Black Watch Tele Pickups
ORDER BOOK CLOSED UNTIL 4/15. LEAD TIME IS 4 TO 8 WEEKS. RUSH ORDERS EMAIL ME!!!
$100.00
Our most popular Tele pickups. The Black Watch are Broadcaster spec’d, built with large diameter Alnico III magnets and wound with 43 AWG plain enamel wire in the bridge and the neck. The Black Watch is Revel’s take on the early 50’s Tele pickups and they share an unmistakable a tone.
The Black Watch has a classic throaty twang with added fatness, fullness, grunt and growl than a more typical Tele pickup. The mids are slightly accentuated, the treble is clear, and it is overall a driven tone. The Alnico III lends a very unique sweetness especially when rolled back. Those looking for a “Keef” bridge pickup, look no further.
Bridge: 10.5k, Neck:7.5k
Features:
- Hand-assembled bobbins
- Bonded assembly for durability
- Lacquer dipped prior to winding/paper wrapped magnets
- Hand Wound w/ 43 AWG Plain Enamel Coil Wire
- Rope Wrapped Coil
- Steel Base Plate
- Vintage push-back wire leads
- Wax Potted
Costa Lapaseotes –
Unreal tone, no matter what you do to them.
“Versatile” can sound like a bad word, in a “master of none” sort of sense. Not the case here.
These are the best crunchy blues/blues rock pickups, no matter the position, but they find another level when in series wired with a 4-way switch.
These can play Pixies, they can play those Dwight Yoakam leads, they can play Black Keys, dial back the tone and they rip out Gypsy Jazz. Plus you’re buying from a great guy who will take care of you.
If this review seems disjointed…I kept stopping midway through to go play these things.
Nightjar Guitars –
OK, conjure up your ideal Tele pickup tone…got it? Now what if we told you Revel’s Black Watch pickups blow that tone out of the water? Well, it’s true. No joke. These are our go-to Tele pickups for all our builds!
NECK
The Black Watch neck pickup tone is unbelievable – sweet, clear, even, and pure. You might not want to play any other position than the neck!
BRIDGE
But then there’s the bridge pickup…boy oh boy does it sing! The sustain is incredible and there is absolutely NO ice-pick in-your-face treble like so many Tele bridge pickups.
PARALLEL
Sometimes we hear from players that the middle position (with traditional wiring) on their Tele is unusable for whatever reason. That’s just not the case here at all. These do something really special in parallel – you might just stay in middle position forever…it really gives you the best-of-both worlds!
SERIES
We’ve also been obsessed with 4-way Tele wiring, with 4th position in series, and let us tell you – WOAH! We were blown away by the sound of these when they’re in series…it’s like having an extra boost to really kick you in the teeth with punchy tone that’s STILL clear and even. We have no idea why you wouldn’t wire these up this way!
JESSE
On top of all else, Jesse is a true joy to work with. He is super communicative & responsive and answers any questions you might have with clear, easy to understand answers. Bottom line: he’s a really good dude making kick-ass pickups how they should be: by hand, just for you. End of story!
Do yourself a favor and buy the Black Watch set from Jesse NOW!
Christopher Crumbley –
Great sounding! Clear tone! Put a set of these in the latest JS (offset) build. Wow! These things sound great!
Andy Bahn –
I bought a 2020 Fender American performer and told Jessie I was looking for that “Keef” sound. He suggested a black watch in the bridge wound a little tighter and dropping a midnight rider PAF in the neck. I’ve been playing it for a month and loving the Keef sound from the black watch in the bridge position so much, that I still haven’t gotten full use of the PAF in the neck, yet (It sounds great too, though). Amazing pickups. Jessie knows how to get the sound you are searching for.
Tom Frye –
I was building a guitar and wanted Jesse to be “the pickup guy”.
So I bought a raw underwound ’72 Wide Range and a Black Watch from Revel. I also used Fender factory reliced parts to match the raw cover of the WR and a Gibson Bumble Bee capacitor (Sprague copy) just for vintage grins.
DUDENESS !!! You have no idea what that sounds like in this particular guitar. Lord Have Mercy. That’s amazing! I picked the right “pickup guy”. Keep up the excellent work!!! Just wanted you to know that I am extremely pleased. To get this tone I would have had to buy 2 vintage guitars.
Lindsay Paine –
A couple of months ago, Jesse made me a Blackwatch for my Tele, replacing the Fender CS “Handwound Nocaster” pickup that came in the guitar. Stock pickup was really quite good. The Blackwatch, however, is great! Really a killer Tele bridge p/u!! Best I’ve played. Throaty and rich, but still has great detail and is super versatile. Fat, and punchy, but clear, and very responsive to attack and volume knob. Kudos to Jesse for winding such magic. He’s great to work with, and the price point is beyond reasonable. Could easily charge more, and they’d still be a great value. Thank you, Jesse!
Kenneth –
I just dropped a Blackwatch set into a Classic Vibe 50s Tele as part of a Broadcaster build. Stop thinking, and just go for it—these pickups sing!
Compared to the stock pickups, the Revel set is more dynamic, has more tonal color, and offers clearer string articulation. And the sustain is unreal!
Jesse was a pleasure to work with. We chatted a few times over email, and he was always friendly and quick to respond. I could not have asked for a better experience or a better product.
Curtis McKusick –
I just paired this (bridge) with a Revel WRHB! A great combination!
Just the right amount of Tele twang in the Black Watch without being too harsh.
If you are looking for a great, balanced Tele tone in the bridge, this is it! And at an incredible price point too, for a custom, hand-wired pickup!
bunnyman –
Jesse fails to disappoint! I have been waiting for over three months for someone (not to be named) who bills theirs as “closest to vintage sound as you’ll ever get” to ship their pickup with excuse after excuse as to why it is not in my grubby little paws when I should have gone to Jesse first! It sounds the part, looks the part, and Jesse is a LOT easier to deal with! If you want it “extra Keefy”, make certain to ask Jesse to do that for you! You will NOT be disappointed.
Trey Haislip –
Jesse was able to wind Broadcaster Tele style pickups with UOA5 and Degaussed A5 magnets. One of the best sounding Tele sets I’ve used with phenomenal response to the volume knob. Jesse was a pleasure to work with. I will definitely be ordering from him again.
Tim Dupraz –
Holy balls!
Hey Jesse. I just picked up a Tele today and converted it into an Esquire and dropped the Black Watch in it. It’s absolutely killer! It’s fat, it stings and has plenty of twang. I am super exited to play it. Thanks a ton, man.”