Rock Telecaster Bridge Pickups — Which Ones are Best?

Rock Telecaster Bridge Pickups

The Fender Telecaster is actually a great guitar for Rock. The twangy sound fattens up nicely when run through some overdrive or a fuzz pedal. Even though many people consider the Telecaster to be a country guitar, many great Rock players – including Jeff Beck, Mike Campbell, John 5, Richie Kotzen, Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, and Bruce Springsteen – often use a Tele. One way that you might be able to help your Telecaster deliver a more Rock tone is to change the pickups. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about some of the best Rock Telecaster bridge pickups around.

The ones that we’ve listed here are of very high quality, and they were designed for Rock and for the great gain that they produce. So that means that we’ll be looking at humbucker pickups, which will allow us to run through overdrive or fuzz while keeping inherent noise to a minimum. We’ll be looking at pickups that fit into the bridge position of a Tele without having to modify the guitar, taking into account the slanted nature of its bridge pickup. So, if you’re looking to get a heavier rock sound, this list of the best Rock Telecaster bridge pickups should help narrow things down for you.

DiMarzio DP318 Super Distortion T Tele

The DiMarzio DP318 Super Distortion T Tele is designed to offer the same performance as the famous Super Distortion in a humbucking Tele bridge direct replacement pickup. The Super Distortion T is a mini-humbucker designed to fit into the Telecaster’s single coil bridge position, its coils creating a silent pickup with thicker and warmer lows. more…

Seymour Duncan Hot Lead Stack Tele Bridge

The Seymour Duncan Hot Lead Stack Tele Bridge is a stacked humbucking pickup designed with Heavy Rock in mind. There are two over-wound coils stacked on top of each other around a bar magnet, creating a humbucker pickup that is the same size as a single coil. more…

DiMarzio Chopper T Bridge DP384

The DiMarzio Chopper T Bridge DP384 is a very high-output pickup designed especially for the bridge position of the Fender Telecaster. It has a lot less twang than the stock Tele pickup, but a good deal more mids and lows, and considerably more volume. more…

Seymour Duncan ST59-1 Little 59

The Seymour Duncan ST59-1 Little 59 is another mini-humbucker designed to deliver more of a Rock tone from your Tele. It features two coils side by side and uses a ceramic magnet for high output and a brighter high end. Designed with Gibson’s first humbucker in mind, the Little 59 is meant to have that PAF (Patent Applied For) sound, while still retaining some of the Tele twang. more…

Seymour Duncan Zephyr Silver Tele Lead

The Seymour Duncan Zephyr Silver Tele Lead is designed as a direct replacement for the bridge pickup on the Tele. It was created in response to a challenge put to Vice President of Engineering Kevin Beller, that he make the best pickup in his power, regardless of cost or material. more…