Some questions about vintage tele pickups

[David Schwab]

Bridge, type-o

And as Possum said I have also hear about the agw 42 neck pickup, but there are not that many early Teles surfacing here in Sweden so I have very little first hand info on those.

Blackguard...have to find that book, thanx Sam

I've always heard the neck pickup is 43 because it's so small.

On the Stew-Mac magnet wire page they state

43-AWG is used at the Tele® neck position and in Rickenbacker pickups.

However, Rics use 44, but they don't stock 44.

And here:

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/pickups.html

Wire Gauge: this is the gauge of wire as advertised by the wire manufacturer. Fender basically used 42 gauge wire for everything but the Telecaster neck pickup (43 gauge).

And on this stooge's page:

http://www.sdpickups.com/icehouse.shtml

ICE-HOUSE NECK PICKUPS
The Ice-House Stock Rhythm pickup is wound with 43 gauge wire as orginally spec’d

[Sam Lee Guy]

Velly solly to disaglee David, but my original 1952 Telecaster has neck pickup with DC reading of 4.9-5.0 depending what day you measure wound with 42 PE. Sam look under microscope to compare size of wire with known samples. These low reading neck pickup more common than you may think.

[Possum]

alnico 5

I don't think its cobalt steel, I don't have it in front of me but I would have noticed if the magnets looked different, the baseplate is copper plate. The guass is around 1200 so its definitely NOT alnico 3 which Nacho insists they are. Still nice and strong after all this time. Its dated in the pocket as '51 signed by Tadeo. Lightest tele I've ever held. One piece swamp ash.

[soundmasterg]

Lightest tele I've ever held. One piece swamp ash

Yah, the whole guitar is under 5 pounds!

However, Rics use 44, but they don't stock 44.

I've heard some knowledgeable people say that some of the old RIC pickups were 42 gauge. Unless I get a chance to see one and measure, no way of knowing for sure. It would be interesting to try some with different wire to see how it sounds though.

Greg

[Electricdaveyboy]

Nachos Banos Blackguard Growl

Wehn reading the Blackguard book , Nachos says that the most powerful growling Tele pickups he ever heard on a early 50 ties tele had verry low ohm reaings. If I remember right they were 5-6 K ohms and this made me wonder because with 43 AWG my pickups were more like icepick sound and no growl in sight.
Then I wound a Tele bridge pickup with AWG 41 and got the growl.Could it be that Leo used everythibg he could get his hands on ?

[Spence]

Sam Lee Guy talks bollocks all the time. Don't listen to him. It's all misinformation. Infact, let's all get him thrown off this forum. He's a bloody imposter anyway. Anyone would think he was the most respected pickup maker and restorer of vintage guitars and pickups in England the way he goes on.
Anyone who's had a couple of old pickups to look at would be able to pick holes in his arguments. All this twaddle about taking his own vintage pickup collection apart to count winds, test wire and magnets etc. is all fantasy. All this crap about getting magnets and other parts recreated in the finest detail is utter deceit. Everyone knows the only thing that comes out of England are fakes that a novice could spot from a nautical mile away.
Nacho and Duchossoir have written conflicting books. Nothing quite adds up with them. I can only conclude that this damned Sam Lee Guy has got to them too. Something must be done to stop him...........!

[Sam Lee Guy]

To stop me, you gotta catch me first, cookie! ..... lun faster!

[David Schwab]

I've heard some knowledgeable people say that some of the old RIC pickups were 42 gauge. Unless I get a chance to see one and measure, no way of knowing for sure. It would be interesting to try some with different wire to see how it sounds though.

Greg

John Hall says they have always used 44. He said he even looked though the old purchase orders for wire and never found anything but 44. But who knows when you go to pre-Hall Rickenbacker.

"#44, as it has been forever."

[John Hall, jhall@rickenbacker.com, 3/22/2000]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/guita...ection-39.html

I've read the old lap steel used 38 PE.

[soundmasterg]

Yah I know what Mr. Hall has said about it. Some other guys like Don Butler and Fralin say they have seen RIC pickups with 42, usually toasters, and that is the true sound. So as I said, no way to really know unless you come across an old RIC and spec out what the wire is in them. I believe Sergio has experimented with different wire gauges on RIC pickups, though I could be mistaken. Like you, I've heard the older RIC horseshoes were larger gauges such as 38.

Greg

[David Schwab]

If would make sense that the toasters were 42. They sound like 42. 43 is tighter sounding. 42 is rounder.

I have two toasters from 1973 with the long magnets. They are from my two 4001's. I'll have to take a look at them and see if I can get an idea visually by comparing some wire samples.

[Possum]

Nacho's full of cheese....

One thing the Nacho book really screwed up is the gauss readings. They used a magnetometer that reads from zero to 25. It has nothing to do with guass and is very inaccurate. I told him about it and he said well Duncan uses one :-) Otherwise its a great book and if you don't own a copy you'd better get yourself over to SKLutherie I think it is and buy one, once they are out of print they are gone forever, then a year from now they will be on Ebay for hundreds of dollars, I'm not kidding either. Its the best book on teles ever printed....

[Spence]

Nice book tainted by one man's opinion. I own a copy so I'm not talking bollocks. I wouldn't sell it, well not unless I have to, because it's a nice thing to have. I certainly wouldn't say it's the ultimate reference piece but it has become a very useful doorstop.

[chevalij]

So, what Spence is saying is that Sam Lee Guy (SMG) is actually JazzBluesRock from Italy?

[Spence]

Cripes, why did you have to bring JBR up? He'll be on here again any minute.

[mick]

I had a chat via email with Nacho Banos or whatever his name is , nice guy..asked him some questions but he told me to buy the book...

Mick