Does a Jazzmaster pickup work in a Telecaster?

I clicked on this video because it's called "swamp thing telecaster". It's a custom build Tele (from what parts I have no idea), but there's something interesting about it:

In the front (as in neck) position is a Jazzmaster pickup. You can tell it's not a P90 because there are four "ears", two on either side, holding the pickup in place. P90s don't have that.

And wow, does it sound good.

Does a ready-made Telecaster exist that has this configuration?

Indeed it does! See the Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special:

I have seen this in the guitar store but didn't try it because I thought there was a P90-style pickup there.

And by the way, yes it is a Jazzmaster neck. Even though this is a Telecaster, it states "Jazzmaster" right on the headstock, so the neck is probably taken right off the Vintage Modified Jazzmaster and put on this guitar...

...and that's not a bad thing because there's only one string tree, meaning far less "kink" noises when bending the G string.

Now that I know there's a Jazzmaster pickup in the front position, I'm hoping that guitar is still at the store so I can try it out.

A Jazz pickup in the front of a Tele doesn't sound Jazzmaster-like, but rather its own unique thing since it's such a huge single-coil that has way more output.

In other words, believe me when I say that a high-output Tele rear pickup + a high-output Jazz front pickup is a damned good combo.

Published 2014 Mar 31