Wilkinson Telecaster Pickups: The Good and the Bad

[@jamesbrowne9033]

I have the same set and felt the same. However… the pickup is awesome, the cover is not. Remove the cover and it comes to life. Replace with a proper nickel (not coated brass) cover if a barefaced bobbin offends you. Free upgrade.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

That’s probably next on the journey of this guitar. I’ve just avoided it because the fretboard overhangs the pickguard, so I’ll have to take the neck off to get the pickguard off (I just haven’t felt like going through that hassle lol).

[@jamesbrowne9033]

Slacken strings. Capo. Undo neck. No drama. No new strings.

[@BluesBrogio]

​@@ChucksguitargeekeryJust unscrew the neck pickup until it sinks in the body then simply slide the shield from underneath the fretboard

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

@@BluesBrogio the problem is the neck pickup is mounted to the body, not the pickguard. So there’s no way to get to the screws without removing the pickguard.

[@danielmiller2886]

​@@ChucksguitargeekeryI have a LyxPro tele clone I bought for $99 on Amazon to experiment with. Same gripe with the pickguard under the fretboard. A dremel to the pickguard was the first thing I did once I had it apart!

[@BluesBrogio]

You can solve the volume difference solely by adjusting pickup height. Lower the bridge pu, raise the neck pu

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I’ve gotten them as adjusted as I can. The problem is lowering the bridge pickup any lower makes it too thin sounding. I’m going to experiment with removing the neck pickup cover and see what that does.

[@doghouseRMV]

I thought the same thing about raising/lowering pickups…the new cover seems logical too… pls let us know what you discover…

[@ricardog.s2505]

That guitar on the wall looks like what a guitar would look like if it was done by an AI

[@jmakc3541]

The Wilkinson minihumbucker in the neck with the WVOB bridge was a real game changer for me. It's ceramic, but it sounds really good.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Since this video, I have replaced the neck pickup with a cheapie uncovered Alnico neck pickup from Amazon that I really like. I also have the neck pickup disconnected from the tone pot. It sounds more like a Strat neck pickup, but that’s the sound I prefer 🤷‍♂️

[@thomaslthomas1506]

I have a Wilkinson AL5 in my tele bridge. It's a really good pickup. No complaints.

[@lgrim68]

Great video all-around. I think the guitar sounds really good already. I would leave it and use a pedal-board to get all the tones I want. Go ahead and do your mods if they suit your playing style. Every player has different needs and preferences. I plan to get a Wilkinson alnico set for my Tele-build.

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

An EQ pedal can and will change the tone of any pickup if you can't get it out of the amp/guitar/tone control/ capacitors' same as it changes the sound of speakrs. You can get a descent one for as little as the cost of $35.00 and up. An EQ pedal is versatile and can be used with any guitar/amp and solves the majority of problems players have out of their guitars/amp and helps save money chasing tone.

[@danielmiller2886]

I too am one of the few weirdos that prefer the neck pickup for lead work. Thought I must be the only person ever! Lol

[@whobian123]

I like the neck pickup too for lead parts, when I want more twang from it I just play closer to the bridge.

[@DeplorablePepe]

It's funny watching people do reviews who don't know how to use the product. Everybody who uses ANY kind of 60's tele pickups knows, you set your amp to the maximum tone and volume for your neck pickup and you roll the volume off when using the bridge. It's really that easy.

[@monosound81]

The bridge PU sounds pretty good to my ears

[@MrBritrider]

What are your pickup height specs, very curious especially the bridge.

[@feloniousmonk321]

Is that body of a Vintage (brand) V52 (telecaster copy)? I have that one, which came with Wilkinson pickups. I changed the neck pickup to a Fender but bridge (Wilkinson) is still way louder (and a bit harsh), so not sure whether to get rid of that as well. It sounds really high output.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

You know what, you just solved a mystery for me lol. If you look at the distressed version, it looks just like mine. And looking back at the listing, it does say “Vintage Distressed,” and I just thought they were going for a distressed vintage look, not that the brand was Vintage lol 🤦‍♂️. I bought it as just the loaded body without a neck on it. Either way, it is probably one of my favorite guitars.

[@feloniousmonk321]

@@Chucksguitargeekery In this video they talk about the bridge pickup. I think the brand is mainly known over here in the UK. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r52mgWWvm6-eatk

[@msmith7462]

That was a pretty cool song that you opened the vid with, is it your original work? Re: difference in output between bridge and neck pups - can't you balance them better by adjusting the height of the pups?

[@oldasrocks9121]

Try some Bootstraps, most affordable handwounds in the lower 48.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I have bootstrap p-90’s in a guitar, great pickups

[@anselmountain6884]

is the bridge pickup has a bar magnet attached to the bottom of the pickup ?

[@cshtelecaster]

Sounds like Curved Air

[@onlyusernameleft2]

Wilkinson is an absolute embarrassment. I bought one set of tuners and strings kept jumping out of the peg head less than 12 hours after being installed. And the "ez lok" thing is a joke. One set of tuners and never again. I'd rather take my chances on Ali Express.