Side by side comparison of the Lollar 52 and Special T pickup sets. Played Clean thru a Blues Jr on 2 Fender Custom Shop Nocasters, same amp settings all the way thru with volume and tone pots on the guitars all the way up.
Just wanted to say thanks for doing this. I just ordered a set of '52s. Great playing, and thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Exactly what I was looking for!
It's great to hear everyone's preference and descriptions. I prefer the 52s but the Special Ts certainly have their charms as well. It all depends on what you need to hear and how you use your gear. Thanks for your input.
Man, there was a little magic happening on the combined setting with the Special Ts. I preferred the 52 Ts on the neck and bridge only settings. I guess you just need both! Love it and thank you for the wonderful videos.
Perfect demo Tim thank you! You are a great guitarist! Strangely I love both pick ups but it definitely helps to hear them played side by side. Its very difficult and time consuming to choose pick ups. I really like Lollars and am glad I discovered them. Now all I have to do is choose which set.
in my humble opinion, special t set is superior. it sounds more musical and resonant, and is more sensitive to pick dynamics. great work, sir! congratulations!
This was really helpful. My ears go right to the 52s and say YEAH! That's some sweet tone going there. Thanks telebasher for this throwdown of lollar tele pickups.
Thanks Tim for a very well done comparison, one of the best. I'm not sure why most guys feel like they have to talk for three minutes at the video intro, and continue rambling every time then change pedals, sounds, etc...
Lovely sound.. This helps a lot, as I'm putting a Tele together. Long overdue, owning a Strat, L.P., White Falcon and not having a Tele is almost criminal for what is such a versatile and distinctive guitar.
Thanks a lot for posting this helpful video.I would buy the 52 pickups,even if they both sound great.Nice playing and nice guitars,too.Happy New Year from Italy.
Both pickups have similar light winding resistance around 6.5 ohm so there are going to both sound pretty open, airy, and glassy. However the 52 is alnico 2 and the Special T is alnico 5. so the 5 is probably going to give you a bit more output and attack whereas the 52 will sound quieter. Personally I prefer the alnico 2 as I feel it's more musical and sort of compressed when you are playing. Very old school sound. most new guitars go the 5 route so you are generally going to find the alnico 2 a softer, more ringy sound and as though you are hearing the string winding more - think jangle and Rickenbacker. Personally I'd go with the alnico 2 52's which are pretty much like the pus I use (and I feel like I've been through at least a dozen different sets ups over 50 years and I'm done with changes).
Very nice...found this after ordering a set of the 52's just based on the clips at the Lollar site...this helped to validate my preference. Hoping they will make my Gatton Sig model tele shine....Many Thanks!
I liked them both. The clarity was just slightly better with the 52s but, I loved that aggressive bite on the special T bridge, and when playing both specials at the same time. For most things I’d probably like the 52s, if was doing a Texas blues style, I think the Specials would be great.
Thanks so much for doing this. Very helpful, and nice playing too. Ever thought of this combo - Special T in the neck, 52 in the bridge? To my ear thats what I like, of course it totally changes the middle sound. I have a Nocaster that has been benched because the stock PU's just aren't working for me. Too dull and low output on the neck, ice pick to the ear bright on the bridge. Changing PU's may put it back in the rota.
I'm building a telecaster from a Stew Mac body and Mightie Mite neck.It is really hard to decide on the pickups.Lollars are made near me but Mojo Tone Klein and Iron Gear are in the running.Great playing Mr Lerch.
I have a Lollar 52t neck pup along with a Fralin Blues Special Hybrid. They are paired perfectly as far as output goes. I'm running them through a Acme ToneShaper in a Koa tele I just built called a Hexomorph Volcano. It's an exceptional guitar.
@TheGradeZShow Sorry about the tendinitis, I struggle with it too. The short scale Teles that I have played have their charms especially if you like a creamier thing but they definitely don't have the snap or the chime. I'd love to be proven wrong since a shorter scale sometimes looks appealing when my hands are tired and sore. but...
I like them both...but the 52's seem to be a little more articulate to my ears. It's so hard to tell without actually playing them myself. Nice demo of both sets, and the playing is excellent.
In this comparison video I gravitated towards the 52 set. I thought they had a bit more of that “spanky” quality (to borrow from a lot of common descriptive phrases), without sounding too thin. I also thought the 52 set blended well together... the middle position was amazing.
I have the Special T's and love, love, love them, but I'm more of a blues guy, so that colors it a bit for me. They drive really well. To my ears they are both amazing. Thanks Tim!
Hi, I don't notice any tonal change with the Stainless Steel frets, but there is a very different feel and certainly more evenness across the board. A nice improvement actually.
Thanks for this comparison video! My choice would go to the '52 lollar neck pup combined with the Special T bridge, awesome! I might buy a 50's Squier Classic Vibe tele soon and put these lollars in + graphtech nut, callaham bridge, CTS pots and a switchcraft jack.. that would make a killer guitar for the money!
Tim, Your playing tone is fantastic and I simply can’t tell if there is a sound difference or tone difference between the two guitars which I attribute to you just being a good player and having learned how to sound rather good…………!
Thanks Tim for the excellent review as usual. I dig both, maybe the 52 a bit better..seems a bit more open and more clear in the high mids, but it could be the SS frets too...would do say the SS frets are a bit brighter than standard frets ? Thanks again and keep up the great playing, always such a treat to see you play. Cheers!
@telebasher Great playing, great demo. I will probably spend hours learning these licks! How would you say they compare to Fralin's 5/2's and Joe Barden's Gatton set? I too have a NoCaster style Tele copy.
Awesome review, I think I liked the neck Special T better, but I liked the bridge 52 better. I'd love to see a shootout between the '52 and the Vintage T, trying to decide between those two at the moment.
I love Special T! Do you have any suggestion of what Lollar Pickup should I pick if I want my Tele sounds krank-up if I turn up the Gain? Just Like Switchfoot or Zeppelin. Thanks!
Hi, great tone those 52's! I was just wandering what type of capacitor you have in Tele with 52's and what is the pickup height of both pickups (from top of pickup to bottom of the string on treble and bass side). Great playing also!
I happen to have 2 Nash Telecasters with the Specials T's that I play live in a busy country band thru a variety of amps. Your video confirms my thinking. The special T's are higher in output and drive an amp more. They are a superb choice for blues & rock and even jazz specifically with the neck pickup, and seem to have more midrange and bass punch and send an amp into breakup better/faster. The 52's like stock Tele p/u's, have more top end, brightness and twang - probably better for straight country licks than the Special T's. I love the versatility of the T's as well as the unique voice they give a Tele.
+John Hodge for me the Special T is more harsh in the very top end. It has more output und seems smoother in the mids but listen closely to the very top end and harmonics, they seem more brittle.
+AlexisGitarre The fact we are having this conversation mean we are obsessed with tone. I am guilty. With my personal experience - not the video - I would say the top end in more "powerful" but I don't experience "brittle". Again, these p/u work best in gain situations, not clean tele twang.
