1966 Telecaster pickup torn down and rewound

Erick Coleman has a 47-year-old pickup that's nearly dead: It's making a little bit of sound, but not much. Erick opens it up to find the trouble, and we get a good view of the guts of this vintage Fender pickup before he rewinds it.
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For more information on tools and parts:
Solomon SR-965 Soldering Iron
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Solomon Solder Sucker
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Fieldpiece Digital Pocket Multimeter
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Schatten Pickup Winder
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Tele Bridge Pickup Flatwork
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[@KirkJanowiakAngelwood]

My customers need to see this so they understand the time and effort it takes.

[@OneDamNote]

Would that help them justify any price objections? Have someone come help make a video for your work. Never to many guitar videos.

[@KirkJanowiakAngelwood]

OneDamNote Yes, knowing just how LONG it can take to run down a pickup issue would help customers see why a "simple repair" could cost as much as buying a new pickup. Those with vintage guitars & pickups generally understand the time/cost issue and are willing to pay. Those with recent OEM pickups need to be educated about the true cost of handwork (custom winding, rebuilds, etc.) so they stop trying to haggle over the cost/value of my time. You are correct--I need to make my own video about the steps it takes to 1) track down a pickup problem, 2) building a custom pickup from scratch.

[@OneDamNote]

Kirk Janowiak Please do. They are very interesting to watch and you never know who might it inspire one day to carry on the craft.

[@excidedous]

+Kirk Janowiak If you want to know what to charge, first figure out what your hourly overhead runs. It isn't worth the same amount everywhere you go even if the quality is the same. In my shop I have little overhead because it's a paid for old downtown building and I live upstairs and am semi-retired. Weigh that with the amount of demand that I have. In my area there is little demand for a job as this compared to the every day stuff I take in. Also I stay as busy as I like but here, it's not repairs all day every day. If you have a shop where you're full 24/7 then you have to decide what you have time for and you'd be foolish to charge less per hour than the volume you already have. If you get too busy, then you gotta raise prices to thin out the work load a little bit or raise prices to hire some help. Being too busy is as bad as not having enough work. Anytime a job takes time away from another project that you could be making more money on, you have to raise the price or it isn't worth doing. If you aren't set up with the equipment and you seldom have a call for this, then the price has to go up to cover your investment. If it's unreasonable though, then you'll never get a rewind job because it's cheaper to find a 1966 pickup and replace it with original. You can't charge the entire investment to your first customer to get your investment back. Figure out your overhead per hour and adjust for your time and expertise and material markup. In this case, the winding wire. If you never get a call for this kind of repair but want to carry the equipment, then advertise for the service. You'd be surprised how many people want a custom wound pickup in addition to pickup repairs as well as how far away they'll drive or mail to get good service. So how much is it? I don't know, too many variables and I only know my own LOL!

[@stevesoldwedel]

@@excidedous Where is your shop?

[@mikegosnell4379]

I really wanted to hear it once the work was completed. The title of the video does not mention a demo, but there should have been one.

[@jefflitchfield4950]

Totally

[@icepick859]

This video is more about diagnosing and reconstruction of a pickup. No need for a sound sample, im sure everyone watching this knows what a old-school fender single coil sounds like

[@DemnRaig80]

In what guitar? Not like he's got a tele just laying around without the bridge pickup. He was only sent the pickup.

[@U014B]

Happy (belated) 50th birthday, pickup!

[@telecasterbear]

i've been playing for forty two years, and to this day, the gauge of the coil wire amazes me. So fragile, but such a necessary part.

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

Was it just me or was that nerve wracking. I know shit about pick ups but when he started to cut all that original wire away with that craft knife I broke into a cold sweat. Nice job in the end. I'd love to learn all this chap knows and be doing this for a living. Love watching the Stew Mac videos. Very meditative.

[@davidtexmex1616]

That's the best craft knife advert I've seen in years

[@richs4878]

Very cool video. And yes I wanted to hear that pickup too!

[@lifeinpictures]

YA! I wanted to hear that pickup!!!!

[@boozoochavis7506]

I was always told that the cursory lacquer dip was to prevent corrosion between the magnet poles and the coil - so if that low E pole had rusted all the way down the lacquer helped to seal the parts. Interesting and obviously very time consuming work, thanks for letting us see you dissect an older pickup! Interesting that it was NOT wax potted, probably pretty live and microphonic?

[@keithklassen5320]

I have that exact same solder-sucker! Bought it more than 20yrs ago as a teen.

[@franciscomarin6493]

I would like to see the wire ends joined at the solder points. also, a view of the meter would have been nice. also a count of the wind would have been informative.

[@golds04]

Someone wrote those tele pu last 50 years. Almost on the nose. 55 years- rewind. Wires just became worn. Sounds great.

[@juliocavalera9293]

haii thanks for video, may i know how can i get data the number of windings high output pickup like bill lawrence L500xL or another that have output resistance 17k

[@davidolenick2280]

What a job. Combines love for mechanics, electronics and music ties them together. Repair ppl make more than most musicians :)

[@oldestgamer]

+David Olenick right! If I had to live on what most people want to pay for fixing their gear, I would be eating weeds and drinking rain water. There is little respect for electronic repair and the knowledge, skills and equipment needed to do a proper job, that is why there are so few repair techs around anymore, just no money in it...

[@davidolenick2280]

You have to charge more for the easy jobs so you don't have to charge as much fr the hard jobs. Thanks for the reply

[@oldestgamer]

+David Olenick if it were only that easy! Most people don't want to pay virtually anything to get their gear fixed, the basic view is that repair techs just aren't worth much more than minimum wage, you can earn more as a luthier than as an e-tech. It's like "I don't see it how can it be much money for that little part" whereas for a luthier its "I see the difference so I understand the cost". I really appreciate these Stew-Mac articles, Dan is just so talented and a fountain of knowledge and is worth whatever he charges, amp techs OTOH just don't get that level of respect in my experience.

[@Kevin19700]

Excellent DIY video !

[@neutrodyne]

Thank you for the answer. I though Stew-Mack had a book out with the information

[@iagobroxado]

There's an average number of turns Fender used to do for each guitar model; people have documented this kind of stuff. 1966 Tele bridge pu's had about 7600-7800 turns of wire around the coil.

[@101Volts]

What guitar is on the wall towards the end, On the left? The sunburst one with a black pickguard. Is it a Les Paul Recording?

[@13opacus]

great video, thanks Erick

[@philturner1242]

A really interesting video, for all of us who not only love our guitars, but also like to know about the workings and the guts of the beasties. Thank you!

[@J__C__]

I fixed the speedometer in my truck by heating up the solder joints. Took about 20 minutes and I was back in business.

[@GiantRock62]

That's a lot of beating mate, 20 mins..

[@leifkeane]

Did you pot the pick up? Thanks.

[@DanielAraujoNazar]

Very cool video. How does he keep the edge of the string in place? At the beginning there seems to be a dab of glue in it.

[@moriscengic]

RESPECT! this is great!

[@DeepPastry]

Was sort of hoping you'd do the potting that was missed by the factory.

[@faithbrackenhooper9550]

Could you rewind it with fatter wire such as speaker wire or something?

[@Tatodobien]

Nice. Would be nice if you showed it working at the end of the video

[@robertomorales5245]

i wish he would have explained why he coated it in lacquer. had it not originally been coated? or did it just need to be refreshed?

[@wackenthaljef]

Super!!!....Once again,superjob!

[@YGroadcapitain]

how many rounds and what gauge of the wire was? this is like show how to get 4th street and direction is like go there about and you guess the town and country???

[@ryanybos]

Nice job Erick

[@richardispeachy]

Interesting video, thanks!

[@gabrielcornea9119]

are you kidding me? no sound test? wtf man?

[@rexterrocks]

I know it would have been satisfying after watching it go through all that but he only got sent the pick up. He would need a whole guitar to do a sound test. He may not own a Tele.

[@craigsadler8794]

could have still done a sound test without the guitar just as he did at the start of restoration

[@mojekh]

Pickup would very probably pass the sound test on guitar. Even dead pups can play, but sound weak and thin, with tone control they lose the power very quickly. Have the same experience with single pups on vintage Mustang. They worked but were very weak. What makes me wonder is why he didn't unwinded whole pickup by hand? Great opportunity to learn something about pickup winding technique from 66 Telly ;-)

[@intermarer9145]

Godamnit, I watched all that and no sound test at the end!!!

[@iridios6127]

+Mo jek if you want to learn something *good & useful* about pickup winding technique study the Dimarzio x2n , G&L Z-coil pickup and try to combine this designs .

Isn't it kind of necessary to count the wraps in order to replicate the original or is there a regular turn number to be applied depending on the year of production and model?

[@JulianFernandez]

Nice vid!

[@brucelatronica2046]

What guage wire did you use ?

[@neutrodyne]

How did you know how many turns of wire you needed on the pickup?

[@67Stu]

Nice video, but definitely under wound for most 1966 Tele bridge pickups. Most were in the upper 6s for that year. Before doing all this, did you check to see if the pole pieces simply needed to be re-magnetized?

[@littlejon64]

How do you know how many turns were on it??

[@DreidMusicalX]

So I have a question. Since potting the pickups was not a thing back then. Do people ask for vintage style pickups without being was potted still?

[@thedesertroseband]

No sound test??? Sound of pick-up depends Also on how many turns the copper wire was rounded . Did you count the thickness of the copper woundings ?

[@justinpaquette224]

So you don't need to scrape the enamel off the ends of the wires before soldering to the eyelets?

[@AldoSAndrade]

Very nice and informative, but... why it was not tested in the amp at the end as it was at the start? It would be a gran finale.

[@combdon]

Great Video.

[@rjake61]

@mmcneiley. That's why he dipped it varnish. To seal the magnets. No need for tone killing tape.

[@HmongGuitarPlayer]

Where can i get that coil winding machine?

[@excidedous]

+HmongGuitarPlayer LOL! Take a wild guess

[@user-qm7nw7vd5s]

I notice you did not scrape off the rusted pole. Any reason for leaving it rusted? just got a 1965 Hagstrom 1, and was rubbing the rust off the pole pieces pressing hard (heavily rusted), I discovered the poles are not one solid piece, as a small metal cap on two poles broke loose. The top part is actually a little steel cap that is glued onto the pole underneath. Apparently the rubbing alcohol I used to free the rust dissolved the glue. This happened on only these two two pole pieces (the 3rd and 4th). I cleaned the old glue off, and put a tiny pinch of super glue (with pressure overnight) to secure the two caps. (I assume all the poles have caps, but did not want to disturb the rest). Have you ever seen pickups made this way, with metal caps fixed on top of each pole? They were magnetized. If you put them upside down, they would repulse, but the correct way, and it they fit right back in place. They work fine, but I'm curious nevertheless if this strange construction is unique to Hagstrom, or are other pickups made like this...

[@thecougarscoach]

I recently tried to resolder lead wires to my ‘90’s Strat pickup but one side of the coil wire broke. Took one wind off the coil to reconnect but of course forgot to remove insulation so didn’t work. How do you remove insulation from such a fine wire without breaking?

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Gently scrape the wire with the point of a knife blade.

[@mocrobsky]

¡Espectacular!

[@garynorthtruro]

How is the amount of wire determined?

[@Shaun.Stephens]

By the resistance.

[@Mekratrig]

Just out of curjousity, how d’ye know when to stop winding? Arr all pickups wound the same?

[@yallevereatenbeans2723]

people who know pickups know better than I do so take this with a grain of salt but as I understand it the amount of winds around the coil correlates to the resistance of the pickup so someone might simply eyeball it and then test the resistance of the pickup afterwards or buy a fancy pickup winder that counts the amount of winds you've done. Theres more too it than that but thats round about the basics as I understand them

[@izzy2112]

how do you know how many winds the original pickup had versus what is put on it now

[@stewmac]

Mostly through documents noting the number or winds when the pickup was created, and from people who have taken the time to meticulously unwrap the entire length of wire from pickups. You can also measure the resistance of a given length of pickup coil wire and the overall resistance of the pickup and extrapolate the approximate number of winds from that information. Here's a link to a document listing the typical number of winds for a few common picks at the bottom of the page. www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-2105/i-2105.pdf

[@paulhendrix5615]

Hello Erick, I am Paul HendriX from Pauls Pickup Place, www.Hendrixpickups.nl in the Netherlands, please excuse my bad grammar. Thank you for sharing this video it is nice to see the same movements that I perform when repairing pickups. I respect to see you first heat up the solder joints and unwind the coil, to see if the pickup can be rescued. My question to you is: PE wire is beautiful, speaking of vintage materials, but it often causes a mall coil, I noticed in my shop. Scraping off insulation, to be able to solder, already damages the wire. This of course is well known to you. But do you happen to know of a way to reduce this damage in the first place. I already use solder which has copper in it, it repairs the the wire a little. Thanks for your time, kind regards Paul.

[@August140]

No, your grammer is really good. I know some people in America that have worse grammer.

[@jeffreymuckey2205]

Hi Erick, I never heard of a solder sucker before, can you tell me more. Love the pickup info man, you should really write a book!!!!!

[@Shaun.Stephens]

"Solder Sucker" lmgtfy.com/?q=solder+sucker

[@TrailBlazer5280]

Test it again when its done!

[@DustinPlatt]

Oh man. You look like Jack Del Rio's older brother.

[@SDPickups]

Sorry, I meant '65 onwards were machine wound. I have '65 Strat set in here 2 years ago that had both CBS and pre-CBS pickups, a transitional set. The CBS grey bottoms were all machine wound and the formvar Leo era was hand wound....

[@das250250]

When you received the pickup did you measure the inductance and the resistance before pulling it apart to get an idea what might be wrong ?

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

+graham kaveman He did. He mentioned that he has an erratic reading from the pickup.

[@das250250]

+Wutipong Wongsakuldej he said it was erratic but no mention of inductance and resistance values as opposed to the other pickups values .this may give insight where the problem is

[@anthonyc1883]

Wow, I had no idea. Approximately how many feet of wire would be on a Tele p/u?

[@stewmac]

It will vary a bit from one pickup to the next, but most Telecaster pickups will have somewhere between 4000-5000 feet of wire wrapped around the bobbin.

[@zearthv]

Holy Skills!

[@chipsterb4946]

How would you handle the string if it were potted with wax or lacquer?

[@FoulOwl2112]

Were it wax you can warm it with a good hot lamp and uncoil the string easily. Were it lacquer, you're pretty much SOL. You mmiiighhtt be able to use a little lacquer thinner brushed on, but it'll most likely wreck a bit of your outer windings.

[@hhattingh]

Fascinating

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

Great video! Only addition I would have done was write the date that you rewound the pickup on the OG tape. In another 50 years, that would have been valuable info! Also, instead of dipping the pickup in lacquer prior to winding, could you do it with wax?

[@joseislanio8910]

The primary function of the lacquer in that case is to create an isolating layer in the pole pieces, preventing it to create a short in the wire. Wax wouldn't work as well, it's just too soft.

[@AdmiralQuality]

Is there a way to measure the DC resistance as you wind? So you know when you've reached your target? Is it safe to scrape off a little insulation of the wire periodically, to use as a test point? (I'd think it should be, as long as you put enough layers between test points so there's no chance they could contact each other.) Or do you just know roughly how many winds you need to achieve a certain resistance? I suppose another way would be to intentionally over-wind, then remove winds and keep testing periodically until you hit your desired resistance. A waste of wire though.

[@HCL991]

You can caluculate the dc resistance roughly, so you know, how long the wire needs to be

[@zaxarrrr3659]

and also you can scrape off the wire a bit but you better put on spray lacquer afterwards just to be sure the cut wouldn't damage anything.

[@DougZbikowski]

I WATCHED THIS FOR THE SOUND TEST!!!!

[@OlaviIkonen]

Vintage Fender Guitar Pickup Spec Info LEGEND: Pickup Name, coil wire guage, coil wire insulation(PE=plain enamel, F= formivar, P=poly/poly-nylon) number of turns (per coil), average resistance DC, Magnet type/grade (A=alnico, C=ceramic) special interest notes are in italics Telecaster Bridge 50-51 43 PE 8000 CCW 8.0k A5 North 51-64 42 PE 9200 CCW 7.5k A5 South 60's/70's 42 PE/Poly 7800 CCW 6.4 A5 South

[@pipercub45]

I would like to know how do you start the wind on the bobbin with the copper wire?

[@ThisLoveIsSweet]

To start winding, you run the copper wire through an eyelet in the pickup's fiber base. Turn by hand for 6-10 wraps to ensure that the wire won't be pulled off the bobbin when you start the motor. Tele pickups are usually wound counterclockwise.

[@pipercub45]

ThisLoveIsSweet Thank you very much! happy Thanksgiving! Dean

[@ventureelect]

cool video, thank you

[@dfranks50]

Excellent video! I almost always enjoy Stewart MacDonald videos and this was no exception. Thanks for sharing :^)

[@beatleme2]

1966 - 2013 ..47 yrs old.. I'm 47 now and feel nearly dead '' smoke to much"..making a little bit of sound but not much ..dm depressed now :(... glad u didn't wax it...it makes pickups sound null

[@roberthollander4522]

How much would this service typically cost the consumer?

[@iagobroxado]

How come if it was broken?

[@rockingronny1]

Hi How many turns and what gauge wire was used? Ive got a 1963 tele bridge that needs rewinding.

[@icepick859]

You check resistance as you go and you keep putting wire on until it gets where you want

[@SuperFrancesco1951]

Quel son!pour l'époque !

[@TeddScheckler]

Is Dick Dickerson still doing a guitar festival?

[@ThomasDeLello]

Why does the neck pickup on my Telecaster make a loud click sound when I touch it with my pick...?

[@stewmac]

Your pickup is microphonic. which is why you're hearing the sound of you touching it with your pick. The most likely culprit is a loose spot in the coil. This isn't always a bad thing, some player prefer it. You can always have a repair shop re-pot the pickup or try it yourself. www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/online-resources/learn-about-guitar-pickups-and-electronics-and-wiring/none-of-your-beeswax-potting-pickups-with-paraffin-.html

[@ThomasDeLello]

@@stewmac It looks like something I can do myself if I know where to buy the bees wax.

[@p2curtis]

How was the grounding plate removed?

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

It's not glued on; it simply falls away. With potted pickups, the varnish or wax does 'glue' it to the bottom flatwork, but it's easily popped off without damage by slipping a knife blade in.

[@keithruddell1800]

fantastic.

[@craigusselman546]

cool fascinating stuff.

[@mmcneiley]

There could have been issues with the magnets. and reguarless of age. one wrap of pickup coil tape around the magnets will protect the wire even better from rustor ? but overall a great vid. thanks

[@guitarnerd1984]

Bummer, I wanted to hear this pickup afterwords.

[@LLuE88]

after viewing a few others on this subject, the finish end was soldered to the black, ground, lead wire. Don't understand the difference, while on this one the finish is soldered to the white lead wire, regards,

[@cgavin1]

4:00 "I just wanted to destroy something beautiful." :( Sad end.

[@rhykko77]

Great surgical skills !!! How much would you charge for doing exactly that job ? thanks

[@Usernameorsomedamnth]

I wanted to hear it as well, but he must ship the pickup back to it's owner ... he doesn't have the guitar. I had a 65' once upon a time ... sure wish I had it back.

[@donnyhall2535]

Just wondering why he didn't take a gauss reading

[@THRobinson]

I'll bet that tattoo peeking out of the shirt is a giant StewMac logo chest piece. :)

[@charlesmoore1307]

Didn't dip it in wax or pot it in any way?

[@FoulOwl2112]

No. Since it wasn't potted before, he didn't pot the rebuild. He mentioned that some Fender pickups of this era "snuck out of the factory unpotted". He just maintained the authenticity of the rebuild by not doing so.

[@machia-mw1lm]

I was told years ago that wax gives a superior sound over epoxy . True ?

[@marvini2320]

How did you know that it wasn't the magnets that needed to be recharged

[@Jakeman90210]

Alnico magnets are permanent magnets. They never lose their charge.

[@davecarsley8773]

Because it's alnico

[@1Dave0Mustaine1]

I can't believe he didn't tried to re-magnetize the pickup before taking it apart.

[@MisterSwagify]

I guarantee you he checked the Gauss of the magnets before rewinding. They don't always show every single thing they try in the videos, and even then the only way the pickup wouldn't make sound at all is if *several* of the poles became demagnetized, which is incredibly unlikely. If just one or two became demagnetized there would still be a weak sound coming out of the pickup rather than no sound at all.

[@peterjosvai9804]

such a good point...

[@TrevorAvrett]

So, if you reflowed the pickup wires a little longer and added more solder your problem would have been solved without having to unwind the pickup, which gave it it's classic sound in the first place... ?

[@SIRONEDRAGON]

very cool : )

[@ImperialistRunningDo]

No wax?

[@TAD3011]

Jak widzę te dzisiejsze lutownice ze spiczastym,stalowym grotem oraz lutowie bez kalafonii to od razu nerwicy dostaję. Porządne lutownice jakie bywały dawniej posiadały grot z miedzi zaś lutowie (stop cyny i ołowiu) posiadało w środku kalafonię i wtedy takim sprzętem można było komfortowo pracować. Dzisiaj taką lutownicą można jedynie smarkać, a nie lutować zaś jednocześnie nerwy stracić. Natomiast przetworniki do gitar elektr. nawijałem na zwykłym gramofonie 50 lat temu ... Wtedy to były czasy .

[@ResoBridge]

I'm a bit baffled because I could swear Erick says as he peals the base plate off "I can see the tape holding the pole pieces in". As far as I know the magnet poles are held in place by their interference fit with the holes in the flatware, having been forced in under pressure. I'm guessing the purpose of the piece of tape can only be to insulate the poles from the grounded baseplate. I suspect that if the poles are grounded it increases the pickups self capacitance, moving the self resonance down in frequency, so the pickup looses some sparkle.

[@Yahoomediaclub]

Great job....great video pro

[@oldestgamer]

very nice and informative! a bit surprised your using an old pump solder sucker instead of a Hakko 808 or Aoyue desoldering iron, required in the shop.

[@ray.shoesmith]

Dave Gleeson from the Screaming Jets?

[@MrDJDanny29]

No waxing after all the work he did ?