The T 52 System is our twist on the vintage 1952 Tele with the classic twang and edge players have known for 60 years. The system includes a prewired control plate.
Rating:
100 % of 100
$189.00
Write Your Own Review
Write a review for/T-52 System
Your Rating
Customer Reviews

6 Item(s)

Show per page
  1. Best Pickups I've Owned
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    Telecasters have always been my favorite guitars to play. But I've always had issues with the sound, ones that I'd begrudgingly learned to live with. The standard pickups mounted to the bridge sound great, but a tad too piercing, and the neck pickups are typically a bit too mellow and poorly balanced with the bridge pickups. And the single coil hum was always there in the background, subtly annoying the shit out of me. For me, these characteristics ultimately took away from the guitar's versatility.

    I've never had the guts to try active pickups, having an irrational fear of adding a battery. Finally last winter I broke down and gave active pickups a shot, with the T-52 System. I honestly could not be more satisfied. Installing them was really easy, taking around an hour at my kitchen table. And the sound is amazing. The bridge pickup is bright and growls like it should, but doesn't rattle my teeth with extra-tinny high frequencies. The neck pickup is round and edgy and amazing. The two pickups balance easily with some height adjustment. And they are absolutely silent. Silent. Zero noise from the guitar even under very high gain.

    My Telecaster still has a characteristic Telecaster sound, but now the annoying aspects of the sound, the icepick, poor balance, and hum, are gone. Now the guitar is an ABSOLUTE pleasure to play and is a LOT more versatile. The pickups play very well with the volume and tone controls on the guitar and the EQ and gain controls on the amp. I can play nearly any style of music with with my Telecaster now. Super cool!

    Review by

    Posted on

  2. The game-changer set. Period.
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    okay, uuummm...where do i begin?, as my thoughts are flooded w/positive findings w/the T-52 set, and i'm bursting at the seems to reveal (ha). so, firstly, i'm an "everything EMG" player, and i've had my eyes peeled for this set for quite a while. as i am primarily of 'tallica, slayer, death angel, anthrax roots/etc, i've ventured into tele territory the past couple years, and i'm diggin' the character, altogether. now, ..onto the T-52's.......all i can do is use expletives, as i'm so blown away at what Rob and the team have accomplished with these pickups. so, over the weekend, i install the system on a red sparkle squier tele that i've completely upgraded w/parts ranging from Babicz to Gotoh to Fender, ..i plug into my EVH Iconic half stack, and i literally went into "facemelt" mode, as the dynamics, clarity, feel, authenticity, uniqueness, ..is all there, no matter what the settings of the amp. i mean, i've been saying that the EMG HZ H2A-N neck pickup is the best neck pickup i've ever heard, for years....however, equally, this T-52 neck pickup is so good, i seriously can't believe what i'm experiencing. as well, the bridge pickup has this beautiful color to it that is ripe for the hands, and has perfect high end clarity....and the neck pickup, ...just "does that thing." so, as i was plugged in, i experimented w/both channels- clean, low gain, mid gain, high gain, eq variations, volume variations..and there is so much "clarity-based" dynamic content existing in the T-52's, that i just couldn't stop playing, no matter what the settings of the amp. importantly, i experimented, as well, with various volume and tone control settings via the T-52 vol/tone controls, and it is so satisfying..when you roll the tone off/etc, it doesn't get flubby or lacking audiblity of tonal character, they respond well at various volumes, and man, the color from these pickups is so clean and of sonic fidelity, they're truly a giant set of pickups..i'm also surprised at how much harmonic content exists in this set....it's glorious. oh!, as well, i've never heard a tele neck pickup sound so good, or a tele bridge pickup feel so right. period. i absolutely love these, and i'm pleased that i decided to give something different a shot (meaning, droppin' these in rather than a T or TC set, etc, as i love those, too, but i have them installed in other teles)....the versatility and playability of this Retroactive set is so good, and i've been wanting to venture into chicken' pickin', as it's been on my to-do list for probably a decade or so...., and, seriously, this set is absolutely ideal. easily, you can throw down on metal, blues, country, jazz, etc, and they'll be pleasing in the full range. i'm so happy, and i'm already planning another set, for another future-bought tele. i'm tellin' you, they're so damn good. as well, i can't wait to plug into my Mesa Mark V, along w/my Marshall JCM 900 half stacks. (and, although i haven't done so yet, i get the vibe these pickups will respond to pedals....very, very well).....also, you can seriously "put on the heat" (gain, distortion, for instance) on these pickups, and they'll soar (as i did so with the Iconic in 100 watt mode both channel 1 and 2, and the clean harmonic character was just facemelting..seriously). i can seriously go on and on, but i hope i've painted a viewable picture of what these pickups will, and can do. (they respond so cleanly and well.....the dynamics just jump off the strings, and there's this clarity that compliments the dynamics where everything is hear)....as it should.

    Review by

    Posted on

  3. The best tele pickup ever.
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    Rob is a madman. His engineers are distorted geniuses. I started my journey with Emg when I was a PS at Line 6. I loved everything I had played. When I toured, even my Teles had the Emg T set. I loved that set. I always called them Emg's hidden treasure. When Tommy turned me onto the Retroactive series, the T set wasn't available, but the Hot 70s in my LP was magnificent. Everything I had ever looked for in a traditional HB. Then my first set of 52's arrived. OMG. Perfect telecaster tone. No noise. Very responsive to chicken picking, and had a nice Mick Ronson'ish,
    Jeff Beck, Page tele sound when slamming my Blackstar HT50II head. Nice bottom. Mids right where they should be, in my opinion, on a tele. The neck was very Ed Bickerstaff, Roy Nichols sounding. Excellent for western swing. The Tele set is the bomb. Sheer magic.

    Review by

    Posted on

  4. The best tele pickup ever.
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    so I am an endorser. I've been using EMG full time since 2006, and became official with them in 2008. The original T set was my be all end all. Every tele I bought had them. Then I was gifted a Tele with Tim Shaw V mods...5/2 magnet set up. Loved them. They weren't quiet. I had heard about Mason using 5/2 design, but in a vintage stack. Low and behold, at the first Emg Nashville Road Show, Tommy had a killer Schecter loaded with the 52 Retroactive set. I was hooked. My main b bender tele is loaded with them . Best tele pickup ever. I loved the original T set. I'd marry these.

    Review by

    Posted on

  5. Amazing
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    Bought these as an improvement fo my Squier Bullet Tele not having any idea the level of difference they would make.
    My cheap tele now sounds like a guitar that costs ten times as much as it did!
    Solid sound, no buzz, and i can actually pick up the individual notes.
    These are a steal, and easy to install.
    Just amazing.

    Review by

    Posted on

  6. T-52's are AMAZING!!!!!
    Quality
    100%
    Price
    100%
    Value
    100%
    Ease of Install
    100%
    Well, guess I'll 'fess up now. Rob Turner (head Fred at EMG) is a good friend, but I'm telling it how I sees it. Rob and I play music together (yep, he IS a musician!). One night, I mentioned that I was building another Tele style guitar. Rob said "Let me put pickups in it" Since I'm not a rocker, and play clean thru Fender Tube Amps, I said NO! I don't want or need high gain pickups in my guitar! He promised I'd like them! He kept asking, and I kept saying no. Finally, I got the used set of American Standard Tele Pickups I had found used in New York. They were both no good! I'd been screwed!! Finally, I gave in and gave my guitar to Rob. He gave it back the next week with the new pickups. I plugged it in, and WOW!!! I had no idea that a Tele could sound that good!!! The tone was pure Telecaster, but with amazingly rich harmonics, amazing tonal separation between notes, unbelievable clarity, rich mids & bass!! Turns out, Rob didn't tell me, but had worked with a very well known Telecaster player & vocalist from Nashville, and his 1952 Telecaster to have a baseline. MAN, did they nail it!!! The set Rob & his crew put in my guitar was the final prototype set! I've put the T-52's in every Tele I've owned or built since (about 6 years ago I think) Now, as I mentioned, Rob is a good friend, but my review is NOT biased, and I'm telling it like I see it! I LOVE the T-52's!!

    Review by

    Posted on

6 Item(s)

Show per page