Charlie Christian for Solidbody
Item #: 10-803
Ratings Snapshot
out of 5
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(6)
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(1)
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Would recommend this product.
100%
$185.00
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Product Details
A clean and elegant take on our Charlie Christian pickup, specifically designed for use with solid body or center-block guitars. This unique version of our Charlie Christian offers a classic, inspiring voice tinged with vintage vibe that's especially well-suited for jazz guitar styles.
The Lollar Charlie Christian for Solidbody is a warm, touch-sensitive pickup with wide dynamic range and tremendous harmonic richness. Compared with other single coils, it's very full, with less compression and a powerful, direct, and focused voice emphasizing the low-end and midrange. It's very responsive to picking hand dynamics, giving it an engaging and expressive feel. While sharing some EQ and output characteristics with P-90s, the Charlie Christian is mellower overall with less growl and grind.
This version is intended for solidbody or center-block guitars and will require routing and pickguard modification. Available in both pickguard and body mount styles.
Avg. DC: Neck 3.2K, Middle 3.4K, Bridge 3.6K (Read about DC resistance)
Recommended Potentiometers: 250k
Recommended Capacitor: 0.022μF
INSTALLATION NOTE: Installation may require routing of your guitar's body, as well as minor pickguard modifications—see installation video further down the page.
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Tim Lerch demo of Charlie Christian and B.S. Tele Bridge pickups
Creston Guitars demo with Lollar Charlie Christian and B.S. Tele Bridge pickups
Pickup Installation—Charlie Christian for Solidbody
In the 2-part video series below, Jason Lollar demonstrates how to route a neck cavity to install a Charlie Christian for Solidbody pickup into a Tele-style guitar. For additional information on installing this pickup, you can download PDFs of our Body Mount Routing Diagram and Pickguard Mount Routing Diagram. In most cases we recommend having a professional luthier install these pickups.
Part 1
Part 2
Pickup Dimensions
Lollar Charlie Christian Pickups
Black/White
White/Black/White
Cream Single-Ply
Pearl/Black/White
Tortoise/Black/White
Parchment/Black/Parchment
Colors shown here may vary slightly from actual colors due to differences in computer monitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the Charlie Christian work in my guitar?
The Charlie Christian for Solid Body is a unique size pickup, and will not drop in to the existing pickup cavity on nearly any production guitar. It requires modification to the body and pickguard in nearly all cases unless the instrument is custom built for that pickup.
Our Novel CC is a PAF-style humbucker size version that will drop in to most guitars with a humbucking pickup route.
The BS Tele will drop in as a replacement in most conventional Tele bridge routes.
Can you do series/parallel with a Charlie Christian?
Because of the Charlie Christian’s large coil size, running it in series tends to make the pickup noisy to the point where most players find it unusable. It basically acts as an antenna, pickup up quite a bit of interference.
What They Are Saying
Ratings Snapshot
out of 5
5
(6)
4
(1)
3
(0)
2
(0)
1
(0)
Would recommend this product.
100%
out of 5
5
(6)
4
(1)
3
(0)
2
(0)
1
(0)
Would recommend this product.
100%
7 Total Reviews
Build the guitar around the pickup
James
Location: Denver
Date: August 9, 2025
I’ve owned the CC Tele neck pick up for years—had it for a while in an MIJ routed for P90, but returned to the P90 in that guitar. The CC sat on my work bench calling to me to build a guitar around it. That’s how much mojo it has. For my first ever build I installed this with the BS bridge and oh, my… simplicity, incandescent clarity of tone, and sheer power. Do not underestimate these humble blades.
Recommended
this is the one
nostyle
Location: Austria
Date: September 29, 2024
i build a neck-squire and the cc is my only pickup. in combination with a squire-wiring, to bypass resistors, the sound is incredible dynamic, with more treble and an overall very warm but also clean and open timbre. the sound ranges from smooth to sharp (depending on your playing) and had a very wooden tone (swamp ash body). humming is absolutely acceptable (using copper for farradays cage). i searched for years and this is the one and only pickup that i need!
Recommended
Whats not to love?
Marcus
Location: Sweden
Date: June 24, 2019
I got one for my tele and absolutely love it! Its frequency respons is great and i no longer have to do turn down the treble on my amp to make it work (Twin Reverb) and the bass is thick yet clear. Paired it with the BS bridge pickup and they match perfectly. Keep it in mind it is quite noisy considering its a single coil but thats part of the game - if you want noiseless you should get humbuckers. Its however not a one trick pony ment only for jazz - Ive used the middle position for funk "quack" and it works great with fuzz and its good tone can handle any pedal ive paired with it perfectly.
Just get one - its great.
Recommended
Something uniquely different
Mateo
Location: Canada
Date: June 16, 2018
The pickup is a thing of beauty. The 'tuxedo' look in a black a pickguard on a white tele with the body mount version is hard to beat. It comes with a thin layer of plastic which helps it survive installation without a scratch.
The sound is really something unique. I have spent quite a bit of time trying out various boutique pickups and have come to the conclusion that spending more doesn't necessarily result in a better sound. The CC pickup was one of the few times when a pickup exceeded my expectations.
For playing loud clean lines which are thick and can stand comparison with horn lines, this pickup gets you as close as you are going to get with a pickup alone.
Because of the particular EQ of the pickup it sounds loud and fat while seeming to resist breakup at minimally pushed gain levels. I know this because I had pickups in other positions of my tele which displayed lower perceivable volume but were breaking up more at the same volume.
This pickup can be used with higher gain but, like many pickups ,it plays much better with some sounds than with others. For clean sounds it is great through a Brownface or Blonde amp set short of breakup. For distortion, 'Dumbly" sounds seem to work well with this pickups inherent tone.
I think the price point is a little high, and it is very difficult to find bridge pickups which pairs well with it. The BS pickup is not really of the same design (different gauge wire and a ceramic magnet) but matches it in output well. I obtained the pickup from Lollar's rep in Kitchener Ontario and it didn't come anywhere close to the predicted time nor was there good communication from the Canadian dealer.
Overall, this is a specialty pickup which delivers something special. Other pickups might be more flexible but they don't deliver what the CC pickup does. I am really impressed with Lollar's offering and will probably purchase this pickup for other guitars as well.
Recommended
Amazing unit!
J. Vega
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date: February 22, 2017
This pickup can do just about anything, but its most powerful trait is to make a Tele sound like a "jazz box", although it's also versatile and capable of producing a wide variety of sounds. A highly-recommended modification for any Tele.
Recommended
You will not regret this pickup!!!
Billie
Location: Durham, NC
Date: February 8, 2017
If you've ever heard Charlie Christian and studied his music in any way, you know the perfect way to become anywhere near to being able to replicate his tone - you're going to need this sweet pickup. I installed this in the neck position and everyone who has picked up my custom swamp-ash tele has been amazed. It's clear, beautiful, with a slight magical reverb quality. Tone is perfect for clean jazz leads and for "chunking" chords you can add a little tone treble/sparkle and really make the instrument sing without sacrificing a thick bottom end. Have I said it's magic? Put that pickup through your Fender Twin, blast the tubes, and you'll be surprised as how it handles natural tube distortion. I can't say enough wonderful things about this pickup. Treat yourself to it and you won't regret it.
Recommended
Simply Amazing
Joshua
Location: NY
Date: February 8, 2017
The Lollar Charlie Christian pickup is perfect for those looking for a dynamic pickup that offers an extremely pure tone. The bass is tight but at the same time highly responsive, while the mid-range and high-end expression can grown or sing as you please. Sometimes the pickup provides a completely transparent sound, as if your fingers were reaching directly into your tube amp. High recommended...
Recommended
7 Total Reviews
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