Mersey Stratocaster – Iconic Single Coil Tone

They’re uniquely voiced as a combo of early and late 60’s examples, meaning they combine the classic **quack** of the late 60s at lower volumes (think Hendrix) with more woody **warmth** than you would expect from those pickups (think pre-CBS examples) at higher volumes. They’re two pickups in one.

All Mersey Guitar pickups are hand-wound in their Bristol workshop. Hand winding leads to non-uniform coil structure in the pickups, which lets the harmonics push through in the sound profile and give it a feeling of **airiness** machine-wound pickups consistently lack.

They use AlNico V like most Stratocaster pickups, but they specifically **de-gauss** them by 10% to replicate the magnetic properties of the rough cast and chemically inconsistent magnets of the 60s. This eliminates any potential “ice pick” effect, smooths out the response and increases sustain by reducing the magnetic pull on the strings.

Unlike other boutique winders, the bobbins and covers are manufactured in-house, providing a unique window into the inner workings of a guitar pickup.