Opinions on best after market Strat pickups?

[vklobucar]

I may score a mid 80's MIJ Strat soon and am considering a pup upgrade.

While I have never really bonded with ANY MIM or USA Strats for that matter, I did once have a great MIJ Strat that I foolishly sold.

I know that the stock pups and components are on the cheap side so I am wondering what you folks consider good after market pickups for such a guitar.

I am going for a traditional Strat twang with a touch more power and growl. I have plenty of shredder guitars so Hot Rails and the like are not need.

Trying to keep the cost to a reasonable price so no custom wound $400 a set pups please!

I am hoping that with a new set of pups coupled with new CTS pots and switches should give me a great guitar that is a keeper this time around! LOL!

Update!

Scored this baby just a while ago!

Love a maple neck on a Strat and the Lake Placid Blue color looks killer to me as well!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130657074866?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_500wt_1361

Its this model same for the rosewood finger board.....

[Accept2]

Evans........

[vklobucar]

Was Jeff Healey (RIP) not using those pups at one time in a black Squier that he owned?

[Accept2]

Yup. They no longer make them but Ebay usually has them.......

[vklobucar]

What is the general opinion on Lace Sensors?

I had a MIM with three red LS and it was pretty decent if a little too hot.

[DonP]

I like the fatness and warmth I get with an untouched 96 MIM. Sort of a P90 / Strat crossover with MIM pickups, bridge especially.

In a 2008 MIM I wanted to try something different, so in went a set of Tex-Mex. These are much more stratty, but that bridge was outta control brite. So I did a couple of mods - installed a baseplate which fattened up the bottom end, and I wired the bottom tone to the bridge (middle pickup has no tone now). This made the guitar much more usable. The Tex-Mex neck I like better than the MIM neck, and the bridges are different but both useful.

Finally I have a 1996 MIM bought with a Texas Special set already installed. I guess this is the most strat-like of my set of three.

Also, I have a Lace Sensor in an HM Strat. It's fine as well (I'm not too picky about my strat pickups). I think most humbucking singles sound good enough, like the offerings DiMarzio has.

[straycat]

I have had great luck with Lindy Fralin 10% over wound blues specials.
Nice strat tone like a 60's strat.

[data187]

i personally love the fender custom shop 69s. they are very clear, bright and punchy. you can usually get these used for a decent price.

[vklobucar]

Not to derail my own thread but has anyone had any experience with aftermarket steel blocks?

I ask because I am a huge fan of brass blocks from www.floydroseupgrades.com and wonder what kind of tone difference a better (ie. non cheap zinc) block would do for a Strat.

I am hoping that a few select aftermarket parts leaves me with a great Strat that actually gets played unlike in the past.

[vklobucar]

Ordered yet another Brass Big Block from Adam at www.floydroseupgrades.com

They have managed to make a HUGE difference in all my previous floyd equipped guitars so I am hoping to see more clarity and depth with this new Strat.

Heck anything is bound to be better than a crap zinc block for tone no?

[straycat]

The Fender large blocks do a great job but a solid brass block would have to be better.

[vklobucar]

Now comes that dreaded wait time for the Fed Ex guy.....

Hope he does not just toss the guitar over my fence and split! LOL!

[markD]

i have several strats, and lately those are my main players. i have tried a ton of different strat pickups, and since i have an all original '62 strat to compare to, i find that fender's '57/'62 pickups are really the closest to the sound of my '62 strat. a close second is the SD antiquity strat.

a lot of the boutique stuff gets too complicated - like how many windings there were on march 3rd, 1963....really?!?! you reverse wound a pickup? you are a retard....

sorry - rant over...

dimarzio seems lifeless. i used to like them a lot, and for a while preferred their virtual vintage blues pickups. i still have some HS3s and YJMs laying around, but they are kinda muffled sounding....

really, you can't go wrong with fender pickups. afterall, the strat is THEIR design, as are those 3 single coils....if anybody knows what a strat sounds like it is fender. if you are getting a japanese strat, i'd hold off on replacing anything at first. many fender collectors consider the jap guitars to be fantastic. i know i, personally, prefer the japanese over the USA strats - well, shit - i actually prefer the MIM over the USA...it's more of the "pure" strat.

another thing to consider is that when you hear iconic strat players, be it hendrix, gallagher, clapton, knopfler, etc. they were playing stock strats. yes, clpaton has the sig model with the lace sensors, but when he first started playing strats is was '50s strats with stock pickups and stock trem blocks, etc. doing "upgrades" makes your guitar sound less like a strat.

some may argue with my line of thinking, but my attitude has always been: "if you buy a (insert brand here) guitar then you must want the sound that guitar is known for." if you aren't hearing what you want to hear then maybe that guitar is not right for you. like, i WANT that les paul sound, but everytime i get one it doesn't sound like what i "hear" a les paul sounding like. so instead of spending HUNDREDS of dollars on aftermarket parts, i just sell the thing. maybe one day i will come across a LP that sounds "right"....

anyway, i guess this turned more into a philosophical post....sorry. enjoy your strat!!!

[DonP]

i have several strats, and lately those are my main players. i have tried a ton of different strat pickups, and since i have an all original '62 strat to compare to, i find that fender's '57/'62 pickups are really the closest to the sound of my '62 strat. a close second is the SD antiquity strat.

a lot of the boutique stuff gets too complicated - like how many windings there were on march 3rd, 1963....really?!?! you reverse wound a pickup? you are a retard....

sorry - rant over...

dimarzio seems lifeless. i used to like them a lot, and for a while preferred their virtual vintage blues pickups. i still have some HS3s and YJMs laying around, but they are kinda muffled sounding....

really, you can't go wrong with fender pickups. afterall, the strat is THEIR design, as are those 3 single coils....if anybody knows what a strat sounds like it is fender. if you are getting a japanese strat, i'd hold off on replacing anything at first. many fender collectors consider the jap guitars to be fantastic. i know i, personally, prefer the japanese over the USA strats - well, shit - i actually prefer the MIM over the USA...it's more of the "pure" strat.

another thing to consider is that when you hear iconic strat players, be it hendrix, gallagher, clapton, knopfler, etc. they were playing stock strats. yes, clpaton has the sig model with the lace sensors, but when he first started playing strats is was '50s strats with stock pickups and stock trem blocks, etc. doing "upgrades" makes your guitar sound less like a strat.

some may argue with my line of thinking, but my attitude has always been: "if you buy a (insert brand here) guitar then you must want the sound that guitar is known for." if you aren't hearing what you want to hear then maybe that guitar is not right for you. like, i WANT that les paul sound, but everytime i get one it doesn't sound like what i "hear" a les paul sounding like. so instead of spending HUNDREDS of dollars on aftermarket parts, i just sell the thing. maybe one day i will come across a LP that sounds "right"....

anyway, i guess this turned more into a philosophical post....sorry. enjoy your strat!!!

I'd trust Mark's advise and go with the 57/62 set, except I'm not sure if I'd like the way a real strat sounds LOL!

I'm also with Mark in that I like my strats to be like the traditional ones - all 3 of mine are MIM's with V-Trems and 21 frets.

[markD]

Don, there is a magic in learning how to "control" a strat. they are noisy, some a brighter than others - the bridge pickup is often a nightmare!! i do a practical mod to my gigging strats....i move the tone control from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup. all of my strat are wired with the original 3-way blade instead of the 5-way. i prefer the pre-CBS set-up. i never use the in-between settings anyway....they don't sound pure!!!

my current stage rig with the strats is a rivera M100 half stack with a couple of pedals on the floor - SD tweakfuzz, BOSS fender '63 reverb, VOX wah, MXR classic distortion, MXR phase 90. i run a power conditioner, a tuner and a rocktron super C in the effects loop. the hum i get onstage using straight singles is very minimal, even with the gain cranked to 10. the super C helps a lot, but some of the hum i DO get i just attribute it to being a strat player.