Should my bridge pup be brighter than my neck pup?

MichaelMcKevin

I went to my first lesson yesterday (which I have great feelings about) and my instructor was suprised to find that my neck pup wasn't as bright as my bridge pup. We didn't talk much about it. For reference, it's a Telecaster which appears to have some grounding issues because it makes a clicky sound as the string touches the frets, moreso on the D and G strings. Not sure if that's related to other wiring issues. It's most apparent during a slide on the D string. I don't know much about tele's or electric guitars for that matter.

keeponrockin

The bridge pickup SHOULD be brighter.

armanHammer

It shouldn't necessarily be inherently brighter, but it's location makes it sound brighter (unplug your guitar, pick by the bridge, then by the neck and hear the difference)

ianvomsaal

I wouldn't call it brighter - your bridge pickup should be innately crisper and tighter sounding.
Just as armanHammer said - unplug the guitar and strum it near the neck - now strum next to the bridge.
You should hear a tonal difference (timbre) - these sounds are basically what the pickups are amplifying.
As far a grounding issues - ask your local tech to take a look.
It should be an easy easy fix - and it should only take about 2 minutes to remedy the problem.

- Ian