After early production of the flat-pole Telecaster lead pickup, in 1954 Fender began to manufacture pickups with raised D and G poles to provide a more even string response and output for those guitars with a 7.25″ radius fretboard. With the Antiquity Tele 55 you get the same bright, twangy tone as our flat-pole Antiquity Tele Lead but with a little more edge.

The neck model’s bass response is full and round, and will add richness to your chords, while the specially calibrated hand-ground Alnico 5 rod magnets, and custom coil winding give the treble a smoother, more musical attack. It’s great for big, bold rhythm playing, and percussive enough for classic country-style chicken pickin’.

A no-brainer upgrade to any Telecaster, each Antiquity Tele 55 is hand-fabricated and scatter-wound in our Custom Shop, and all parts are aged to give the look and sound of a pickup that has been played for decades. We use vintage-style push-back cloth wire, and they are all lacquered and potted in lamp black paraffin wax, just like they were in the ’50s.