Identifying the Fender Custom Shop pickups

[Kontaktmoi]

We all know the famous pickup winders but there seem to be some new people that are popping up and I am interested in associating a name with the Initials on the pickups, maybe we can discover or unearth the next superstar. So, I have a CS Strat '54 built in 2014 ( 60th year Anniversary of the Stratocaster) as part of the Golden 50s collection. And that guitar sounds out-of-this-world good. The initials are YS.

Now, to mind comes of course Yuriy Shishkov but he is a Master Builder.

Let the games begin.

 

[archetype]

The initials are SY. I have no clue who or what they mean.

 

[Kontaktmoi]

The initials are SY. I have no clue who or what they mean.

EXACTLY!! That's why I started this thread!

 

[Fenderdad1950]

The green initials on the neck flat look like J.C. if you turn it upside down. The reason I say this is because some people put a dot following the letter

 

[Kontaktmoi]

The green initials on the neck flat look like J.C. if you turn it upside down. The reason I say this is because some people put a dot following the letter

Yes that is correct.

I just showed this to see if anybody might see a connection between the person who signed the pickups and the other signatures on the guitar. So we know it's a JC guitar. Anybody got a hint or suggestion on the SY on the pickups??

BTW I measured the Impedance of each of them, they are as follows
Neck 5.68
Middle 5.74
Bridge 5.73
So they are low ( as all pickups in the 50s used to be I think), amazingly good, great response and attack to the picker, even and not peaky / ice picky!

 

[archetype]

EXACTLY!! That's why I started this thread!

My point was that the letters are SY and not YS.

 

[Kontaktmoi]

My point was that the letters are SY and not YS.

But.... in Europe it is not uncommon that documents and signatures START WITH THE LAST NAME FIRST AND FIRST NAME LAST. Hence my suggestion YS might be Yuriy Shishkov. Yuriy happens to be from Europe..

 

[archetype]

But.... in Europe it is not uncommon that documents and signatures START WITH THE LAST NAME FIRST AND FIRST NAME LAST. Hence my suggestion YS might be Yuriy Shishkov. Yuriy happens to be from Europe..

Could be, if it is initials.

 

[65 Champ Amp]

I'd be happy if Fender would at least label the base of the pickups with what kind they are. '58, '62, Texas Special, Black Guard, etc.
Not all that interested in who twisted them up, presuming they stuck with that formula of what kind of pickup it's advertised as being.

I suspect that their reticence toward labeling pickups comes from their habit of making changes. Undocumented, mysterious changes. Try to document when they were using A2, A3, or A5 in the "same" pickups.

 

[telemnemonics]

I have vintage Fender pickups wound by whoever was in the Fender factory, vintage Fender pickups rewound by the Fralin shop, vintage Fender pickups rewound by anonymous, new CS pickups wound by whoever was in the CS, modern non CS Fender pickups and aftermarket pickups.

My sense is that the person winding the coil can do a great, good or not good job, but no winder can put magic into the coil.

We do have a collectible factor behind names like AY who wound vintage pickups, and TG who shaped vintage necks. Then we have celebrity CS builders.

WRT who wound CS pickups, I hope it's just a way to pass the time, and not yet another way to confuse the public with tales of magical powers driving up prices of simple parts.

I would however get behind demanding the CS properly ID pickups they sell at fairly high prices.
The lack of identification on the pickups makes them almost worthless on the used market, because a black fiber bobbin Strat pickup could be from GFS, FCS, Duncan or billy bob ebayer.

 

[uriah1]

Possibly 57/62 based on reading.

 

[Kontaktmoi]

Possibly 57/62 based on reading.

YUP.. that could be it.... 5.7 K Ohms!! Just a way to identify, sort and match up the pickups... not a signature at all! I live with that Doctor!

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

I think uriah1 meant that the resistance readings suggest your pickups are the older Fender 57/62s that have been available for at least 15-20 years and were used in the AVRI Strats. However, your guitar is a 2014 Relic '54 and I doubt Fender would put those common pickups in a more expensive guitar when they have newer and better pickup models like the Custom 54s. But they probably aren't Custom 54s either since the bridge resistance isn't greater than the neck and middle. The nominal resistances of Custom 54s are 5.9/5.9/6.5k for the N/M/B pickups. They could be a "custom" Custom Shop set for the Anniversary model, it's not hard to add or subtract windings and come up with a slightly different set. In 1954, Fender pickups were handwound to the same specification and the resistances were not measured before they went into a Strat.

Regarding the "initials" on the pickups, this is not unusual as my vintage '65 Strat had its pickups signed by the not-so-famous winder 54 years ago. In your case, I think "Sy" wound them, his nickname.

 

[Kontaktmoi]

I think uriah1 meant that the resistance readings suggest your pickups are the older Fender 57/62s that have been available for at least 15-20 years and were used in the AVRI Strats. However, your guitar is a 2014 Relic '54 and I doubt Fender would put those common pickups in a more expensive guitar when they have newer and better pickup models like the Custom 54s. But they probably aren't Custom 54s either since the bridge resistance isn't greater than the neck and middle. The nominal resistances of Custom 54s are 5.9/5.9/6.5k for the N/M/B pickups. They could be a "custom" Custom Shop set for the Anniversary model, it's not hard to add or subtract windings and come up with a slightly different set. In 1954, Fender pickups were handwound to the same specification and the resistances were not measured before they went into a Strat.

Regarding the "initials" on the pickups, this is not unusual as my vintage '65 Strat had its pickups signed by the not-so-famous winder 54 years ago. In your case, I think "Sy" wound them, his nickname.

Intrigue..... keeps me happy...! Thanks for the input.. They are clearly low(est) impedance which makes "that sound" I was playing that Strat last night and my wife commented on the "sweet, mellow,clear and spacious sound" . I was playing through my Princeton '65 reissue with a Weber K 150 Speaker and a little bit of Katana clean boost in front and reverb on 3 and tremolo always-on barely audible from the amp. Happy.!