recommend you routing your guitar to make room for a pickup. If it was a Squier, it wouldn't be such a bad idea because those guitars are fairly cheap. But if you've got a proper Fender Tele, you're only going to depreciate its value by irreversibly tampering with the wood. Like if you plan on reselling it, you will sell it nowhere near the price of other tele's of your model. Even if you are actually planning on keeping it for your entire life, you'll ruin the guitar sonically as well. Tele's are built to sound like tele's (no way really!?) and if you wanted to revert it back to that historic tele sound, you'll find it fairly difficult to achieve again.

But its not all bad news. Surely, there have been otehr like minded guitarists like you who would have wanted a Tele with a bit more beef and attitude. There's heaps of other pickups designed to fit the Tele cavity whilst giving it as much balls as a Gibson, but still retain the chime of a Fender. Its a bit unfortunate that you've already bought the Gibson pickup but yeh... that's my two cents for now.

Oh yeh forgot to add! Even if you did route a cavity large enough for the pickup, you actually have to route it even larger than the pickup. I'm just basing this on reading the story of a guitar (Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstrat). Gibson have a wider neck width than Fenders (Fenders are thinner), so the separation between teh strings on gibsons are actually bigger than that of Fender guitars. Because of this, the poles on the gibson pickups (the stuff that receives the signal of your string) are further apart. When you try and install gibson pickups onto a fender guitar, the poles on the pickup won't line up with the strings so in actual fact, some strings will actually sound quieter than other strings just because the entire signal isn't being passed through.

So what Eddie Van Halen wanted to put a gibson pickup into a fender strat shaped body and to do this, he actually installed his pickup diagonally so that the poles would actually line up.

Sorry if that sounds too geeky, just trying to do my best to help!

[Jeremy Kill]

Don't worry, it wasn't geeky. It gave me a lot of insight on what to do. I think I'll just leave my Tele the way it is, it sounds great anyways and I wouldn't want to lessen the value of my Tele or alter its sound. But I'll keep the Dirty Fingers for a different guitar (a Gibson, probably haha).

[tanguyen]

Ooh yeh! Remember that the pickup isn't the only thing that can really darken a sound. Some pedals do quite the trick. I'm playing a Gretsch hollowbody guitar and its got more twang than oomph, so to get that 'oomph' (yes we're using technical terms here ;) ) I've got an Ibanez Tubescreamer to pack that punch. Works a charm for me, I'm sure it'll work the same on a tele as well.

That or play even more aggressively! Nothing shows aggression better than aggression itself.