It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:42 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:26 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:22 am
Posts: 1
Hi!

Can anyone help me! I need the correct pickup specs for 1965-66 era! I have heard rumours that they were 'overwound' during this period. If they were, are we talikng 5, 8, 10, 12 or 15%! I want some handwound for my P bass! I am talking to Curtis Novak and he has agreed to do them. Any help would be awesome!!!!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:36 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:21 am
Posts: 256
Location: Guam
Winding differed from pickup to pickup, as they were hand wound. This led to the normal inconsistencies that human error introduced.

_________________
Liam

-Candy Apple Red Precision Bass (Maple fingerboard) carrying Rotosound Steve Harris Strings
-1980-something Bentley Series 10
-Fender Rumble 15


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:37 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:14 pm
Posts: 3169
Location: Linningrad
You actually want to underwind them slightly for better tone.

_________________
2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:34 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
65/66 P-Bass pups should be in the ballpark of 10.85 to 10.9 K Ohms. This is SLIGHTLY overwound compared to a 62 which is 10.45 to 10.55 K Ohms, but nothing like as overwound as some pickups today. That difference between the 62 and 66 winds might not sound like a lot of difference but tonally it makes a surprising difference.

Usually a 5% overwind from a custom shop like Mr. Novak's will come out at about 11.2 K to 11.3 K Ohms or so. I really prefer the 10.5 K neighborhood as a target. There is really only one reason to overwind a P-Bass pickup by 5% and that is to make it louder. I consider 5% severely overwound. There are more disadvantages than advantages to overwinding.

Overwinding made more sense back in the 70's and 80's but not so much with modern amps which have far better preamps that feed higher power amplification into high-fidelity cabs.

Either get one custom wound to 62 specs or just buy the Fender Original Precision Pickup which is the 62 spec. The Fender is less costly and frankly it is a better package due to the shielding plate and foam already being installed on it. The Fender pickup is apparently discontinued as it is no longer listed on the accessory page on Fender dot com but is still in inventory at dealers online. Since I just found out they are being dropped from the line I plan to order one just to have it on hand at once.

I'm really surprised that Curtis Novak can't replicate a '65 without asking you for the wind info. He's be dissecting them for years.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:24 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
thebassopotomous wrote:
Winding differed from pickup to pickup, as they were hand wound. This led to the normal inconsistencies that human error introduced.


Hand winding is a misnomer. "Hand Scatter Wound" Fender pickups are wound on a machine with a turn counter that functions like an odometer on a car clicking once per turn of the bobbin. Instead of using an automated arm to evenly distribute the enameled coil wire in the fashion of an open baitcasting fishing reel, the winding is directed onto the bobbin by hand in a seemingly nonsensical pattern of random layering referred to as "scatter winding." A certain number of turns will yield a certain impedance load. But how the winding is scattered impacts tone dramatically. A skilled winder's fingers move very little, almost imperceptibly and yet somehow the winding winds up looking evenly layered. It isn't until you manually start unwinding a dead one to see how it is done that the randomness of things becomes apparent.

Machines haven't yet been able to do the random scatter winding as well as real people like Abigail Ybarra, Fender's most experienced pickup winder. Ms. Ybarra started working at Fender Fullerton in 1956, still works there holding the Formvar wire gently between two fingers to guide it in a random pattern while the bobbin spins so fast that the turn counters last 2 digits are a blur. That's 56 years folks! Longer than even I've been playing Fenders! Probably longer than anyone on the forum has been playing. She is known as "THE QUEEN OF TONE" and now winds pickups for the Custom Shop master builders.

A bassist is often told that "the tone is in your fingers," but really the tone starts in Ms. Ybarra's fingers, or in the fingers of one of the people she mentors and trains.

The early Fender pickup winding machines were converted sewing machines and the ones today work pretty much the same way at the same speed and still sound a little like a sewing machine motor. Ms. Ybarra is practically a national treasure so far as I'm concerned.

The Queen of Tone at work:

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: !965-66 Precision pickup specs
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:56 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:21 am
Posts: 256
Location: Guam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPEqJRd9L8 The master at work

_________________
Liam

-Candy Apple Red Precision Bass (Maple fingerboard) carrying Rotosound Steve Harris Strings
-1980-something Bentley Series 10
-Fender Rumble 15


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: