Fender pickups

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Inflames626

New member
Hi guys,
I'm the usual metal EMG 81 type guy who is thinking about branching out into more vintage territory, especially with Lace Sensors and Fender custom shop stuff.

Are Fender's custom shop line of pickups the same as what they would put in their American deluxe models? The idea is to put the nice pickups into cheap guitars, as I'm sure a lot of us do here. ;) Specifically, I'm looking at their '54 single coils. Why bother with imitators when you can just buy original Fenders built to vintage specs (if not always components)?

My understanding of the tiering of most manufacturers' product lines is progressively more complex electronics at each price point. This might be a big deal for someone with no electronics experience who wants a lot of switching options, but if a person can buy the actual pickups from the deluxe models and put them in something else themselves, I see no reason why one should be handcuffed to buying an American deluxe model just for better electronics (wood preferences, subjectivity, etc., aside--only talking electronics here).

Thanks.
 
Re: Fender pickups

I would not call any one of the pickup builders imitators. It could be the cheap product might fill your specs to a T. The small winders in my experience tend to bend over backwards to please you.

Fender does make nice pickups - these days I tend to go with whatever's stock with a few exceptions. I tend to think Fender Custom Shop is = to Seymour's production stuff quality wise - coils might be machine wound, but there's a heap of hand-lovin TLC involved. Specs could vary a little and that's where you might find tonal nirvana if you are picky enough and willing to try enough pickups.

I don't think unless you are going masterbuilt you will get handwound pickups.

If you're buying replacement pickups - the 'Ol SSL-1 is not a bad place to start. I have a Jackson from the 80s that came with them stock and it did have something special going on. Unfortuately bad things happened in the hands of a teenager and well... I'm thinking it will soon live again in stock form.
 
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Re: Fender pickups

LReese said:
I would not call any one of the pickup builders imitators. It could be the cheap product might fill your specs to a T. The small winders in my experience tend to bend over backwards to please you.

Fender does make nice pickups - these days I tend to go with whatever's stock with a few exceptions. I tend to think Fender Custom Shop is = to Seymour's production stuff quality wise - coils might be machine wound, but there's a heap of hand-lovin TLC involved. Specs could vary a little and that's where you might find tonal nirvana if you are picky enough and willing to try enough pickups.

I don't think unless you are going masterbuilt you will get handwound pickups.

If you're buying replacement pickups - the 'Ol SSL-1 is not a bad place to start. I have a Jackson from the 80s that came with them stock and it did have something special going on. Unfortuately bad things happened in the hands of a teenager and well... I'm thinking it will soon live again in stock form.
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Thanks Reese.

I'm not saying they're cheap imitators. More like most things that manufacturers make now days are based off of old Gibson and Fender designs to varying degrees. Fender singles and Gibson PAFs are points of reference for everything. As far as aftermarket makers, they might even be improvements, like back in the 70s and 80s when SD and DiMarzio were basically improving Fender and Gibson stuff as boutique quality stuff then mass producing/selling it for the working musician. But I'm interested in trying to match the old stuff without paying for fluff like handwound that jacks up the price (and adds a degree of unwanted margin of error).

I wouldn't choose a Fender if I were going with metal or anything, but since I'm trying to find the most original, true to vintage design I can get (I don't even like new, noiseless singles, as they don't sound close enough to the originals for my tastes).

Since I mainly record, a little noise from singles wouldn't bother me since I'd be playing enough notes to cover the sound. But, yeah, under hot lights or something, I'd be worried about noise. Most aftermarket singles I've tried, while they sounded okay as far as being clean, just didn't sound single coil-ish enough to me. I might as well have been using an EMG 60, SD Jazz, or DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucker in the neck or something, albeit at lower volume due to the singles having less output.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Inflames626 said:
I wouldn't choose a Fender if I were going with metal or anything, but since I'm trying to find the most original, true to vintage design I can get (I don't even like new, noiseless singles, as they don't sound close enough to the originals for my tastes).
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I think that's the issue - they're all over the map. In those days they were a completely handmade product so there's an element of variation. Add to that evolution, like magnet types.

I would not say for a minute Fender's 54 is true to vintage design. Its based on vintage design, so its in the ballpark. Suhr has 3 models based on actual vintage pickups from the sixties.

I remember a chart Seymour made that showed average specs from the fifties up to the early '80s.

Several years back, I bought a Fender '54'RI without original pickups - I went through about a dozen sets (Including various Suhrs and Duncans) before settling on the one that fit. Not sure you want to go through all that but if you are picky you might wind up doing just that.

Some of the small winders might do handwinding for a reasonable up charge. Its not really winding by hand, just guiding the wire by hand, just like was done in the '50s/60s.
 
Re: Fender pickups

LReese said:
I think that's the issue - they're all over the map. In those days they were a completely handmade product so there's an element of variation. Add to that evolution, like magnet types.

I would not say for a minute Fender's 54 is true to vintage design. Its based on vintage design, so its in the ballpark. Suhr has 3 models based on actual vintage pickups from the sixties.

I remember a chart Seymour made that showed average specs from the fifties up to the early '80s.

Several years back, I bought a Fender '54'RI without original pickups - I went through about a dozen sets (Including various Suhrs and Duncans) before settling on the one that fit. Not sure you want to go through all that but if you are picky you might wind up doing just that.

Some of the small winders might do handwinding for a reasonable up charge. Its not really winding by hand, just guiding the wire by hand, just like was done in the '50s/60s.
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Thanks again, Reese.

I was always kind of suspicious of handwiring, if only because it made each pickup unique based upon operator error. I mean, yeah, you get some gems, but you also get some duds. I feel more comfortable knowing that a model I have is right on spec because if I want to buy the same set again I know I'll get exactly the same tone.

And I guess I should rephrase. I'm not looking for exactly the same pickups as a 50s Strat, but, out of current production models, the one that sounds closest without sounding simply like a clean neck humbucker at half volume in a single coil housing.

Have you tried the Lace Sensor Golds? Of all the pickups I've heard but not tried myself, those sound awesome, and they're not very expensive, either.
 
Re: Fender pickups

And, I guess back to the original question:

The custom shop line of pickups is pretty much the same as what you'd get in an American deluxe, minus advanced wiring options?
 
Re: Fender pickups

Lace Sensor Golds- I have them in my Clapton strat. They sound great with the Clapton electronics and mid boost, but no one seems to care for them on their own
 
Re: Fender pickups

jmh151 said:
Lace Sensor Golds- I have them in my Clapton strat. They sound great with the Clapton electronics and mid boost, but no one seems to care for them on their own
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JMH, are those the vintage ones that they put in Fenders stock in the 80s, or the ones they're making now? They have the regular line and then a vintage reissue line that is supposed to be identical to the ones they had when they had the deal with Fender.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Inflames626 said:
JMH, are those the vintage ones that they put in Fenders stock in the 80s, or the ones they're making now? They have the regular line and then a vintage reissue line that is supposed to be identical to the ones they had when they had the deal with Fender.
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I have the original Lace Sensor golds in my Clapton strat that Lace made for Fender, before Fender switched to the Fender Noiseless pickups. At a point Fender stopped using Lace pickups on their guitars, and Lace continued to manufacture and sell them.

The Vintage sensors are a new design, not reissues of the 80s lace sensors
 
Re: Fender pickups

Looks like the American Deluxe has the N3 pickups.

If I needed noiseless, I'd use single coils and if I needed noiseless I'd spring for an Ilitch pickguard - or - use Seymour's Vintage Rails/Duckbuckers.

Lace Gold with the Clapton preamp is nice or the Lace Hot Gold if going passive is a good choice - a little less attack but another close enough for me situation.
 
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Re: Fender pickups

CS54's are nice pickups. I like fat 50's too - and texas specials. There's is others i prefer, but in the end they will all do the job for you. Regardless of brand, it really comes down to which model of pickup gives you the subtleties you require personally.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Inflames626 said:
And, I guess back to the original question:

The custom shop line of pickups is pretty much the same as what you'd get in an American deluxe, minus advanced wiring options?
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American Deluxe Fenders have always had Noiseless pickups in them (Vintage Noiseless, Samarium Cobalt Noiseless, N3), so I'm not sure why you keep bringing them up in regards to the Custom Shop line of pickups.
 
Re: Fender pickups

GilmourD said:
American Deluxe Fenders have always had Noiseless pickups in them (Vintage Noiseless, Samarium Cobalt Noiseless, N3), so I'm not sure why you keep bringing them up in regards to the Custom Shop line of pickups.
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The new American Standards (not Deluxe) have Custom Shop Fat 50's pickups.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Inflames626 said:
Since I mainly record, a little noise from singles wouldn't bother me since I'd be playing enough notes to cover the sound. But, yeah, under hot lights or something, I'd be worried about noise. Most aftermarket singles I've tried, while they sounded okay as far as being clean, just didn't sound single coil-ish enough to me. I might as well have been using an EMG 60, SD Jazz, or DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucker in the neck or something, albeit at lower volume due to the singles having less output.
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thats all true. If you want a true single sound you really need a true single. Noise is not a big problem really. Just roll off your volume between songs. The beautiful and inspiring sounds you get from playing true singles outweighs the noise by a long way.
If you want sweet yet fat vintage strat tones, my preference is a set of ssl-1's over any of the fender custom shop offerings. Chimey like CS54's but fat like fat 50s and more tonally balanced than texas specials.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Fender 57/62's as used in their AVRI guitars.
All the Fender US real singles are great just
different flavours, hence my preferrance
for the 57/62 set.
I would also say that you ought play an original
AVRI guitar, 57 maple neck or 62 rosewood board
though same pickups, you will NOT be dissapointed.

Need to point out I'm talking about AVRI 57/62 Strats.
 
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Re: Fender pickups

I'm a big believer in Duncan's SSL-1 set for a vintage single coil sound!! They're perfect, they really are! I haven't owned a Strat in about 5 years now, but when I did, I put the SSL-1 neck pup in a MIM Fender Strat and my lawd, nailed it! What bell-like chime! If you really want to sound true to vintage, find somebody selling a used set.

That SSL-1 is versatile too! I eventually switched from a maple neck to a wenge back with a ziricote fretboard and that pup really, really came to life. It gained attitude and loved the big muff. I almost miss it until I plug in my Korina LP which seems to be able to do everything from Jazz to hard rock and I do mean heavy, thick tone like a milkshake made for Satan; not bad for a Jazz, STK-S4, Jazz HSH with a chambered body.

I brought up my current axe because even the STK series of stacked single coils sound great when operating in true single coil mode (split). Almost anything with decent electronics and a good enough set-up (no fret-out, plenty of sustain, almost fresh strings) can sing if you know what you're looking for. For Strats, I'd suggest either doing a full SSL-1 set to start and if you still want a little more versatility you can always swap the middle single coil out for a STK-S4 RW/RP and really open up your range with a single Strat. It's just nice to train your ears to the vintage sound across the board before you start tweaking it. I spent almost 6 years with the wrong pups in my number 1 before I honed in on what I truly was looking for! I didn't waste my time swapping out and listening to what else I wanted, I took the time to listen to the tone plugged in and listen to it unplugged before I understood what kind of guitar I had pieced together exactly.
 
Re: Fender pickups

Thanks guys. Didn't expect my thread to blow up like this as I'm a bit of a n00b.

I kept bringing up Fender Deluxes because as someone new to Fender I assumed their American Deluxe line would have their best pickups. Upon browsing their website, I see that their vintage series has their own line of pickups, but I don't see these pickups offered in the Custom Shop pickup line.

My thinking was that the best pickups on the most expensive models would not be available for sale because that would defeat the purpose of selling an expensive Fender. I ran into this before with Peavey when I asked them if they would simply sell me the electronics to a Cirrus bass to install into a 5 string Foundation. They flatly told me they wouldn't sell electronics in a $1000 bass to be put into a $300 bass, or something.
 
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