NF53 Treble pickup not doing it for me…

Rusty Shackleford

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Jan 25, 2016
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Hello - I’ve owned my NF53 for a few months. I like it but can’t find a clean tone from the treble pickup I like. Maybe because I’m thinking tele tone, which it is not. Love the neck pickup. With overdrive, I like the bridge pickup, but don’t like it clean. I think the wound strings tend to be a bit muddy. Compared to my Vela, the DS-01 is much more like a single coil to my ears than the NF53 bridge pickup. Wish there were aftermarket options for NF pickups, but I know of none. Just an observation.
 
I bought the NF53 because of the gain tones , for clean ( ish ) the neck or neck and middle are the ticket IMHO a lot like the Teles with the wide range pickups , with a bit of a change to your picking position it will brighten up if that's your thing
 
Before doing anything drastic, try a new set of strings-- a set that is inherently brighter (GHS Boomers are a good example). Adjusting the pickup height helps too. If those fail, there are different tweaks to the pots/capacitors... Of course there are tone controls on your amp, and EQ pedals can drastically help also ;)

The NF53 is one of the most interactive guitars I've played in the past 40-years, so my guess is something here in the thread will help ;)

Funny you find the pickup too muddy-- I find the bridge to be a bit too bright even with pure nickel strings-- but that's easily tamed with the volume/tone controls. Sometimes that brightness comes in handy, so it's not a distractor for me.

Best of luck!
 
Try raising/lowering your pickups height.
One complete turn of the screwdriver at a time. Then listen/play for a bit.
Keep track of each turn so you can put it back to your starting point.
 
Forgot to mention; stepping down a gauge or two (from 10s to 9s, or 8s) will bring more clarity to those wound strings as well. I've got 8s on my CE24 and it sounds wonderful ;)
 
Here’s an opposite-coincidence: I had to get a bang-on Tele bridge pickup sound for a project at client request.

So I needed something with the traditional Tele pickup plate, single coil, the angled pickup, body wood, etc. But I cannot play a Fender without becoming aggravated with the feel. So I picked up a Tom Anderson. Their T-icon has “that sound.” It’s a better ergonomic fit for me.

The neck pickup is appealing.

But I’ve never loved the real-deal Tele bridge pickup tone, so except for this one project, the bridge pickup won’t be at all useful.

The bridge pickup on the NF 53 is much more my style.

Go figure.

My takeaway is if a player needs a specific tone, it’s going to take certain hardware, electronics, body mass, design and wood to get there, and there’s no way around that.

For me, it’s fine; the guitar is a cost of doing business to get the project, and it plays well. I like the neck pickup, so at least there’s that.

In this day of internet/eyeball buying, I think it’s another example of the advantages to the old school way of playing the guitars in the store and being able to listen to the guitars!

I’m not implying that the OP was saying he wanted a true Tele tone, he might be referring to something else. Or that he bought on the web.

Just a general ‘my two cents’.
 
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