Long story shortened, I bought a 1968 Telecaster bass body and neck with some parts back in the mid 90s. Pretty certain it's a refinish and with an extra rout for a bridge pickup that I plugged but it came with a very dead original pickup.......or so I'm thinking?! I got it up and running with a blade pickup and it's stayed like that ever since but emboldened by a recent successful repair to my 68 Telecaster guitar pickup with a disconnected hookup wire I thought I'd have a go at the Tele Bass pickup as well............and also got it working!!!! The thing is the markings on it don't seem like any other I've googled so anybody have any idea if this pickup is original or not? Cheers
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1968 Telecaster Bass Pickup?
- Thread starter stu77
- Start date
Ah, that's good to know, thanks. Is 7499 a parts number then, not a date stamp as such?
The neckplate serial number makes my bass a 68 and the neck is stamped 23AUG68C so would that still be a correct pickup for late 68 or maybe it was replaced later?
Hi, thanks for the info. The bass neck and body are 1968 but if the pickup is a 1969 then it must have been replaced later. I'm glad it is an original though, that's what I really wanted to confirm. Cheers
Them 68 - 71 T bass pickups absolutely rule, enjoy the hell out of it.
I was actually shocked at how good it sounded after I got it working again! Sounds awesome.
With a tube head and a couple of 15's and flats if you're into em it's the closest any of us can get to that sweet sweet woody double bass tone. Even with rounds...
Not necessarily, the whole bass could have been put together in 69 with left over '68 body and neck and a “new” to production 69 pickup. Or the pickup was made in 68 but was slated to be used in the 69 releases but was used early.
Remember it only takes a day to go from 68 to 69
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Thanks to Stew Mac I found out that the first number in a date stamp isn't actually the day of manufacture it relates to the model number in fact and 23 = Telecaster bass. Here's the rundown of models (I wonder what models numbers 24-26 were, the Maverick and Swinger perhaps but that leaves one more?):
• 1 = Jaguar 1962-1965
• 2 = Stratocaster 1962-1965
• 3 = Telecaster
• 4 = Jazzmaster 1962-1965
• 5 = Precision Bass
• 6 = Bass VI
• 7 = Jazz Bass
• 8 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo-Sonic II 1964-1965 22 fret 24" scale model
• 9 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo-Sonic II 1964-1966 21 fret 22 1/4" scale Model.
• 10 = Coronado 1 and 2, and the occasional 1966 Jazzmaster and Stratocaster neck
• 11 = Bass V
• 12 = Electric 12 and Maverick/Custom model
• 13 = Stratocaster 1966-1968, also 1966 Jazzmasters
• 14 = Coronado 12
• 15 = Jaguar 1966-1972
• 16 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo sonic II, and Bronco
• 17 = Mustang Bass and MusicMaster Bass
• 18 = Coronado Bass
• 19 = Jazzmaster and Coronado 2
• 22 = Stratocaster 1968-1972
• 23 = Telecaster Bass
• 27 = Villager 12
• 28 = Shenandoah 12
Any more about the pickup? If the pickup is truly dead, I would send it to Tom Brantley. He used to work with Lindy Fralin before going out on his own. He has rewired or redone covers on several pickups for me, including rewinding a dead Squier Tele pickup that I had custom made as a split-coil humbucker that was DOA. He explained to me how the guy who made it did not put a proper base on the pickup, and it flexed and failed. He truly understands these pickups, having worked with Lindy, including understanding the value of fixing a vintage pickup if possible, rewind only if all else fails.
I actually managed to fix it myself! The connection between the coil and the hook up wire had broken and there was just enough left to scrape back the coating and re solder a new hook up wire to. I dropped some molten wax on the repair to try and keep it in place and it seems to have worked so far so all good and it sounds amazing, really snarly and gritty (in a good way)! Did people originally change these pickups out because they didn't work well at volume I wonder because I'm only playing at non stage level and I suspect they may feedback at higher volumes hence the need to swap to a P-bass humbucker pickup for less noise etc? Anyone had experience of this?Any more about the pickup? If the pickup is truly dead, I would send it to Tom Brantley. He used to work with Lindy Fralin before going out on his own. He has rewired or redone covers on several pickups for me, including rewinding a dead Squier Tele pickup that I had custom made as a split-coil humbucker that was DOA. He explained to me how the guy who made it did not put a proper base on the pickup, and it flexed and failed. He truly understands these pickups, having worked with Lindy, including understanding the value of fixing a vintage pickup if possible, rewind only if all else fails.
