help me find some strat pickups

[horax]

I have a classic vibe 60's in burgundy mist with stock pickups.
I'm digging htem, but I want to upgrade. They're a wee bit thin at times.

Here's my criteria:
Price: less than $200 for the set, shipped
Music Played: surf, blues, country
Preferences: non ice picky bridge pickup (will probalby re-wire to a tone pot)
Mid pickups (rarely used unless with 1 and 3)
Neck pickups: warmth! I like warmth and thickness, but not muddiness.

Here's my problem, to play surf, you usually don't want a warm tone. to play blues, you really don't want a thin tone. I prefer the John Mayer sound for blues and dick dale for surf.

thoughts: Klein Jazzy Cats are SUPPOSED to be the JM pickups, but are they worth the money?
Fat 50's: I played htem once and loved them...but didn't have the guitar long enough to experiment
Others? I"m open to suggestions.

plesae help.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Reach out to the following two vendors, and let them know what you’re trying to do. They’ll speak directly to you in the phone and are great with customer support.

Rio Grande Pickups
-and-
Pete Biltoft Vintage Vibe

I’m not affiliated with either, except as a satisfied customer...

 

[whoanelly15]

If you were set on spending that much money or to have Fender, I’d recommend the CS 54’s. Neck pickup is to die for, and the bridge is really percussive, yet balanced.

I’d also shout out the Oswald 62’s - made in Netherlands and would cost a bit over your budget new, but I’ve seen used pop up occasionally.

If it were me, I’d grab some Bootstraps and call it a day.
https://bootstrappickups.com/products/bootstrap-golden-ale™

 

[funkysoul]

maybe some Texas Specials will do the trick

 

[blowtorch]

I'd go Tex Mex, just the right blend of good cleans and great driven sound. AND the price is right
TX specials sound dark to me with no clarity

 

[Sax-son]

When it comes to pickups, there are an abundance of good winders out there. Some of the sets that Fender offers have been getting some good press, but I only recommend (2) builders when it comes to strat pickups and that is either Lindy Frailin or Jason Lollar. Unfortunately, they don't come cheap, but I have never been disappointed with either of those. I installed some vintage hots into a hum drum Mexican strat and the difference was down right magic. Always keep your original pickups so if you decide to sell your guitar. You can reinstall them and use the upgrades for future guitars.

 

[8trackmind]

My favorite is SD Ssl1 neck middle, and Ssl5 bridge. Bridge wired to the tone control, middle no tone control. It just works.

 

[2HBStrat]

My favorite is SD Ssl1 neck middle, and Ssl5 bridge. Bridge wired to the tone control, middle no tone control. It just works.

I agree. Seymour Duncan SSL-1 and SSL-2 are both great pickups.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Fender 57/62's or Cavalier SRV Tigers.

 

[uriah1]

I ripped some Fat50s out of a strat since it sounded too Beach boy.,so
maybe that is your answer. Of course they have a few more lines
now including fat 60s..so you are on your own..

 

[Dacious]

Tried changing the pots? These come with 1 meg IIRC. I'd go 250k and check the tone cap. I'd go 033 instead of .022 if that's the value. I did this on a friend's 50s Classics and big improvement.

 

[jvin248]

.

This is the order of operations, mod and test at each step:
1. Adjust pickup heights.
2. Swap pots and caps (they have a 20% tolerance range, you know going from 500k to 250k nominal is a 50% change so the tolerance is important. Measure actual kohms in your rig)
3. Only then swap pickups.
Otherwise you are swapping $200 pickups at a throw to match with $20 in pots and caps. I've fixed guitars with a nickel capacitor.

Alternative mods I'd suggest:
-Keep the stock pickups
-Wire the Armstrong Blender mod in there, a no new parts wiring only change, allows blending from SSS into HSH with the second tone knob, first tone knob is master tone. 5-way works as expected. It's my auto-mod on any new Strat. I'll pull HSS and HSH pickguards, put SSS on the guitar and wire the Blender in.
-Consider getting a Reverse Hendrix angle pickguard ($10 ebay) to fix the bridge pickup tones.

This Strat has those alternative mods...

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