1960 CS Strat pickups

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: 1960 CS Strat pickups

A5's? They sound interesting for sure...

Yessir!

The only non A5 Strat pickups Fender makes are the neck and middle pickups in the EJ set.

Fender never used anything except for A5 (save for some A3 pickups in 1954) in the old days so they're not using anything else now.

The magnets in the 1960 pickups are unique to them...they are supposed to be based off a few batches of magnets Fender got in 1960 that are slightly different than what they used both before and after that batch.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: 1960 CS Strat pickups

I'm sure they sound great. The best Strat pickups are lightly wound IMHO. Push an amp into natural breakup with those weak, thin pickups, and you get some of the most aggressive, stinging, and nasty – yet clear – overdriven tones you will ever hear. They're also some of the best pickups for using effects, like fuzz. They retain their articulation very well.

I agree!!!

[PFDarkside]

Re: 1960 CS Strat pickups

I've been seeing a lot of 1960 CS Strats at the higher end Fender dealers lately, I think I need to give one a try...

Sorry to derail, but are any of the other Custom Shop pickups that low DCR, or are they more up into the 6K range?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: 1960 CS Strat pickups

I've been seeing a lot of 1960 CS Strats at the higher end Fender dealers lately, I think I need to give one a try...

Sorry to derail, but are any of the other Custom Shop pickups that low DCR, or are they more up into the 6K range?

Many of the CS Fender pickups are lowish DC...this is one of the reasons I started looking at CS Fender pickups!!!

Many of them can not be purchased over the counter but some can.

The Fat 50's are very low 6k range(6.0k-6.2k-6.3k)...the Custom 54's are in the high 5k range (5.9k-5.9k-6.5k)...and the current 57/62's are mid 5's (5.6k for all 3).

Some of them have changed too...for example the Custom 54's used to all be 5.9k but folks after a while started to want a slightly stronger bridge so it was taken from 5.9k to 6.5k.

Fender also sells a set on some CS 50's Strats called "Custom 50's) and they are the same as the earlier Custom 54 with the weaker bridge.

There is also a Custom 60's set and a 1965 set that I know almost nothing about...

There are also the CS 69's but those use different wire and are more like a late 60's sound...cool but different.

[SMark]

Re: 1960 CS Strat pickups

Congrats. It's becoming so common now hearing how much players are really loving the Custom 60s. I've even heard comparisons to vintage Strat sets with the Custom 60s coming out on top. Not so easy to find separate from a Custom Shop Strat, but so worth getting if you can find them...