New Pup, thoughts please

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
This just arrived and I am far from the expert and unsure about this as a bridge pickup for my strat. Is this right?

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Iheartbacon

Blues Junior
It certainly looks like a Strat pickup, but beyond that it is hard to tell what it is and what you want it to be, so what is your concern?

FWIW original Strat pickups were all the same. At some point the polarity changed (north up vs south up). Later years the middle became reverse wind with reverse magnet polarity to buck hum in the 2 and 4 positions of a 5 way switch. Modern bridge pickups are often hotter than the mid and neck.

So is the new pup same polarity and wind as the neck you are pairing it with and opposite the middle? Is it the same output as the other two or hotter? All impossible for us to tell from a pic.
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
Don't know if it's specifically a bridge pickup because that generally is a function of windings.

It looks like an older 50's to mid-60's style pickup though (or one made to look that way).
 

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
The pup itself is ok. My concern is the poles are uneven in height. My other two are all even. Is that normal for a bridge pup? This does have a Fender label on it and ordered it from an online seller as made in America, which is what I was looking for. Thanks for responding.
I did consult as what I should be buying and this is supposed to be it
 

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
Don't know if it's specifically a bridge pickup because that generally is a function of windings.

It looks like an older 50's to mid-60's style pickup though (or one made to look that way).
It is a bridge pup and yes, it is the style, but new.
 

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
Don't know if it's specifically a bridge pickup because that generally is a function of windings.

It looks like an older 50's to mid-60's style pickup though (or one made to look that way).
Sorry, my concern is the way the poles are uneven. My other pups are not that way
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Sorry, my concern is the way the poles are uneven. My other pups are not that way
Some pickups are wound with staggered pole pieces. Others aren't. Just checked my American Standard Strat and all three pickups on it are staggered, similar to yours.
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
Sorry, my concern is the way the poles are uneven. My other pups are not that way

That's what makes it more "classic".
Older pickups were made that way to compensate for various string tones - particularly the D and the G (especially the G-string which was often a wound string in the early days) to make them more pronounced since that's where the bulk of chord tones were as opposed to the (high) E and B-strings where the pole-pieces were built essentially flat to reduce the "ice-picky" nature of those strings.

The low E pole piece was also made to be slightly higher so that when full barre chords were played their root note was more pronounced to give the chord more fullness.

Modern Strat pickups tend to be more even although most are still made with a higher D-string pole piece to help even out the tone between it and the G,B and E strings which are now all wire strings.
 

artyman

Fareham UK
Just stick in the guitar and see what it sounds like, and more importantly if you like what you hear. It's easy to swap out again if you don't like it.
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
Like some of the others have said, that pup is fine. It just has staggered pole pieces on it. My fave Strat pups (CS69s) are like that. Out of my Strats, they're about half and half as to them having flat vs staggered poles.

What pickup did you end up going with? I've got the CS69s in one Strat and they are A.mazing! Tex Mex pups in a couple of others, and they're pretty good. Not sure what's in a the other three (whatever came standard in them), and they're fine too. Some day I'd like to get a set of those ancho poblano pups, but, last time I looked, they were running more than what I'm willing to pay for a good pup.
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
Like some of the others have said, that pup is fine. It just has staggered pole pieces on it. My fave Strat pups (CS69s) are like that. Out of my Strats, they're about half and half as to them having flat vs staggered poles.

What pickup did you end up going with? I've got the CS69s in one Strat and they are A.mazing! Tex Mex pups in a couple of others, and they're pretty good. Not sure what's in a the other three (whatever came standard in them), and they're fine too. Some day I'd like to get a set of those ancho poblano pups, but, last time I looked, they were running more than what I'm willing to pay for a good pup.
You must have as many Strat's as @paparaptor has Tele's!
 

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
Like some of the others have said, that pup is fine. It just has staggered pole pieces on it. My fave Strat pups (CS69s) are like that. Out of my Strats, they're about half and half as to them having flat vs staggered poles.

What pickup did you end up going with? I've got the CS69s in one Strat and they are A.mazing! Tex Mex pups in a couple of others, and they're pretty good. Not sure what's in a the other three (whatever came standard in them), and they're fine too. Some day I'd like to get a set of those ancho poblano pups, but, last time I looked, they were running more than what I'm willing to pay for a good pup.
I went with the Custom Shop Texas Special, Bridge as the bridge is the one that needs to be replaced. The previous owner put a Dimarzio humbucker there. (and chose black. I am an aesthetic kinda guy))
 

DavidLylis

Aspiring Bluesman
That's what makes it more "classic".
Older pickups were made that way to compensate for various string tones - particularly the D and the G (especially the G-string which was often a wound string in the early days) to make them more pronounced since that's where the bulk of chord tones were as opposed to the (high) E and B-strings where the pole-pieces were built essentially flat to reduce the "ice-picky" nature of those strings.

The low E pole piece was also made to be slightly higher so that when full barre chords were played their root note was more pronounced to give the chord more fullness.

Modern Strat pickups tend to be more even although most are still made with a higher D-string pole piece to help even out the tone between it and the G,B and E strings which are now all wire strings.
Thank you. I went to the fount of knowledge (the internet) and learned that they were intentionally made that way and if you are going for vintage sound, that is what you get)). There is a video where the guy presses the poles back into alignment to match the radius but he seems to say that it works with some but not others. I'm not going to screw with it as I bought it for vintage sound. We'll see. It's not that hard to change if I don't like it but I am fairly new and am not sure what I like))
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
The pup itself is ok. My concern is the poles are uneven in height. My other two are all even. Is that normal for a bridge pup? This does have a Fender label on it and ordered it from an online seller as made in America, which is what I was looking for. Thanks for responding.
I did consult as what I should be buying and this is supposed to be it

My Fender 57/62 pickups have uneven heights like that, as do many of the older vintage pickups. The only downside is that the high pole piece on the G string sometimes pulls the string out of tune resulting in stratitis. If something sounds off after you install it the solution is to drop that pickup height a bit.
 
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