I guess only Johnny Starbuck and/or Pierre De Beauport know for sure?
From Guitar World:
"The bridge pickup has been up to debate. For years it was believed that Richards used an original Broadcaster bridge pickup, an exceedingly rare single-coil of which few were made. Others have suggested it’s a lap-steel pickup (the fact that the pickup is held on by just two screws seems to support this), though some former Fender employees who apparently worked with the guitar say it’s actually an early Telecaster bridge pickup that is wound extra hot.
The guitar’s wiring is the real question. Richards almost always has the pickup selector in the bridge position (position 1), but the humbucker’s tone seems to be evident, which suggests something has been altered in its electronics. In their standard configuration, Telecasters are wired with the master volume closest to the pickup selector; the second knob is the tone control. But some have suggested that Richards has the guitar wired in Fender’s early Broadcaster/Nocaster/Telecaster configuration, which includes a master volume and a blend control. If so, in position 1 the bridge pickup would be active, and the blend control would allow him to dial in the amount of the humbucker neck pickup he desires. Position 2 would be neck pickup only, with the blend deactivated, and position 3 would activate the neck pickup and a tone capacitor that would reduce treble response for a dark tone."
In any case I think the 0038 is Don's "Keefer" pickup modeled after an overwound '50/'51 bridge. Isn't an authentic Champion Lap-Steel more around the 6.5-7K range?
Having said that, and I'm sure Jeremy knows 100x more than I do on this, but I'm coming to understand the "K#" range of a pup doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. The type wire used / turns / etc. plays a role in actual output. In other words, a 7K pup with thicker gauge wire might have more actual output than a 10K pup with thinner? Jeremy?
