La Brea is a vintage spec, Telecaster set designed in collaboration
with Brad Paisley, featuring smooth alnico II rod magnets in the neck
and focused alnico IV rod magnets in the bridge – perfect for achieving
Brad’s signature bite, snap, and twang!
In 2017, after a long
search for the perfect guitar, Brad Paisley acquired an original 1968
Telecaster. The guitar played beautifully but had unfortunately been
refinished in black acrylic paint. So, Brad brought the guitar to
veteran luthier and paisley paper expert, Bill Crook, to have the black
paint stripped away to have a classic ’68 paisley pattern applied
instead. After removing some of the thick black paint, Bill stumbled on
a surprise that would shock them both: Fender’s original pink paisley
finish from 1968! Brad dubbed the guitar La Brea, because the black
paint hiding the perfectly intact, all-original pink paisley paper
reminded him of the tar pits in Southern California. At this point,
Brad loved almost everything about La Brea, but there was still
something that wasn’t quite right – the pickups. Naturally, Brad called
his buddy Seymour W. Duncan, and together they created the perfect,
vintage accurate matched pickups – the Brad Paisley Signature La Brea
Telecaster Set.
The bridge model features alnico IV rod magnets,
vintage-correct cloth push-back wire, vintage output of 7.44k, and
classic grey forbon flatwork, giving you the wonderful open quality that
you expect from a vintage pickup, but with the focused midrange that
only an alnico IV magnet can provide. The neck pickup uses alnico II rod
magnets alongside an output of 7.55k, and the same period-correct wire
and flatwork to provide a smooth, thick neck tone. Together, these
pickups deliver the snap and twang that Brad is known for, with a round
top end and full but tight lows. Seymour wound what Brad calls “the
perfect set” for his beloved ’68 La Brea Telecaster, and now you can get
it too. The Brad Paisley Signature La Brea Telecaster Set, hand built
in Santa Barbara, CA.
DCR: Neck 7.55
Magnet: Alnico 2,
Type: Passive
