70's Strat pickups?

Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott

New member
I have recently (well I really don't go looking for this sort of thing) seen a GFS 60 - 70's strat pickup for sale. I know Chris Kinman makes the Woodstock set which alludes to 1969, and then there is Clapton's guitar "Blackie" which is a fifties guitar with 70"s pickups.

I have seen late seventies pickups which measure 5.5K and aren't anything to get too excited about.

To get back to the point what is the drill on 69/70 strat pickups?

Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

Funky, jangly but too weak in the bridge position. Since they are non staggered (they are called 'grey bottom') you get a cool hollow sound i like in the mid and neck. Not bad in the fourth position (mid and neck together) either.
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

even lates 60's strat pups are only about 5.8k and nothing that gets me excited.
i had not heard that blackie had 70's pups. where did you hear that?
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

ya i've never heard Blackie had 70's strat PU's in it..... Blackie was made from 5-6 different 50's and early 60's strats that he bought for dirt cheap in Nashville... the story is he took the best PU's, Neck, and Body and put them together to make one... Then he gave the left overs to Pete Townshend and Steve Winwood...
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

I used to have a 73 Strat. The stock pups were nothing to get excited about. They were there, they worked...that was about it.
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

70's Strat pickups are an acquired taste. But once you get it, they have their own special magic. I have a 79 Silver Anniversary Strat. It's totally got that tone. I hated it when I first got it, and it can be ear piercing, but I grew to appreciate it. Steve Tibbets plays a 70's Strat and I hear that tone on his CD's. If any of you have had the pleasure of seeing him live, that tone is instantly recognizable. He just plays straight into a late 70's Marshall combo, so you really hear the tone of the guitar.

That 70's sound is very different from the 50's strat sound, and even from the 60's Strat sound. I agree with hamerfan's description of them as funky and jangly. 50's Strats sound smoother, sweeter, bell-like. Some of the late 60's/early 70's Strat pickups I've heard had a thicker, more intense, bluesy tone that I really like a lot too. You can hear that tone in a lot of Jimi Hendrix's recorded material.
 
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Re: 70's Strat pickups?

I think part of the reason I love John Frusciante's tone on Blood Sugar S*x Magik is because he's playing a 70s strat. Really piercing, funky, trebly... even in the neck position. But for that application, it works.
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

RockStarNick said:
I think part of the reason I love John Frusciante's tone on Blood Sugar S*x Magik is because he's playing a 70s strat. Really piercing, funky, trebly... even in the neck position. But for that application, it works.
Click to expand...

He's playing a Jag on most of that album 90% of the time. Jags have 1 meg pots and have that brighter, twangier sound (I also remember hearing him say he nearly exclusively used the neck pickup on that album).
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

What he said!!

John was playing '50s Strats and a Jag on the whole record... I also don't think he's ever owned a 70s Strat!

My '73 mutt had stock greybottoms in the middle & neck when I got it... The pickups were, I wouldn't say "weak" but certainly bright & glassy. Not very complimentary to the natural tone of the guitar. Kind of ice-picky. I sold 'em to a friend & put DiMarzios in... much better!
 
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Re: 70's Strat pickups?

Well I played a Mexican 70's strat in Guitar Center, which I understand is supposed to have 70's style pickups. Maybe it has to do with the hard ash body, but the guitar was very bright- think the intro to Sweet Home Alabama.
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

Okay, I thought that I read in a magazine that Blackie had 70's pickups. I remembered this as I thought it so unusual to have a fifties guitar with 70's pickups.

Of course it could have been a typo or I'm remembering it all wrong. I have found stuff on the internet saying the Fender guitars were purchased in 1970.

Okay I'll try my luck a second time. When Seymour Duncan came to Sydney he mentioned that he rewound the neck and middle pickup of Blackie (if I've somehow gotten this wrong, I'm seeking medical attention!)

Perhaps Seymour can elaborate or at least recommend medication! ;)

Failing that we could get Chris Kinman to chime in, but this isn't his forum so I'm not inclined to ask him.

Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott
 
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Re: 70's Strat pickups?

I've got a couple of 70's Strats. The stock pickups are weak and pretty uninspiring for my tastes. I put a Fender Fat 50's set in my '75 Strat and they are almost perfect...the bridge is still too weak but the neck and neck middle combos are killer.
 
Re: 70's Strat pickups?

Dear Guys

Thanks for all the replies. I too would agree that the 70's pickups I have encountered were weak with typically a 5.5K output, though I suspect a good sounding pickup would be around the 6K region. I think it was these pickups that made Seymour Duncan and others a great living, but I'm wondering if there was a particular year that Fender may have used overwound pickups? (as ash bodies are very bright sounding.)

I once played a real 54 strat and thought that it was a great guitar though I didn't care much for the pickups. I dare say overwound pickups would have been the ticket in this guitar. This makes me wonder If Clapton might have encountered a simile situation.

This a description of Kinman Woodstock pickups, and I have placed it here purely with reference to the year of the pickups we are talking about. I would like to say I do use Kinman pickups and they are very good. I have used Duncan pickups (I would use them again) and had pleasing results. The point being I don't judge nor recommend one pickup over another, it's all personal. This text is pure here to describe a particular year of Fender pickups encountered. So no flaming or baiting please.


Named for the Woodstock era (not just for Jimi), my Woodstock sets are very powerful and dynamic pickups that pack such a wallop that they may require a little experimentation in height adjustment to tame the performance to what you are accustomed to with regular single coils. They overload the front end of an amp easily. Turning the volume control down a tad [with my bypass filter fitted] sweetens the sound up nicely.

This set has a big powerful darker sound and features aggressive fast semi-aged attack and superb dynamic response. Accenting the dynamic, extremely fluid and super responsive feel of one of the great inspirational Stratocaster* masters of all time. Bright and bold, extremely responsive with loads of feel and punch. It's almost too easy not to sound polite with this set. Retains remarkable definition, clarity and presence under heavy overdrive. These pickups behave and sound better than most all Strat pickups when cranked. The non-wound strings are unusually powerful. Perhaps surprisingly switch positions 2 and 4 produce recognozable Knopfleresque quack sounds.

These Woodstock's make it easy to sound more like Jimi than Jimi himself did, and you won't have to use a curly cord to get his sound. These are a Strat Virtuoso's delight and packs such a wallop your playing will project with a voice of authority. If you own a Fender with stock pickups you are in for a REALLY BIG surpise.

The AVn-69's are great for matching bridge humbuckers both in terms of sound character and output. No regular Alnico Strat pickup comes close.

This set is a 'Charicature' (magnification) of semi-aged Alnico Strat* tone that's especially suitable for Hendrix, Richie Blackmore (Machine Head) etc. Some players will find these too strong and aggressive for Jazz.
 
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