S-500 single coil size pickups on early 80's model

[Craig]

[From a post on the G&LDP: Answers posted by GPD on May 24, 2007 in response to this post:
S-500 single coil size pickups on early 80's model posted by joep@fltg.com on May 24, 2007]

: I'm trying to get information on the pickups of my old G&L S-500 made in the early 80's. I think I got it in 82.
: The pickups are single coil size but are squared off on the edges.
: The newer G&L single coils don't look the same, they look more strat like.
: I'm trying to find out if the PU's are truly single coils and what the resistance is and any other details such as
: the gauge of wire, number of turns, what kind of magnet, etc.
: If anyone out there in guitar land can answer any of these questions for me I would appreciate it!

The narrow square shouldered MFD pickups you are interested in were Leo Fender's very first single
coil MFD design and you can see them referenced in his 1979 patent. The earliest incarnation had a
neat "U" shaped keeper plate designed for altering the magnetic field and shielding the coils. These were
found on a host of prototypical/experimental instruments starting as early as 1980 but did not get used in
a production model until 1982 with the introduction of the S-500 model. The production version of this
pickup abandoned the U-shaped keeper.

These are indeed true single coil pickups. The magnets are ceramic though carry a rather low Gauss level
at the top of the poles when compared to other MFD pickups. The turn count is in the vicinity of 5,000 per
coil. The D.C.-Resistance depends with the 82's typically having on average a slightly higher resistance
compared to the 83' and later built pickups. the neck and middle pickups are in the 3.9 to 4.3K range and
the bridges range from 4.5 all the way up to 4.8K due to the fact that the bridge bobbin is physically longer
than the neck and middle in order to keep the pole spacing properly aligned with the converging strings, the
slant and the position. The longer bobbin taking the same turn count as the neck/middle means more copper
per turn which explains the higher DC-R. The neck and middle utilize a braided shield for the hot lead but the
bridge doesn't need this since the hot lead is shielded by the control plate. They have a brass plated ground
plate on the bottom of the coil as all MFD's do...this is part of the design and redirects the magnetic field.
Poles are soft-iron (a high permeability alloy) and nickel plated. Coil wire is 42AWG copper with single build
plain enamel insulation. They are mounted to the body using machine screws, threaded brass inserts and
elevator springs keep them up. 100% of these pickups were hand-wound. This pickup was used right up to the
end of the pre-BBE era as the old style S-500 was actually produced through 1991. There were two different
S-500 models available from 1990 through 1991 though the price sheet only listed one.

Dale Hyatt pestered Leo Fender into making a version of these pickups that could be sold to the aftermarket for
replacing typical Fender size Strat single coils and Leo complied and these ended up being used on the SC-3,
Nighthawk, Skyhawk and a host of other G&L models during the 80's. The Strat shaped version is still in production
today though quite a bit different specification wise as compared to the 80's pieces and consequently the modern
versions don't really sound much like the old versions.

The sound of the old style S-500's is very unique and not really like any other Strat type guitar G&L has built over
the years. The pickups are only part of the equation...the location of the pickups, control circuit and the aluminum
pickguard all play a big role in the sounds these guitars produce.

My #1 is a heavily modded 82' S-500 and I have two others that I enjoy playing as well.

Great pickups and great guitars...

Getting expensive to buy these days too...

Hope this helps,


Gabe