Best Fender Factory-Made Stratocaster Pickups?

[overdrive]

With so many boutique pickup builders striving to perfect the classic Fender Stratocaster pickup design I was just curious...based on your personal experience(s), are there any Fender-made pickups (either their Custom Shop or modern-day stock offerings) that actually rival or surpass the likes of Lollar, Fralin, Kinman, Lawrence et al?

While this query is purely subjective at best & involves comparing mass-production components to a more individualized approach, like custom-made guitars there are variables that enter into the picture...usually ones based on the expertise of the builder & his manufacturing/QA protocols.

Though many (or some) here might consider the stock Delta Tone pickups on a modern-day Stratocaster mediocre at best, I've found that lowering their height considerably makes a world of difference tonally...not necessarily a GREAT overall Stratocaster sound but an acceptable/usable one in most cases. Their choice & grade of AlNiCo 5 probably has something to do with this along with a marketing decision to go for a more modern-day sound rather than a vintage one.

*rationalizing here a bit...* One might assume that if the higher-end (as well as stock) Fender-produced pickups were really that outstanding, maybe there wouldn't be so many successful independents making Stratocaster pickups?

[JGundry]

Probably you also want to consider the factory machine wound pickups Fender started making in 1956.

Years ago Fender stopped using the U.S. magnet makers that supplied them with the classic formulations that everyone likes. I'm not sure when they switched to Chinese magnets and dumped all of the US magnet companies but I have an early 80's American Reissue Strat that has great sounding pickups IMO.

[Possum]

...

I think you got your numbers backwards, machine winding came in '65 not '56.

No, there aren't any Fender pickups that equal what we're making. Their reissue pickups are all wrong for one thing, they're not true copies of the originals. And they are all machine wound. I haven't played any Fender pups since about '95, but back then they were just awful. Real sterile sounding. There's nothing wrong with Chinese magnets, the ones I use sound better than vintage magnets.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

The CS fat 50s and '69s aren't all that bad, but since I now wind my own pickups I'll probably never buy another set. I can make a better pickup by accident in my basement for a fraction of the cost, and tailored to my own tastes. Plus, with all the boutique stuff out there it doesn't make much sense to go with the Fenders - at one point the Fenders were priced much more reasonably than most other after market pickups, but a lot of newer winders are priced competitively; though some are still pretty pricey. Guys like Jason Lollar and Dave Stephens have very reasonable prices for what they deliver, IMO. The Fender pickups won't even be in the same ballpark as these guys.

The stuff that gets put into their Custom Shop instruments (not sure what they are, just marked with the CS sticker) are kinda crappy. Their idea of a "modern" pickup is something that is just kinda flat and bleh.

And don't touch the 57/62s with a ten foot poll. Sweet screamin' monkeys those are guitar wreckers. They make every guitar sound like Carol Channing.

[JGundry]

I think you got your numbers backwards, machine winding came in '65 not '56.

No, there aren't any Fender pickups that equal what we're making. Their reissue pickups are all wrong for one thing, they're not true copies of the originals. And they are all machine wound. I haven't played any Fender pups since about '95, but back then they were just awful. Real sterile sounding. There's nothing wrong with Chinese magnets, the ones I use sound better than vintage magnets.

Nope. Fender had a Coweco in 56'. Just ask them. I'm working on producing the sales receipt. No joke.

Here it is.


The funniest picture of all. Fender's most famous hand winder using the original Fender machine guided winder. The caption should be Abigail's revenge. I think Abigail took the old saying you keep your friends close and your enemies even closer to heart. Note original wire guide is still on the machine. One thing is for sure, Fender did not shell out the big bucks for this machine for it to be used for hand winding. All you need is a sewing machine motor and rubber bands for that. Just ask Leo. Behind Abigail are the perfect computer controlled machines of the Fender Custom Shop. This Coweco produces a sloppy wind and a complex sounding pickup. Too bad Fender uses it for hand winding! Hah!!



Fender transitioned to machine wound. There are machine wound Fender pickups well before 65'.

The USA alnico rods I had custom made sound really, really good compared to any of the Chinese magnets I have tried.

I don't have any Fender pickups newer than the ones in my early 80's American Reissue Strat but those sound very good. Lots of depth to them. I friend of mine has a newer Custom Shop Strat and those pickups are pretty harsh in comparison.

[David Schwab]

All you need is a sewing machine motor and rubber bands for that. Just ask Leo.

And here it is...

[Possum]

...

I'm not sure I believe that, the counter on that thing I don't think existed in '56, those are contemporary counters, I own 3 of them. I've read all the Fender history books by the guys that were there and the only mention of machined guided winding happens when CBS took over. Leo also adamently stated that no machine could equal what hand winding could and even when at G&L they hand wound all their stuff and the photo David posted is Leo's winder which resides at G&L still.

I have Arnold rod magnets too and they don't have the bite real vintage strat pickups have. I have a '64 strat pickup and it smokes the Arnold stuff.

I checked my strat reference books and they say machine winding came in about 1960. I do think those counters go back that far....maybe.

[JGundry]

I'm not sure I believe that, the counter on that thing I don't think existed in '56, those are contemporary counters, I own 3 of them. I've read all the Fender history books by the guys that were there and the only mention of machined guided winding happens when CBS took over. Leo also adamently stated that no machine could equal what hand winding could and even when at G&L they hand wound all their stuff and the photo David posted is Leo's winder which resides at G&L still.

I have Arnold rod magnets too and they don't have the bite real vintage strat pickups have. I have a '64 strat pickup and it smokes the Arnold stuff.

I checked my strat reference books and they say machine winding came in about 1960. I do think those counters go back that far....maybe.

Wrong Dave. I have a 59' Coweco CS with that exact same counter. It even shows in their catalog pages. The counter is European and the styling reflects that I think. Coweco seemed to mix and match at least 3 different counters. I have another 50's Coweco that has a different counter than the one on this machine.

I have A5 Rods from Arnold, Thomas Skinner and Permanent Magnet. All of them USA made. Thomas Skinner sounds the best to me. Arnold second best.

[EtLa]

Asian magnet

I think that the most important thing with magnet is batch to batch consistency and that's what scares me with asian magnet. I tried some uncharged sample from Sensmag, saturated them with a DC electromagnetic magnetizer, wound a strat pickup and hmmm... let's say I'm not ready for that change.

[David Schwab]

Here's another Coweco winder

[David Schwab]

Seth Lover's winder. Talk about simple.

[overdrive]

Their idea of a "modern" pickup is something that is just kinda flat and bleh.

No kidding...how did the MBA-inspired geniuses at Fender decide that a 'hotter' modern-day pickup was what the masses desired? Were they basing this call on the technically/aesthetically-impaired music being generated by many of today's youngsters? A heavily gaussed AlNiCo 5 with excess wrap certainly won't make for a sweet-sounding pickup.

The only Fender-made pickup that actually sounded pretty good to me was the neck pickup on the Eric Johnson Stratocaster. It was well-articulated & transparent.

Unfortunately, that's not saying a lot considering the countless number of pickups Fender cranks out both as stock components & upgrades.

[Faux Hog]

Carol Channing, That's great!

To throw in my .02 about the original query, not to get off the tangent, My brother has a MIM with the CS'69's, probably the best currently available Fender pickup I've heard. My neighbor has an American start with the Noiseless pickups...if I win the lotto I'm buying him a set of Fralins, they are the wimpiest pickups I have ever heard. But, no, I don't think they are as good as so many of the aftermarket pickups I've heard. Even though the '69's are dirt relatively cheep.

[jwendt2003]

And don't touch the 57/62s with a ten foot poll. Sweet screamin' monkeys those are guitar wreckers. They make every guitar sound like Carol Channing.

LMAO!

[godi]

69 Custom Shop

I agree, the 69 Custom Shop are very good sounding pickups for a fair price.

But I still prefer my own pickups or the boutique pickups like Lollar, Fralin and many other hand made pickups.