1958 Tele bridge pickup issues

[takauya]

I believe magnets make a huge difference in tone, so it'd be a no brainer for me.

 

[Adam Wolfaardt]

Yeah the more I think about it, I'm leaning towards a replacement and putting the broken pickup away.

I would get it rewound. It will sound better than any new pickup and it will be the original pickup. Keeping it in a box just seems silly

 

[txflood]

The bent top is not an issue... I have seen many (still functional as well as rewoundl) 50's pickups with curved tops. It's also not likely to be the cause of the pickup breaking.

I was looking through my copy of "The Beauty of the 'Burst" and the author has some interesting theories in the back of the book on the unique tones of PAF humbuckers. One of the points that he discusses that I think also applies here to single coils as well is in a section called Bobbin shrinkage and distortion.

He makes the case that the tension from 5,000+ turns of the winding will tend to distort the bobbin on both ends with age. This results in a decrease in tension which in turn "contributes to the increased high harmonic content of the tone".

The book also has a diagram showing the bobbins deforming outwardly (top and bottom) on the ends.

 

[naneek]

In my experience extensive rust on one the outer magnet poles indicates the coming end of the pickup unfortunately. The corroded pole piece destroys the coil wire from the inside eventually.

Rust is NOT a problem. Note the extended middle poles.

meanwhile, seymour duncan charges a premium for deliberately rusty polepieces on their antiquity pickups. Genius planned obsolescence strategy? Or not a big deal after all?

I have an unused antiquity 1950 fender lap steel pickup with deliberately rusted polepieces. It appears to be sealed with lacquer.

a simple solution for extending the life of rusty polepiece pickups could be a thin coat of lacquer on the exterior to seal the rust and slow or stop the oxidation process?

 

[Antoon]

Rust on the top on itself is no problem but it is an indicator for rust on the inside of the pickup, and that it has been exposed to moisture for an extended time. Not good.

 

[derekwarner]

Could I suggest that the individual 6 x magnetic [hi-iron] pole pieces from the Fender pickup have not rusted, but have attracted iron oxide particles courtesy of corrosion of the bridge plate

Simple ....fact!

Derek