FENDER STRATOCASTER 70s PICKUPS

This page is definately a work in progress and I’m doing it mostly for the fun of it. DO not hold this page as a defacto reference because I’m basing the info on all the historic pickup information I’m finding and doing a Meta Analysis of them. As with the internet, bad info can be propagated but I tried to use different sources and more than one post to try to nail down the truth. One thing that’s for sure, these guys command ridiculous values.

If the wires are not BLACK and WHITE they have likely been rewired, or at least new wires soldered on. And, as long as I talk about rewinding, be on the watch for that one.

Enjoy the fruits of my labor and I welcome any input or photos of YOUR Stratocaster pickups on your 70s Stratocaster!!

NOTE: I have a rating of C1 to C5 on the confidence level of this information – C1 means very little confidence C5 means high confidence

Pickup Identification Overview

Identifying Fender pickups ranges from an easy to a difficult job at times. These pages are a labor of love for sure! I focus on the newer Fender pickups for now. NOTE: This information is subject to change and I’m updating it all the time as I run into new or conflicting information all the time, so more pickups are getting added and the editorial comments are getting updated constantly. And of course, they keep making new models!

FIGURING OUT PICKUPS

A great place to start is here: Fender Pickup Check List Fender typically has no “set” look for their pickups and often no number scheme or another unique identifier written on the pickup itself, usually the number of the pickup represents some or all the SKU when it does exist, but not always are all the numbers written or even written on them at all. The best way to identify them is often by looks and measurements combined. That said, some pickups, like the noiseless ones, are very easy to identify other can be dog gone hard. Bottoms, Wires and such make it a complete detective project at times because Fender would use whatever pickups they had on guitars in some cases so an MIM could show up with higher end pickups, or test runs, etc.

Big Picture Info

Don’t be fooled – The “Number” on the back of the pickup is usually a middle number in the actually part number or part of the part number, and this may change over time for the same model of pickup. Sometimes it’s rock solid so examine with caution.
The number that is “molded” into the plastic is a BOBBIN NUMBER and is used over and over in different pickups. That just the plastic part number and is worthless for identifying pickups.
The resistance values are approx. and can vary up to 10% in some cases or even more. The DCR are a guideline, not an absolute but in some cases they are very close.
Pay attention to the stock wires used.
Pay attention to the staggering on the poles.
DCR is only PART of the sonic equation!!

INDUCTANCE Inductance varies by the frequency used to measure the inductance and the technique used. The recommendation is to use 120Hz and make sure you measure using SERIES mode. This will get you values very close to what Fender publishes and the difference at that point should be the actual pickup. Q VALUES The Q Value (the width of the frequency notch) changes by measurement frequency and since the Q on pickups is quite wide, expect a 0.3 ish value and use 120Hz the same as you use for inductance measurements. GAUSS I don’t have a lot of Gauss readings but see my Magnetic Pole info page. Note that most Guass meters measure in Telsa, just multiply by 10 to get Gauss.

Links to Pages for Different Fender Pickups

Last Page Update:2024.02.20

Contents hide

Dating

from another website

“…OOWWYY Example: 202378 – It is believed the first two digits are an operator designation for the person operating the pickup winder, this according to Abigail Ybarra herself. The second pair of digits are the week, but I have seen one example where the second digits were 72. The third pair of digits are definately known to refer to the year. In this example the pickups were wound by operator #20 in the 23rd week of 1978. Some late 70s (and apparently quite genuine) Strats also seem to have YYOOWW-format codes. This was spotted with 1979 Strats in particular…:”

Bobbins

Pickups bobbins on 1970’s Fenders are made of a gray fiber material, nicknamed “gray bottoms”. These were used until sometime in 1980 when they switched to black plastic with the number 016730 stamped into the base. Note that the pole pieces are flush to the covers on pickups of these guitars and that metal springs instead of rubber tubing is used for the height screws

1972-1974

These are pretty similar to the later version but there is one major change which was these are STAGGERED but the 1975+ ones are flat.

These got wacky, I was searching for them and many of them did NOT have 72 at the end of the number but had 82 and other strange values. This is what I mean, when your looking, where is the consistency? Are these simply wrong?

1973

5.72K (Bridge) – 5.69K (Middle) and 6.2 K (Neck)

Full numbers: 263673, 263573, 193573 (different winder neck pickup)

1974

5.5K – 5.6K – 5.5K

1975 To 1978+

These pickups are approximately the same value. In other words, no special position required. Personally, I see no magic here and a LOT of unknowns.

NOTE: I have a rating of C1 to C5 on the confidence level of this information – C1 means very little confidence C5 means high confidence

Spec:

No Bevel, cut flat – C5
No Stagger – C5
Older than 1975 MIGHT be staggered – the 75 and 76 I saw are NOT staggered
Black and White leads all of them – C5
Gray Bottom – C5
Plastic Wire (not cloth) – C5
Black Enamel Wire – C5

Real measurements Since these are the same, this are all variance values. The range is wide but they are from about 5.6 to 6 DCR – Inductance is unknown until I get a set in my hands that I trust.

These could vary through the years but that data is known.