Post by antigua on Dec 4, 2016 22:40:03 GMT -5
www.amazon.com/Fender-60th-Anniversary-Strat-Pickups/dp/B00K2FP9FY
In 2014, Fender released a "1954 60th Anniversary Stratocaster" along with the custom pickups that were special to the model. The really neat thing about the set was that it featured AlNiCo 3 magnets, and vintage style covers with rounded off edges. Though the cover was said to be made of polystyrene, maybe it is or isn't, but it looks and feels like ordinary plastic to me. All three pickups are identical, no RW/RP, and the inductance measured only a few millihenries apart from one another. They supposedly only made 1,954 sets, but two years later the set is still available on Amazon.
Shockingly, the stagger is "modern", as in, a "G" pole that is a lot lower than the "D" pole. See the pic below. Of all the sets for Fender to apply a modern twist to, this should be the last on their list, I'd think. Who makes these decisions? Why do they make these decisions?
The specs put these pickups at 2.6H inductance, 6.0k resistance, an unloaded peak in the 8k range, and loaded peak around 3.85kHz. Hotter sets such as the Texas Specials measure closer to 3.5kHz, while cooler sets such as the 57/62's measure above 4kHz, so this set lands nicely in the middle. Very few other Strat sets feature AlNiCo 3 poles, so even though their electrical values might be average, their magnetic circuit makes the set less than ordinary. The Tonerider Surfari set also features AlNiCo 3 pole pieces, and has very similar electrical values all around.
Of the other Fender sets I've tested, the Pure Vintage '65 set comes the closest, though it features AlNiCo 5 poles. The "Pure Vintage '56" set also appears to use AlNiCo 3, and might have very similar specs, and are for sale from various retailers, but they are no longer listed on Fender's site. And Fender, bent on making us question reality every change they get, has a newer set called the "Custom Shop 54", which features AlNiCo 5 poles. The pickups reviewed here have "54" written on the bottoms, so unless someone has a Gaussmeter handy, eventually someone is not going to know what they have in their hands.
Specs:
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #1
DC Resistance: 5.98K
Inductance: 2.577H
Calculated C: 134pF (144-10)
Coil width: 0.5350"
Resonant Peak: dV: 12.6dB f: 8.27kHz (black)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.1dB f: 3.81kHz (red)
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #2
DC Resistance: 6.04K
Inductance: 2.574H
Calculated C: 122pF (132-10)
Coil width: .5300"
Resonant Peak: dV: 12.2dB f: 8.65kHz (green)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.3dB f: 3.81kHz (gray)
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #3
DC Resistance: 6.09K
Inductance: 2.572H
Calculated C: 122pF (132-10)
Coil width: 0.5370"
Resonant Peak: dV: 13.0dB f: 8.65kHz (pink)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.5dB f: 3.85kHz (black)
Pole piece flux density: 525G - 600G
Bode plot:
AlNiCo 3 vs. AlNiCo 5
AlNiCo 3 has only about half the flux density of AlNiCo 5. AlNiCo 3 was chosen for cost reasons in the 50's, as it contains no expensive cobalt in the alloy, and so it is considered to a cheaper, less efficient grade of AlNiCo, but there is nothing cheap about the sound that is to be had from them.
It's hard to generalize how the sets with AlNiCo 3 differ from the sets with AlNiCo 5. I went back and forth between the set in question, and the PV 65's, which I measured out as having very similar RLC values, and I'd say the AlNiCo 5 PV 65's have more presence, a piano like "clang" in the attack, and a more "scooped" disposition. If I lower the Pure Vintage 65's really low, like down to the pick guard, all of those qualities largely go away, and they sound a lot like the 60th Anniversary 1954's.
I took some pictures illustrating how low the AlNiCo 5 poles has to be set in order to measure an equivalent Gauss strength of the AlNiCo 3 at the string's level:
Gaussmeter measuring 250G over the AlNiCo 3 pole, narrow distance, about 2mm:
Gaussmeter measuring 250G over the AlNiCo 5 pole, wider distance, about 5mm, pickup is nearly flush with the pick guard:
This goes to show that in order to approximate the flux density of AlNiCo 3 with AlNiCo 5 pickups, you have to drop em like their hot, probably more than most Stratists would find visually acceptable. Even if the case were made that AlNiCo 3 is really just AlNiCo 5 + distance, there would be an aesthetic case to be made for a weaker pole piece.
AlNiCo 3 is more conductive and permeable than AlNiCo 5, so it increases the inductance and lowers the Q of the pickup's coil a tiny bit, but even beyond that, some believe that magnets, different grades of AlNiCos have a "tonal footprint", that the differences go beyond mere Gauss strength, owing to the complex mysteries of magnetism, but when I do this test, if I lower the PV 65's right down to the pick guard, they sound very much like the AlNiCo 3 60th Anniversaries to my ears. I do hear a difference: the same difference. It so happens that I've never seen anyone on the 'net who both believes in the magic tonal qualities of magnets, while also seeming to have a good understanding of how magnets work. I just don't see those two things go hand in hand, ever.
Some have said Texas Specials sound really good when lowered down to the pick guard, so would Texas Specials with AlNiCo 3 poles be a winner?
Pics:
Modern "G" stagger:
In 2014, Fender released a "1954 60th Anniversary Stratocaster" along with the custom pickups that were special to the model. The really neat thing about the set was that it featured AlNiCo 3 magnets, and vintage style covers with rounded off edges. Though the cover was said to be made of polystyrene, maybe it is or isn't, but it looks and feels like ordinary plastic to me. All three pickups are identical, no RW/RP, and the inductance measured only a few millihenries apart from one another. They supposedly only made 1,954 sets, but two years later the set is still available on Amazon.
Shockingly, the stagger is "modern", as in, a "G" pole that is a lot lower than the "D" pole. See the pic below. Of all the sets for Fender to apply a modern twist to, this should be the last on their list, I'd think. Who makes these decisions? Why do they make these decisions?
The specs put these pickups at 2.6H inductance, 6.0k resistance, an unloaded peak in the 8k range, and loaded peak around 3.85kHz. Hotter sets such as the Texas Specials measure closer to 3.5kHz, while cooler sets such as the 57/62's measure above 4kHz, so this set lands nicely in the middle. Very few other Strat sets feature AlNiCo 3 poles, so even though their electrical values might be average, their magnetic circuit makes the set less than ordinary. The Tonerider Surfari set also features AlNiCo 3 pole pieces, and has very similar electrical values all around.
Of the other Fender sets I've tested, the Pure Vintage '65 set comes the closest, though it features AlNiCo 5 poles. The "Pure Vintage '56" set also appears to use AlNiCo 3, and might have very similar specs, and are for sale from various retailers, but they are no longer listed on Fender's site. And Fender, bent on making us question reality every change they get, has a newer set called the "Custom Shop 54", which features AlNiCo 5 poles. The pickups reviewed here have "54" written on the bottoms, so unless someone has a Gaussmeter handy, eventually someone is not going to know what they have in their hands.
Specs:
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #1
DC Resistance: 5.98K
Inductance: 2.577H
Calculated C: 134pF (144-10)
Coil width: 0.5350"
Resonant Peak: dV: 12.6dB f: 8.27kHz (black)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.1dB f: 3.81kHz (red)
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #2
DC Resistance: 6.04K
Inductance: 2.574H
Calculated C: 122pF (132-10)
Coil width: .5300"
Resonant Peak: dV: 12.2dB f: 8.65kHz (green)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.3dB f: 3.81kHz (gray)
Fender 60th Anniversary 1954 #3
DC Resistance: 6.09K
Inductance: 2.572H
Calculated C: 122pF (132-10)
Coil width: 0.5370"
Resonant Peak: dV: 13.0dB f: 8.65kHz (pink)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.5dB f: 3.85kHz (black)
Pole piece flux density: 525G - 600G
Bode plot:
AlNiCo 3 vs. AlNiCo 5
AlNiCo 3 has only about half the flux density of AlNiCo 5. AlNiCo 3 was chosen for cost reasons in the 50's, as it contains no expensive cobalt in the alloy, and so it is considered to a cheaper, less efficient grade of AlNiCo, but there is nothing cheap about the sound that is to be had from them.
It's hard to generalize how the sets with AlNiCo 3 differ from the sets with AlNiCo 5. I went back and forth between the set in question, and the PV 65's, which I measured out as having very similar RLC values, and I'd say the AlNiCo 5 PV 65's have more presence, a piano like "clang" in the attack, and a more "scooped" disposition. If I lower the Pure Vintage 65's really low, like down to the pick guard, all of those qualities largely go away, and they sound a lot like the 60th Anniversary 1954's.
I took some pictures illustrating how low the AlNiCo 5 poles has to be set in order to measure an equivalent Gauss strength of the AlNiCo 3 at the string's level:
Gaussmeter measuring 250G over the AlNiCo 3 pole, narrow distance, about 2mm:
Gaussmeter measuring 250G over the AlNiCo 5 pole, wider distance, about 5mm, pickup is nearly flush with the pick guard:
This goes to show that in order to approximate the flux density of AlNiCo 3 with AlNiCo 5 pickups, you have to drop em like their hot, probably more than most Stratists would find visually acceptable. Even if the case were made that AlNiCo 3 is really just AlNiCo 5 + distance, there would be an aesthetic case to be made for a weaker pole piece.
AlNiCo 3 is more conductive and permeable than AlNiCo 5, so it increases the inductance and lowers the Q of the pickup's coil a tiny bit, but even beyond that, some believe that magnets, different grades of AlNiCos have a "tonal footprint", that the differences go beyond mere Gauss strength, owing to the complex mysteries of magnetism, but when I do this test, if I lower the PV 65's right down to the pick guard, they sound very much like the AlNiCo 3 60th Anniversaries to my ears. I do hear a difference: the same difference. It so happens that I've never seen anyone on the 'net who both believes in the magic tonal qualities of magnets, while also seeming to have a good understanding of how magnets work. I just don't see those two things go hand in hand, ever.
Some have said Texas Specials sound really good when lowered down to the pick guard, so would Texas Specials with AlNiCo 3 poles be a winner?
Pics:
Modern "G" stagger:
