Rewind

How many people love old pickups? (No.... not the trucks....but they are cool too). What makes an old pickup sound like an old pickup? Jonathan at GVCG makes a great aged Tele set with Jason Lollar. Mr Lollar sourced the MAGNET SLUGS. What is next... the pickups get wound with wire (maybe by hand). During the winding process, clear lacquer is sprayed at various times to insulate what needs insulating. When all this is done, the pickups used to be 'potted'... in wax (and sometimes still are). Sometimes string is wound around the outside of the windings, or black tape added. Does this sound like a recipe? Well...it is. What if I went back to 1952 and asked Fender to use a different wire...the pickup would most likely sound different. What if the lacquer coats are done differently? What if one person makes the slugs a little different in height here and there? You get my drift I hope... let's take it a step further... what if I purchase a REWOUND PAF pickup on Bay (from a reliable seller who knows what he is doing and has high feedback)....will it sound the same as one that is NOT rewound? Let's answer that now...if my Picasso falls off my wall (or that guy in Las Vegas punches it for me)...(no, I don't have a Picasso)....will a repair look the same? We all know it depends on who is doing the repairing... My guess is if Fralin is doing the rewind for Joe Bonamassa it will be pretty much as close as we can get today to a vintage job... but not if I go and buy wire, read a few books, and inbetween doing a home-tile in my kitchen I rewind myself a pickup. By the way... I have asked Jonathan at GVCG for more of his pickups twice... but am scared I am in his 'Bad' book... so Jonathan.....I love your guitars... but if I don't speak my mind honestly, this blog means nothing. PLEEEASE allow me another set of pickups......Sorry man if I said anything wrong...otherwise, maybe you are just away! (.. Jonathan apparently used 100 percent nitro for these guitars of which I am so happy to own one... which is THE way they were painted in the fifties... nobody shoots 100 percent nitro anymore at the factory. Also... he actually used what appear to be REAL rubber spacers on his bridge pickup...made of surgical tubing... either that, or a totally believable ageing job... but more on his guitars again at a later date... hope he let's me have more pickups....)