Watch Fender’s Master Pickup Winder explain her craft
Josefina Campos, the ‘Queen of Pickups’ at Fender Custom Shop, shows just how much love and care goes into her hand-wound Fat ’50s Strat single-coils.
We’ve seen the label “hand-wound” slapped on all sorts of premium pickups. But rarely do we get to put a face behind the term. Earlier this week, however, Fender launched a mini-documentary that shines the spotlight on its very own ‘Queen of Pickups,’ Josefina Campos.
Campos has been at Fender Custom Shop for more than two decades. Among the Master Pickup Winder’s many projects is the hand-wound Fat ’50s Strat single-coil set, which is lauded for its reproduction of the glassy-yet-full sounds found in OG Stratocasters.
The short clip traces her backstory as disciple of pickup legend Abigail Ybarra, ventures into her workshop, and highlights the level of detail and dedication it takes to create what we players may sometimes take for granted. It’s a heart-warming video, and serves as a reminder to all of us that folks such as Campos are every inch a guitar hero as the ones we worship.
“I think the pickups are the heart of the guitar,” she said in the clip. “I put all my love, all my dedication in my pickups. I give it all my heart.”
Watch the mini-documentary here:
For more information, check out fender.com.
