hey gang,
i bought a set of 1973 strat pickups from a guy who does alot of vintage parts. i am going to put them in a '68 reissue and was wondering..they don't have the light gray bobbins on the bottom...more very dark gray or maybe black. i paid about $375.00 for them and was wondering if during the CBS early 70s years if they might have made them with that colr bottom
thank all of you very much for your time...i really do appreciate it.
tommy

Anything is possible with Fender guitars, however, if they don't look like this, it's likely that they aren't real 1973 Strat pickups.

Are there codes stamped on them?
Have you measured their DC resistance and/or inductance?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

hi orville..how are you?
boy, the ones i have are much darken in color than the ones you have posted pictures of. i will try to take a few pictures of them tonight. i paid a couple of hundred bucks for them, but i don't want to bad-mouth the guy, who as i mentioned has sold thousands of things on ebay.
i do thank you very much for your time..you're a good guy.
tommy[url]file:///Users/tommyga/Desktop/Vintage-1973-Fender-Stratocaster-Guitar-Pickup-s-Parts_W0QQitemZ320480938328QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories 2.html
orville..........
i'm not very good on a computer, but i found these '73 pickups on ebay now.
they look like the ones that i have. do you think i might have gotten clipped?
thanks buddy.[/url]

It looks like the seller or a previous owner has done some mods on the pots and pickups are from an earlier model? I find it hard to believe, but YMMV?

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Are these pickups the ones you see on Ebay?

They claim: this is a full factory set including all the screws and springs. SUPER RARE BLACK BOBBIN THAT WAS USED ONLY IN 1973. WOW!!!!!

I don't believe it. Based on the low DC resistance values, I don't think those are Fender pickups. Those black bobbins look like DiMarzios.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

orv and mike!
thank for your time on this. i'm 52 and have 17 lefty guitars but i don't know much about which pickups where and when, etc. i will let a buddy of mine take a look at them. is there a guy or guys that know everything about the fender strats and telecasters? you know what i mean, right? like maybe someone who worked for fender or something like that.
thanks guys very much for your help, i really do appreciate it.
tommy

Any reputable Fender authorized repair tech/facility should be able to give you the real skinny on these or other alleged '73s.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

One of the most respected online source of Vintage Fender knowledge is found at: http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

The A. Duchossoir book is one of the most complete books.

For being rare, that ebay seller sure has a lot of those 1973 black bobbin Fender pickups ...

... when you go snipe hunting, is it a good idea to expect an albino one?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I'd have never spotted this one.
There are people that know some stuff and there are people that know stuff.

Big difference that leaves us all educated

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No no and no