Did Fender change their P pickups between 62 and 77?

[thedudebrah]

I have a 77 P that had active EMG's in it when I bought it. I'm a passive guy, so I swapped them out with some spare pups from an old squier and I don't feel that the instrument is at it's full potential right now.

I'm aware of the Fender original 62 replacement pickups, but I'm wondering how much they're different from an actual 77 pickup, sound wise. If they are different, which aftermarket replacements would get me closest to that sound without buying pickups from another 77 P? Original replacements are a little out of my price range right now.

[JimmyM]

They are quite different. The 62 has rounded pole pieces, the 77 has flat magnet pole pieces. Soundwise, I think the 70's pickups aren't as beefy in the lows as the 62 nor quite as bright on the top end. Been my experience straight down the line with them. For that reason I'd go 62.

[thedudebrah]

Any aftermarket companies offering anything close to a 70s pickup? I'm looking on eBay and 70s pickups aren't as expensive as I thought. I guess I have more options than I thought.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Yes they did. The 60s pickups were wound with heavy Formvar wire, and were wound hotter. So as Jimmy said, they have more lows and less highs.

The 70s pickups were wound with plain enamel wire, and then later poly nylon wire, and aren't wound as hot, so they are brighter.

Actually I said I thought the 62 had MORE highs But you have way more experience with pickups than I do, so I defer to your judgment.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Actually I said I thought the 62 had MORE highs But you have way more experience with pickups than I do, so I defer to your judgment.

You know I was thinking Jazz pickups and not P pickups... so nevermind!

[JimmyM]

Way to work in a plug, bro

Anyway, that sounds logical to me.

[thedudebrah]

So here I was thinking original pickups were way out of my price range, and I ended up finding a working set with harness, pots and jack on eBay for 154 bucks. Should be here by next week!

[ko stradivarius]

Originally Posted by thedudebrah

So here I was thinking original pickups were way out of my price range, and I ended up finding a working set with harness, pots and jack on eBay for 154 bucks. Should be here by next week!

I hope that wasnt the set that had the oem pots/jack but (located in fine print) unknown pickups since the solder was wonky.

[thedudebrah]

Originally Posted by ko stradivarius

I hope that wasnt the set that had the oem pots/jack but (located in fine print) unknown pickups since the solder was wonky.

The ones I grabbed said they were working fine and ready to bolt in. The seller also had 99% feedback. We shall see.

[ko stradivarius]

Originally Posted by thedudebrah

The ones I grabbed said they were working fine and ready to bolt in. The seller also had 99% feedback. We shall see.

I dont mean to sound like a jerk I just hope you get what youre hoping it is.

[Danelectrofy]

It has been my experience that the DiMarzio P-pickups have all the low grunt and all the highs of both the 60's and 70's pickups. I replaced both my 60's era pickups and later with DiMarzios. Not plugging them specifically but that has been the way I rolled.

That being said, I have an 82 Hamer Cruise Bass, Version one with original 1982 DiMarzio pickups that absolutely roars.

[thedudebrah]

Originally Posted by ko stradivarius

I dont mean to sound like a jerk I just hope you get what youre hoping it is.

It's all good. I hope so too, i know ebay is always a risk.

If we're talking about the same ones, one of the foam spacers is fused to the bottom of the pickup and they said they couldn't inspect it. To me, that meant that they just couldn't physically look at the bottom of the pickup. I'll be bumping this thread with either joy or disappointment when they get here lol

[thedudebrah]

Originally Posted by Danelectrofy

It has been my experience that the DiMarzio P-pickups have all the low grunt and all the highs of both the 60's and 70's pickups. I replaced both my 60's era pickups and later with DiMarzios. Not plugging them specifically but that has been the way I rolled.

That being said, I have an 82 Hamer Cruise Bass, Version one with original 1982 DiMarzio pickups that absolutely roars.

I'll keep this in mind! Thank you.

[9mmMike]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Yes they did. The 60s pickups were wound with heavy Formvar wire, and were wound hotter. So as Jimmy said, they have more lows and less highs.

The 70s pickups were wound with plain enamel wire, and then later poly nylon wire, and aren't wound as hot, so they are brighter.

So the current "Fender Originals" sometimes called "62 Originals" are wound with the heavy wire like the '60's?

[TN WOODMAN]

Picked up a used ESP Vintage 4 last year. Previous owner had swapped out the Duncan hots for an original EMG P/J set.

Always thought of myself as a passive guy and assumed I's swap to something passive. Surprise ! I'm actually digging the EMGs and plan on leaving them since I have another ESP/LTD Vintage 204 P/J with '62 original p and duncan vintage jazz and a 50s classic p for passive tones.

Just saying maybe you could have given the EMGs a chance to grow on you. In the P/J set the volume was more balanced than you usually see in P/J config.

[thedudebrah]

So I got the pickups in the mail yesterday. Put them in today and got everything set up...wow what a difference! Well balanced, warm and fat, yet the highs are punchy without being harsh. I'm glad I gambled because it paid off!

[9mmMike]

What pickups did you get? I mean do you know what year they are from?

[thedudebrah]

I grabbed an original 77 set from eBay. Pickups, pots, jack and original wiring.

[narud]

Originally Posted by 9mmMike

So the current "Fender Originals" sometimes called "62 Originals" are wound with the heavy wire like the '60's?

Pre CBS bass pickups weren't heavy formvar (the strats were) and the current reissue pickup is plain enamel.

[SGD Lutherie]

The pre CBS pickups weren't plain enamel. But what did they use?

Here's a set of '65 Jazz pickups:



Here's a '76 Jazz with plain enamel:



Note that plain enamel is a dark purple/brown color. Heavy formvar is a burnt orange color. Uncolored SPN (Solderable Poly Nylon) is a pinkish copper color. Colored magnet wire is often red.



These colors are easier to see in person. In the photo the formvar and poly look closer in color.

Find the Formvar in this photo:

(Lower right is single build formvar. Middle bottom is red SPN. The other two are natural colored SPN. The big roll is heavy poly)

The '65s Jazz set above could be formvar, judging from the color. But not necessarily heavy build insulation. I don't think fender used poly nylon until more recently. I'm not even sure when that insulation was introduced. Fender used what ever was available, and was cheap! Formvar and plain enamel were common types of magnet wire insulation at the time.

Some sources say the pre CBS bass pickups might have used bondable magnet wire. Other sources seem to say it's heavy formvar (as used by a lot of the repro pickups on the market). Personally I don't have the answer.