Aussie pickup guru Rod McQueen gets pretty esoteric about his vintage pickup construction.
Just read this from Mr. Slider himself:
"'Genuine' old vintage pickups are way overpriced and a huge gamble, here's the problem,
In the 1950's, electronics were pretty basic, to the point that the mechanical counters on the machines that Leo & Co used to handwind pickups were very inconsistent, errors in production, both mechanical and human, were common place. This caused the wide variation in specifications and sound we find in vintage pickups sold today. Some sound great, others are less than impressive! Not to mention the possibility of fatal internal issues, check the pic of what killed a real '56 vintage I rebuilt this week! Old DOESN'T mean good!
Now you can try something you never thought you could, a totally authentic re-creation of the famous late 50's Strat pickup set. Not the modern mass produced offerings that everyone's playing. These are identical those vintage muti-thousand dollar sets you have seen, only better! WHY....
Because these are serious, quality recreations of the originals, but New and 100% mechanically sound, and I do mean SOUND, (pun intended!)
I start with real black forbon bobbins, lacqured to prevent internal corrosion (check that last pic again!) around the sand cast staggered and hand beveled, etched AlNiCo poles. All "scatterwound" to the magical Tone Zone.
The AlNiCo 3 (around 1/2 the power of AlNiCo5) combines with the scatterwinding to achieve clarity,chime and top end shimmer while still retaining a rich and warm "Bluesy" tone with true power. The hand aged, hand bevelled AlNiCo poles add a smooth, mellow warmth to the classic strat "bell tones and quack" without the thin "ice-pick" sterility found with most newer, cheap and machine produced pickups.
For Auction are a matched set of handmade "scatterwound" Classic 57's, a re-creation 1957 spec, single coil pickups for your Strat or Clone or Special project.
Slider's Classic Vintage 57's
All personally handwound in Sydney Australia. All parts are imported from the USA and the highest quality, true to the original Fender pickups. The fact is that all best,major and boutique pickup makers, use parts from a few common suppliers.
This set consists of 3 hand made scatterwound Single Coil Pickups with aged Parchment White 50's re-pro "rounded" Bakelite style relic Pickup Covers. These classic pickup covers are unique to Slider's, very difficult to find and sell for considerable amounts by themselves! You also get a full set of aged 6/32 UNC adjustment screws with natural amber, vintage style rubber spacers.
This set is built to the following spec's and DC resistance
Neck; 5.68 +/- kOhms Middle; 5.62 +/- kOhms Bridge; 5.79 +/- kOhms
North magnetic polarity, correct for factory pre c1958
Winding (clockwise), 42g (.063mm) Heavy "Formvar" vintage spec coil wire
Sand cast, AlNiCo 3 acid etched, staggered height, Hand beveled, individual pole pieces, Low B, high D & G. All individually magnetized by me, using rare earth Neo-dymium Boride polarising magnets to recreate 50 year old Alnico. Exacting, aged replication.
Vintage correct Black vulcanized "forbon" fiber flatwork bobbins with Nickel wiring eyelets
Output wiring is 12" Black (ground) and 12" White active, 22 AWG celanese wrap and waxed braided, cotton outer insulation, vintage pushback wiring
This set has a vintage "Straight Up" NO RW/RP middle pickup. All are matched to work perfectly with 3 or 5 way switching and no "out of phase" issues or dramas!
All come with my "Bakelite" style pickup covers (exclusive to Slider's) and a full set of "age matched" 6/32 UNC round head mounting screws with vintage style amber rubber compression spacers.
All are Lacquered, prior to winding to prevent long term corrosion of the wire against the AlNiCo poles (the most common problem I see for killing vintage pickups), then Wax potted "post build" to reduce possible high volume microphonics and provide protection to the delicate windings.
All pickups come individually labeled and signed with all specs relating to Materials, Polarity and Composition.
These are not an "off the shelf" pickup and are intended for the discerning player or restorer of fine instruments."
CLICK HERE for Rod's current eBay listings.
Click on photo for killer Sonny Landreth youtube video!!!
Posts
