Gonna stick w/my stock p'ups !!

[jcf33]

I've recently been on a search for replacements on my '95 USA Strat. After trying most of the "usual" recommended replacements, I discovered that what I had in there had the best clear bell tones and the best bluesy "crunch" of any that I tried. Granted, I tried these out in other Strats, but nothing I heard made me want to change. I guess it's like my set-up guy said, sometimes you find one that just works.

[Boris Bubbanov]

Hey!

I agree with your decision.

My impulse on that guitar would be to swap the tuners over to Gotoh split shaft vintage tuners (and 10 mm conversion bushes) and upgrade any parts I could to Callaham (Winchester, VA) or just play it. Those pickups are nothing to sneeze at, as I recall. I guess it can depend on the guitar and the intended use but too many people fixate on changing pickups because they see the fussiest of us doing it. What is missed is, the fussy guys have pored through 50 guitars to find this one, spend gobs of money on setups and other upgrades and especially they try lots of different amplifiers and pedals as well. All the aspirant ever seems to notice is they changed the pickups as well. ^) I see guys changing pickups on guitars that are unplayable in terms of intonation and loose frets, rusty mismatched strings, bad input jacks with intermittent connections, and stripped out neck mounting hardware. But no, they change the pickups.

[stratman89]

My '89 Am Strat pickups just didn't do anything for me.

Lollar Blackface set transformed the guitar into a killer Strat for the Classic Rock that I play in my band. I actually couldn't stand the stock pups,

I'm glad your stock Fender pups satisfy your needs.

[jthomps123]

Whats funny is i've spent tons of money on amps, pedals, tubes etc - but have only changed pickups in ONE of my guitars... a MIM Strat that I put Fralins in and it still doesnt sound good!

Originally Posted by Boris Bubbanov

Hey!

I agree with your decision.

My impulse on that guitar would be to swap the tuners over to Gotoh split shaft vintage tuners (and 10 mm conversion bushes) and upgrade any parts I could to Callaham (Winchester, VA) or just play it. Those pickups are nothing to sneeze at, as I recall. I guess it can depend on the guitar and the intended use but too many people fixate on changing pickups because they see the fussiest of us doing it. What is missed is, the fussy guys have pored through 50 guitars to find this one, spend gobs of money on setups and other upgrades and especially they try lots of different amplifiers and pedals as well. All the aspirant ever seems to notice is they changed the pickups as well. ^) I see guys changing pickups on guitars that are unplayable in terms of intonation and loose frets, rusty mismatched strings, bad input jacks with intermittent connections, and stripped out neck mounting hardware. But no, they change the pickups.

[OM Flyer]

As with tubes, I think people expect way too much from a pickup swap. You want to really hear a difference in your guitar's tone? Put a different speaker in your amp!