301. What causes my pickup to squeal when I get near my amp?
It is usually an audible howl similar to a microphone near a speaker. The pickup can act similar to a microphone with many parallel components such as coil, magnetic field and moving string and microphone diaphragm. Any loose or vibrating ferrous parts can cause electrical current at high frequencies.

302. Are Fender pickups dated?
The majority of Fender pickups that are dated are the ones made of light and dark gray vulcanized fiber during the mid 60’s on. They used a pencil and then an ink stamp. I’ve seen mid 60’s black bottom bobbins stamped with yellow ink and mostly on Fender Mustang and Duo sonic pickups. The best way to date the pickup for an approximate age is to check the neck and body dates along with the Date Source Codes on the potentiometers.

303. Are vintage Fender Stratocaster pickups all wound in the same direction?
All the vintage pickups I’ve seen, wound and repaired, all have the same winding direction. If the top of the pickup is facing right, the pickup would be wound “Top Right-Top Coming.” If you look at the top of an old Strat bobbin, the magnet wire starts at the bottom left eyelet and wraps clock-wise around the bobbin. The older bobbins have a threaded center hole on the bottom of the bobbin. This is how the pickup was mounted to the mandrel or winding device. Note: Old Duo Sonics, Jazzmasters, Jaguars etc. had the neck pickup reverse wound. The bridge pickups would be wound “Top Left-Top Coming” and the neck pickup was wound “Top Left-Top Going” each having opposite magnetic polarities and are humbucking when used together. Split Precision Bass coils are wound in opposite directions and have opposite magnetic polarities.

304. Are vintage Fender Stratocaster pickups all wound with the same number of turns?
All the early Fender single coil pickups were hand wound and used a rubber-band from the motor to the counter that also turned the bobbin. The counter was used as a guide for the desired number of turns. As the rubber-band got old or worn the counter numbers could vary. The rubber-bands could slip and inaccurate turns could be counted. The main thing that determined the number of turns that could be put on a bobbin was basically the specifications on the magnet wire being used and winding tension. The variance in tolerances could make the coil fatter or thinner and also the OD (outside diameter) of the magnet wire could vary and giving the pickups many variables. I’ve seen coils wound quite full with low DC resistance and have seen thinner coils with higher DC resistance. The tension is very important too when hand winding and precise hand winding can make for a beautiful coil as seen on many older Fender pickups.
Fender pickups I’ve measured:

Year: I used old pickups from various years that were physically damaged such as bobbins cut, magnets ground or missing and where I could get a useable DC resistance.
Ohms: The DC resistance or ohms was determined using a digital Fluke Meter.
OD: The OD is the outside diameter of the magnet wire being tested. The outside diameter doesn’t actually give you the bare wire OD diameter unless it is carefully chemically stripped.
Insulation: The insulation is the surface coating usually baked on with various types of insulation’s such as Formvar, Plain Enamel, Poly or other non-conductive insulation’s to keep the turns from shorting out.
Turns: The turns were carefully removed to be used on restoring other older pickups and actual turns were counted to the beginning that’s soldered to the eyelet.
WD: WD is a term I use often and is for the “Winding Direction” of the coil. TL means the top of the bobbin is facing left or facing the counter side of my winder. TR means the top of the bobbin is facing right or opposite the counter on my winder. TG means the top of the bobbin is turning away from me as I am winding. TC means the top of the bobbin is turning towards me as I am winding.
PT: PT is the magnet polarity on the top of the pickup (Polarity Top).
Wound: I determine if the pickup is wound by “Hand” or by “Machine”. Hand winding give you a undetermined number of turns per layer and machine winding usually gives you equal number of turns per layer. As you remove the turns you can measure the total turns and by dividing the number of layers will generally give you an accurate number of turns per layer.
Remember, the guitars were not being mass produced as they are today and it would be difficult to make hundreds of pickups a day with only a few hand winders. You can get pretty fatigued leaning over a hand winder all day. I respect the girls at Fender and the work they did winding so many great pickups and unaware of how popular they would be today.

305. Can I have adjustable pole pieces on my Fender pickups?
Normally single coil style Fender pickups have cast rod magnets made to a desired length and diameter. Typical coils on Fender pickups are wound directly around the magnets. Moving the pole pieces up or down can break the inner windings of the coil. When Seth Lover designed the Fender bass and guitar humbucking pickups, the injection molded bobbin had a thin wall protecting the coil from the adjustable pole pieces. Later Fender bobbins had an injection molded bobbin made for the Stratocaster and the magnets could be easily moved within the bobbin and no damage would occur to the coil. Having a thicker wall on the Stratocaster bobbin wouldn’t allow as many turns with the type of magnet wire that was used with the vintage style bobbin where all the winding space was needed. Do not try to adjust the height or staggered pattern of the magnet rod pole pieces with fabricated vulcanized bobbins.

306. Can I push down the pole pieces on my Fender Strat to make them flush with the cover?
It can be very risky to move the pole pieces in Fender single coil pickups without causing damage to the inner coil of the pickup. Breaking one fine turn of magnet wire will cause the pickup to fail. If you have plastic molded Strat style bobbins it is possible to move the pole pieces. If you are using staggered magnets and change the pole pattern, the inner-phasing of the magnetic field will be realigned and can change the sound of the pickup.

307. Did left handed Fenders use the standard right hand model pickups? Where they made different?
Left handed Fender guitars usually had the pole pieces reversed so they could be used in left handed models. While visiting the NAMM show in Nashville, my sales manager Tom Waters and I visited George Gruhn’s Guitar Shop and spotted a beautiful left handed ‘57 sunburst Fender Stratocaster. We photographed the guitar with reverse staggered pole pieces. I once saw a very early ‘54 Stratocaster owned and played by British singer Terry Reid who toured during the 60’s on the same bill with “The Rolling Stones” and “The Yardbirds” featuring Jeff Beck. Terry’s Strat had a stock flat pole pickup in the neck position. The pickups were very similar to an early DuoSonic or Musicmaster single coil pickup. I never forgot about that pickup ever since I first saw the guitar around 1976.

308. Do the different colors of hookup wire used on Fender pickups and harnesses mean anything?
The different colored hookup wire used on Fender pickups usually designates whether the pickup is used for a specific position to help the assembler put the wires to the proper contacts on the switch. If you had a bunch of wires with the same colors coming through the cavity, it would be confusing what wire goes to what contact for proper pickup phasing and performance. Fender has used several different colors for their hookup assemblies such as black, natural, yellow, blue and green. Wiring a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster can be a nightmare without the proper color coding of hookup wires. Also, the different colors can be cut to the desired length to eliminate much scrap or excessively long hookup wires that would have to be cut or wasted.

309. How can I tell if I have a newer or older type Fender pickup?
There are many things you need to look for and sometimes even experienced collectors or repairman have a hard time trying to determine the type or age of a pickup. The older Fender pickups usually use a .197” diameter magnets with much of the pits and roughness still left from the sand casting. The magnets usually have one end chamfered that helps direct the magnets through the flatwork without tearing much of the material away and it helps keep the flatwork tighter around the magnets. I very seldom see an old pickup that is bowed or flared because the flatwork became loose. Pickups made during the mid-60s have magnets that have been ground to a .187” diameter or 3/16”. The outer surface is much smoother and thus began the period when the bobbins started to bow and flair. Winding had to have precise tension or the ends of the bobbin would flair and cause a distorted coil. The mid-60s magnets had a smoother and less raw looking surface. The mid-60’s magnets had a smoother edge and eventually the grinding on the magnets ended. During the 70s the raw cut sharp edged magnets were back in production still with the .187” diameter. At times the Fender Stratocaster bobbins had staggered poles and some had flat poles flush with the plastic pickup cover. You need to carefully look at the various types of pickups and learn as much about the differences as you can. The early flat work till around March ‘64 used black vulcanized fibre for the bottoms of most Fender single coil pickups. During the transition a light gray vulcanized fibre was used and near the 70s a darker vulcanized fibre was used and with the resurgence of the older Fender models and designs being put back in production with an assertive effort to use black vulcanized fibre for the bottom of all Fender re-issues. It may be a small detail but an important one that adds to the confusion to all the various models of pickups on the market.

310. How come newer Fender pickups sound different than the older ones?
There can be several factors that make newer pickups sound different than older ones. One is the how the magnets were cast and the dimensions used for a particular pickup. The quality or even lack of quality added to the total performance of the pickups. The way the coil was wound such as hand winding commonly know as scatter winding where the magnet wire is placed on the bobbin in a random manor. Machine winding is more commonly used today for larger and faster production runs where less labor is required. Modern coil machines can wind one or even six bobbins at a time, which really reduces production time. I feel machine winding takes away much of the character especially in vintage restorations or rewinds. Much of the sound comes from the layering and winding tension which affects the tone of a pickup. Newer pickups use magnets made from Alnico or Ceramics which can be made to closer tolerances in given specifications. The insulations today have a different chemical composition as compared to the material used in the late 40’s and 50’s. The layering of magnet wire to a desired number of turns per layer can change the inductance and capacitance and the tolerances on the volume and tone controls. The newer manufactured volume and tone potentiometers can have closer tolerances as compared to the earlier ones used. I find that the surface finish on bodies and neck is an important factor that influences the sound of the pickups along with the type of wood and weight. I like the nitrocellulose and old enamels used for custom color finishes.

311. How do I get rid of that dissonant overtone in my Strat pickups when playing notes on the lower strings at the higher frets?
Lowering the neck and middle pickup on the bass side of the strings helps reduce the “Strat-ites”. I remember needing a pickup for the center position of an old Strat and I ended up putting an old Duo-Sonic pickup that was reverse wound and reverse polarity (RW/RP) from the existing bridge and neck pickups. I found that when I put the lever switch in the two and four position of a normal 3 or 5 way lever switch the two positions became quieter and I noticed that the dissonant overtones on the lower strings was reduced. I used a Boy Scout compass and noticed that each pole piece on the pickup magnetized the string with the same polarity and would repel as I moved the compass in between the neck and middle pickup and the middle and bridge pickup. Than I remembered in science class that like magnetic fields repel and opposite magnet fields attract. The strings had several areas where the string was trying to repel the magnetic field within it. This would cause the string to have an inaudible overtone that got worse as you moved up the fingerboard.

312. How does the switching work on a stock Fender Stratocaster?

313. How many parts make up a Fender Stratocaster pickup?
6-Rod magnets cut to desired length and diameter.
2-Eyelet’s for connecting the beginning and finish of the coil winding.
1-Top vulcanized flatwork.
1-Bottom vulcanized flatwork.
2-Lengths of hookup wire for connection to contacts and ground.
1-Coil
1-Cover

314. How many parts make up other popular Fender pickups?
They are basically the same as a Fender Stratocaster pickup with the addition of a ferrous elevator plate as used on a Telecaster lead pickup or a deep drawn metal cover as used on a Telecaster rhythm pickup. The vulcanized bobbins are pretty much made the same way on Fender single coil pickup and use about the same type components with different dimensions and thickness. The number of magnets can vary from different model pickups and whether it’s a guitar or bass pickup.

315. How many ways can you wind or hookup a Fender single coil pickup?
A single coil Fender pickup can be wound (2) different ways and magnetized (2) different ways with a combination of (4) ways. A Fender single coil pickup can be wound Top Coming (TC) or Top Going (TG) and have either a North (N) or South (S) Magnetic Polarity: The chart below has the top of the bobbin facing left: -(TL)
1-(TL) - (TC) - coil is wound CCW around bobbin with South Polarity
2-(TL) - (TC) - coil is wound CCW around bobbin with North Polarity
3-(TL) - (TG) - coil is wound CW around bobbin with South Polarity
4-(TL) - (TG) - coil is wound CW around bobbin with North Polarity

316. How many wires does a Fender hookup wire have and what gauge?
For restoration and repair I use 22 gauge hookup wire which is actually 7 strand x 28 gauge conductor hookup wire like an original old pickup. I use the original hookup wire when restoring and look for the old cloth braid wire from electrical suppliers.

317. What are the parts in a Fender pickup made of?
Magnets: are normally a grade of Alnico magnet. (Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt)
Eyelet’s: a tinned brass eyelet to ease in soldering.
Flatwork: a vulcanized fibre made from a chemically saturated paper
Coil: fine copper wire insulated with a number on thermal insulation’s

318. What are the specifications for the old Fender 3 piece brass Telecaster bridge saddles?
The brass bridge saddles standard on older Broadcaster’s, No-Casters, Telecaster’s and Esquire’s used a 5/16” in diameter free cutting brass cut to the desired length and tapped 6/32” in 3 places. The two vertical tapped holes are for height adjustment and the horizontally tapped hole is used for the string intonation. The early saddles were slightly flattened on the bottom to allow lower action if desired. I’ve seen saddles made out of steel on very early instruments and the early Precision Bass often called the Telecaster Bass used two bridge saddles made out of 1/2” round and machined phenolic. It would work for a period of time then the pressure from the strings would cause the phenolic to split, warp or collapse.

319. What are the turns on some of the old Fender pickups?

320. What are the two slide switches on Fender Mustang guitars?
The two slide switches turn on and off either the neck pickup or the bridge pickup. When the slide switches are both in the same position either towards the neck or bridge position, it puts both pickups on in parallel and in phase with each other. The sound wound changes to out-of-phase if the two slide switches are pushed in opposite directions of each other. The center position of each switch will turn each pickup off and each will work independently of one another.

321. What do Fender pickups look like?
For this question I would suggest going to a friend or music store and asking the repairman or salesman to look at different pickup models. Look closely at the construction and all the components that make up a pickup. Make notes and find broken ones to pull apart. You’ll learn that a Stratocaster pickup has a cover but a Telecaster has an exposed bobbin in the bridge position and a chrome plated cover used for the neck position. Fender pickups look pretty basic but many great sounds have come out of them.

322. What does Pre-CBS stand for?
The period of time that Fender Musical Instruments were manufactured before the purchase and cost cutting efforts by the Columbia Broadcasting System on January 4th, 1965. I noticed many changes to the specifications and details before Leo sold the company for 13 Million. Leo Fender was retained as a consultant and Don Randall was appointed President of the division. During that time the V.C. Squier string company from the mid-west was also purchased and the main supplier of strings for Fender.

323. What is "Strat-ites"?
Often caused when the height of the pickup is adjusted close to the strings and dissonant overtones are heard as you play further up the frets. It is really noticeable as you play on the bass strings way up the fingerboard. The overtones are due to each pickup having the same polarity (3 South or 3 North Polarity). The string acts like a keeper but is magnetized in three locations. As the magnetic field from the center pickup travels down the string, the magnetic field is repelled by the two outside pickups. As the like poles repel each other down the string, the overtones become very distorted sound wise. The Strat-ites can be reduced by lowering the pickups on the bass side of the pickups. Also reversing the magnetic polarity in the center pickup will help reduce magnetic repulsion in the string. The notes will have a clearer sound as you play up the frets. The string can have several magnetic fields that react with the pickups magnetic field.

324. What is the magnet polarity of old vs. new Fender pickups?
Many of the early Fender pickups used both North and South magnetic polarity. Older Broadcasters, No Casters, Telecasters and Esquires are found with both North and South bridge pickups. I have seen rhythm pickups on early models to have both North and South polarities. Both lead and rhythm pickups on these models were wound Top Left-Top Coming or the magnet wire was wound counter-clockwise from start to finish. Early Stratocaster pickups have North polarity till around 1957 then they became South polarity. The Stratocaster pickups are wound Top Left-Top Going or the magnet wire is wound clockwise from start to finish.

325. What are the magnet strengths of various Fender pickups?
I use several types of magnetometers to measure the magnitude and direction of the magnetic fields in various pickups. I would suggest using a hand model manufactured by the R.B. Annis Company-1101 North Delaware St.-Indianapolis, IN 46202, Phone 317-637-9282. I often use Model 25 with the range of “50-0-50”. Magnets used within pickups can range from very low gauss to above 50 gauss. Early Alnico magnets can be between 15-25 gauss and new Alnico magnets can be 35-50+ gauss. If the magnets are re-magnetized you will notice a difference in the sound and output of the pickup. Making the magnets stronger will brighten the pickup, increase string pull, make the pickup louder and even decrease sustain due to increased string pull. Weaker magnets can make your pickup sound warmer, less output and smoother. Your pickups should be measured before any magnetic calibration is done and if any pickup modification is done make sure you have a qualified repairman do it.