Hi everyone,
1. This old gramma gave me her son's strat (abandoned by her son long ago).
2. The pups have basement ceramic magnets, this sound is junky compared to polepieces of alnico rods.
3. The cost of alnico rodded pups are around 40 to 200 USD for the complete threesome.
4. I may be able to detour such exorbitant cost if I can remove the ceramic basement magnet and its dummy polepieces, then insert pre-cut staggered alnico rods back into the receptacles, retaining the original factory windings and bobbin.
5. Question to you forum experts is whether this is achievable, where to get such alnico polepieces pre-cut (gotta use dremel diamond cutting wheel humbug!), and finally which alnico rod type.
Thanks in advance folks for your assist
1. This old gramma gave me her son's strat (abandoned by her son long ago).
2. The pups have basement ceramic magnets, this sound is junky compared to polepieces of alnico rods.
3. The cost of alnico rodded pups are around 40 to 200 USD for the complete threesome.
4. I may be able to detour such exorbitant cost if I can remove the ceramic basement magnet and its dummy polepieces, then insert pre-cut staggered alnico rods back into the receptacles, retaining the original factory windings and bobbin.
5. Question to you forum experts is whether this is achievable, where to get such alnico polepieces pre-cut (gotta use dremel diamond cutting wheel humbug!), and finally which alnico rod type.
Thanks in advance folks for your assist
Hi,
I doubt DIY will save any money in the long run.
You sure the rest of the guitar is worth upgrading
the pickups ? As its near Christmas perhaps you
should clean it up, set it up and sell it, and move
on to a better used guitar with decent pickups.
rgds, sreten.
I doubt DIY will save any money in the long run.
You sure the rest of the guitar is worth upgrading
the pickups ? As its near Christmas perhaps you
should clean it up, set it up and sell it, and move
on to a better used guitar with decent pickups.
rgds, sreten.
abandon gramma's gifting?
sounds like a practical idea
but
I already evaluated this strat as worthy because of its lumber and skunk, its good stuff from the legacy era when mat'ls were worthy.
no corrosion means pretty good metallurgy too, no scratchy pots, frets unused, buttons of tuners have pimple dots chroming yet sixteen to one velvety smooth, no blemishes in paintjob either.
I don't use whammy bar but this strat does not go out of tune with this kind of floating bridge spring retained to home, so I believe those manufacturers must have done pretty sound productions.
the maple in the neck is extremely fine grained, this means stability against weathering warpage over the long run of usage and transport (hot temperature car?)
anything else I should evaluate for worthiness to proceed?
sounds like a practical idea
but
I already evaluated this strat as worthy because of its lumber and skunk, its good stuff from the legacy era when mat'ls were worthy.
no corrosion means pretty good metallurgy too, no scratchy pots, frets unused, buttons of tuners have pimple dots chroming yet sixteen to one velvety smooth, no blemishes in paintjob either.
I don't use whammy bar but this strat does not go out of tune with this kind of floating bridge spring retained to home, so I believe those manufacturers must have done pretty sound productions.
the maple in the neck is extremely fine grained, this means stability against weathering warpage over the long run of usage and transport (hot temperature car?)
anything else I should evaluate for worthiness to proceed?
Hi,
If its a genuine Fender Strat then it should be kept standard spec.
If you don't like the sound move it on, get a used guitar you like.
rgds, sreten.
If its a genuine Fender Strat then it should be kept standard spec.
If you don't like the sound move it on, get a used guitar you like.
rgds, sreten.
I tend to agree that, if it is a vintage American or Japanese Strat, it may best be left alone. On the other hand people swap pickups like car tires, so if you are going to dig in, then.......
I get my pickup parts from Stewart Macdonald or AES, although there are probably cheaper places out there. The Alnico magnets from StewMac come without magnetism. They have to be "charged." I found this rather easy just leave them stuck to a ceramic speaker magnet for a few days, or rub them across the magnet for 10 minutes or so. I have not tried magnets from AES.
Pickup Kits + Parts | stewmac.com
Antique Electronics Supply also has pickup parts.....
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickup parts
Pickups,
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickups
And pickguards, with or without pickups.
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickguards
I get my pickup parts from Stewart Macdonald or AES, although there are probably cheaper places out there. The Alnico magnets from StewMac come without magnetism. They have to be "charged." I found this rather easy just leave them stuck to a ceramic speaker magnet for a few days, or rub them across the magnet for 10 minutes or so. I have not tried magnets from AES.
Pickup Kits + Parts | stewmac.com
Antique Electronics Supply also has pickup parts.....
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickup parts
Pickups,
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickups
And pickguards, with or without pickups.
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/guitar_parts?filters=Type=Pickguards
alnico proceed
No, its not fender nor japanese. Its unbranded meaning long ago some contractor shelled them out.
I am astonished by its quality, there's no clear coat, its first surface lacquer like baldwin piano mirror. The phillips heads are all shiny, the bridge too. What's most important is its stability retaining excellent sounding string vibration. That's why I want to alnico rod the pups.
No, its not fender nor japanese. Its unbranded meaning long ago some contractor shelled them out.
I am astonished by its quality, there's no clear coat, its first surface lacquer like baldwin piano mirror. The phillips heads are all shiny, the bridge too. What's most important is its stability retaining excellent sounding string vibration. That's why I want to alnico rod the pups.
There have been a lot of Strat knock off's and copies made over the years. Some were good, even excellent, some, well, not so good.
Yamaha made a good Strat copy about 15 years ago. My guitar teacher had one with the markings removed and it was a nice solid guitar. It had a few subtle differences from a Fender, but it took me a few days to notice them. The headstock was a bit different, as were the knobs, otherwise I first thought it was a Fender.
Fender themselves have been making things called Squire Stratocaster, and Starcaster.
The Squires range from very good, to barely playable. They are made in Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, and a few other places. If you go to a large guitar store that has several in stock, you will notice that they are all different, some play pretty well, some don't. The necks are all different, especially the thickness and wood quality. Most of the bodies are coated with a heavy plastic like paint that withstands abuse, but deadens the tone. The sunburst finished models that I saw (a few years ago) still looked like lacquer. The price ($99 to $199) does not correlate with playability. I got a sunburst Squire Strat at Sam Ash for $99 that played real good, was solid, and stayed in tune. My daughter pawned it 🙁 I got an Indonesian Squire Bullet Stratocaster for $45 at a flea market.......that's about what it's worth. I have it laying around for amp testing.
The Starcasters seem to be Chinese and are often found in discount stores and warehouse clubs. I haven't met a good one yet, but most of the ones I found in stores had been beat up pretty bad.
I talked to a guy selling "genuine Fender necks" on Ebay for $50. He had plenty. I bought a few for building guitars, and they were decent. He was buying Squire Strats, pulling the neck off, and bolting on a Strat replacement neck, making fake logos and S/N's and selling them as American Strats. I'm sure there was a lot of this going around at the time, about 15 years ago.
Yamaha made a good Strat copy about 15 years ago. My guitar teacher had one with the markings removed and it was a nice solid guitar. It had a few subtle differences from a Fender, but it took me a few days to notice them. The headstock was a bit different, as were the knobs, otherwise I first thought it was a Fender.
Fender themselves have been making things called Squire Stratocaster, and Starcaster.
The Squires range from very good, to barely playable. They are made in Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, and a few other places. If you go to a large guitar store that has several in stock, you will notice that they are all different, some play pretty well, some don't. The necks are all different, especially the thickness and wood quality. Most of the bodies are coated with a heavy plastic like paint that withstands abuse, but deadens the tone. The sunburst finished models that I saw (a few years ago) still looked like lacquer. The price ($99 to $199) does not correlate with playability. I got a sunburst Squire Strat at Sam Ash for $99 that played real good, was solid, and stayed in tune. My daughter pawned it 🙁 I got an Indonesian Squire Bullet Stratocaster for $45 at a flea market.......that's about what it's worth. I have it laying around for amp testing.
The Starcasters seem to be Chinese and are often found in discount stores and warehouse clubs. I haven't met a good one yet, but most of the ones I found in stores had been beat up pretty bad.
I talked to a guy selling "genuine Fender necks" on Ebay for $50. He had plenty. I bought a few for building guitars, and they were decent. He was buying Squire Strats, pulling the neck off, and bolting on a Strat replacement neck, making fake logos and S/N's and selling them as American Strats. I'm sure there was a lot of this going around at the time, about 15 years ago.
the pups say emg
But the poles are dummies not alnico
Maybe I can improve sound by first overhauling the caps, as it needs more clarity on the upper register.
Got to remv picguard to visual what's there.
But the poles are dummies not alnico
Maybe I can improve sound by first overhauling the caps, as it needs more clarity on the upper register.
Got to remv picguard to visual what's there.
Hi,
The poles are poles for the ceramic magnets, they are not dummies.
The coils and strings don't care at all about how the field is generated.
Your coils could be not what you want, not the magnets.
rgds, sreten.
The poles are poles for the ceramic magnets, they are not dummies.
The coils and strings don't care at all about how the field is generated.
Your coils could be not what you want, not the magnets.
rgds, sreten.
breathability is permeability
Agree, the easier fluctuations can exert themselves within the magnetized domain, the better the sound. So, chosen wisely, this attribute of wanton is permeability.
The arrangement is open ended from a designed standpoint so long as this permeability representation excels.
Agree, the easier fluctuations can exert themselves within the magnetized domain, the better the sound. So, chosen wisely, this attribute of wanton is permeability.
The arrangement is open ended from a designed standpoint so long as this permeability representation excels.
On a budget, I can recommend these:
GFS Guitar Pickups
Some of the alnico pups are cheaper than buying polepieces individually I think.
GFS Guitar Pickups
Some of the alnico pups are cheaper than buying polepieces individually I think.
thanks hikari
There's two candidate sets
1959 or 1963 professional stnd winds
70usd ea plus postage
That's much cheaper than custom build requests (lolar)
There's two candidate sets
1959 or 1963 professional stnd winds
70usd ea plus postage
That's much cheaper than custom build requests (lolar)
I've got (I think), the 59' GFS set in my strat. Very quacky. Much better than the lace sensors I had before. I also have a set of "Nashville" GFS pickups in my Gretsch.
I like them a lot.
I like them a lot.
Strat Vintage Alnico Stagger Pickups - Complete Set
Hi, look pretty good at a very good price, rgds, sreten.
Hi, look pretty good at a very good price, rgds, sreten.
I had a similar abandoned situation with my bullet strat from years ago. Still sounded pretty good after years of being sitting in a corner of my garage. The built quality of the guitar seems to hold up pretty well. Lucky for me! I did have an issue with the guitar being out of tune quite often. Swapped the tuners with locking tuners for strat and after a polishing job the guitar was as good as new.
Cheers!
Cheers!