Tex-Mex(road worn) vs EJ pickups vs Original '57/'62

[pold]

Anybody had the chance to compare all of them. In my opinion all of them sound good, the only problem is with the Original '57/'62 because only 2 out of 10 seem to sound right, with the EJ and Tex-Mex I had the impression that 10 out of 10 sounded right. Share your opinions please!

 

[smoss469]

Odd. Most people tend to hate the Tex-Mex pickups.

 

[pold]

 

[MoPho]

I don't fall into the category that has tried all of these, but I have one strat with SD Antiquity 2s and another with EJ pups I bought off Stratospere (ebay). The strat with EJs gets more playing time. Both my strats are AmDeluxes with the same hardware and maple necks.

 

[sidehatch]

I was under the impression that everyone hates the texas specials.

Odd. Most people tend to hate the Tex-Mex pickups.

 

[pold]

I was under the impression that everyone hates the texas specials.

Tex-mex are the ones you find in Jimi Vaughan signature and the Road Worn, both these strats are made in Mex and sound great.

 

[pold]

I hate the Tex-Mex pickups. They sound grainy, uneven, muddy and I just don't like their sound. Texas Specials on the other hand are fantastic.

I have 2 EJ strats and they're incredible, but they have a different sound than any other single coil I've heard. I don't know if that's just a mental thing or not because I've heard that the EJ set is actually a 54' neck, 60's middle and hot 50's bridge.

A friend of mine changed his Road Worn Tex-Mex pickups for Texas Specials. I knew right away when I started playing it that it was a tremendous improvement in sound, feel and response.

Another thing about Tex-Mex pickups is you just can't coax all the tonality and dynamics as say Texas Specials. They're missing something, and I tell you there's a very good reason why they're 1/2 the price of Texas Specials.

If you can find a set of EJ pickups, buy them. They are incredible. Just be ready to have a kind of thick, warm, bright and moderate output. They're not really vintage output per se.

One thing about the EJ pickups, and I don't know this to be true of most single coils, but it sounds a little fuzzy when you lower the tone knobs down to about 5-6.

The most amazing thing is when you use positions 2 & 4 to combine the bridge/middle or middle/neck. Man it sounds so damned good. Hard to find a set of single coils that does it as well.

Interesting mate, many thanks!

 

[rhinocaster]

I'm a fan of the '57/'62 pickups and then the EJ pickups over the Tex-Mex even though I feel that the Tex-Mex are very good pickups for a hotter sound. The Tex-Mex are much better pickups to my ear than the Texas Specials. They don't have nearly the pumped and pushy tone of the Specials and they can get closer to the vintage personality that made Fender famous.

 

[pold]

I'm a fan of the '57/'62 pickups and then the EJ pickups over the Tex-Mex even though I feel that the Tex-Mex are very good pickups for a hotter sound. The Tex-Mex are much better pickups to my ear than the Texas Specials. They don't have nearly the pumped and pushy tone of the Specials and they can get closer to the vintage personality that made Fender famous.

Very interesting again

 

[abnerfm]

I know this is an old thread but I'll share my impressions.

EJ pickups: probably the most scooped-mids Strat set on Earth. Although I've never played them live and/or in a band context, I'm not sure they cut well through the mix. Not sure Eric Johnson uses them, too;

Custom Shop '57/'62: it seems like there are 2 "eras" Fender produced them. The ones I had sounded ok, not bad, but had a slightly metallic tone. A friend has an older set that sounds really good;

Tex Mex: I'm a bit confused about these, because I tried a Jimmie Vaughan Strat at a store and find them horrible, but also tried a Road Worn Strat that sounded great.

My 0.02

 

[Lewguitar]

I know this is an old thread but I'll share my impressions.

EJ pickups: probably the most scooped-mids Strat set on Earth. Although I've never played them live and/or in a band context, I'm not sure they cut well through the mix. Not sure Eric Johnson uses them, too;

Custom Shop '57/'62: it seems like there are 2 "eras" Fender produced them. The ones I had sounded ok, not bad, but had a slightly metallic tone. A friend has an older set that sounds really good;

Tex Mex: I'm a bit confused about these, because I tried a Jimmie Vaughan Strat at a store and find them horrible, but also tried a Road Worn Strat that sounded great.

My 0.02

I believe the pickups in the Jimmie Vaughan use a ceramic bar magnet glued to the bottom of the pickup, and the pole pieces are steel slugs and not Alnico magnets like they would be in a vintage Strat pickup.

They're cheaply made but sound pretty good for what they are.

A skilled player could make them sound great.

An unskilled player could make any expensive pickup sound like poop.

 

[johnh]

I owned the Tex Mex and the 57/62's. The 57/62's produced the best clean strat tone I've ever heard - just beautiful. However, they were far from my favourites with overdrive. I could definitely live with the middle and neck if I changed out the bridge pickup.

When I owned the Tex Mex, I thought they were OK, although nothing special. However, after I replaced them with a set of Bare Knuckle Mothers Milks, I realised what I was missing. All of the ballsy warm tone of hotter pickups, but with all of the detail of the 57/62's.

 

[Daka3]

I dig the TM's. Don't get at all why some people heap the scorn on them. To my ears, they totally deliver the goods, both in my RW tele and ditto strat. Hot, but by no means grainy and/or muddy. They're beefy and bell-like with lots of both wamth and bite.

 

[ezra1]

I was at Guitar Center earlier this week and played a Strat with the TexMex pups then a Eric Johnson Strat.
I was familiar with the TexMex already and they were fine.
But I preferred the pups in the EJ.
Enough that I would consider a set of them if I had something to put them into.
But I would have to buy a guitar or remove a set of Van Zandts out of either of my favorite Strats.
And I am not taking the Van Zandts out of anything.
I would have to spend more time with the EJ's.

 

[OotMagroot]

I like the TMs and the Texas Specials. I like the Texas Specials quite a bit more, in fact. I've never understood the hate for those.

 

[kyza]

I have an EJ Strat and love the pickups...
Sounds like a strat

 

[abnerfm]

Necro-edit: last year, I owned an EJ Strat for 4 months. I don't think they lack mids as much as I did when I first wrote my impressions here. They are well balanced, and the bridge pickup sounds great... does not lack mids at all. I believe neck and middle are Alnico III, while bridge is Alnico V

 

[Stratburst70]

Not sure if the OP got what he asked for, but I will jump in anyway.

IMO, the Fender 57/62 deliver great cleans - instant Tom Petty rhythm tones. When it came to overdrive, I preferred the SSL-1’s.

I have an EJ Strat for when I want classic Strat sounds and the pickups deliver that in spades. Switch to the bridge pickup, dial the second tone control to about 7, stack it through a Fuzz Face and a Klone into a Fender Princeton and you approach Eric Johnson’s lead tone (but not his chops, unfortunately).