EC Strat - Upgrade or Trade?

[geodr]

Trying to decide whether to swap pickups and electronics or the whole guitar…

I have owned a1988 Eric Clapton Signature Strat for about a year and love the way it plays, but am not totally satisfied with the tone. I really like the soft v neck, and had it plek’d so it plays like buttah. Plus I added a Callaham bridge that improved the string spacing across the neck. But the lace sensors seem brittle to my ears, and I don’t really like the mid boost – the TBX tone control is okay.

So I’m trying to decide whether to try some new pickups (Lollar, Fralin..?) and electronics or whether to trade the guitar for something with the features I want. Could trade down to a Jimmy Vaughn and put some nice pups in it, or trade up to a Suhr…

Recommendations?

 

[toomanyamps]

Friend of mine was in the same situation. He put Fralin Blues Specials in it, says its everthing he wants in a strat now.

 

[teleman1]

Pickups are going to make a great improvement. But if you had a brain fart and did not look & listen to the variety of PU's out there; putting in a set of of Duncan Antiquities would not be the worse choice by far. But even the same guitars with the same woods could sound different with the same Pu's

You obviously love the way it feels and plays, this is a logical step. And since your are messing with he PU's, its also a time to think what configuration you want, for the 5 positions.

 

[Zuper]

The EC sigs are great guitars, especially those first few runs. I would definitely swap out electronics and pups. I wish I'd held onto mine!

 

[benjammin420]

i like the noiseless p-ups on the new EC better than the lace sensors