What criteria when matching 3 different pickups

[roadrocket1098]

Hi Guys
I wonder if you can help
The neck pickup on my CSL Stratocaster has gone, and I need to replace it .

I read a lot about resistance for neck & mid, and bridge.
The resistance of the MID & Bridge pickup is 4.85K

If I added a 6.5K, will the volume be out of synchronisation of the other pick-ups, or should I just avoid the over-wound pick ups

I wondered whether I could have different makes in each of the three positions, to experience the different sounds, but not sure when I change the selector switch that the volumes will be all over the place, or will get other problems

I would appreciate your views

Roadrocket1098

[Mark Hammer]

The DC resistance is but one superficial indicator of output level. You can reach the same DC resistance with a variety of wire gauges. Increase the gauge from #42 to #41, and you get a smaller DC resistance for the same number of turns. Use wire of the same gauge but with thicker or thinner insulation, and you get different resistances for the same number of turns on the same coilform.

The same DC resistance can also be arrived at via different coil dimension strategies. For example, if the polepieces are a slightly wider diameter, then the circumference of a single wire turn is larger. And the DC resistance is increased by every single slightly-longer turn of wire, such that the same DC resistance is arrived at with fewer turns. Make that circumference smaller in some fashion (e.g., smaller diameter polepices, or a taller polepiece that allows for more turns to be situated closer to the polepice, rather than farther away with greater circumference) and you get more turns out of the same total DC resistance.

Winding tighter or looser will also get you different numbers of turns on the same coil fitting into the same pickup cover and measuring different DC resistances.

Finally, the magnet type and strength can make a substantial difference in the output level from two absolutely identical coils.

This is all the long way of saying that, unless you have specs on a whole bunch of parameters of what's already in there, and what is potentially on your shopping list, you really don't have a reliable way of judging whether any candidate pickup is a good match for output.

Ultimately, you'll end up using height adjustment to balance out the pickup levels anyway, so personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. The worst case scenario is that the existing and candidate pickups are SO different, level-wise that the neck and bridge are noticeably and objectionably different in level. In most cases, they likely won't be so different that height adjustment can't resolve the problem.