Where's the growl? US vintage/Broadcaster

[carlos]

Hi,
Pickup swapping may be an uncertain journey...
I've swapped a Fender US Vintage bridge pup (Japanese Tele stock) for a SD Broadcaster to get a bit more of that growl and midrange people talk about, but I've ended up with less of both. The USV has a bit more midrange and bass, highs are similar. Difference is subtle but I can notice it (I've A/Bd with 2 guitars)

I expected the Broadcaster to be different and more middy than USV pup. Could it be that this particular BRCSTR is less hot than average? I've noticed the USV weighs more (more winds?) than the BRDCSTR and that the body of the winding -plus the warping- takes up more space. Still I haven't measured pickup resistance. It's not that it sounds bad, but it feels more like what I believe a SD Vintage 54 should sound.

Any thoughts, similar experiences? Thanks

[carlos]

One last thing. Are US Vintage pickups (mounted in Japanese Fenders) and Original Vintage pups the same pickups?

[Darrell]

The 54 has staggard poles...I would measure the resistance of the pup you have.

[carlos]

I have measurements:
-Broadcaster 7.85K
-US Vintage 6.74K

I expected to obtain a lower reading from this Duncan as it sounds colder and more trebly. When cranked and chording, the US Vintage produces a fuller, warmer and more snarling sound. It's not a day and night difference but you can notice it. The thing is I thought it should be the other way around, that the BRDCSTR should be warmer and more snarling than the US Vintage...

[Darrell]

AAAAA...did you flip the leads. Duncan's run the opposite polarity than Fenders. You could be out of phase. Once you do this, you need to check your 2 and 3 position too.

[Scotland]

Originally Posted by Darrell

AAAAA...did you flip the leads. Duncan's run the opposite polarity than Fenders. You could be out of phase. Once you do this, you need to check your 2 and 3 position too.

The bridge pickup on its own would sound the same either way as will the neck but the two together (mid pos.) will sound very thin, honky and low volume.

[carlos]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darrell
AAAAA...did you flip the leads. Duncan's run the opposite polarity than Fenders. You could be out of phase. Once you do this, you need to check your 2 and 3 position too.

I thought about that too, wired it out of phase on purpose to check and noticed the bridge pup was not affected, just the middle position, as Scotland points out. The pickup seems to be properly set.

[RockinCarl]

Its not about how high the DC resistance is to get the "growl." I've used and wound many low DC resistance pickups (5.9k-6.9k) that had that midrange growl. Its all about the winding pattern.

[carlos]

RockinCarl

Its all about the winding pattern.

It seems so. I guess sometimes it may be like the lottery, because the impression I've gathered here is that they were a bit warmer than Original Vintage 52RI pups (I understand these are the same as the 'US Vintage' in CIJ 52 teles)