Help Identifying Pickups

[Butch Snyder]

Happy New Year everyone!

I just picked up a 1996 Fender Tex Mex Strat. This is Pre-Jimmy Vaughan model and right before the California Series. Very cool guitars they are. I had one back in 1996; in the vintage white finish. This one I have now is kind of a sky blue; but not really daphne blue.

Anyway, I popped the pickguard to see what the routing is. I found the pickups were not the Tex Mexes I expected. They were fiber gray-bottom with black/white push-back wire covering. Underneath, they each say "Neck", Middle", and "Bridge" in cursive pen. The bridge measures 6.19k. That's pretty low for Tex Mex pickups. also, the Tex Mex pickups I'm used to have plastic wire covering and plastic bobbins.

Anyone have an idea?

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

Never heard of the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words", by any chance...

Yes, a picture will help.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

Never heard of the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words", by any chance...

Yes, a picture will help.

I'll provide a pic today.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

Here are a couple of pics.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

There were Fender p'ups from the '70s, used in standard instruments called "grey bottoms", that are sought-after by certain vintage p'ups lovers.

However, as grey flatwork's being sold as kits everywhere since forever, there's no way to be sure if those are even Fender p'ups at all.

Abigail Ybarra used to write the bottom of the p'ups with silver marker, so the use of pencil may indicate some artisan-made p'up, if you ask me.

Best case scenario, those are not Tex-Mex, but standard Fender p'ups. Worst case scenario, those are made by some guy living in his mother's basement.

However, if they sound good, that's ALL THAT MATTERS.

HTH,

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

Probably will just remain a mystery....

 

[JeffB]

Re: Help Identifying Pickups

The GFS greybottoms I had about 10 years ago looked like that. Including the handwriting.