Identifying Pickups

[derekb]

Hello,
Can anyone help with this please.
I was just about to fit a set of Fender CS54 pickups to the strat I am building but having got them out of the box there just seems no way of knowing which is which. They all look the same, have exactly the same length of cable on each and apart from the Fender Custom Shop sticker on the back of each one, are exactly the same. There are no markings of any sort that I can find so how do I know which is which. The diagram that came with them only shows the wiring diagram- nothing to ID the pickups.
Thanks ,
Derek B

[grottyshep]

I think the bridge one has a red dot on it.The others are the same no reverse wound middle also the resistance is higher on the bridge.
hope this helps,
Steve.

[garyallen]

Hi Derek, If theyre brand new in the box the only way of knowing is by the length of the wire on them,with the neck pickup having the longest and the bridge with the shortest, I dont think the CS 54s are colour (red dot or blue dot) coded and the middle p/up is not reverse wound.  hope this helps  regards  gary

[sandytuck]

Hi Derek,
Usually the pickups have a different length of wire and sometimes the
middle pup has different coloured wire. Neck pup longer wire, bridge short.
Good luck. Cheers
Les.

[Charlie Hall]

New pickup sets usually have the wires all the same length! If they have been cut to different lengths they could be secondhand.
Regards,
Charlie

[Deleted]

As Charlie says, new pickups will have the wires all the same length. Fender used to put a red dot on the bridge pickup on CS54's, but for some strange reason, stopped doing that. The middle and neck pickups have exactly the same output but the bridge is hotter, i.e has a higher output. The only way really is to put a meter on the pickups one at a time, to see which one has the higher output.... Stupid move by Fender...

Jim

[Cruachan]

Hi Derek,

I found these extracts on forums.fender.com:

"The RED dot is supposed to be the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup. The neck and middle pickups don't have dots or colored wires because they are supposed to be identical. The bridge pickup should be in the 6.3k to 6.6k range (typically) and the middle/neck pickups should be 5.9k to 6.0k range (again, typically.)

The coil wire on CS 54s is Formvar, so it should be orange/copper colored like the Fat 50s. Texas Specials use enamel wire, which is a very dark maroon/purple colored. Getting the meter readings though would be the best way nail this down."

"In instances where the pickups are position-specific, the bridge coil is generally identified with a red dot on the bottom of the bobbin. RP/RW middle pickups are usually indicated by yellow and black lead-in wires. DCR measurements would confirm the suspicion that you've got a set of CS 54's."

Thought the resistance values might prove helpful if you can borrow a multimeter from someone. Alternatively you could try taking them to a luthier or anyone with a meter to check for you. Actually, multimeters are generally quite cheap to buy. You should be able to purchase one from Amazon. Always handy to have with our hobby.

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_0_11/280-0052195-0944103?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=multimeter&sprefix=Multi+meter%2Caps%2C160

Regards,
Mike

[racoon51]

Hi All

Just a quick question regarding pickups and a slight variation on the thread theme. Recently I was given a set of "Guitar Tech" strat style pickups (used) and tried to find some information on them on the net but to no avail and just wondered whether anyone has come across them or know if they are any good or not - any help here would be gratefully received. On a seperate note are there any Shads fans in the Northamptonshire area who would be interested in forming a club for this area - it would be great if we could start one here.

Thanks and regards

Mike B