“Gives you control over the relative level of the two pickups – without adding a second volume control”: Radioshop Telecaster Wiring Mod review

‘Modern’ Telecaster wiring, as it is so often called, is now 57 years old. But Radioshop Pickups has come up with a new spin, and we are very much here for it

Radioshop Telecaster Wiring Mod
(Image: © Future / Dave Burrluck)

Guitar World Verdict

While trillions of players are perfectly happy with the good ol’ Tele’s standard wiring, this Radioshop mod gives you control over the relative level of the two pickups – without adding a second volume control.

Pros

  • +

    A simple high-quality retrofit circuit.

  • +

    Allows you to adjust the relative level of bridge and neck pickups while retaining the tone control

  • +

    If you can solder, it's easy to install.

Cons

  • -

    Nothing.

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Chances are you’ll own – or certainly have owned – a good ol’ Fender Telecaster or two. To be fair to Mr Fender, Teles weren’t designed to be easy to modify: a simple pickup change means removing that bridge plate, and the compact control cavity is not exactly spacious if you plan to add another control or something like a boost, which might need a battery.

And while plenty of us are perfectly comfortable with the Tele’s standard ‘modern’ circuit, which is made up of master volume and tone controls, and the bridge, both, neck pickup selections from the three-way lever switch, it’s certainly not the only way to wire up and drive your Tele.

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Dave Burrluck
Gear Reviews Editor, Guitarist

Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.