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The Fender Mustang has two three-position switches, the center being “off”. Sliding the lever switch either way from center reverses the electrical phasing of the coil in the pickup. The pickups are in series with each other and can be in phase in two positions or out of phase in two positions. Reversing the electrical…

While I was working at the Fender Soundhouse on Tottenham Court Road in London, England I remember talking to a guitar and pickup builder named John Birch who’s company was in Birmingham. I tried to contact him recently by making several calls but could not locate him. I was always impressed by the pickup ideas…

Doing research and talking to George Fullerton and plastic molders I found that the plastic was called Cycolac brand polymers and is from a unique family of ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) thermoplastic resins produced by the Marbon Chemical Division of Borg-Warner. The info I found was from 1963 and at that time the plastic came in nine…

Recently I’ve been listening to many surf instrumentals and trying to figure out what instruments the guitarist and bass players used. In my early years of playing guitar I’d often look at album covers with a magnifying glass hoping to see what position the switches were in or perhaps figure out if they were using…

I have collected much info on Fender pickups and recently Tim Pershing send me info about his Fender Mustang. Tim’s Fender Mustang serial number L45879 has both grey and black bottom flatwork on the two pickups. This may have been a transition period when Fender switched from black to grey. The pickups had the date10-16-64…

There were several types of pickups used on K & F and Fender lap steels. In Leo’s and “Doc” Kauffman’s early patent number 2,455,575 filed on September 26, 1944 and granted on December 7, 1948 there are several components. The bobbin consisted of a Vulcanized bobbin with 6 tubes in which the strings would go…

The early Fender 1000 (Double neck) and Fender 400 (Single neck) pedal steel guitars used 8 pole pickups similar to Jazzmaster guitar pickups. The early pedal steel pickups used 8 cylindrical rod magnets that were flush with the top of the molded cover and staggered below for the various strings. Each neck used a single…

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…

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…

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…