Confused?

[Finalmaster]

Hi folks, I’m a first time poster so be gentle.
In 1988 I bought a new 62 style Japanese Fender Stratocaster - fantastic! After reading all the ads in the magazines of the day I decided I had to have a set of SD Alnico Pros, I think they were Pro 11’s (twos). The price was more than a third of what I’d paid for the guitar but I had to have the Duncan’s.
I had them fitted by a local highly recommended tech while I waited and have been using the guitar on and off since then.

Just today I was reading about how to check the phase of pickups and how the middle one is normally reverse wound and/or have the magnets opposite to the N & B pickups. After testing the pickups with a small compass all of them has the north pointing down on the compass and after taking off the pickguard the wires all came off the same position on each pickup with the ground coming from the right side on each on. The pickups all have a small square paper sticker marked 1R and pressed into the bottom edge of fibre bobbin is SD 2 88. All 3 pickups seem to be identical.

Does anyone know if this is correct for a SD boxed set from this period? It seems a bit odd, I have 2 other strats that have NSN pickups and the wires come off the middle pickup opposite to the other 2.
Any help or info is greatly appreciated.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Confused?

Not all pickup sets come with a rw/rp middle.....in fact anything vintage strat is all the same polarity, and simply 3 of the same pickup rather than any position based calibration. Hence the sets that typically mimic the vintage most accurately will simply be 3 identical pickups.
Ok, you lose the hum cancelling in the 2 and 4 positions.......but quite frankly the tone of the notch positions for every hum cancelling set I've owned seems to be compromised. I personally don't buy strat pickups that feature hum cancelling.

 

[MontyAwesome]

Re: Confused?

Vintage strats came with pickups all the same polarity, rw/rp was a later feature. Therefore, "vintage correct" pickup sets usually reflect this. However, the current description of the APII sets mention having a rw/rp middle. Do you still have the box lying around? Maybe they changed specs throughout the years.

If you have a multimeter/ohm meter, you can see if the DC resistance is the same between all three or not. Plug a cable into the guitar and touch the multimeter prongs to the tip and sleeve of the other end while switching between pickups. If the resistance changes then it's likely a calibrated set versus three of the same pickups. If they all have the same DC resistance (number of windings related to pickup output), then they're all the same pickup.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Confused?

Your pickups are SSL-1 (called Vintage Staggered) made in Febrary 1988 by Connie Rocha. They are all the same pickup with no rwrp.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Confused?

Do you feel you WANT/NEED hum cancellation on positions 2 and 4?

If yes, you could swap the middle pickup. If not, carry on and give it no further thought.

 

[Finalmaster]

Re: Confused?

Many thanks to all. It dawned on me just after I’d posted that this is indeed a vintage staggered set from the three-way switch era. They all have a very similar DC resistance, at the pickup they show 5.89, 5.91, 5.92 NMB. Thank you.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Confused?

There is a subtle change in tone in the 2 and 4 positions when you use a RWRP pickup. The set you have is a vintage staggered set and are made without the rwrp as that is the vintage tone.