Hello, Forum;

I have a Strat 50th Anniversary and the neck pickup has been giving me a problem, cutting in and out. I took it out and looked at the windings and saw they were damaged on one end at the mounting plate. I want to replace the pickup with the original type but can't get a fix on its identity. The first run of these guitars (Maple neck version) appear to have replicas of the hand wound original 1954 pickups. Others are indicated as having the Tex Mex variety. I looked for a serial number on my pickup and the only thing there is ST-NK with a hand-written "P" afterward. (NK is for Neck... middle has MD, bridge has BR... I'm assuming ST is for Strat. Not much help there).

I'm linking a pic here to help, if anyone has any advice.



Many thanks.

Cayce

That is a SCN pickup as featured on the American Deluxe that made it's first appearance on the 2004 50th Anniversary American Deluxe guitar.
The other guitars you mention were the CustomShop 54 Anniversay reissue and the American Standard 50th Anniversary guitar.

That pickup however is from the American Deluxe.

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No no and no

nikininja;

Wow... that was quick! So a Neck version of the SCN is what I need to tell the folks at Guitar Center, or are there different versions of that as well?

BTW: Cracked me up good with that penguin clip!

Cayce

I think you can only buy the pickups as a set, coming in at around £130 UK. However Bill Lawrence who designed them is a very nice man and may well repair it for you. Or if you bought your guitar new it will be covered by the warranty.
Or you may just want to get another noiseless pickup to put in that position. The Dimarzio Area series have been getting rave reviews. Avoid Vintage Noiseless simply because they are permanently out of phase with SCN's. No matter how you wire em.

I have exactly the same problem with my Vintage Hotrod Strat. Though that is on the middle pickup, where I tend to strum (coincidence?).

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No no and no

.

You can frequently find individual SCN pickups available on Ebay -- that might be your best bet to replace a single pickup.

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

nikininja;

Thanks again for the comeback. I'd like to be able to buy a new set of PUs, go after some different sounds, but have other toys in more dire need of parts (Burstbuckers for the Paul, Fishmans for the Martins, etc). But thanks for you advice. I'm going to go for a single PU replacement for now. I also know now how it was that you got back to me so quickly at what, for most people, is a ridiculous hour of the morning, New York time (5:45 am): you're in the UK. Wish I was.


Retroverbial;

Thank you as well for your suggestion. I'm going to give that a shot.

Best to all.

Cayce