Hi fellow Fenderphiles;I'm having a problem with the middle pup of my '65 Strat,when I put the 3-way switch in the middle position there's a very noticeable volume drop.I took it to my usual tech and he couldn't see anything wrong,he said that maybe something has seperated in the inner windings.Anyone know of a way to check it out?I'd like to keep the pup original,a rewind at the Fender plant costs at least $160 and where I live on the extreme east coast of Canada courier or post may be very expensive.If it ends up that the pup is beyond repair,what's a good replacement pup?Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks Guitslinger.

Yes, you need a multimeter to check the DC resistance of the pickup.

A good tech should have been able to check that out for you.

There's a good chance that all you need is a simple fix (that installing the switch disturbed a cold solder joint). I've had old pickups seemingly go dead and all it took to bring them back to life is to "reflow" the solder at the eyelets (where the thin coil wire joins up with the "black" and "white" pickup leads).

The next most complicated pickup fix involves having to unwind a few turns to remove a break in the outermost layer of windings.

The most complicated fix is to have to completely rewind the thing.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Thanks for the tip,I'll try that out along with a new tech.

$160 for a re-wind? Now that is overpriced.


Hopefully there's something wrong with a connection that is easily fixed.

If it does need to be re-winded, you can go check out Aaron Campbell at

http://rumpelpickups.com

I'm sure he'd do a fine and inexpensive job, as a single pickup built from the ground up is only $42.

By the way, a '65 STRAT!?

Custom Shop or original, that is sick. I heard that the pickups on those guitars are phenomenal. My neck pickup is based on a '65 Strat!


-The Screamin' J

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CURRENT RIG:
2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

Thanks for the info,it's an original as far as electronics and hardware.I made the mistake in 1975(it was only 10 yrs old then)of getting it refinished and the guy who did it took a high powered sander to it to strip off the sunburst finish and left it natural.With all that wood removed it just didn't sound the same so I took everything off it and put it in a walnut neck and body by Double Eagle Guitars in ON,Canada.It feels like a 65 neck but even though sounds like the old 65 it's just not the same.Some time in the future(if I ever get rich)I'd like to pack up the old body&neck and all the parts and send it all to Fender to put right.A word of advice to anyone Never Never refinish a guitar that's original.We all know how much an original 65 Strat is worth.A very costly mistake.

Was there anything wrong with the old neck? Does it need a refretting?

By all means, find somebody to restore the body.

A refinished '65 Strat is worth about half of an original 65 Strat, and that's still pretty valuable.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

The neck was refretted but the rosewood fingerboard is pretty worn in places also he had to take down the heel of the neck to compensate for the wood he took off the top of the body.Anyhow I think it would be quite a challenge for a luthier or repair tech.Considering the increase in value it may well be worth it.I'm going to give it serious thought.

I'm not sure what the challenge would be.

What finish is on the body now? If it was stained, it might be hard to get an original-looking sunburst.

It would be a challenge to replace the wood that was sanded off of the body, but just painting it some nice color should be straightforward. A nice black or white, perhaps?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I stripped off the finish several years ago and put on a charcoal stain that was supposed to be transparent and bring out the grain but it looked horrible when I got it on.I was thinking candy apple red,my '65 Mustang was refinished candy apple blue and looks pretty good.When I bought it the previous owner had stripped off the original finish and did a very poor job of applying clear varnish with a brush.I'm not going to touch the finish on my '65 Jaguar sunburst even with all it's dings and scratches(it adds character)I've had enough experience with 3rd rate restoration attempts.

This 1964 had a horrible spray paint finish when I got it. I had it refinished shortly after getting it. It's a fabulous axe now. And still worth quite a bit (about 10 American Standards I figure).

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I'm glad I wasn't a tinkerer when I was a kid. I made no mods to my late 1965 Strat and when it was finally time to grow up (I hated when that had to happen ) and make a living, it stayed in its case until I started playing again.





I'm still working on the growing up part.

John

Man the stupid things we do when we are young . I have to say guys an impressive bunch of axes. Hey I hope everything works out right for you with that pup and the bad news is I dont think Fender would restore your ax even for the money as they are stubborn and have these crazy terms. To tell you the truth I did not even know they would rewind a pup. Are you the original owner and what channel did you go through to see about getting the pup rewound. Did you have to prove original ownership.

Those black and white Strats look fabulous,I think that's the route I'll go, I'll have to flip a coin because they're equally impressive.With regard to the pup rewind by Fender,I wasn't if I was the original owner(I'm not) he just quoted the price of a rewind and asked me to E-mail him first if I decide to get it done.I think I have the e-mail on file,I'll get back to you with the info.Thanks all for the help and interest.

Hi folks'me again,I have the info.Fender has a repair facility in Nashville Tenn. The rewind is $160 and theres an $80 reinstall fee(I guess that's if you send the whole guitar.The helpful gentleman's name is Jeff Krause,his E-mail address is jkrause@fender.com I hope that info is of some help as I imagine many people like to have their guitars completely Fender right down to the repairs.I'd love to go that route but the cost is a bit too steep for me.By the way my neck butt says 2 Feb 65.

Having Fender rewind it would be cool: you'd have some documentation.

But if you google "pickup rewinding" you can find much cheaper alternatives. One very competent rewinder is Lollar, who lists a $100 fee.

My white guitar's neck butt is one year older than John's: NOV64.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.