Fender STRAT Tex-Mex vs. Texas Special

[DHart]

I'm interested in your impressions if you have, have played, and compared each of these two Stratocaster pickup sets.

These are the stated specs for DC resistance and inductance.

DC Resistance
Fender Texas Spl...........6.2k, 6.5k, 6.7k
Fender Tex-Mex.............6.5k, 6.4k, 7.4k

Inductance
Fender Texas Spl...........2.4h, 2.6h, 3.6h
Fender Tex-Mex.............2.8h, 2.8h, 3.7h

I'm wondering how different they sound in actual use?

 

[blowtorch]

I only have experience in a strat context, which is what we're talking about here, right?

Anyway I found the TX special muddy and the Tex Mex fantastic, more grind on tap than the generic stock pups, put didn't mush out like the TX special did

 

[sjtalon]

Sorry to say it may be tough for you to get a good answer on this one...............more so than these things are so subjective.

What the deal is, is that for some reason (seems more-so than any Strat pup out there), CSTS can get a real beating from forks, so it's a real love/hate relationship.

And the way it goes is people that are content, usually don't chime in as much, it's the bashers that are quick to step up to the mike.

Lower price option is just get a set of Tex Mex, they do have a good rep, and give them a whirl. If they float YOUR boat, you are good to go.

As I say, YOUR geetar, YOUR ears.

 

[DHart]

There is one very significant difference... the Texas Special Strat set is TWICE the PRICE of the Tex-Mex set.

I recently got a Tex-Mex set and absolutely love it. This have all the expected "Strattiness" in tone, plus just a slight sprinkling of "spice" on top.

That's why I was interested in views on the Texas Special set. It would seem that they might sound quite similar to each other, but possibly not.

 

[Jason99]

The Texas Specials are an ice pick to the brain while the Tex Mex are the cheapest set of pickups that Fender make, both in quality of build materials and price, plastic bobbins for example. For around the map pricing of the Tex Mex, you can get one of the many Fender Pure Vintage sets, which will be miles ahead of either of the two sets you're asking about.

 

[DHart]

The Texas Specials are an ice pick to the brain while the Tex Mex are the cheapest set of pickups that Fender make, both in quality of build materials and price, plastic bobbins for example. For around the map pricing of the Tex Mex, you can get one of the many Fender Pure Vintage sets, which will be miles ahead of either of the two sets you're asking about.

Just what is it about the Pure Vintage sets that one would notice as being miles ahead of the Tex-Mex set? Miles ahead in what ways?

For reference, at present I am running (and very much enjoying them ALL!) the following sets in my Strats

Fender Tex-Mex set (my newest set - lowest price and possibly my favorites!)
Fender CS Fat '50s (two sets of these - great sound!)
DAllen VooDoo '69 (from DAllen's early days - great sound!)
Fender 1976 American Strat set (mild, clean, and nice!)
Fender CS Custom '69 set (nice, clean, not my favorites though)

 

[Dismalhead]

Got both, and to me they are kinda polar opposites on the Strat pickup spectrum. I've got Tex Mex's in my most recent Strat partscaster and I've got Texas Specials in my US Lonestar Strat, so I'm very familiar with both.

The Texas Specials are very thick and syrupy - gobs of quack and IMO almost too "Stratty" at times. Think Mark Knoppfler. Very pretty tones.

I think the Tex Mex pickups are misunderstood, and thus sell for far less than they could. If you want to play classic American rock and roll or country rock, they're great. They have enough quack to still sound like a Strat clean, but IMO their strong point is how good they sound distorted. For hard rock and metal they excel - articulate yet ballsy and straightforward with some bite and snarl. If you're wanting vintage tones there are probably a million better choices than the Tex Mex though.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

The Texas Specials are an ice pick to the brain while the Tex Mex are the cheapest set of pickups that Fender make, both in quality of build materials and price, plastic bobbins for example. For around the map pricing of the Tex Mex, you can get one of the many Fender Pure Vintage sets, which will be miles ahead of either of the two sets you're asking about.

Do plastic bobbins make any difference at all in sound, or just cost?

 

[bsman]

I didn’t care for the N/M CSTS pickups in a Fat Strat Texas Special strat I had, but I’ve not had a chance to play the T-Ms so I have no basis for comparison

 

[bftfender]

Tex mex sounds more traditional strat to me..Specials ok , have had both & kept the tex mex

 

[DHart]

I can't speak about Texas Specials, as I've never played any. THAT's why I'm asking this question.

But I will say that the Tex-Mex set I just installed in one of my Strats sounds great - a lot of chime, a TON of quack in position 2 and 4... as most Strat players would probably appreciate, and with a slight spritz of "spice" sprinkled on top. They don't sound dark or murky or "hot" at all. Which is what I prefer, as I don't play a very "overdriven" or distorted style. I like a clean sounding guitar.

I DO run them with a 510k volume pot and 500k No-Load tone pots, so there is plenty of sparkly bright highs coming out of the guitar.... that's where the tone pots can be handy... once in a while!

 

[Bruxist]

I liked the TS in my SRV but did not love them.

I never messed with the pole pieces so some of that could be vintage stagger plus 12" radius.

Compared to my 88 strat, it was more mid forward but a little ice-picky in the bridge. I am sure adding it to the tone control would help that but I swapped them out before that.

(Still have them though)

 

[IronSchef]

I have both sets, and really like them both. It very well might be the specific guitars they are in - but for me the TMex are brighter, and the TS are warmer and a bit higher output. both are really nice, I have kept both sets in play - probably will never sell either

 

[sjtalon]

For the conversation, the Tex Mex pickup set is basically American Standard's slightly overwound.

And "built" off that platform, it's no wonder they sound so good. AM series/std. pups don't get the praise they deserve because they are "just the plain old pickups that come in the Strats from the factory".

The Series/Standard set are the benchmark tone of the modern Stratocaster I say.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Some folks like Levi’s, some like Wranglers, some like Lee.

 

[DHart]

For the conversation, the Tex Mex pickup set is basically American Standard's slightly overwound.

And "built" off that platform, it's no wonder they sound so good. AM series/std. pups don't get the praise they deserve because they are "just the plain old pickups that come in the Strats from the factory".

The Series/Standard set are the benchmark tone of the modern Stratocaster I say.

This makes a lot of sense to me, as that's how I would describe the tones I'm getting from the Tex-Mex... "standard" Stratocaster tones, with a slight bit of spice, very-lightly sprinkled on top. And, at $69 for a set... that's a big ole dollop of sweet whipped cream on top!

 

[blowtorch]

Tex Mex are my go-to pickups for a strat. I prefer them much over stock, it's like you said, they have just enough hotsauce to keep them interesting when you kick in your fave boost, and yet they retain enough trad jangle/chime for great clean tones

 

[DHart]

Tex Mex are my go-to pickups for a strat

And isn't it great that they're priced so economically, with such great tone.

In the past, I thought it was kind of nice to have fibre flatware and cloth push-back wire, but in practice... I've found that the plastic flatware/bobbin enables adjusting the pole pieces, holds mounting screw threads more reliably, and the enamel coated wire is plenty workable, even if not quite as "nice" to use as push back cloth. Why pay a lot more just for fibre flatware and push-back wire?

I've finally come to the point of appreciating build quality and reasonable pricing vs. having pickups that use "vintage" fibre flatware and push-back cloth. I still use cloth push-back when I wire up guitars, but it's not a requirement on pickups that I buy.

I can't see how there could be any difference in tone (that human ears could hear, anyway) between a "vintage" spec'd pickup with fiber flatware and cloth push-back wire and the much more reasonably-priced pickups with plastic bobbin/flatware and enamel coated wire. Tone is in the number of turns, the wire gauge, and the pole piece choice, not in the bobbin material or what the wire is coated with.

 

[DHart]

Do plastic bobbins make any difference at all in sound, or just cost?

Strat pickups with plastic bobbins are much less expensive and I challenge anyone to prove that they would sound any different than an identically wound, identically equipped AlNiCo pole piece, "vintage" pickup.

On top of that... you can adjust the individual height of the pole pieces with pickups having plastic bobbins.... that's a HUGE benefit to the person who desires to tweak tone.

Yes, I've evolved from preferring fibre-flatwork and cloth push-back wire, to one who prefers the versatility of plastic bobbins... and, I'll tolerate enamel-coated wire, as it doesn't sound any different.

 

[DHart]

I liked the TS in my SRV but did not love them.

I never messed with the pole pieces so some of that could be vintage stagger plus 12" radius.

Compared to my 88 strat, it was more mid forward but a little ice-picky in the bridge. I am sure adding it to the tone control would help that but I swapped them out before that.

(Still have them though)

I feel that the biggest failure of the traditional Stratocaster design was NOT connecting the bridge pickup to the tone pot!

On my Strats, the bridge pickup is the MOST important pickup to add to the tone pot, followed by the middle pickup, and lastly, the neck pickup. In fact, I'm fine without connecting the neck or the middle pickups to the tone pot!

Of course, I LOVE a sparkly bright tone, so NOW, I employ 500k volume and NO-Load tone pots, with .015uF caps, in my Strats and Teles... and then, perhaps, I may actually even occasionally USE the tone pots (well, just a little!) instead of never even touching my tone pots, as I did for decades.