DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Hi guys, I was searching for second-hand pickups for my Telecaster project and i was offered a couple by a guy. The guy told me that the pickups come from an original Fender, Mexican made. What puzzles me is that the bottom plates of the pickups are not flat but have some magnets or something on them. The guy claims that it is OK but I have never seen Telecaster pickups with such things on their bottoms. I smell pocket fitting problems because of these things too. Have a look at the pictures below and, please, tell me what they are and if it is OK to buy them. Do they look like original Fender Telecaster pickups to you? If not, is it still OK to buy them? have you seen such pickups on MIM Fenders before? http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7347/456732origtc1.jpg http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4758/456725origzw2.jpg Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 i cant see the photos because of my works filtering system but proper single coils have magnetic polepieces with nothing on the bottom (except for a brass plate on the bottom of tele bridge pickups). some brands have a ceramic bar magnet stuck to the bottom of the pickup - i guess that is what you have. Its not always a bad way to make pickups but it is associated with cheaper brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Thanks, WezV. Please, have a look at the photos when you have access to them and tell me what you think. Or maybe there is a server that is visible from your work? I can upload the photos there, eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I can get on photobucket but not imageshack. but i will have a look later at home anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Same photos, this time on PhotoBucket: http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/t...456755_orig.jpg http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/t...456745_orig.jpg http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/t...456735_orig.jpg http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/t...456732_orig.jpg http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/t...456725_orig.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Those pickups have ceramic magnets with steel poles, typical of lower end guitars. In alnico pickups the pole pieces are individual magnets. Ceramic pups don't have to sound bad, but alnicos are generally higher quality and tend to be smoother and fuller sounding. It all depends on what sound you want and how much you're willing to pay to get it. If you want a decent sound from an affordable pickup, check out Tonerider at www.tonerider.com. Forum member rjhalsey is a US distributor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 yeah, they are definately bar magnets and most likely to be ceramic as i thought. I dont like pickups with ceramic magnets because they sound harsher than alnico. They can work better for some musical styles but those styles are the ones better suited to humbuckers anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 (edited) I was looking for cheap Tele pickups for my project. I also got offered a couple of Wilkinsons by another guy. Them and the funy looking MIM Fender pickups from the photos above. The Wilkinsons don't have ceramic magnets on their back but they have screw heads which also puzzles me to eternity. Here is a photo: Seems that both sets of pickups have an "unorthodox" base plate, so to speak. I guess I will not buy none of them but still, what would the better choice be here? Thanks! Edited July 13, 2007 by DrummerDude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Those Wilkinsons have alnico magnets, and the screws are holding the base plate on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 The wilkinsons are the better choice. they are made more like traditional tele pickups except for those two extra screws. their job will be to make sure the brass baseplate doesnt come loose and create microphonic feedback as it can on some older tele pickups so its a worthwhile improvement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I know that Wilkinson specialize in producing exact copies of different brands. I am 100% sure that the Wilkinsons ar ebetter pickups than those MIM Fender pickups. But the screws kind of annoyed me because the "original" Fender Tele bridge pickups don't have them. There is another thread by some guy who claims that his Wilkinson pickups do not fit in his Stratocaster body, so I am kind of suspicious about these Wilkinsons too. Seems that i got offered two very unappropriate sets of Telecaster pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Just buy some Fender pickups and be done with it. Jeez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 you can never garantee anything will fit - thats the joy of working on guitars!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Just buy some Fender pickups and be done with it. Jeez. I don't want to spend cash on original Fender pickups because they are horribly expensive. Apparently, I am no pickups expert but I am sure that there's no huge difference n sound between an original Fender pickup and a good Far East copy. People like to pay for brands, unfortunately. I need a set of extremely dirty-cheap, ultra-low0end, fake Telecaster copy pickups. But ones that at least "look" and install like the originals and don't have any "improvements" like those Wilkinsons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 The wilkinsons seem a good option for you - dont be put off by two little bloody screws!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I already bought them. Thank you for your help, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 OK, too late to make any difference for you, but if anyone else is reading this: The first couple of pups are definitely made with ceramic bar magnets. That type of magnets are also typical on low end guitars. HOWEVER! This is not the typical low end pups. They have a magnet layout that is very similar to a P90 pickup. I make a set of pickups I call T90’s (Tele-shaped P90’s). The difference is that I use adjustable pole pieces. In this case the ceramic magnets are not used because their low cost. They are used because they can be used to make a design that is not possible with ALNICO. An traditional Gibson sized magnet bar will not fit in a standard Tele rout (too wide) and chopped up ALNICO bars will nit produce a strong enough magnetic field (I have tried that too, chopping them up and all). So do not be confused by the use of ceramic bars. In this case they on the contrary indicate a high lever job. Check out Harmony Desig, Steven Kerstin and some other boutique winders to see more of the T90 type pickups. On the other hand I have never heard of Fender doing this type of pickups, so that part is probably a lie. I dont like pickups with ceramic magnets because they sound harsher than alnico. They can work better for some musical styles but those styles are the ones better suited to humbuckers anyway I disagree. It is not the material that the magnets are made of that produce the difference in sound. It is the magnetic strength. The stronger magnets the more treble. Most Gibson style pups use ALNICO5 (A5). The 5 indicates the magnetic strength. A higher number means stronger magnets. A2 up to A8 have been used in pickup making. Ceramics are stronger than A5 , similar to A6 and way weaker than A8. An A8 humbucker will have considerable more treble than an A5 AND a ceramic magnet. The boosted treble is the thing that fools some people to think that ceramic magnets are harsher than ALNICO. That is only true in comparison with A5 (OK, definitely the most used ALNICO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 ok thats fair enough - but i have never seen a pickup with an alnico magnet rated stronger than 5. Not saying they dont exist though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 ^ So, I am f*cked. It seems that I bought the less cool pickups at the same price. This guy too explains that the material of the magnet is of absolutely no importance for the sound of the pickup: http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/magnets.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 no need for the drama - i would still say you got the better pickups!! Those MIM pickups are not that nice, the wilkinson designed ones are much better. I presume that on the tele pickup they have two magnets and longer pole pieces because it would be difficult to magnetise the steel pole pieces through a brass plate any other way, rather than this being an attempt by fender mexico to emulate a P-90 pickup in the shape of a tele one.. They are made with these magnets because its cheaper to do it and easier to store them than it is alnico magnets (like bill lawrence says). Now if you did want to emulate a P-90 in a telecaster bridge pickup you probably would go about it that way - but does anyone believe thats what fender was trying to do with a straight up tele copy! even cheaper telecaster pickups woud have just done away with the brass plate and had a magnet like the neck pickup does. Stop worrying about it - just go with whats coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 No problem man, I am happy with what I've got because it was cheap. And since I am a pretty cheap and stingy guy myself, I'm really satisfied. Speaking about cheapness and being cheap: do you know of a good source for dirty-chep (second hand?) Telecaster parts like pickuards, bidges and electronics controls paltes? Anyone has some for sale? Thnaks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 anyway you look at it you got the pickups that are made more like a authentic telecaster pickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 No problem man, I am happy with what I've got because it was cheap. And since I am a pretty cheap and stingy guy myself, I'm really satisfied. Speaking about cheapness and being cheap: do you know of a good source for dirty-chep (second hand?) Telecaster parts like pickuards, bidges and electronics controls paltes? Anyone has some for sale? Thnaks! Guitar Fetish. No used, just new. Decent quality, decent prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewu22 Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 No problem man, I am happy with what I've got because it was cheap. And since I am a pretty cheap and stingy guy myself, I'm really satisfied. Speaking about cheapness and being cheap: do you know of a good source for dirty-chep (second hand?) Telecaster parts like pickuards, bidges and electronics controls paltes? Anyone has some for sale? Thnaks! Guitar fetish Not used but the quality is not bad.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sulzer Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 When you chopped up that Gibson alnico magnet, you observed exactly what the measured properties and theory of magnets predict: alnico magnets get weak quickly as you make them short in the direction of the field (from pole to pole). Ceramic magnets do no lose strength as fast. That is, while a long Alnico magnet might be stronger than a ceramic of the same shape, a short one will not be. This has to do with the B-H, or hysteresis loops, but we probably do not want to get into that here. I have to disagree about the relatiionship between magnetic field strength and high frequencies. I think that there is no relationship at all unless the field strength is quite strong. This at the onset of "string pull" or "stratitis", and I think the sound is better described as harsh rather than just just more high frequencies. It is, after, a non-linear affect. OK, too late to make any difference for you, but if anyone else is reading this: The first couple of pups are definitely made with ceramic bar magnets. That type of magnets are also typical on low end guitars. HOWEVER! This is not the typical low end pups. They have a magnet layout that is very similar to a P90 pickup. I make a set of pickups I call T90’s (Tele-shaped P90’s). The difference is that I use adjustable pole pieces. In this case the ceramic magnets are not used because their low cost. They are used because they can be used to make a design that is not possible with ALNICO. An traditional Gibson sized magnet bar will not fit in a standard Tele rout (too wide) and chopped up ALNICO bars will nit produce a strong enough magnetic field (I have tried that too, chopping them up and all). So do not be confused by the use of ceramic bars. In this case they on the contrary indicate a high lever job. Check out Harmony Desig, Steven Kerstin and some other boutique winders to see more of the T90 type pickups. On the other hand I have never heard of Fender doing this type of pickups, so that part is probably a lie. I dont like pickups with ceramic magnets because they sound harsher than alnico. They can work better for some musical styles but those styles are the ones better suited to humbuckers anyway I disagree. It is not the material that the magnets are made of that produce the difference in sound. It is the magnetic strength. The stronger magnets the more treble. Most Gibson style pups use ALNICO5 (A5). The 5 indicates the magnetic strength. A higher number means stronger magnets. A2 up to A8 have been used in pickup making. Ceramics are stronger than A5 , similar to A6 and way weaker than A8. An A8 humbucker will have considerable more treble than an A5 AND a ceramic magnet. The boosted treble is the thing that fools some people to think that ceramic magnets are harsher than ALNICO. That is only true in comparison with A5 (OK, definitely the most used ALNICO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.