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Post subject: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:48 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I ordered a set of Fat 50's pickups the other day and looked them over good before installing. They looked great. Pole pieces, Formvar winding, everything an "A". I put them on my Fluke and here is the dc resistance:

Neck: 6.26k
Middle: 6.55k
Bridge: 6.76

Sweet, huh? Texas Special specs.

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:08 pm
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Those measured DCR's are definitely at variance with the published specs for the Fat '50s set......

http://www.fender.com/accessories/picku ... -set-of-3/

They must have a 3-level gomer running the coil-winding machine.

:shock:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:16 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Those measured DCR's are definitely at variance with the published specs for the Fat '50s set......

http://www.fender.com/accessories/picku ... -set-of-3/

They must have a 3-level gomer running the coil-winding machine.

:shock:

Arjay


Or worse, a pinger!

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:48 pm
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:lol: :lol: :lol:

LMFAO!

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:24 pm
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rjake wrote:
I ordered a set of Fat 50's pickups the other day and looked them over good before installing. They looked great. Pole pieces, Formvar winding, everything an "A". I put them on my Fluke and here is the dc resistance:

Neck: 6.26k
Middle: 6.55k
Bridge: 6.76

Sweet, huh? Texas Special specs.



They weren't (by chance) a bit on the warm side when you measured them, were they? If so, this could account for much of this...

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:49 pm
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You aren't alone with this issue, my set of new Fat 50s measured

neck-6.6k
middle-6.3k
bridge-6.4k


Another member here measured his as follows

neck-6.6k
middle-7.0k
bridge-6.7k

I understand advertized measurements are approximate but they aiso advertize Fat 50s as not having that harsh midrange. I think they have a quality control issue here.


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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:56 pm
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SMark wrote:
rjake wrote:
I ordered a set of Fat 50's pickups the other day and looked them over good before installing. They looked great. Pole pieces, Formvar winding, everything an "A". I put them on my Fluke and here is the dc resistance:

Neck: 6.26k
Middle: 6.55k
Bridge: 6.76

Sweet, huh? Texas Special specs.



They weren't (by chance) a bit on the warm side when you measured them, were they? If so, this could account for much of this...


70 degrees F

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:02 pm
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It could also be that Fender is winding to different specs than it publishes. I have long suspected this to be the case with the CS69. The CS69 Spec is 5.8k, yet I have seen few that come close to that. The vast majority of CS69s I have measured were in the 5.2k to 5.6k range. And I also have two sets of Abby Handwound CS69 sets that are all measuring in the 5.2k to 5.3k range. So it appears that Abby herself used a different spec than what is published by Fender.

I do have a set of Abby handwound Fat 50s and they are ~0.2k less than the OP's pickup set. I always considered this to be nothing more than standard variances. But maybe Fender wants them to be fatter...

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:03 pm
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twotone57 wrote:
You aren't alone with this issue, my set of new Fat 50s measured

neck-6.6k
middle-6.3k
bridge-6.4k


Another member here measured his as follows

neck-6.6k
middle-7.0k
bridge-6.7k

I understand advertized measurements are approximate but they aiso advertize Fat 50s as not having that harsh midrange. I think they have a quality control issue here.


In all fairness, I had a set that were closer to spec, but the bridge p/u had a ground down pole piece I didn't like. I unwound them to spec and put them in a guitar that I no longer own.

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:10 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: Indy
SMark wrote:
It could also be that Fender is winding to different specs than it publishes. I have long suspected this to be the case with the CS69. The CS69 Spec is 5.8k, yet I have seen few that come close to that. The vast majority of CS69s I have measured were in the 5.2k to 5.6k range. And I also have two sets of Abby Handwound CS69 sets that are all measuring in the 5.2k to 5.3k range. So it appears that Abby herself used a different spec than what is published by Fender.

I do have a set of Abby handwound Fat 50s and they are ~0.2k less than the OP's pickup set. I always considered this to be nothing more than standard variances. But maybe Fender wants them to be fatter...


They sound good at spec. More vintage than ballsy, more focused, etc. I tend to not like excessively overwound pickups.

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:21 pm
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rjake wrote:
They sound good at spec. More vintage than ballsy, more focused, etc. I tend to not like excessively overwound pickups.


+1

I bought mine years ago, 2009 IIRC. They all measured right at spec.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:35 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
rjake wrote:
They sound good at spec. More vintage than ballsy, more focused, etc. I tend to not like excessively overwound pickups.


+1

I bought mine years ago, 2009 IIRC. They all measured right at spec.

Arjay


We would play Gibsons if we wanted a muffled overwound sound with no hum, huh Arjay?

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:16 pm
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rjake wrote:
SMark wrote:
rjake wrote:
I ordered a set of Fat 50's pickups the other day and looked them over good before installing. They looked great. Pole pieces, Formvar winding, everything an "A". I put them on my Fluke and here is the dc resistance:

Neck: 6.26k
Middle: 6.55k
Bridge: 6.76

Sweet, huh? Texas Special specs.



They weren't (by chance) a bit on the warm side when you measured them, were they? If so, this could account for much of this...


70 degrees F


That shouldn't make much of a difference then. I think standard procedure is to measure at ~65° F. I recall taking some readings when a pickup set had been just delivered off the UPS truck. They were almost hot to the touch and the DCR readings then indicated that they were also wound quite hot as well. A few hours later after sitting in the air conditioned room they all read normal.

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:39 pm
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rjake wrote:
We would play Gibsons if we wanted a muffled overwound sound with no hum, huh Arjay?


As a matter of fact I do have a few Gibsons for when the occasion demands that tone. But the Strat remains my go-to guitar. Sturdy, trustworthy, and fits my body like a GI-issue Nomex flying glove.

:wink:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fat 50's Texas Special Pickups.
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:46 pm
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What's the tolerance on Fender's pickup specs? 1%? 5%? 10%? If 10% the actual measured resistance of those pickups could vary by about +/- 600 ohms. Most pots are usually 10% or 20%. Caps can be 50% or more unless you use very high quality caps. Vintage carbon comp resistors are usually 20%. Metal film can be 1%. I'd be willing to bet every one of the pickups mentioned in this thread are within tolerance.

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