One term comes to mind when making Telecaster™ neck pickups: fiddly! Okay so the slim chrome covers look kinda cool and retro, but Leo was working near the limits in trying to fit a decent output pickup into such a tiny space. My new vintage Tele™ neck pickup uses every available millimetre of bobbin space to come in at about 6.5k … just a tad hotter than average, but well still balanced and open.

When I order our next consignment of custom magnets I will include some longer than standard alnico 5 slugs to make a ‘hotter’ bobbin that can hold more wire. Then I will have the option of winding a ‘traditional hot’ with 43awg wire or a warmer, more Strat™ like pickup with 42awg wire.