Fender’s R&D engineers worked closely with world renowned guitarist and tone connoisseur Eric Johnson to craft the perfect pickups for his uniquely articulate sound. Carefully blending Leo’s legacy with EJ’s modern discerning sonic tastes, these Strat™ pickups are a key element of EJ’s unmistakably pure tone. Each pickup is unique in structure and performance. The neck pickup is based on a ’54 Strat pickup with oversized alnico 3 magnets. The middle pickup, based on a ’63 Strat pickup, uses specially treated alnico magnets and is reverse wound to cancel hum when used with the neck or bridge pickup. The bridge pickup uses alnico 5 magnets and is specially voiced to be hotter without sacrificing that sweet top end sparkle.Photograph by Max Crace.