'dead' strat - Is a pup upgrade worth it?

Hi guys,

I have what seems to me a dead guitar. It's a sonic blue fender classic player 60s strat. I've compared it to an other identical one (produced one year later) and mine was no match for it. I've compared it to a couple of USA standards and, of course, they were much better, fuller sounding.

The pups it came with was the 'signed by abby'. The bridge position was useless and the neck was bland and uninviting. The 2 and 4 positions did not 'quack'. I ended up playing only the mid pup. I did a mod to enable the bridge-neck combo, I still didn't get a useful sound.

I upgraded to a set of pups from a USA standard strat (which I then swapped for an other set of USA standard strat). The sound improved overall. Bridge position is now nice. Neck is still dead.

The guitar was always set up by good techs, action, pup hight etc.

My question is, is it wort it to get a set of expensive pups like the CS69 or the SD Antiquity Surf or is it a waste of money?

I find the neck position dead tonally, could it be a fault of the guitar or is it my idea? Or should I blame the pups?

Any advice will be appreciated, I don't want to get into a costly pup quest just to find out that I should just forget it and go buy a good USA standard strat.

Heard good things about thesehttp://frettech.com/cavalier/

How does the guitar play unplugged?

Have you tried to increase the tension on the trem springs?

What kind of pots and caps does it have? Have you upgraded these?

Have you played with the pick-up height yourself and tried adjusting them to your ears as opposed to the techs?

I really like sonic blue. Would keep working on it if it were mine.

The signed by Abby are cS 69's much admired by aficionados and the real deal .It should have grey bobbins I think .Probably worth more than the rest of the guitar .Later versions were not signed i believe.They also have a great neck .This guitar has never been set up by a good tech if its that bad .They are highly rated strats.
Nice to know the Greeks can still buy US strats .Lend us some money .We have given the EU all ours :lol::twisted:

Every once in a while, you just get a dud.

I think if you've changed the pickups several times, and it still stinks, it may not do to throw more money at it. Here's what I'd do-

Sell it. If it's in good shape, you should get a premium used price for it.

Take that money, and turn around and buy another used sonic blue player strat. That way, you have the same guitar, but you're rid of your dud.

Somebody else may love it. Either way, you'll get what you want, wiithout being out any money if things go well.

Short answer, no. Cut your losses and move on...