'50 Broadcaster Pickup

Monty’s Broadcaster set is our recreation of the pickups from Leo Fender’s original electric guitar.

An evolution of the earlier Fender Lap-steel pickups, these pickups have a distinctive twang with fat bass, a prominent mid-range and a slightly rounder top end than later Telecaster pickups. As part of our Originals series, this set is modelled on the original pickups from a few of the best 1950 Broadcasters ever to have come across Monty’s workbench.

The neck pickup is classic vintage telecaster: nice and warm without sacrificing the clarity needed to cut through. The Bridge pickup is a truly magnificent beast; the 43 gauge wire makes for a gutsy pickup with a punchy lower mid-range that sounds absolutely awesome. A Broadcaster set into a cranked Tweed style amp (or, come to think of it, pretty much any amp) is a truly magnificent sound.

For anyone wondering about the history, the Broadcaster was the original name for the Telecaster, used in 1950. Due to a copyright dispute with Gretsch, who already used the name ‘Broadkaster’ for some of their drums, Fender was forced to change the name, eventually renaming the guitar the Telecaster in late 1951. In the intervening period, Fender removed the ‘Broadcaster’ decal from the guitars, leading to mid-1951 models becoming known as Nocasters. These are more or less the same guitars as Broadcasters, the first significant redesign not coming until 1952, as the Telecaster name was being introduced. The main difference between the pickups is the move from 43 gauge wire to 42 gauge wire for the Telecaster bridge pickup, as well as the use of a copper plated steel baseplate, rather than the zinc plated baseplates found on Broadcaster pickups.

Like all our Tele pickups (and just like old Fender pickups), these Broadcaster pickups are only partially potted. This keeps the centre of the coil free from wax, resulting in increased clarity and responsiveness.

Scatterwound using period correct 43-gauge Plain Enamel wire:

Neck- Alnico V, 7k

Bridge- Alnico V, 10k