dating Fender Tele bridge pickup

[Steve Casas]

Hi all. I'm getting ready to list a pickup for sale but I need to be able to prove it's vintage-ness (is that a word?) I personally un-soldered this pickup 20 years ago from a 1968 Tele that my brother now posesses. That Tele was butchered by my uncle who bought it new in '68 and wanted a PAF humbucker in the neck position and routed it out. It was unplayable because of the mis-matched output between the two pickups so I replaced the bridge PU with a Seymour Duncan stacked humbucker and it solved the problem, and the original PU sat in a box in the garage for 20 years. I see them sell on EBay for $200- $300 and now I need to raise money. I would never sell it otherwise...

So, under the copper-plated steel plate it has the number 1249 and no other numbers/letters anywhere on the PU. It has gray (fiberboard?) bottom, black top, black and yellow (not cloth) wires, staggered pole pieces (for wound g string) and white cloth string around winding.

Any ideas as to the date? I could ask my brother for a picture of the neck... it says Nov 1968, but that doesn't prove much about THIS pickup. Also, any idea what it's worth? This one reads open with my fluke. I KNOW this thing worked when I took it out! I have inspected the winding wires where they solder and can't find any problems... bummer. Still, it's worth something to someone, and on EBay they go for $100 minimum even when they don't work...

Any help would be much appreciated!

[David Schwab]

...vintage-ness (is that a word?)

Age?

[Sam Lee Guy]

Your pickup 1969. If you look close, yellow wire plobably have little black numbers 0-9 on it!

[Steve Casas]

Haha! Yes David, my age allows me to get away with making up all kinds of words.

Thanks for the response.

No... no little black numbers on yellow wire. Did you get the year from the number 1249? Date code? 124th day of 1969?

[Sam Lee Guy]

9 for 1969, other numbers code (clock number?) for bobbin assembler and winder.

[David Schwab]

Haha! Yes David, my age allows me to get away with making up all kinds of words.

No, I meant "age" would be the correct word for "vintage-ness", but age does do that to people! I should know! I'm starting to mix up my kids names... and they are a boy and a girl!

[Steve Casas]

Hahah! That's pretty bad, Dave! I hope their names are Chris and Pat...

"Age" doesn't imply Mojo-osity (there I go again) like Vintage-ness does. Heh...

[David Schwab]

I hope their names are Chris and Pat...

No.. try Kyle and Coco!