'51 Nocaster pickups .. lack of volume from the neck

I have a set of C.S. '51 nocaster pickups on a recently finished partscaster. I dont know if its the nature of the beast but the neck pickup seems extremely weak and thin compared to the great sounding bridge pickup. I am not sure if its normal for there to be such a significant difference in volume between the two. The actual tone of the neck pickup is not bad, its just the complete lack of guts. I have various other Teles and the pickups on those are really well balanced in volume from neck to bridge. One of them has a twisted tele in the neck which is a great rhythm pickup. Am I expecting too much from the '51 ? The p/u heights are as recommended so I cant imagine that can be causing the problem. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a set of C.S. '51 nocaster pickups on a recently finished partscaster. I dont know if its the nature of the beast but the neck pickup seems extremely weak and thin compared to the great sounding bridge pickup. I am not sure if its normal for there to be such a significant difference in volume between the two. The actual tone of the neck pickup is not bad, its just the complete lack of guts. I have various other Teles and the pickups on those are really well balanced in volume from neck to bridge. One of them has a twisted tele in the neck which is a great rhythm pickup. Am I expecting too much from the '51 ? The p/u heights are as recommended so I cant imagine that can be causing the problem. Any advice would be appreciated.

I would sit and play around with your pickup heights if I were you....every guitar is different, what's recommended for most may not be what's best for yours...

Thanks Marc, I will have a play around with heights but the volume difference really is quite significant... still I guess its worth a go.

Thanks Marc, I will have a play around with heights but the volume difference really is quite significant... still I guess its worth a go.

Having the EXACT same problem with my set. Tried different heights and eventually decided that I'm yanking them for Rio Grande pickups.

that's not normal. the nocaster neck pickup sounds huge, loud and bright when functioning properly. if anything, it has to be set lower than most neck pickups so it doesn't overpower the bridge. check your wiring.

that's not normal. the nocaster neck pickup sounds huge, loud and bright when functioning properly. if anything, it has to be set lower than most neck pickups so it doesn't overpower the bridge. check your wiring.

That's how my Nocaster set sounded 3 years ago. This set is nowhere near as good as that set. Wondering if they've done something different since then. The neck I remember was round, loud and gritty, and the bridge had a nice grind to it as well. This set that I have now has a super hot bridge (at various heights) and the neck is "wimpy" with varying heights as well. Not very happy with this set. Had the wiring doubled checked as well.

Make sure you did not get the wires connected out of phase. That sucks the life out of one of the two on a tele. I just went throught this the other day. Reversed the wires on the pickup and....power was back on.

And as always, measure DC resistance to make sure there isn't a short in the coil. I think both should measure something around 7k.

that's not normal. the nocaster neck pickup sounds huge, loud and bright when functioning properly. if anything, it has to be set lower than most neck pickups so it doesn't overpower the bridge. check your wiring.

Well that's telling me my pickup isn't performing as it should ... All a have to do now is to find out why. Thanks everyone for your comments.

Coil is shorted.

Coil is shorted.

that was my first thought too, but didn't want to come across too bold. but now that you did, +1.

that was my first thought too, but didn't want to come across too bold. but now that you did, +1.

Thanks very much ... Pickup removed and checked out by a pal of mine and it seems that the unit is faulty. I will return it to the supplier and try to get a replacement. In the meantime I have bought a twisted tele off the bay which should be with me in a couple of days. I will use that for the time being. Thanks all for your help.

I had exactly the same problem with mine last year...

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/302689-quiet-thin-nocaster-neck-pickup.html

I had exactly the same problem with mine last year...

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/302689-quiet-thin-nocaster-neck-pickup.html

Yikes. There goes any future Fender pickup purchase for me...glad to hear they resolved it though.

To their credit, they resolved it quickly, without quibble, and outside of my 28 days. I'll buy Fender again (and I'm a right mardy customer as a rule).

To their credit, they resolved it quickly, without quibble, and outside of my 28 days. I'll buy Fender again (and I'm a right mardy customer as a rule).

Well I bought this set from Cooks band instrument in Norwich (UK) so will pop back there and report back on the outcome. They are usually a very good firm to deal with. Watch this space ....

Hmmm - bit of a coincidence, isn't it? Wonder if it was a duff batch. FWIW, it was Fender who did the exchange, rather than DV247 (who I bought them from). If you don't get any joy, bung me a PM, and I'll give you the contact details of the fella I spoke to at Fender.

Had it happen last year I suspect that the packaging is at fault.

Hmmm - bit of a coincidence, isn't it? Wonder if it was a duff batch. FWIW, it was Fender who did the exchange, rather than DV247 (who I bought them from). If you don't get any joy, bung me a PM, and I'll give you the contact details of the fella I spoke to at Fender.

Thanks very much Benecol I will do that anyway .. handy to have a contact just in case.

Glad you got a replacement!

There's something that people tend to forget: Pickups are very fragile. Handle with care.:grin:

Glad you got a replacement!

There's something that people tend to forget: Pickups are very fragile. Handle with care.:grin:

Good point .. you do tend to think pickups are indestructible ... Of course they're not. By the way the replacement twisted tele sounds great. May well stick with that for the time being anyway.

Another bum neck Nocaster here. Seems to be shorted out new out of the box.
I will contact the supplier tomorrow.

Mark

Another bum neck Nocaster here. Seems to be shorted out new out of the box.
I will contact the supplier tomorrow.

Mark

Looking like a possible bad batch ? .. bad luck.

Received the replacement Nocaster set. The neck pu is bad!!! Same as the first one, open circuit. What the hey is going on?? In both cases the pu's were brand new, factory sealed sets. Maybe I'll just get a refund and try something else...

Mark

Received the replacement Nocaster set. The neck pu is bad!!! Same as the first one, open circuit. What the hey is going on?? In both cases the pu's were brand new, factory sealed sets. Maybe I'll just get a refund and try something else...

Mark

This is just weird!

Received the replacement Nocaster set. The neck pu is bad!!! Same as the first one, open circuit. What the hey is going on?? In both cases the pu's were brand new, factory sealed sets. Maybe I'll just get a refund and try something else...

Mark

Holy cow - that's INSANE. Has to be a bad batch, and we're all victims. :lol:

I had a set 5-6 yrs ago and had the same prob.
Neck was weak inspite of adjustments. Truly unbalaced with bridge pup.

Luthier wired it correctly, plus there were no inherent probs with the pup.

Bought a brand new set last week.
Neck pickup sound was weak and lack of bottom end.
Measured the DC resistance and it was way over 10Meg.
I send the broken pickup back to my supplier.
Waiting for a replacement pickup.
Right now I have an Esquire :-)

It seems that Fender has some quality issues with this type of pickup.
My supplier told me he had several returns last month.

Bridge PU sounds killer By the way.

I would sit and play around with your pickup heights if I were you....every guitar is different, what's recommended for most may not be what's best for yours...

You says what I thinx

Maybe I'm lucky but my N.ocaster neck PU balances nicely w. the bridge PU. It sounds very open and loud.
However it is very different to most neck PU which I like a lot. It is lean, tight and appears to be clear and even trebly. It feels somewhat hollow in the middle frequencies and it brings up some woody vibe.
Maybe it's just that what puzzles those who expect it to be similar to most neck PUs. To me this PU in combination w. my 67 Tele is the ultimatN combination. However if your guitar's bass response is lean as it is mostly the case w. many contemporary guitars, then the Nocaster neck PU could sound indeed anemic.
Many if not most orig. Blackguards sound stronger and more profound in bass response and all over vibrancy than most today's Telecaster planks. If Fender had used one of those old BG to develop and calibrate a Nocaster neck PU , then this PU most likely is going to sound different, probably somewhat anemic. I hope the issiues some of you have are just a Fender quality issiue that can be solved. Otherwise other neck PU might be more suitable to your particular guitar.

One of you among the aggrieved needs to send fender a link to this thread and alert them to your anecdotal QC concerns. It's looking bad.

Well, my supplier attended fender europe about this problem.
It's defenitly not a typical BG pickup sound.
When the volume difference is about 60% in compare with the bridge pickup and the sound can be described as a piezo pickup into a amplifier with the bass tone on zero, there is something wrong with the pickup.
Also the resistance is measured way higher than it should be (10meg instead of 7.3k)

Well, my supplier attended fender europe about this problem.
It's defenitly not a typical BG pickup sound.
When the volume difference is about 60% in compare with the bridge pickup and the sound can be described as a piezo pickup into a amplifier with the bass tone on zero, there is something wrong with the pickup.
Also the resistance is measured way higher than it should be (10meg instead of 7.3k)

Last week I recieved a new neck pickup.
I measured 7.2k and installed it into my partscaster.
Awesome sound! It blew me away.
Nothing beats a good Fender pickup (and service)!!