AM Standard Strat PU question

[Ringwraith]

I have an 88 & 92 Fender American Standard Strat & was wondering what the specs were on the PU's? What type of magnets/wire/ohm reading etc. I find them ok but a bit harsh & was thinking of winding some PU's with an older/vintage vibe. It would be my first crack at winding but I've built amps & stompboxes so winding PU's is next!!

Cheers
Sean

[Sweetfinger]

You probably can't get there The Am Std. pickups have a molded plastic bobbin w/ alnico poles and probably cannot be wound to sound much better than they currently do. Older ones have flat poles, later ones have staggered poles. To get a true vintage sounding pickup, you'll have to start with a different bobbin.

[salvarsan]

There's a reason Fender named the American Standard model after a brand of toilet.

-drh

[voodoochild]

There's a reason Fender named the American Standard model after a brand of toilet.

-drh

Hehehe.... Actually you can make them sound better. The plastic bobbin makes it easy to swap magnets. Try swapping for A3 and unwind the neck pup 100 winds or so. No need to change pickups until you try this first.

[Ringwraith]

Thanks for the response.

To clarify...
I don't want to rewind them, I want to wind new ones with new parts.
I'm just wondering about the specs of these PU's to compare to older style & learn why these sound the way they do. They're not terrible. I've used them for 20 years getting great tones but now I want more of a vintage character.

Anyone know which Alnico mags these have?? What about type of wire?

Cheers
Sean

[LtKojak]

Thanks for the response.

To clarify...
I don't want to rewind them, I want to wind new ones with new parts.
I'm just wondering about the specs of these PU's to compare to older style & learn why these sound the way they do. They're not terrible. I've used them for 20 years getting great tones but now I want more of a vintage character.

Anyone know which Alnico mags these have?? What about type of wire?

Cheers
Sean

Almost everything you need to know to wind a "vintage" single-coil p'up.

Parts Kit for Strat Pickup at Stewart-MacDonald

HTH,

[voodoochild]

Thanks for the response.

To clarify...
I don't want to rewind them, I want to wind new ones with new parts.
I'm just wondering about the specs of these PU's to compare to older style & learn why these sound the way they do. They're not terrible. I've used them for 20 years getting great tones but now I want more of a vintage character.

Anyone know which Alnico mags these have?? What about type of wire?

Cheers
Sean

No need to rewind them. You can very easily push the magnets out and replace them with a different grade. A2 is good but A3 sounds more "vintage" to me. Unwinding the neck 100 turns is relatively easy but not really necessary. It just gives the neck pickup a little more clarity. I've been doing this for years to AM Standard strat pickups and making significant improvements. 9-10 customers don't opt to change pickups after I do this mod. I also like that you can push the magnets through the bobbin and custom stagger them until it sounds more balanced. Thats a very common thing to do as well. Even though the bobbins are cheap plastic they do have advantages over the fixed fiberboard ones in that respect.

[Ringwraith]

So are these PU's A5 magnets?? What kind of wire is in them? Formvar??
What size magnets would I need to replace with?

Cheers
Sean

[voodoochild]

So are these PU's A5 magnets?? What kind of wire is in them? Formvar??
What size magnets would I need to replace with?

Cheers
Sean

The wire is a single build (I think because it seems thin) 42 gauge poly nylon. The mags are .187'' A5.

[Ringwraith]

Thanks VC!
Mojo magnets good??

Cheers
Sean

[voodoochild]

I've had good results with Mojo magnets. You have to charge them yourself though. If you want them charged I would recommend Arnold Magnetics.

[Ringwraith]

What do you use to charge your magnets?

[voodoochild]

What do you use to charge your magnets?

I use 1''x1'' neo magnets or rare earth magnets. I am sure lots of others here do the same and may have an easy way to describe it. They work great you just have to be careful not to smash your hand.
My set ups is similar to the one Stew mac has shown here but I went more rugged and with bigger magnets. I also use that 1/16'' nylon fence tape use to slick up the fence on you saw over the magnets so I don't have to worry about hitting the neo mags when I pass the pickup through.
Guitar Repair Magnets at Stewart-MacDonald