Pro Pickups

Designed by Fender veteran Michael Frank-Braun, the new pickups for these models are purpose-designed to expand on vintage performance. But unlike the other single coils for the American Pros, designed by Tim Shaw, which use a mixed magnet structure, both sets here use Alnico 5 rod magnets, instead of the wide, flat coil of the original Jazzmaster pickup. “I used taller magnets and changed the winding height, which gave me more volume and midrange for neck position and a hotter bridge pickup,” explains Michael. “Technically, these are closer to a Strat pickup, extending the tonal range for this instrument. We get more midrange punch but with definition. In the middle position, the set is hum-cancelling.”

The main tweak to the Jag’s pickups is the material used for the ‘claw’ surround that is “changed from steel to nickel-silver, which has less influence to the magnetic field and inductance. This allowed me to raise the turns for the neck and provide a hotter bridge pickup, which resulted in more overall gain and a midfrequency boost… This pickup set produces, from clean to distortion, a wide range of sounds never heard before from a Jaguar.”