Telonics X10 Pickup

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 11 Feb 2022 10:02 pm

Installed a Telonics X10 pickup in the blue Desert Rose and balanced the strings for volume and tone. Very happy!

(D6th chromatic tuning)

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 12 Feb 2022 4:15 am

I forget -- do we know what's different about the X-10 vs. the old 84 (128, 12 string)?

That 128 went on my Williams recently after a factory rehab and was very close to what I was looking for. But a Steeltronics Z turned my head & is currently on. It is really happening but I keep looking back at the Telonics as maybe the perfect compromise......we'll see.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 12 Feb 2022 9:50 am

I don't know, Jon. It sounds different from the Type 84 in my Sierra, but they are very different guitars. I think that most of the difference I hear is in the details of guitar construction.

Derek Puckett · Post by **Derek Puckett** » 12 Feb 2022 3:14 pm

Input an x12 in a guitar I built and man it’s amazing it’s a two person job setting the pols but once it’s set , it is amazing.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 13 Feb 2022 8:35 am

It took me about an hour with good headphones and the Strymon Iridium amp/speaker simulator, toggling between the raw bypass sound and 2 of my favorite sims. To adjust the volume of a string, you move both poles together. To adjust tone, you raise one and lower the other the same amount. The end result is a very even balance. String separation is also very good. Dave Beaty says that having the pickup at least 0.2" from the strings helps with that. I started with everything at that point and reduced the too-loud volumes from there, then worked on the tones.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 13 Feb 2022 8:47 am

Your post is to blame for me one more time going back to my 128.
The Steeltronics Z delivers a particular sound that I have been questing for. It is so alive and tangy. But it has some down-sides for a lot of the music I play and today (who knows about tomorrow) it seems that the more general-purpose and really good sounding Telonics is the wise choice for me.

Marlin Gengenbach · Post by **Marlin Gengenbach** » 13 Feb 2022 1:59 pm

I have used the 84pw in my Rains ever since
Dave introduced his remarkable pickups.
I have tried a few others but have found the 84 to be the best. It required patience and experimenting with different combinations of adjustments, but Dave's suggestions and recommendations are spot on, in my opinion.

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 13 Feb 2022 3:48 pm

I have the x10's and the 409's in both my Zum Hybrids - just fabulous pickups and not a lot between the two !

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 13 Feb 2022 5:26 pm

My crappy hearing changes from day to day. I don't know how I would ever get the pickups adjusted properly.

It would be nice if there was an app for that function!

~Lee

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 13 Feb 2022 9:20 pm

I have two U-12 MSA's. One is a 1975, the other 1976. Both birdseye maple and identical except for color. I have the X-12 in one and 427 in the other one. Excellent pickups. The X-12 a little brighter (Emmons tone). Great choices.

Duane Dunard · Post by **Duane Dunard** » 14 Feb 2022 6:33 am

Another vote for the Telonics X-10 humbucker as my very top choice, but I also really like the Wallace True-Tone pickup wound at 17.5 for a nice traditional country single coil sound. My two guitars are MSA Millenniums, early M-2’s. The later M-3 series had a longer scale and different signature tone. Your own assessment will depend on what amp used and your own brand of guitar played. Btw, there really is no “best”, but enjoy the journey.

John Larson · Post by **John Larson** » 14 Feb 2022 7:20 am

How do you go about balancing one of these pickups?

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 14 Feb 2022 7:42 am

The pickups come with instructions on balancing. Basically, raise both pole screws to raise volume of a string or lower them to lower the volume, thus balancing the string volume across the pickup. Then, raise the left pole screw and lower the right screw on each screw equally to soften the tone of the string or lower the left screw and raise the right screw on each screw equally to brighten the tone of the string. I used a matchbook cover to gently strike each string. Then, used my picks and noodled around on all of the strings and re-adjusted a few to my picking style. Time consuming, but worth it.

Al Evans · Post by **Al Evans** » 14 Feb 2022 7:43 am

John Larson wrote:How do you go about balancing one of these pickups?

Down toward the bottom of this page is a set of instructions from Dave Beaty himself:

viewtopic.php?t=232983&highlight=x10+adjustment

Worked great for me.

--Al Evans

Duane Dunard · Post by **Duane Dunard** » 14 Feb 2022 8:06 am

I went to David Hartley's You-Tube video on adjusting the Telonics pickup and copied his settings, then tweeked the allen screws to my preferred sound.

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 14 Feb 2022 10:40 am

Lee Baucum wrote:My crappy hearing changes from day to day. I don't know how I would ever get the pickups adjusted properly.

Same here. On the upside, it's not required to make any adjustment at all. From the factory, the screws are all the same height, so it's no different than getting a non-adjustable pickup. Those can sound good too.

I have a Tonealigner that has the same style of pole pieces... and make tiny adjustments to it every few months. Can't quite decide when something is 'too much' or 'just right.' It's also possible I've just messed up the tone and should reset the screws to ground zero and run through the adjustment process again.