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Post subject: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:22 am
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Hi, I've recently acquired one of these guitars and I'm wondering what pickups are fitted.

They look like Lace-Sensors to me but they don't have Lace Sensor written on the covers. They're pretty microphonic.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Gary


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:55 am
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Those guitars are really rare - I think a limited series of 100 made around 2003-2004, of both Rossi and Parfitt versions.

The pickups don't have the name written on them, so can't say if they are LS's or not. Checking the backside and construction would tell at least something. (A possibility of a copy from the Orient is always present...)

LS's are usually not prone to being microphonic. Depending on how bad the situation is, check that the pickup and covers are attached as they shoud, experiment with your tone pot and the position you play in relation to the amp.

There are very few pics of those guitars around. How 'bout adding some? Please?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:50 pm
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See Chromeface's January, 2013, post here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=82006

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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:07 pm
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Francis Rossi swapped the LS neck pickup for a SD Hot Rail humbucker. His guitar sports a G&L "saddle lock" bridge.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:06 pm
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This is interesting. Rossi's Sensors are without markings too.

Played it a bit more today, smoking hot tone and VERY authentic for the post 1991 Rossi sound.

I'll post some more pics of it shortly.

chromeface wrote:
Francis Rossi swapped the LS neck pickup for a SD Hot Rail humbucker. His guitar sports a G&L "saddle lock" bridge.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:43 pm
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https://imgur.com/gallery/EUpWs


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:27 pm
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Very nice, congrats...

The missing text on the Lace Sensors is most likely due to the limited edition signature model specs - should you ever take the pickguard off, the backside on Laces is very distinctive.

BTW, You can post pics straight on the forum:
Image


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 2:23 am
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Ah thanks didn't realise I could post them straight here.

What does the underside of a Lace Sensor look like?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 2:47 am
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Scratch that, I Googled.. :-)

I'm going to lift the pickguard and the bridge pickup in the next couple of days when I restring and set it up and I'll report back some more. I notice that the bridge pickup is secured Tele style with three screws. The only Lace Sensor pics I've seen are all secured Strat style (with the exception of Francis' guitar..)

Does anyone have any scans of any of the sales literature that references these guitars?

I'd heard a rumour that they were actually a Fender UK Custom Shop (when there was such a thing) order that Japan fulfilled. I don't know how much artist involvement there was other than the endorsement on the headstock. It's certainly not really a Rossi green colour. Must have been quite a bit of tooling to produce a Maple Slab fingerboard and drill the hole...

Also, does anyone have any citations on the production numbers of these? Was is only 100 of each?

Thanks again,
Gary


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:14 am
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gs.davies wrote:
It's certainly not really a Rossi green colour.

That's quite possibly a "lost in translation" issue. Japanese doesn't have much of a distinction between blue and green, and color perception is highly cultural.

It goes both ways - if someone asked for an indigo guitar from an American, chances are they'd get a violet one, and not indigo, like the dye used for Levi's jeans. And what Americans call a yellow cab, much of the world would see as orange.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 6:21 am
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Just had the guitar apart to have a closer look at the pickups. Definitely NOT Lace Sensors. God knows what they are, but they're not much cop.

This guitar is going to have to work for a living so are there any suggestions on what pickups to replace with? I'd like to keep with the Lace Sensor set up as it's what Rossi uses but I can't get my head around how the bridge pickup mounts. Any thoughts?



ImageImageImageImageImageImage


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:20 pm
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Definitely not Lace Sensors. Some EMG's were sorta like that, but that's a very vague memory.
All points to Japan & FMIC there. So I may just be getting a bit paranoid, but the pickups compel me to ask are you sure that guitar is all legit FR Signature..?

What's the problem with mounting a Lace in the bridge, do you want body mounting? Longer screws & tube or springs for that.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 1:58 pm
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Quote:
Definitely not Lace Sensors

+1

Dunno, probably Asian of some sort.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:30 am
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jmattis wrote:
So I may just be getting a bit paranoid, but the pickups compel me to ask are you sure that guitar is all legit FR Signature..?

What's the problem with mounting a Lace in the bridge, do you want body mounting? Longer screws & tube or springs for that.


Yes, I'm pretty sure this is genuine. I vaguely remember a review of them that referred to the pickups as being 'single coils' as opposed to Lace Sensors. Everything else points to the guitar being genuine and for the relatively low value, what's the point faking it? Most Quo-heads have dent for dent replicas made by the likes of Tony Rockett.

The problem with mounting a LS in the bridge is that the Tele bridge has three screws in a triangular arrangement which locate the pickup via it's copper backplate. The LS is a strat type pickup without a copper backplate and locates by two tabs on the edges.

Rossi's guitar has a Lace Sensor with I presume a copper backplate located by the standard three screws... So it's an engineering problem really.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Japan Francis Rossi Signature - Pickups
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 4:21 am
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gs.davies wrote:
The problem with mounting a LS in the bridge is that the Tele bridge has three screws in a triangular arrangement which locate the pickup via it's copper backplate. The LS is a strat type pickup without a copper backplate and locates by two tabs on the edges.

Used to be, now Lace offers Tele pickups. Only available in black, AFAIK, but it might be a fun project to mask just the tiny the letters and paint the rest snowy white...
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