Mystery pickups

ZiggyZipgun

ZiggyZipgun

New member
I picked up a '60s Fender Dual Six Stringmaster with four very odd, definitely not original pickups. Each one has a metal baseplate and three wires, which come out through a hole in the side of the covers. The covers were painted black at some point, but three of them were originally a pukey tan color, and one was white. They're taller than normal Strat pickups - so tall they can't be lowered to a reasonable height. I guess I'm more curious because they were mass-produced. Any ideas?

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Re: Mystery pickups

Would these be the same as the pickups that Keith Richards has in his Tele? I know he has a lap steel pickup in the bridge.
 
Re: Mystery pickups

This would've originally had pickups very similar to the Fender Mustang - flush pole pieces, blank covers, etc. The earlier Fender Champion had a Tele-bridge style pickup, but with a rectangular base and no metal baseplate - very common for those to be plundered to be put in Teles. Just like G.E. Smith's! I don't think these oddball pickups were intended to be put in a lap steel.
 
Re: Mystery pickups

I've just discovered that the each have two bar magnets inside, like a P90. And these have been in here at least 25 years... Who's been making Strat-sized P90s for a long time?
 
Just for historical accuracy. All Stringmaster were 8 string. The 6 string variants like the op guitar were called "Deluxe 6", not Stringmasters.
 
Aoresteen said:
Just for historical accuracy. All Stringmaster were 8 string. The 6 string variants like the op guitar were called "Deluxe 6", not Stringmasters.
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Except that in a number of Fender catalogs, such as the '60/61 and '63/64, they were called the D-6 Stringmaster.

But honestly, who cares. Mine now has Fender Lace Sensor Golds, a Freeway 6-way blade switch for selecting either pickup or combining them in parallel or series, both in and out of phase...and a bastard 8-string Stringmaster neck bolted in between 'em.
 

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MatelotFripon said:
Re: Mystery pickups
looks pretty neat ! How do these puppies sound ?!
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There was no taming them. If I were playing Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" exclusively, I'm sure they'd be great.

I was able to find unmolested control plates on Ebay, since the pickup holes had been crudely enlarged, and I believe I had a pair of Antiquity Duo-Sonics in one neck and Antiquity Mustangs in the other. They all sounded great, but at some point I ended up with a Strat pickguard loaded with Golds, all from the late '80s/early '90s, so I only needed to track down one more. Both necks still have the thick, globby black paint, but the 8-string had been stripped down by a previous owner and really is much more resonant.

Funny story: I recently listed it on Reverb, since we're moving soon and we're putting money aside for a down payment. Immediately after submitting the listing, in the "You may also like" thumbnails at the bottom of the screen, was the very same Fender Studio Deluxe that I'd sold as soon as I'd bought the D-6 Stringmaster, now 9 years ago. Made them an offer and got it back, in exactly the same condition as I'd left it. I had sold to a guy in North Carolina, and somehow it made its way to a pawn shop in Milwaukee. Didn't get any serious offers on the D-6 Stringmaster, so they're both coming to Seattle with me. I will most likely refinish all three necks, but only assemble it with a 6 in the front and an 8 in the back.
 
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