[Jblue76]

Hey all,
Anybody ever try these out? I’m contemplating a set for my strat and I’d love to hear your experience with them, especially as compared to the Voodoo 69s.
Thanks!!

[Searing75]

All I can tell you is that the Voodoo 69’s are incredible! They are easy the best pickups I have ever had the pleasure to use. Inspiring!

[Jon S.]

The Voodoo 69s in my Scarlet Fire Wolf sound wonderful through a full Jerrified rig. For general music use, I prefer Strat pickups with a bit more mids to them. That or use the 6.2K ohm Voodoo 69 bridge PUP in the middle and put a beefier bridge PUP there (this is essentially what I did with my '99 USA Reverend Avenger - I moved the 6.2K stock bridge Kent Armstrong single coil PUP to the middle slot and replaced the bridge single coil with a vintage '76 Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker).

[wpmartin1979]

I have not tried/used them, but theoretically the Tru 54 pickups should be on point for Jerry tone since these are essentially what Jerry had in Alligator.
I’m pretty sure his strat was discovered to be a ‘54 (not a ‘57) which means it would have had the vintage alnico 3 pups. I’m pretty sure he was running stock fender pups that came with the guitar.
(I could be wrong but this what I thought I read)
Anyway for whatever reason many prefer the Voodoo 69s for Alligator tone
Jerry used MXR Distortion + and Boss overdrive pedals, yet for some reason many prefer not to use them (they prefer modern boutique pedals like earth drive or thick air or modeling units such as AxeFX)
Nothing wrong with this, but go figure?

Of course Jerry was super into tech and probably would have changed it up a bunch if he would have stuck around longer.

If you do try the Tru 54s please post and let us know how they sound!

[lbpesq]

i’ve read both that Alligator was a ‘56 and a ‘57. The recent Bonham’s auction material cited a serial number of 7310, which would be a ‘55. Never heard it was a ‘54. Where did you read that?

Bill, tgo

[wpmartin1979]

i’ve read both that Alligator was a ‘56 and a ‘57. The recent Bonham’s auction material cited a serial number of 7310, which would be a ‘55. Never heard it was a ‘54. Where did you read that?

Bill, tgo

Perhaps I heard it was a ‘55 which is why it would have the 54 pups. I actually heard this from a guy who was building an Alligator and I had assumed it was a ‘57, I asked if he was usin 57’ pups and he told me that when someone from Alembic took the guitar apart they dated it to 54-55 (I can’t remember). It was discovered that the guitar had pups with alnico 3 magnets, etc, which dates the guitar to that timeframe. Sorry I don’t have a clear memory on the exact year, etc.
My main point though was that the Tru 54 are probably going to be the closest in spec to what Jerry had in his Alligator, whether it was a 54 or 55.

[lbpesq]

I’ve read that Fender used Alnico 3s in ‘54, but switched to Alnico 5s in ‘55. I’ve also read that Fender ordered magnets in specific sizes, but didn't specify the type of magnet. To make things even murkier, I’ve additionally read that the formulation of Alnico magnets in the 1950s is different than today’s formulation due to modern extraction methods. When I built my Alligator, I wound the pickups using Alnico 5 magnets with 1950s stagger and vintage bevels and 42 gauge Heavy Formvar wire.

I have no idea how to differentiate different Alnico magnets by looking at them. I’m not even sure it’s possible. My Gauss meter doesn’t differentiate between them.

Bill, tgo

[wpmartin1979]

I’ve read that Fender used Alnico 3s in ‘54, but switched to Alnico 5s in ‘55. I’ve also read that Fender ordered magnets in specific sizes, but didn't specify the type of magnet. To make things even murkier, I’ve additionally read that the formulation of Alnico magnets in the 1950s is different than today’s formulation due to modern extraction methods. When I built my Alligator, I wound the pickups using Alnico 5 magnets with 1950s stagger and vintage bevels and 42 gauge Heavy Formvar wire.

I have no idea how to differentiate different Alnico magnets by looking at them. I’m not even sure it’s possible. My Gauss meter doesn’t differentiate between them.

Bill, tgo

I hear you Bill, I guess one of us could reach out to Alembic and see what they have to say. Supposedly they took a close look at the guitar post auction.
Or maybe they will read this post and reply!!!????
It would be interesting to A/B a set of Alnico 3s and a vintage set of Alnico 5s to hear the difference.

[lbpesq]

I’ve not heard that Alembic went through Alligator before. They are friends. I’ll ask.

Bill, tgo

[wpmartin1979]

I’ve not heard that Alembic went through Alligator before. They are friends. I’ll ask.

Bill, tgo

Oh that’s awesome! Yeah I guess it could be a stupid game if telephone going around with stuff like this (Jerry lore etc). But i’ll also try to reach out to the guy who told me this and see if he can verify. I just took him at his word cause he seemed pretty confident lol.

[wpmartin1979]

I’ve not heard that Alembic went through Alligator before. They are friends. I’ll ask.

Bill, tgo

Ok I’m told that it was Rick Turner formerly of Alembic that rewired the guitar and that it was a ‘55 Strat with Alnico III pups and that they switched to Alnico V in “56. Is any of this verifiable?

[Gr8fulCadi]

I’m giving the Alnico III’s a shot with my 2010 American Strat FSR in Natural. I purchased the 54’ Vintage Sparkle set from BootStrap. I haven’t installed them yet so more to come.

Anyone looking for Fender CS69’s pickups with only a few hours of use, hit me up!

[Jon S.]

Anyone looking for Fender CS69’s pickups with only a few hours of use, hit me up!

I would if I needed a set of Strat PUPs because those are, in my view, superb pickups. Someone else will surely snatch 'em up.

For Tele guys, I'm a huge fan of the Fender Custom Shop Nocaster bridge PUP. I went through a gaggle of alternatives before settling on this one. That was over a decade ago. It's a keeper.

[lbpesq]

I’ve not heard that Alembic went through Alligator before. They are friends. I’ll ask.

Bill, tgo

Ok I’m told that it was Rick Turner formerly of Alembic that rewired the guitar and that it was a ‘55 Strat with Alnico III pups and that they switched to Alnico V in “56. Is any of this verifiable?

FWIW, the research I’ve done since this thread started suggests that Fender used Alnico 3 magnets on early ‘54 Strats, but had switched to Alnico 5 by 1955. That would seem to indicate Alligator had Alnico 5 pickups, assuming they were original. But, having worked with Alnico 2,3,4,and 5 pole magnets, I can’t fathom how you can tell the difference looking at a completed pickup unless you have some serious scientific testing equipment, if such equipment even exists.

Bill, tgo

[Jblue76]

Interesting to hear this history unpacked a bit. For me, regardless of what alligator actually had, the suggestion that it was A3s got me listening to some comparisons online; I actually like the sound of the 3s a bit better with the more chimney high end and a sort of thinner character. It makes sense to my ear that the 3s could have been what Jerry was using, not that one couldn’t accomplish the tone with 5s.