I wouldn’t usually follow up one pickup feature with another, but the article I wrote detailing changes to the pickups in our Telecaster 75th Anniversary edition got me thinking. I’ve been privileged to play a few ’50s Telecasters, and even a Broadcaster, but it occurred to me that I’ve never had the opportunity to directly compare each type of Blackguard-era pickup.
Just to recap, T-style bridge pickups were wound with 43 AWG magnet wire before Fender changed to thicker 42 AWG wire in 1951. The next big change occurred in 1955, when Alnico V magnetic slugs replaced the weaker Alnico III. By my reckoning, that equates to three distinct versions in the early 1950s alone.
