Thoughts on Fender Fat 50's Strat pickups

[electricskychurch]

I never truly realized that I needed new pickups until comparing my strat with a 62 reissue strat that had those 57/62 pickups in it. They have even lower output of about 5.6 I believe. My american standard pickups sound like they have a blanket over them and dont allow the full tone to breath through.

that's exactly what happened to me !

i had a mid 90's and a late 90's american stratocaster standard, with rosewood neck and alder body, as well as a USA stratocaster standard 2004' , limited edition 50th anniversary 54-2004' (with the custom 54' pu's just found in the custom shop 54' stratocaster 50th anniversary , that cost several thousand $) and i was really surprised when i bought a vintage reissue 62' (a mark knopfler 62' reissue with rosewood neck and ash body ).
at first i didn't really realised the difference until i put some 57/62' pu's and then some CS 69' pu's.
the texas specials were not my cup of tea (too "modern" ) !
that 62' reissue is much brighter than the 3 other ones (in which i tried other pu's as well), with the fender chime and bell like tone , the 3 american standard didn't have .
i came to the conclusion it was first due to the different hardware, truss rod... and pu's as well.


but my 62' reissue strat (mark knopfler) is quiet bright with some amps and i was wondering what other pu's i could try , that would still be some vintage style low output but with a bit more meat and a tad less brightness.

[basile865]

Cool man.

So I've officially ruled out fat 50's pickups. I just played the david gilmour relic strat which is $4799.99. The reaction?: Meh. Id say its no better than the $1599.99 other artist models in all honesty. Just wasn't impressed. It had the fat 50's pickup in the neck and it just wasn't cutting it.

A funny thing though, I reached for a 50's strat which I thought was the american 57. The neck felt great, it was like a shallow V with well worn in edges, combined with the roundness of the 7.25 radius it was extremely comfortable. A great little strat. I told the guy man if I had some money I'd say wrap it up. I looked down and it was a mexican 50's strat that was only $650. Now, I dont even have that money haha, BUT what a killer deal that strat was. Great instrument. Just needed a setup and some new pickups and it was a solid player.

He brought out his strat for me which was a relic Custom shop 60's strat which he claimed to have put CS 69's in. This thing was freaking beautiful. It was one of those rare guitars that have an extreme balance about them. They just play themselves. I was like I want these pickups! They were warm and just right. Strangely though, they all had hand beveled magnets, which two other sets of 69's in the shop did not have. So I dont think theyre 69's. He told me when he opens it up sometime He'll let me know which pickups they are.

In comparison to the fat 50's, the fat 50's had way more hair and treble on top not nearly as musical as whatever these pickups in this guys strat were.

The search continues.

[razelfrax]

But dont forget that the basic sound of the guitar can be very different no matter what pups you put in it . Ive got three strats and they all have a different tone unplugged . A great guitar has a blend of parts that combine to give it its tone. Especially wood , its so variable , thats why Eric Clapton used a few guitars to make Blacky. Ive played Am 62 ri's (5.6k ohms) that were way more aggressive sounding than guitars with hot pickups (6.5k ).

[basile865]

yeah.

I really think those classic series 50's 60's strats are a great deal. Seems they just skimp on the electronics to keep the cost down. That's the easiest thing to upgrade.

[razelfrax]

The problem with those guitars (I have the 60's model ) is the polyester finish. Its so thick it chokes the resonence of the body. It helps to scrape the finish in all the cavities though. Check out a 62 hotrod strat its got thinskin nitro.

[basile865]

Im not sure about the thin skin thing these days. I mean hendrix's main strats from 68-70 were two poly finished 68's.

I think the biggest influence on tone is the things in the main vibration path. Nut, frets, and especially pickups and bridge. After that it seems to be more of a comfort thing - how heavy the wood is or how its cut.

I know it has an effect, but it just doesn't seem to be really a deal breaker or not. I've played highway one strats that have thinskin and are pretty toneless. The bigger turn off on them was the cut of the wood or lack of attention to detail in fret dress. Just felt cheap. Thats on a good 3 or 4 I've tried in the past.

To me its all about the neck profile, frets, pickups and bridge, as far as a strat that I spend some time evaluating or put back on the wall pretty quickly.

[razelfrax]

The Hotrods one step below a Custom shop guitar. Miles above a Highway .Doesnt mean theyll all be good but the chances are much better.

[basile865]

oh yeah Im not knockin those models theyre great. I'd prefer the american classic 57 or 62 reissue with the 57/62 pickups and also the vintage frets/7.25 radius instead of the hotrodded version. But relatively same guitar. For half the money, those other guitars the 50's classic mexican made series are really good.

[razelfrax]

I'm selling my Mexi 60's sunburst ri on craigslist as we speak cuz ever since I bought the Custom shop Tele the mex sounds dead by comparison. And thats with a steel block, steel and titanium saddles, custom shop 54 pickups, bone nut, and a fret dress. Some wood just isnt very guitar freq resonant. I have 3 strats and by swapping necks and bodys around I found 2 necks sound great but only one body sounds great. Its a mij 62 ri. The finish on the mex strats is super thick like a coating of clear rubber lol.

[electricskychurch]

Im not sure about the thin skin thing these days. I mean hendrix's main strats from 68-70 were two poly finished 68's.

I think the biggest influence on tone is the things in the main vibration path. Nut, frets, and especially pickups and bridge. After that it seems to be more of a comfort thing - how heavy the wood is or how its cut.

I know it has an effect, but it just doesn't seem to be really a deal breaker or not. I've played highway one strats that have thinskin and are pretty toneless. The bigger turn off on them was the cut of the wood or lack of attention to detail in fret dress. Just felt cheap. Thats on a good 3 or 4 I've tried in the past.

To me its all about the neck profile, frets, pickups and bridge, as far as a strat that I spend some time evaluating or put back on the wall pretty quickly.

yes, i would tend to think like you, even if it certainly has a consequence on teh tone , it might not be as important as some other specifications .
i have the same feeling for tubes in an amp, even if they change the tone, they are not as iortant to me as teh OT speakers, capacitors type and circuit.

[JimiJames]

haha. I didn't know you could return fender pickups. Thats good to know.

The american standard strat - atleast mine is a 1 piece maple. Skunk stripe down the back. I am sure of it because mine has some light figuring on an area which clearly goes all the way through the neck from the face of the fretboard down the sides to the back.

hey by the way, I like that tone you have on your sound clip called mymetrobuild2. Which amp and speakers is that?

Thank You Senator. Mid 70's Black Backs.