What Are The Best Clean Telecaster Single Coil Pickups?
The Fender Telecaster was the World's first mass produced solid body electric guitar and has been continuously produced ever since. Given that it's been available for sale for over 70 years, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Tele has plant its way onto records of nearly every genre.
In this KillerGuitarRigs guide we took a look at 5 of the best cord sets for Telecasters on the market today. To fairly review each cord set we played them clean through a Bugera V22 Infinium tube amp on a Squier Archetype Vibe 50s Telecaster.
This test was designed to expect for:
- Tuning stability – Did they stretch quickly and hold tune well?
- Playability – How comfortable were the strings over an extended catamenia?
- Overall tone – Did the strings accept an impact on the Telecaster'southward overall tone?
Contents
- Our Peak Three Picks
- Fender 250L Super 250s
- Ernie Ball Super Slinky
- Elixir Nanoweb Nickel Plated Steel
- Dunlop Reverend Willy'south Lottery Make
- GHS GBL Guitar Boomers
- Best Guitar Strings for Telecaster; Buyer's Guide
- String Guess
- Alloy and Coating
- Concluding thoughts on the All-time Guitar Strings for Telecasters
Our Top 3 Picks
Our top selection in this test was the Fender 250L Super 250s. These are the stock strings on nigh US made Telecaster models, and they actually do pair well. They're a great all round cord that will sound skillful in any application.
If you're sticking to a upkeep, the Ernie Ball Super Slinkies are a solid pick. With these strings you're getting quality, consistency and great tone at an unbeatable price.
If coin isn't an object and you lot're looking to string upwardly with the very best, you should admittedly consider a ready of Elixir Nanoweb Nickel Plated Steel strings. These coated strings take incredible feel, they outlive about everything on the market, and they sound sweet on a Tele.
Superlative Pick
Fender 250L Super 250s
Fender's OEM Telecaster cord proves why it's the standard equipment.
These strings are the standard equipment for the vast majority of Telecasters leaving Fender'south US and Mexican plants, and even their overseas Squier production lines. They pair brilliantly with the Telecaster's brilliant, twangy sound, and offer great feel and comfort, besides.
If yous've read our recent "what strings come up on a Fender guitar" postal service, you'd have seen that for the vast majority of Telecasters, the Fender Us 250L Super 250s are the cord that these guitars ship from the factory with.
For many players, keeping things to OEM spec does help then to maintain the tone that made them buy the guitar in the first place, so for a lot of people, these strings make a lot of sense.
Telecasters have always been known for their responsiveness to a gentle touch, which is why lite strings like these piece of work and so well. The 250L set up is .009-.042, which kept things comfortable across the board. We found that they played fast, and huge bends were effortless.
One we loaded these strings onto the guitar, nosotros were pleasantly surprised at merely how quickly they settled. They were brought to pitch and stayed at that place without much of any intervention during a marathon three hour jam.
Tonally, these strings were bright with a lot of accent on the mids and upper mids, and this really accentuated the Telecaster twang (in a skilful manner). Sustain was solid, and that isn't easily achieved on a Telecaster. They held upwardly well for the elapsing of the exam and no breaks were experienced.
Verdict: While information technology'south squeamish to branch out an experiment, it's also nice to requite some credit to the fact that Fenders R&D team put significant endeavour into pairing these particular strings with their instruments! The Fender United states 250L Super 250s sounded excellent, they threaded through the body without issue, and one time they were tuned up, they remained rock solid. A great overall string if yous loved how your Tele sounded out of the box.
Best Budget
Ernie Brawl Super Slinky
The pick of beginners and stone stars akin.
Sometimes information technology's the simplest approach that yields the best results, and with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys on a Telecaster, it's difficult to debate with that logic. For very little money you're getting reliable, great sounding strings with good longevity and excellent stability.
In that location's a skilful reason why the Ernie Ball Super Slinky shows upwards time and time again in reviews of the best electric guitar strings. First, and nigh importantly, they sound great, they are comfortable – an specially of import consideration for newer players, and they price very little.
Super Slinkies are a light custom gauge, measuring from .009 – .042, which is a swell range for a Telecaster. They offered plenty playability to make big bends comfortable, and the response to vibrato was not bad. Atomic number 82 players will be happy with the comfort and speed, while rhythm players will be pleased to know that they however offering enough presence to make full the mix.
These strings had a strong punch in the mid range, which when paired with our clean tube amp resulted in some cute breakup. Construction is nickel plated steel, which we found contributed to the bell like clarity and bright overtones.
Tuning stability was incredible from the go go. Hardtail guitars like Telecasters have an inherent reward over models with tremolo artillery like Strats when it comes to stability, simply this is even more than credible when you're playing with a quality string like the Super Slinky.
Verdict: Ernie Brawl Super Slinkies tin exist put up against any string, no thing the price, and they'll hold their own, which is why they're the undisputed best budget selection. For an absurdly depression price, you're getting strings with wonderful tone, great comfort, and best of all, they're sold pretty much everywhere, so, yous tin exist certain that no matter where you go, you'll e'er be able to find a set up of Super Slinkies.
Editor's Choice
Elixir Nanoweb Nickel Plated Steel
Groovy tones with a super long lifespan.
If you adopt a coated string, they practise't get whatsoever better for Teles than these Elixirs. The coating results in a smoothen feel with almost zero string squeak, and the longevity is unbeatable.
Elixir is almost certainly the first proper noun on virtually players' minds when they think of coated strings, later all, Elixir were amongst the early on pioneers of coated cord technology in the '90s, and they've been pop e'er since.
Their Nanoweb product is one of their best sellers. These strings have an ultra thin layer of Nanoweb polymer blanket the exterior, but v microns thick. If you've tried other coated strings before and y'all haven't liked the feel – please try these Elixir Nanowebs!
Nosotros noted that the blanket is almost undetectable to the touch on, but the benefits are definitely tangible. We observed little to no string squeak, and this is a big win as our test Tele's pickups are notoriously microphonic, and then, to reduce that unwanted noise was wonderful. Besides every bit the lack of squeak, the strings played fast under all conditions.
Of all the strings on test, these Elixir Nanowebs stood out in that they lost none of their solar day 1 brightness. In fact, there was no tone loss whatsoever. Of form, every bit a coated string, they aren't quite as vivid as say, a pure nickel string, simply, this actually works out beautifully. The slightly more mellow sound worked well with the Tele's hot pickups giving u.s. a much more than balanced tone than we expected.
Once nosotros had them tuned and off the bench, they stayed pitch perfect, despite the nearly abusive corporeality of bends we put on them. We, once once again, chose a low-cal approximate (.009 – .042), and we experienced no breaks and no about misses.
Verdict: Don't permit the initial cost of purchase put you off. The Elixir Nanoweb strings volition outlive several sets of uncoated strings, meaning they cost pretty much the aforementioned in the cease (plus you don't take to change them out then oft!). We loved the tones we could clasp out of the Telecaster with these strings, a definite stand out, and admittedly the very best strings you could put on a Tele!
Also Consider
Dunlop Reverend Willy'southward Lottery Make
Perfect for fat tones and huge presence.
These Billy Gibbons signature strings go a long way to helping you get that fat tone that the ZZ top guitarist was so well known for. They're punchy, and also happen to exist fantastic for slide guitar.
The ol' Rev himself, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Acme, adult the Dunlop Billy Gibbons String Lab Serial strings in conjunction with Jim Dunlop in order to bring out the huge "Texas tone" he's known for, while nevertheless retaining enough note separation and articulation to striking the pinch harmonics.
As advertised, these strings are bright and bold, and while this might be because they were the only pack of medium strings tested amidst a field of lights, this doesn't backbite from their keen tone. They measure in at .010 – .046, which we found to exist a comfortable enough gauge to go far the large bends without excessive force being required.
A big observation was that the packaging was devoid of information besides the approximate. This evidently didn't impact how they play, merely if you simply happened to exist shopping around for strings, this can make information technology difficult to know yous've got the right set. In case you were wondering, these strings are made in a nickel plated steel with a steel core.
By the end of the examination, the fat tones nosotros were hit in the confront with when nosotros first strung up had started to fade. They certainly weren't "dead", but the driblet in brightness was much more apparent than the other strings we looked at.
These strings did crave a fair amount of stretching earlier they gained some stability. In one case they had settled, though, they performed well and held pitch for extended sessions.
Verdict: If you're trying to fatten upwardly how your Tele sounds, or maybe yous're trying to play some slide, then these Reverend Willy's Lottery Make strings are a good choice. They provide a prissy residuum of mid range punch and single cord clarity, which ultimately sounds great on a Tele.
Likewise Consider
GHS GBL Guitar Boomers
Dependability and consistency with archetype Telecaster twang.
With these strings you're getting premium construction, and fantastic attention to detail. They're some of the freshest strings you lot'll e'er find out of the packet thanks to the nitrogen sealing engineering, and they offer crystal clear tones that beautifully compliment the spanky tones of the Telecaster.
GHS Boomers aren't on equally many guitars every bit the likes of the Ernie Ball Super Slinky, just it doesn't brand them any less worthy of a slot in this top 5 Telecaster strings listing.
As we've come to look from all of the GHS strings we've tested on the KGR bench, the quality was fantastic. They're made from nickel plated steel with a steel core, which is pretty standard for electric guitar strings.
Every string gets an individual nitrogen sealed parcel to ensure that there's no pitting or corrosion betwixt the manufacturing plant floor and being strung onto your guitar. By giving each string its own packaging, they also ensure that the nickel coating doesn't get ground off past way of friction with the other strings.
We loved their tone on the Telecaster – we've criticized this item set for maybe sounding a picayune bland on other guitars, but nosotros found that they work well if you happen to be aiming for a classic Telecaster sound.
They are crystal clear, and have plenty of spank. We plant that they sounded nifty for upbeat genres like funk, however, they weren't likewise suited to fingerstyle or other mellower genres, and came beyond a petty too brash. The tone was starting to fade a little by the end of the trial, merely not as much as the Reverend Willy's.
The consequent build quality translated into a swell feeling fix of strings. This particular gear up was a custom light guess in .009 – .046, (light tiptop medium lesser), which worked really well with our Tele. Bends were easy, and the heavier bass side lets us dig in for a sharp attack.
Tuning stability was definitely satisfactory. They didn't take too long to stretch out, and pitch correction was only ever required after some deadline excessive funk strumming and some choke-out bends.
Verdict: The GHS Roundwound Guitar Boomers are a great everyday type of string for a Telecaster. They offering quality construction and they're comfy for nearly players. Lifespan isn't the longest, but if this is what's important to y'all, so y'all should be looking at the Elixir Nanowebs. In all, these strings compliment the Telecaster's iconic tones well, which is definitely important if you're trying to preserve this sound.
Best Guitar Strings for Telecaster; Buyer's Guide
The Telecaster's beauty is in its simplicity – it doesn't need a one thousand thousand pickups, coil tapping, or even ergonomic body sculpting. Information technology's this simplicity that makes string selection for the Telecaster such an interesting proposition – to get the best sound from these classic guitars, you don't demand to venture also far exterior of the box.
Keep reading to learn more about what you should exist looking for in your strings to get the best out of your Tele.
String Gauge
Telecasters are typically chosen past players looking for the unique tones that they bring. To help keep the distinctive sound that has go synonymous with T-Way guitars, keep the gauge either light or medium, that is .009 and .010 at the treble side and between .042 and .046 at the bass end.
The single roll pickups equipped in Telecasters will never sound as fat as a humbucker in a Les Paul, then in that location'southward no sense in fighting physics. Lighter gauges keep Teles sounding bright and spanky, which really helps them to cut through any mix.
Alloy and Coating
To keep the classic Telecaster sound, there'south no improve choice than nickel plated steel when it comes to strings for these guitars. Nickel plated steel strings are bright, and they register well with Telecaster pickups, which makes sure y'all've got clarity and good note separation.
If yous're going to opt for a coated cord, look at something with an ultra sparse polymer layer like the Elixir Nanowebs that we highlighted in this review. The thinner the coating, the less touch on information technology has on the pickups' ability to discover the string movement, which keeps them sounding more like an uncoated cord, while even so providing the benefits of reduced racket and improved feel.
We'd recommend steering articulate of pure steel and pure nickel strings on a Telecaster. They can take a tendency to go beyond spanky, and finish upward sounding honky, which is non a desirable audio at all.
Final thoughts on the Best Guitar Strings for Telecasters
While the Telecaster has been continuously popular during its entire production run, it was, for a long fourth dimension, overshadowed somewhat by the Stratocaster (by the manner, we also take a rundown of best strings for strats). Now that this archetype axe is getting the love information technology deserves once again, we detect that we're being asked all the fourth dimension "what are the best strings for a Telecaster?". Nosotros're glad to have been able to reply that definitively for you lot in this postal service!
To recap – Tele players looking for quality strings that can practise a fleck of everything the Fender 250L Super 250s are a good starting point. They'll keep your Telecaster sounding merely equally it did when you bought it, which is what a lot of players are looking for.
If you want strings that are cheap plenty to buy in majority, audio great, and offer superb consistency, look no further than the Ernie Brawl Super Slinkies. Finally, if you want to equip your Telecaster with the best strings possible, we don't call up you can do any better than the Elixir Nanowebs in nickel plated steel. These strings sound vivid paired with a Tele, and because of the long life, you'll spend more fourth dimension playing, and less time changing strings.
Check out our full rundown for all-time electric guitar strings.
Source: https://killerguitarrigs.com/best-guitar-strings-for-telecasters/
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