Fender Strat Pickups - Fat 50s

[surfnorthwest]

I absolulty love my '04 50th anniversary American Deluxe Strat, to me it plays the best of any strat I have ever picked up. While it sounds great using the stock Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups, last week I heard a new '62 Custom shop with Fender Fat '50s and was very impressed. Just a killer Strat sound coming from that guitar. Wanted to know if anyone has these on their strat or have also heard them. The only way to describe would be very vintage, like Sultans of Swing.

Anyways I ordered some today and thought I would swap mine out and try them. Here is the info on them

The Fender Fat '50s Strat Pickup Set gives you calibrated pickups constructed with hand-beveled, staggered Alnico V magnets and Formvar magnet wire. '50s Strat Pickups deliver enhanced bass response without the harsh midrange. The middle pickup is reverse wound/reverse polarity for hum canceling in positions 2 and 4. OEM on Custom Shop Fender Showmaster series Stratocaster guitars.

Fender Fat 50s Strat Pickup Set Features:

Hand-beveled, staggered Alnico V magnets
Formvar magnet wire
Reverse-wound middle pickup

[classic rock]

I never played a strat with them in but here is a site that is really good for pickup comparison, http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat_Pi ... ips_W1.cfm the sound clips are very well organized. The funny thing to me is they all sound so similar between the Fender Custom shops, Lollars, Fralins, ect. I mean I can hear subtle differences but but to my ears the Fender Custom Shop 69s, Fat 50s and 54s all sound very close. I think the all the Fender Custom Shops sound great except the Texas Specials. So I just bought a new set of CS 69s to replace my Texas Specials. As soon as I get them in I will do a sound clip with them. I would like to hear a clip from you when you get those fat 50s ready to go.

[surfnorthwest]

Great link, I can hear differences. The pickups are here as is the new vintage kit from RS guitar works so all the pots caps and pickups are going to be changed. These are going into a 50th anniversary Deluxe Strat which is still the best playing and sounding guitar I own.

[Fuggle]

I put Fralin Blues Specials in both my Strats. They really sound good. Very clear and open and can get nasty if they want to (these are a little hotter than USA standard Fender stock). I have not tried any of the vintage Fender PUP's but I hear the 62 reissue pickups sound great also (although not very hot).

[Kongels]

Hmm, I have a 90s standard strat with stock pups in it, you guys are making me want to try the CS 69's now. Faze did your Ash Strat have a Rosewood neck? Mine is Ash with a Rosewood neck, it sounds good but you know how its fun to keep changing things.

[classic rock]

I guess I have a bad ear because when I would listen to the neck pup little wind sound clip they all sounded so similar so hard to tell apart. Life is short and the Texas Specials just were not giving me what I wanted so I bought the CS 69s. I remember when I first played my strat with the Texas Specials I wasnt to happy to begin with because I actually like the stock pups better. I am happy faze you love the CS 69s, I hope I get the same results with my strat. If you look on ebay you can get any kind of Fender Custom Shop pups brand new for a good price. I got mine for $130 shipped compared to Fralins and lollars which were $220-240 a set... I just hope I really dig my CS 69s because if I do not then I might have to consider buying fralins or lollars :lol:

[classic rock]

I guess I have a bad ear because when I would listen to the neck pup little wind sound clip they all sounded so similar so hard to tell apart. Life is short and the Texas Specials just were not giving me what I wanted so I bought the CS 69s. I remember when I first played my strat with the Texas Specials I wasnt to happy to begin with because I actually like the stock pups better. I am happy faze you love the CS 69s, I hope I get the same results with my strat. If you look on ebay you can get any kind of Fender Custom Shop pups brand new for a good price. I got mine for $130 shipped compared to Fralins and lollars which were $220-240 a set... I just hope I really dig my CS 69s because if I do not then I might have to consider buying fralins or lollars :lol:

I think you will like the 69's they are very organic sounding. I would have to say they are very versatile.
To me the 69's are perfect, they sound really good for lead playing and if you like using your neck pick up the 69's are great.
I know what you mean about the texas specials I had them and they didn't work out for me either.
There is a slight difference in the Woodtock Fralins compared to the Fender 69's although they are pretty similar in tone.
It all depends on the body and neck of your axe in how the pickups are going to sound in your guitar.
Heavier Guitars can sound a bit brighter sometimes then lighter guitars from what I experienced.
The Fralins sound a little bit more woody then the 69's If that makes sense. Still for the money I would say you made the right
choice with the 69's I hope you like them and they work for you.

Faze, I am about to install my CS 69s. I took out my multimeter to test resistance of each pickup. I got one pickup at 5.35K, one at 5.44K, and one at 5.47K. According to Fender all pickups are supposed to be at 5.8K. I know my tester is accurate becase the resistance readings for the Texas Specials were almost dead on to Fender specs. The seller I bought them on seems legit no negative feedback and he sells a lot of new guitar gear. Is this normal for the pickups to be off this much. I want to install them and see how I like them but maybe I shouldnt. Should I contact Fender or would that be a waste of time? Any help or advice would be great.

[classic rock]

Classic Rock That is a tough one for me. The musicians friend website has this to say about them.
Wound, dated, and signed by Abigail Ybarra.
Fender Custom Shop '69 Strat Pickups offer you a unique construction and vibe. These are the guitar pickups that can deliver the coveted clear, transparent highs, thumping lows, and bleeding midrange response and feel that define electric guitar tone as we know it.

Construction:
Just like the originals, these Fender pickups are built using height staggered Alnico V magnets and a special gray bobbin. Each pickup is checked, dated and initialed by none other than Fender Custom Shop master pickup building legend, Abigail Ybarra, who has been winding pickups for Fender since the late 1950s.

Fender Custom Shop '69 Strat Pickup Set Specifications:

DC Resistance: 5.8k
Inductance: 2.2 Henries

I honestly have no experience in measuring the resistance so I am sorry I can't help you out ion that department. I know they are individually wound by the lady mentioned
I don't know If that has anything to do with the issue you have. I would just install them and let your ears be the judge and If they don't sound right I would ask for a refund
and send them back just check to see how much his buyer protection is covered for on E-bay through pay pal.
Man I am sorry I wish I could help you more. They are some great pick ups I would give them a try. To make sure that they are the 69's they should have Abigail Ybarra's signature on the back of them. Let me know how it all works out.
faze

Faze, Thanks for the quick reply. They do have the date and AY on the back of the pups. I think I got lucky because these pups sound AMAZING. As soon as I started jamming these things just blew away my Texas Specials. I can get these to go from clean John Mayer blues to Voodoo CHild land. They have so much more thump and the bridge pickup doesnt sound as sharp. PLus when I am playing clean i can crank the amp harder and they still sound crystal clear. Even my old man gave me the look of approval when i was jamming with him and he is impossible to please.

[Kongels]

Oh man, now I am gonna have to start looking for a set.

[classic rock]

Oh man, now I am gonna have to start looking for a set.

check this auction out if you have an Ebay account... The pickguard is already loaded and ready to go. It also has it wired for a blender pot. A blender pot is great for versatility because for example when you are on the neck pickup you can also blend in the neck pickup for more of a tele sound. THe price is pretty good also plus he has best offer so I would give him an a little lower than the buy it now price. Anyways here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=018 Good luck, you should really try them out.

[lowenzz]

Excellent reviews on the strat CS pickup line-up. Now would someone do up a Tele to save me some heartache.
I've got CS Twisted Tele neck and Nocaster bridge in there and would love to hear opinions on how they compare.

[StratLover]

Faze, Thanks for the quick reply. They do have the date and AY on the back of the pups. I think I got lucky because these pups sound AMAZING. As soon as I started jamming these things just blew away my Texas Specials. I can get these to go from clean John Mayer blues to Voodoo CHild land. They have so much more thump and the bridge pickup doesnt sound as sharp. PLus when I am playing clean i can crank the amp harder and they still sound crystal clear. Even my old man gave me the look of approval when i was jamming with him and he is impossible to please.

I know this topic is kind of old, but I have been wondering about this pickups for a while now. . .

How is the bass on the pickups? I have a set of Fat 50's in my Custom Shop '56 reissue, and although each pickup sounds fantastic on it's own, the balance in tone is HORRIFIC. The Neck pickup is nice and big and round, where the bridge is thin in comparison. . . So, is the bass response even on the '69's? In other words, could I EQ my amp for the bridge position, and have no problems with bloatedness/muddiness by switching to the neck pickup?

[StratLover]

I know they are individually wound by the lady mentioned

Whoa. . . The "lady mentioned?!" That "lady" used to wind the majority of Hendrix's pickups!!

[slowpokerhino]

Abigail Ybarra. A legend.

[Spotted Dog]

I know this topic is kind of old, but I have been wondering about this pickups for a while now. . .

How is the bass on the pickups? I have a set of Fat 50's in my Custom Shop '56 reissue, and although each pickup sounds fantastic on it's own, the balance in tone is HORRIFIC. The Neck pickup is nice and big and round, where the bridge is thin in comparison. . . So, is the bass response even on the '69's? In other words, could I EQ my amp for the bridge position, and have no problems with bloatedness/muddiness by switching to the neck pickup?

I have fat 50s in a brand new build that I'm lovin'. The exception is the bridge where I have a Seymour Duncan. I had a similar issue to what you describe, so I adjusted the the bridge pup to be a red hair closer to the strings than the 50s. The resulting balance is very good pup to pup, maybe this would help your bridge pup?