The Formvar 50s pickups are, as the name suggests, a set of pickups designed to imitate the pickups found in the 50s, upon the creation of the Stratocaster. These pickups were wound with a special wire which had a thicker than normal insulation wire (with the 'heavy' in the wire name, heavy formvar, referring to a heavy insulation build). This increased thickness of insulation (and therefore space between the parallel winds of the coil) results in a more bright and cutting tone.
These pickups use the very expensive heavy formvar wire that makes the Strat pickups of the 50s sound so different from modern budget pickups that almost exclusively use a thinner build of poly wire. These winds are wound directly around a set of alnico 5 rod pole pieces. We've deviated from vintage accuracy to make them sound more vintage accurate. Back in the 50s, it was common for players to use wound G strings, nowadays it's almost unheard of. The wound G is a lot quieter than the plain G, therefore the stagger was originally made with the G pole being close to the string to increase the volume. We've dropped it slightly to compensate, to make it sound the same as if it were played with the strings that would have been used in the 50s.
These pickups are wound with a gentle output increase from the neck to bridge in order to provide a more even volume balance. They're wound around vulcanised fibreboard flatworks as all vintage Strat pickups were.
RWRP middle pickup for hum cancelling positions 2 and 4. Supplied with mounting screws & springs.