Pickup...Not Truck..Not Lines..

What is it with 50's and early 60's Strat and Tele pickups? Is it all hype? Probably not. Many factors are involved...Fender changed the insulation on the windings from Formvar in '64, even though the gauge stayed the same. Prior to '65, pickups were hand wound, in a scatter-pattern, with varying tension. Prior to '65, the magnets were sand casted Alnico (newer ones are ceramic). The older magnets have also had time to become slightly weaker... which could definitely lead to a 'special' balance in the pickup. When these old 50's and early '60's pickups die (like my previous post about the GVCG I sold to Oliver)... and they do... (at a higher rate that other manufacturers)...they may still 'partially' appear to work... but might sound 'thin'... someone might keep playing their guitar... thinking the pickup is still working...and only an ohm test on the pickup can find out the real truth. Jonathan at GVCG of course did not use REAL '50's and 60's pickups in his guitars... but he DID do some special aging to them. He was a stickler (and still is) for getting real alnico magnets... having the pickups handwound (by Lollar)...and staggering the poles... sound like a real 50's or early 60's pickup? Yep...