50s fender pickup

[guitarteck]

I need some input here that is baffling me. tonight I saw a set of pickups dated 10-8-55 in a early 60s strat. according to everything they should be black bottoms, these were gray and penciled in date under wax. definatly wrong pickup in the guitar, anybody ever seen or rewound a gray bottom 50s pickup? Thanks

[copperheadroads]

i don't think they use grey until early 1964 but im not an expert on vintage pickups ( someone will likely chime in here with some info) but some of the 1950's fender pickups i have seen , don't think they had a date marked on them ....but anything is possible did you get a look at the color of wire ,magnet stagger ................

[guitarteck]

Thats what I thought. grey was later but wast sure if something strage may have happened. heres a pic

[ken]

Those are 1965 pickups. I know because I have two more from the same winder (same initials) that are dated two weeks before I was born in 1965.

Ken

[Bill M]

I agree, they look like 65 pickups. Do you have any pics of the coil wire?

[Southland Guitar Pickups]

You could check the diameter of the magnets. Fender started using .187 magnets in 1965.

[jason lollar]

I have rewound or repaired alot of old fender pickups and I have never seen a grey bottom pickup from the 50's.

[Bill M]

You could check the diameter of the magnets. Fender started using .187 magnets in 1965.

Well, That's not entirely true. I've documented Strat pickups with rough cast .187 mags back into the 50's and also one's ground smooth into the early 60's. Although they are not as common, they do exist.

The grey bottoms that GuitarTek has pictured are early grey bottoms. You can tell this by the heavily tumbled magnets.

I also agree with Jason, I have never seen a grey bottom from the 50's either.

[JGundry]

I have a grey bottomed Strat pickup with those same .187 tumbled magnets dated W-13 11-64. It is machine wound. I assume the W-13 means winding machine 13?

[ken]

I don't think Leo was too choosy about his magnets' diameter myself. Sure, he cared about the grade of magnet and maybe their length (or possibly he cut his own magnets to length?) but frankly there isn't too much difference pricewise between .195 or .192 to .187 diameter. He probably just bought whatever was readily available at the time he needed them.

Which, of course, could explain why 1950's magnets were beveled on the top edge... the better to force a .195 diameter magnet into a hole originally designed for a .187 one?

I have a grey bottomed Strat pickup with those same .187 tumbled magnets dated W-13 11-64. It is machine wound. I assume the W-13 means winding machine 13?

It is known that Fender at one time stopped signing initials in guitars. However, they still had to have some way to track exactly who made subassemblies like pickups. Who knows - maybe W-13 means 'human winder 13'? like on the old Hanes underwear ads with "inspector 13" I used to see on TV?

just my 2c

ken

[big_teee]

Thats what I thought. grey was later but wast sure if something strage may have happened. heres a pic

Can't tell from the picture if the wire was the old cloth, or the newer CBS Plastic, or teflon?
I didn't think CBS bought Fender till Jan of 65?
Terry

[David Schwab]

Can't tell from the picture if the wire was the old cloth, or the newer CBS Plastic, or teflon?
I didn't think CBS bought Fender till Jan of 65?
Terry

If you zoom in, it looks like cloth.

[Rick Turner]

Boy, that's some shaky QC on the DCR! And don't go claiming it's deliberate...

[David Schwab]

That middle pickup needs to be at the bridge!

[big_teee]

That middle pickup needs to be at the bridge!

Here's the specs for the Fat 50s custom shop.
Not sure what the method to the madness is.
Look at the DCR and Inductance.
The 6.2 is stronger than the 6.3.
Must have stronger magnets???
They make these now.

Custom Shop Fat '50s Bridge Pickup
DC Resistance: 6.2K
Inductance: 2.8Henries

Custom Shop Fat '50s Middle Pickup
DC Resistance: 6.3K
Inductance: 2.75Henries

Custom Shop Fat '50s Neck Pickup
DC Resistance: 6.0K
Inductance: 2.4Henries