I've had a look through the Duchossoir reference book on the Telecaster, & I can't see any reference to Custom Teles (the ones with the binding) with maple boards. It does say:
"It would appear however that the rosewood board neck was initially conceived as an integral part of the "custom treatment" before the decision was taken to extend this new trim to the entire range of electrics"
The new Customs were usually made out of alder rather than ash. I get the impression that any maple board Custom Teles made pre 1965 must have been special orders.
With regard to pickups, I can recommend the Seymour Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup. I have one on my mid/late 80's Fender Japan 62 RI Custom Tele (though Fender Japan didn't bother with the "Custom" bit of the decal, unlike the later US reissues). I find it hard to describe pickups, but it has more guts than the original Fender pickup, maybe a bit more body and mid range to the sound as well as a higher output (7.9k compared to 6.2K). The SD website says "Compared to the Vintage ?54, this pickup has slightly more output and more snarl in the mids", which seems like a good description. Very impressive pickup. I haven't tried the neck version as I have 2 Kent Armstrong Strat pickups in the middle & neck positions
Hope this helps.
