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Thread: Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

  1. #1
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    Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

    Hi folks.
    I recently bought a used classic series 50s strat.

    It has a 5 position pickup selector and the bridge pickup is RWRP, giving hum cancelling in one position only (bridge/middle).
    I know that's not the convention - modern strats are likely to have middle RWRP and Fender don't make any mention of RWRP at all on classic 50s/60s series.
    I have tested the pups and my info is right though.


    My question is two fold for anyone who has direct experience.
    Sorry to sound picky but there are a million differing answers out there.

    1: Should there even be an RWRP pickup in this guitar at all?
    2: Is there any reason I can't just swap the bridge and middle pickups (physically and wiring) to achieve the conventional RWRP middle setup with two hum cancelling selections.

    Two hum cancelling positions would be particularly useful to me as I do a lot of studio recording near a lot of noisy gear.

    Many thanks in advance.

  2. #2
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    Re: Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

    Welcome

    I haven't seen what you speak of on a new Fender guitar. You did buy it used so who knows what has transpired since it left Fender.

    Regardless, the RWRP middle pup is standard along with the five way switch for the Classic 50s models.

    It may simply be that someone took the guard and pups out and swapped the bridge and middle or rewired it and placed the middle pup in the wrong position.

    A number of things could have happened. You'll learn more if pull the guard on your next string change.

  3. #3
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

    Is that guitar's bridge pickup supposed to be hotter than the other two? If so, you can measure the output of all of the pickups to make sure they're in the correct positions.

  4. #4
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    Re: Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

    Ok, thanks for that chaps.

    Fender make mention of RWRP in some of their model descriptions but they didn't mention it on the classic series 50s or 60s so I wasn't sure at all.

    That's a good idea about measuring. If the middle pickup, as it sits, is hotter that would suggest that the previous owner moved the RWRP from middle to bridge for some reason.
    I don't know for certain that it's meant to be hotter but a lot of people have mentioned it so it's worth a look.

    I'll go ahead and find out.
    Thanks again.

  5. #5
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    Re: Classic Series 50s strat pickup question.

    Hi folks,
    I got to checking the pups and it looks like the bridge (RWRP) one is aftermarket.

    I took a chance and just popped it in the middle position and it seems to be happy there.

    Thanks for the advice and info. :)

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