fat 50's pick-ups/ help

[loujones12]

Hi Guys. a while ago i got a set of Fender fat 50s. and put them into my usa strat. sounded awfull??? so installed Cobalt noiseless.. not bad... then i found out i may not have given the fat 50's a fair crack of the whip. Now my question is. and ive tried searching the web. How can i tell if i have actualy got fat 50's.. ?? here are the readings i get with multimeter... Bridge.. 63k Mid 46k Neck 68 k.. Now as best as i can find out. im told they should be 6K neck 6.3K mid 6.3 K.. bridge.. would like to confirm before i try and install again... tnx in advance... Lou

[Deleted]

HI LOU ,, were they packaged & sealed from C/S fender & packaged as such as the reading's you gave are not right & do they have the coloured dot's to identify the bridge middle neck positions ??,,,
MINE measure [ln the guitar with vol-pot at max] BRIDGE ,,6.41K ,,,,,middle ,,,6.18K,,,,,,neck......6.11K .. will be slightly different out from the guitar but not a lot..
THEY are great P/up's if you have the correct ones !!!!
LOU if you have been duped ? & want a good set that sound as good try our resident'' JC-vintage'' in the forsale section on this site ,I have a set & they are great.....

CHEERS barry..

[loujones12]

Hi Barry. many thanks for quick response. No Wonder they sound really awful. No painted dots. No they were not new Used. But i know the Sales guy in the store and i know He wouldnt dupe me.. the box is marked fender fat 50s Used. only marking underside are white painted numbers. 53a 32a and 31 a. cables are black and white plastic covered. i told charlie a few months ago i was gonna get a set and he said you'll love em. they were only installed for 15 mins before i took em back out.. Whats the jc vintage?? ill check it out.. do you use them.?? agaim many thanks for response... regards lou

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Lou,
Mine have a silver coloured Fender Custom Shop sticker. The middle pickup should have yellow and black cloth wires. I think the other two should have white and black cloth wires. If there is a dot I think it should be on the bridge pickup only. I think the middle pickup should be 6.3K, the bridge about 6.2K and the neck about 6K. A reading under 5K is definitely not right. If it is the correct pickup there may be a short between windings.
There should be hum cancelling in switch positions 2 and 4 if you have a 5 way switch. This is due to the middle pickup being RW/RP, meaning the winding is the opposite direction to the other pickups and the magnets are the opposite polarity.
There are no white numbers on mine but I have had them for several years.
It does sound like you have been sold something else and not Fat 50s.
Regards,
Charlie

[loujones12]

Hi Charlie. yup i guess you guys are right. you may recall i told you before in another post that i had tried them and found them really awful. guess thats why. as for the cloth covered wires.!! No they are just plastic coated black/white.. ill call him tomorrow. as he is a saleman in the store. and not the guitar tech!. checked my original Pups. they are alinco bridge 7.9 wires yel/white Mid is 6.7 wires red/white. and neck 6.8 wires blue/white.. do you know what the jc/vintage, that barry sugested are like??? or should i still get the 50"s.. regards lou.

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Lou,
I certainly do remember you saying how bad they sounded. I tried to find out what those numbers mean but couldn't find anything.
I have heard JCs pickups and thought they sounded very good. Not quite as thick sounding as the Fat 50s but very sweet tone. Probably very similar to the OC Duff set I installed in my latest replica. I would consider them if you can't get the correct pickups from the store, I hope you get your money back anyway.
Regards,
Charlie

[peterbower]

Sounds like the store owner was duped as well by his supplier.

Charlie's description of the C/S Fat 50's is spot on as I have a set as well.

Peter

[john]

Hi Lou

Like my birds eye maple neck I think you may have been "scammed" ??. Get onto John Collins via this site and check his p/ups out. Both Barry, Clive A, myself and Yogi have them installed and they are great p/ups.
With John you can mail him and get a set built to your own specifications and are a whole lot cheaper than Fender by far.
The set he made for me are a cross between the Fat 50's and true vintage. get your money back and talk to John.

Regards.
John

PS. You wont get him this weekend as he's down in Melbourne "Shadowing"

[loujones12]

Hi Pete. well i called the store and spoke to my buddie/salesman. told him about them and No problemo he said. money back. he spoke to the guitar tech in the store, and he said they definatley remember taking them out of a fender, and putting them in the box!! and the box and paperwork deffinatly say Fat 50? anyway as i say Money back no questions, even though i got them about 2 months ago.. so fair do's. regards lou..
Hi John. thanks for your reply. i did actualy look at his site. do you think they are as good or better than the 50's? i have installed the Noiseless Mod shop samariums. and i do like them. for the top end, as they dont sound as tinny/thin as regular pups. however the downside is they just don't seem to have that lovely bottom end tone. it's a little like You Can't have your cake and eat it?? but thats the problem I DO!!! Was gonna order the Kinsman pups?? but most guys are all in favour of the Fat 50's? not like buying a car eh! unless they got fenders in the store with these Pups? you gotta buy and install to find out? so its a little word of mouth we have.. again Guy's many thanks for all input... cheers lou