RV-5661
50's tone with "aged" appearance
Positions :
Neck, Middle, Bridge
RV-6264
60's tone with "aged" appearance
Positions :
Neck, Middle, Bridge
RV-5661-AT
50's tone with "non-aged" appearance
Positions :
Neck, Middle, Bridge
RV-6264-AT
60's tone with "non-aged" appearance
Positions :
Neck, Middle, Bridge
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The Brand New Pickups with a look and sound of Vintage!!
Raw Vintage have used their extensive knowledge and experience of rewinding original vintage pickups to create a series of 50's (RV-5661) and 60's (RV-6264) pickups that comes as close to the original as you will get.
Staggered magnetic pole pieces are one of the characteristic traits of vintage Stratocaster pickups. Raw Vintage have used a magnet known as "Tall G", which has same height for 3rd and 4th string.
The Pickups also Incorporate Alnico 5 Magnets and Raw Vintage's unique staggered process which stabilises the magnetic flux to balance each string.
For RV-6264, Raw Vintage were able to simulate the original sound by controlling the magnetic flux density at a higher level.
Direct current resistance value for the coils are determined by careful selection of the number of turns and type of wires. Resistance is set to be approximately 5.8~6.1Kohm for RV-5661 and 6.0~6.3Kohm for RV-6264. For the coil's magnet wire, Raw Vintage have used AWG-42 gauge wire, which is the same heavy formvar magnet wire used on the original vintage pickups
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What Raw Vintage have determined, due to the error range allowed by the industry standard, is that there is an inconsistency in the thickness of the wires in AWG-42. Therefore, for RV-6264, they carefully select wires that are thinner and smaller than the RV-5661. Also for RV-6264, tension and layer is set slightly tighter than RV-5661.
Raw Vintage have extensive experience in rewinding original vintage pickups. In order to obtain proper amount of mid range while maintaining high frequency that is pleasant to the ears, they have a unique layer method that sometimes sees wires grouped tightly together, and sometimes with more space between the wires. All winding is done by winding machine which is programmed to recreate the perfect tension of a hand winding.
After the coil is wound, Raw Vintage apply a unique coating to the coil before they are impregnated (this is a process known as "potting") An original blend of wax is used that is similar to the original, but with lower melting point and viscosity. For RV-5661 we mix more black carbon powder to the wax and less for RV-6264, for the truest of vintage tone and appearance. |
Raw Vintage Pickups - Descriptions |
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1. Pole Piece
Each magnets are magnetised and stabilised through a unique process before the bobbins are put together in order to make sure each strings are well balanced. With an ordinary magnetising machine, magnets are magnetised until they are saturated, but Raw Vintage are able to magnetise the RV-5661 at a lower setting than RV-6264 through their unique method that allows control of the strength of magnetisation. |
2.Magnetic field direction
In 1961, Fender reversed its magnetic field direction by 180 degrees. With this in mind, the RV-5661 has North Pole on top surface and RV-6264 has South Pole on top surface.
To accurately recreate the original pickups, Raw Vintage Pickup's middle pickup (center pickup) is not reversed, which means that the direction of coil winding and magnetic force is the same as front and rear pickups. Although reversing middle pickup is effective for reducing the nose for half-tone settings, we wanted to avoid creating the disturbance to the magnetic field line caused by the reversed middle pickup, which essentially spoils the tone. |
3.Pole Piece configurations
Raw Vintage Pickups also reflect the change in the texture of the magnet used for the Fender's original pickups since 1961. For RV-5661, both top and bottom surfaces of pole piece are very roughly finished using the grinder, and for RV-6264, both surfaces are finished very smooth using the barrel finish. Also, all edges of top surface of pole piece are hand chamfered the same way the original pickups were on both RV-5661 and RV-6264. |
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4.Coil
For the coil's magnet wire, Raw Vintage used AWG-42 gauge wire, which is the same heavy formvar magnet wire used on the original vintage pickups from 1954~64, but there is an error range allowed by the industry standard. Therefore, upon receiving the wires from the factory, Raw Vintage measure the diameter of wires including the coatings, and the direct-current resistance under the same conditions. And according to the result, they then select the appropriate wires for each models and positions.
For the RV-6264, wire is selected with smaller diameter than those in the RV-5661. Coil tension and layer is set slightly for the RV-5661 compared to the RV-6264. By carefully making these selections, direct current resistance value of RV-5661 is approximately 5.8 ~ 6.1ohm and 6.0 ~ 6.3 ohm for RV-6264. |
5.Wax potting of the coil
As in vintage pickups, after the coils are wound, they are wax potted. With this method, since the wax is not fully saturated into the inside of the coil, "howling" margin is decreased significantly. The resulting overtone structure in the mid-high frequency becomes more complicated, bringing out that distinctive glossiness you hear in vintage pickups |
6.Wax used for coil potting
Wax used for coil potting is an original blend with lower melting point and viscosity. Modelling the original pickups, Raw Vinatge mix more black carbon powder into the wax for RV-5661, and less for RV-6264. |
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7.Crosswire
For the output cable, Raw Vintage use AWG-22 gauge/cotton cross wire braided with 7 strings. Unfortunately, cables available today have significantly smaller diameter of cotton coatings compared to the vintage. So, Raw Vintage have developed a unique way to modify the cable thickness and color to match the original vintage before they are used in the pickups. |
All development has been achieved by painstakingly disassembling and analysing the authentic original vintage pickup coils. We are proud to be able to offer these pickups to you as a result! |
For more information on Raw Vintage Pickups
or to purchase please call us on
FREECALL 1800 353 909 or contact us via webform or email
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