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Post subject: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:36 pm
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I know these pickups were found on "The Strat", Lead, and Dan Smith Strats were they standard issue on "regular" 1980/81 Stratocasters. My '81 has one installed but it's of the plastic bobbin variety... I've seen both fiber and plastic examples. In any event, it's a fantastic sounding pickup (though I like the neck and bridge too). Any info at all regarding the X-1 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, JG


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:46 am
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How late in 1981 is your Strat? It could be just one of those "specifications subject to change" unannounced changes done toward the end of the run of the big headstock models.

I have a Lead II, and both the pickups on those are X-1s. They do have a kind of unique, cool sound. The truss rod on mine is frozen with the action a bit high for normal playing, but it sounds great for slide or for fighting it a bit for Ramones-type punk.


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:30 am
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The plastic bobbin pickups date from 3/81 (N&M) and 6/81 (B) and the serial # isS998, it seems like it would be getting late into the year. I have the original sales receipt which is for 12/30/81 (I'm the second owner). I suppose the transition to the Dan Smith era may have been influencing production (or parts). There is no other distinguishing manufacturing feature... it looks like the myriad of other natural/black plastic'd Strats of the era, though it's in almost dead mint condition, and not because it's a dog. It plays and sounds remarkable but I don't play it often... there aren't even swirl marks on the plastic. There is an odd overspray on the 12th fret... or the rest of the neck has clouded which I know also happens to strats of this era, but other than that she's perfect. I know these guitars are considered by many to be boat anchors but I believe that eventually, clean examples will become moderately collectible and go up in value (probably whether they're actually worth it or not) And if they don't, I'll have a sweet time capsule of a guitar to play when I retire. :lol:

Back to my original thought... I just wasn't sure how many Stratocasters (not The Strats) ended up with these pickups in the bridge. It was pretty easy to determine as the neck and middle pickups registered in the mid 5s and the bridge read 7.46. If they debuted in 1980 it's possible that quite a few may have been experimented on... but I think I've even seen reports of X-1 pickups from '79 on eBay :?:

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:08 am
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JamGuy wrote:
Back to my original thought... I just wasn't sure how many Stratocasters (not The Strats) ended up with these pickups in the bridge. It was pretty easy to determine as the neck and middle pickups registered in the mid 5s and the bridge read 7.46. If they debuted in 1980 it's possible that quite a few may have been experimented on... but I think I've even seen reports of X-1 pickups from '79 on eBay :?:


Nice looking Strat - the 12th fret overspray is very interesting.

I can guarantee that the X-1 pickups do go back to 1979 - I bought (or I should say my folks bought) my Lead II in November 1979. The pickups were then used on "The Strat".

I believe that Dan Smith came on board in 1980 or 1981; certainly by mid-year 1981 the changes for 1982 were in the planning stage. As to when the bridge pickup did change over to the X-1 who knows; it was probably one of those deals where there were more X-1s in the parts bins so they just decided to go ahead with that change early.


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:26 pm
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cool John, thanks for the info... it'd be fun to deck out a strat with three of them as an experiment. I guess my other question would be when they discontinued use of them. I've seen some accounts of them showing up in the early 57/62 reissues. I guess they would have been done with them by the time they shifted production to Corona.


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:41 pm
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I have a 1983 two-knob Strat with the X-1 pickup and it is the most fantastic sounding single coil I own. The entire set sounds good, it's one of the few Strats I've played where the middle pickup on its own sounds remarkable. I'd like to see the X-1 reissued, it was a bona fide classic.

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:28 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
I have a 1983 two-knob Strat with the X-1 pickup and it is the most fantastic sounding single coil I own. The entire set sounds good, it's one of the few Strats I've played where the middle pickup on its own sounds remarkable. I'd like to see the X-1 reissued, it was a bona fide classic.



Hey Gilga your back :)

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:12 pm
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donnycraven wrote:
Hey Gilga your back :)


You think that's good, you should see my front.

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:43 pm
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@John C

The X1 can also be used in the neck & middle to match the output of a hot bridge humbucker - such as the Enforcer and the DH-1 Atomic - making for an extremely versatile yet tasteful HSS configuration.

Have you tried the X1 in the other positions?


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:41 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
donnycraven wrote:
Hey Gilga your back :)


You think that's good, you should see my front.



Yeah?
Well I cant wait for the next great memorable contribution man.
Last one was priceless :)

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Last edited by donnycraven on Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:52 pm
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They are from 80-81 time period.
The green marking on the bridge pickup pole was put there to distinguish it as the X-1 bridge pickup. The X-1 single coil pickup is approximately 7.5 kΩ (9600 coil winds), so it's pretty hot for back in that time period.

The "Dan Smith" Standard Strat had an X-1 bridge pickup. Some of the very early ones had the red bottom pickups.
The X-1 bridge pickup does have a distinctly yellow lead wire instead of a black one.

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 5:52 pm
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chromeface wrote:
@John C

The X1 can also be used in the neck & middle to match the output of a hot bridge humbucker - such as the Enforcer and the DH-1 Atomic - making for an extremely versatile yet tasteful HSS configuration.

Have you tried the X1 in the other positions?


No, I don't want to pull them from the old Lead; I'm keeping it stock. So I've got them in both the neck and bridge position - but they are both angled.

The Lead means a lot to me in sentimental value - it was probably the only time my dad an I ever went into a music shop much less bought anything at one. He passed away a bit more than 2 years after that, so the guitar means more to me for that memory than it does as a working instrument.


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:24 pm
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So here's a question for you... what is the wind like on the X-1 ?(polarity, etc) What pickups will it play nicely with? I don't give two hoots about hum canceling in the 2 & 4 positions, I find that well shielded cavities and pickguards kill enough of the hum for me. Any thoughts?


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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:36 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
So here's a question for you... what is the wind like on the X-1 ?(polarity, etc) What pickups will it play nicely with? I don't give two hoots about hum canceling in the 2 & 4 positions, I find that well shielded cavities and pickguards kill enough of the hum for me. Any thoughts?



Honestly you can use it with what ever you want
Given the time period they are probably reverse polarity.
I tend to remove the rods and reverse them if its out of polarity.
Its not going to be much different than a Texas Special output wise.

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Post subject: Re: Fender X-1 Bridge Pickup Question...
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:42 pm
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Remember that's the answer for any 2 or 4 position that's out of phase when the leads are both positive to the switch.
Fender has reversed the polarity of magnets over the years.
If your magnet rods become loose from removal just use a thin film of elmers so you don't have to remove pickup and re-dip it in wax.

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