An essential part of the recipe from the Whiteguard era, the Fender® Custom Shop ’55-’56 Telecaster® pickups are an accurate 1:1 recreation of the pickups used in those instruments. These pickups have all the grunt and snarl of the originals, thanks to the hand-beveled, staggered alnico 5 magnets in the bridge pickup. The neck pickup uses alnico 3 magnets for sweet midrange and tight bass.
Most Whiteguards had transitioned from alnico 3 to the higher output alnico 5 magnets and featured staggered bridge pickup magnets. This stagger creates more string-to-string articulation and a balanced output. These updates—along with steel bridge saddles—created more high-end twang with a faster attack. From chicken pickin’ to raw rock, experience the authentic vintage Tele® tone that launched countless hits.
