Pickups needed for American Original 50’s Stratocaster

[giogolf]

So my buddy traded me his nearly new American Original 50s strat without the pickups.. Kinda weird, he didn’t like the guitar but loved the pire vintage 59’s that came in them.. So for a mutually great deal we did a swap..

So I have a nearly new AO 50 strat that just needs pickups.. What should I throw in there? Should I just get the PV 50 or maybe PV 65 or Fat 50’s?

My main guitar is an AO 60s tele with the stock PV 64 Tele pickups and I absolutely adore it.. It knocked my former #1 into the backup guitar spot (Hwy1 Tele)

So what do you think? PV or CS or maybe some hand-wounds by Mingas or someone else?

I play everything from U2, Radiohead, Weezer. Zeppelin, Hendrix and currently learning the blues

My amps are: 68 CPRRi, 72 MusicMaster, and a hand wired Champ 600

What do you all think?

 

[Highway 49]

I put Fender Pure Vintage 57/62 pickups in my Classic Series ‘50s Stratocaster and they sound fantastic in any position, and absolutely just right. I also put Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups in my Classic Series ‘60s Telecasters, which also sound spot on.
I’m usually playing the Strat into a Tweed Champ and the Teles into a Princeton Reverb 64 reissue, but both guitars with these pickups work equally well with either amp.
Hard to describe, but my Strat and Teles feel like they’re in a similar place - really sweet - so swapping between them is really natural compared to, say, switching to my ‘80s Squire Strat which naturally wants to scream so requires a completely different approach to control it.
Hope that’s useful.

 

[giogolf]

I put Fender Pure Vintage 57/62 pickups in my Classic Series ‘50s Stratocaster and they sound fantastic in any position, and absolutely just right. I also put Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups in my Classic Series ‘60s Telecasters, which also sound spot on.
I’m usually playing the Strat into a Tweed Champ and the Teles into a Princeton Reverb 64 reissue, but both guitars with these pickups work equally well with either amp.
Hard to describe, but my Strat and Teles feel like they’re in a similar place - really sweet - so swapping between them is really natural compared to, say, switching to my ‘80s Squire Strat which naturally wants to scream so requires a completely different approach to control it.
Hope that’s useful.

Its very useful, everyone seems to really like the PV series pickups as do I in my tele. What I haven’t found on the web was what people think of the two PV years compared to each other; the 59 or 65’s

Im probably better off sticking with the 59s and keeping it original to its intended spec

 

[uriah1]

I would put something fatter in there for what you play
Maybe an Antiquity texas hot or Bare Knuckle or Lollar.
imho

 

[arlum]

For '50s appropriate I'd order a set from Klein but, for the music you've listed, I'd agree with Bare Knuckles.

 

[Guitarteach]

Something slightly hotter with a flatter profile or adjusted for modern strings to get rid of that ridiculous quiet B on a strat.

I’d not discount getting two or three sets of Toneriders for same as paying the silly Bare Knuckle type premium.

 

[giogolf]

Something slightly hotter with a flatter profile or adjusted for modern strings to get rid of that ridiculous quiet B on a strat.

I’d not discount getting two or three sets of Toneriders for same as paying the silly Bare Knuckle type premium.

I ended up going with the Pure Vintage 59's that come stock with the AO 50's.. They sound so sweet after finally hearing them I decided not to experiment with other options