“Robbie came to us in 2022 with an idea... His favourite guitar was the 1953 Esquire he used for many years with Paul McCartney”: Robbie McIntosh and Monty’s unveil pickup set offering best of both worlds for Tele and Esquire fans

Monty’s Guitars has unveiled a signature electric guitar pickup set that it co-designed with the legendary Pretenders and Paul McCartney guitarist Robbie McIntosh – and it will expand the range of sounds you can get from your Telecaster.

Named for McIntosh’s long association with The Pretenders, the pickup set comprises a pair of single-coils that will fit any Telecaster. But that bridge pickup has been designed to make your momentarily forget the neck pickup is even there, giving you the sound of a Fender Esquire.

Yes, you might ask what is an Esquire if not just a single-pickup Telecaster? Fender even routed the bodies for a second pickup, and it would be one of the most common aftermarket mods for Esquire players – they would lift up the pickguard, cut it for a neck pickup and double up. But what you gain in a second pickup you lose in feel. Or as Monty’s calls it, the vibe.

“The funny thing is even though they are very close in design, Esquires do sound different than Telecasters, even when just the bridge pickup is being used,” says Monty’s. “It may be hard to believe, but the magnetic pull from the neck pickup on a Telecaster affects not only the sound of the guitar but the feel too, removing it really does do something interesting to the vibe of the guitar.”

Monty’s needed some custom-made magnets for the project. They were to have a very low magnetic field, staying out of the way as much as possible, but still sounding “vibrant and full”.

McIntosh wanted it to sound like a classic ‘50s Telecaster, with enough about it to sit in a mix.

The bridge pickup was a more straightforward proposition. It is based on the pickup on McIntosh’s favourite electric guitar, his 1953 Esquire.

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“When it came to the bridge Robbie explained that the pickup in his old Esquire had a nice woody character and was really fat for a Tele,” says Monty’s. “We designed the pickup so when the volume is at ten it is plump and aggressive, but then with a slight turn of the knob, it can go full snap and twang of a classic tele bridge pickup effortlessly.”

Monty’s is offering The Pretender set with a variety of options. You can get the neck pickup in nickel, raw nickel, chrome or gold. The price is £231 per set.

It is often said about the Telecaster that Leo Fender got it right the first time. But maybe you could say that about The Pretender pickup set. The finished pickups are the same as the pair McIntosh has been road-testing for the past year. For more details, head over to Monty’s Guitars.