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Pickup Tricks 2

The truth about old-versus-new pickup design

We guitarists are truly unique and perhaps a tad freakish. We're the only breed of musician who loves our
instruments to be old and grimy with fretboard wear, cigarette burns and belt buckle gouges. And we'll pay a hefty
sum for the right to own and play such a beast. When it comes to pickups, we're no different.
We like 'em old!
Because the replacement pickup business is fairly young, nearly all the true vintage pickups were the stock
pickups found in various old guitars. Some of those guitars have appreciated in value, quite astronomically, and
their parts and components have done the same.
What distinguishes a vintage pickup from a new one, besides the obvious age difference of at least 25 years? A
big part of it is the materials. Most of the old Fender pickups were built with hand-chamfered 0.197 inch Alnico
magnets (Alnico is an alloy composed of Aluminum, Nickel and Cobalt). The bobbins of the old Fender single -coils
were hand-fabricated from a vulcanised fibre called Forbon and wound with Formvar insulated copper wire. Back
then, the insulation had a higher lead content than what is used currently.
They don't make them like they used to!
In Gibson's revered 'patent applied for' or 'PAF' humbucker (circa 1955-1960/61), the magnets were Alnico and
the bobbins were moulded from a plastic material called Butyrate which ,nowadays, is almost extinct. The bobbins
were wound with plain enamel wire (also used on the original Telecaster pickups). Gibson used nickel-silver
bottom plates and covers. The spacer was made of wood and the hook -up cable was braided shield, single
conductor.
As magnets go, Alnico ones tend to age slightly over time as they're exposed to certain environmental factors,
such as extreme temperature changes, interaction with other magnets, and physical shock - like blocking flying
beer bottles hurled onto the stage! This is one reason why old Alnico pickups tend to have slightly reduced output
but a sweeter, warmer tone with enhanced sustain.
Back in the old days, pickups were not built with the repeatable precision that is found in today's modern pickup
factories. In the forties, fifties and sixties, pickups were wound by time. An average bobbin took around four
minutes. If the winding machine operator had to get up and grab a cup of coffee while the machine was turning
and was slightly delayed, they might return to a bobbin with an extra thousand turns of wire. The result: a higher
output pickup with a lower resonant peak.

Random craft
Also, back then, many pickups were wound by hand; that is to say, the winder determined the pattern in which the
wire was distributed on the bobbin as it came off the winding machine. The result was called a 'scatter wind' or
'random wrap.' Nowadays the winding pattern, or 'pitch,' is most often determined by a machine that distributes
the wire in a uniform back-and-forth pattern. Counters are used to ensure that an exact, prescribed number of
turns make it onto the bobbin - and no more.
Will a vintage pickup necessarily sound better than a new one? No. But it might... Jerry Donahue's prized '52
Telecaster had more punch to it than any other Tele he ever played. Donahue has two of the best ears in the
business and can distinguish incredibly subtle tonal characteristics. Maybe it was a coffee-break pickup. Who
knows? In any event, he gave the guitar to Seymour Duncan who noted the specifications and accurately
reproduced the pickup using many of the old materials - Alnico magnets, Forbon flatwork, 0.197 inch magnets,
plain enamel wire and so on.

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Seymour added his own touch by slightly raising the D- and G-string pole pieces to mirror the neck radius and
achieve better string balance. Is this a vintage pickup? Absolutely not. Does the Jerry Donahue model sound like
a truly great vintage pickup? According to him it accurately captures the punch of his '52 like no other.
Dust, rust & bust
Nowadays, you'll find that some pickup builders still adhere to the old materials like Butyrate and Forbon, but
these materials are becoming increasingly difficult to procure and subsequently more expensive. Some modern
pickup manufacturers go the extra step of actually ageing their repro pickups and using scatter -wind techniques.
They'll replicate the environmental effects of time on the magnets, the wire, the cable, and - for extra mojo - they'll
add some dust 'n' rust.
This is the idea behind Seymour Duncan's Antiquity range. Is this just savvy marketing? Well, think of it this way: if
you owned a '54 Strat and had to replace just one of the three pickups, wouldn't you want the modern
replacement to be just like the stock pickups in every possible way; from the tempered tone to the well-worn
cosmetics? If you answered yes, than perhaps you've got a touch of freak in you too. Congratulations.
Evan Skopp
Visit Seymour Duncan here
Read Pickup Tricks 1 here
Copyright Future Publishing 2001.
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