Lets play Guess That Pickup!!

[Ayrton]

I dug through the pickup drawer to see what I have in single coils for the '59 relic build and I found a set of Fender Custom Shops that I have no clue where they came from or what they are.

Custom Shop '54's maybe? With Fender, of course, you never know if these came out of a box or a custom shop guitar. The middle is NOT RW/RP

I also found three Duncan Surfer neck/middles, Custom Shop '69's, Fralin Vintage Hots, and Duncan Cal '50's (they have a RW/RP middle, so no)

I kinda think I will use the mystery Fenders if they are in fact CS 54's

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Lets play Guess That Pickup!!

Well let's start off with some simple questions:

1-Do they sound nice? If yes, keep them, if no, move to question 2.
2- Do they make good paper weights? If no, repeat question 1 with a different guitar and/or amp. If yes, but you have no need of paper weights, let someone else with more info comes along and see if you can sell em.

I hope that helps.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Lets play Guess That Pickup!!

You are off the Christmas card list!



I have a toolbox drawer full of pickups, and some have never been opened. I doubt I will ever get to try them all. I don't have a clue what these sound like.

I can, of course, go ahead and wire them up for this build, but it would be nice to know what they are. (side rant, why can't Fender just label the **** like everyone else?)

Christian will probably know

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Lets play Guess That Pickup!!

Further evidence these may be the CS '54's

From an old post on the Fender forum

If they have black bobbins and don't cancel hum in 2/4, they're probably CS 54s. The middle CS 54 isn't RWRP. They also have formvar covered winding wire and beveled poles (the tops are slightly angled around the edge)

'54's should meter 5.9K 5.9K 6.5K

Fat 50s also have formvar insulation and beveled poles, but the middle is RWRP.

Texas Specials have flat poles, enamel coated winding wire, and the middle is RWRP.

You'll see dots on them in some cases:

Red = bridge = "hot"
Blue = neck = "cool"

Since the CS 54 neck and middle are the same, they'll only have a red dot on the bridge pickup.

The CS 50s and Texas Specials should have both a red dot on the bridge and a blue dot on the neck."

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Lets play Guess That Pickup!!

See? Ya didn't even need me. 10 points for self help!