Underestimating stock components

[Mustard-Cutter]

I have an Am Pro Telecaster that I originally bought because it seemed to have everything going for it. After several years, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to put in some aftermarket pickups and electronics. First I put in some Lollar Vintages I had which I like but they were too scooped and had too much bite and treble compared to the stock V-Mod pickups. I gave them a fair shot but eventually accepted that they weren't a good fit. I then swapped them with some Lollar Specials I had in another Tele which were a step in the right direction but were still ostensibly not on par with the original stock setup.

Eventually I accepted that there really wasn't anything about the stock pickups I wanted to change and that I was just prodding around to see if "better" was still a possibility, whatever it may be. I only tried two other sets of pickups so maybe it still is, but I like the stock V-Mods in this guitar a lot so why even bother. In my experience they sound particularly good on recordings and have this uncanny ability to sound full and balanced when picked up by cell phone mics in live venues. They have rich sounding mids and the bridge pickup has some PAF-like qualities in all the right ways.

The older I get and the more I mess with this stuff the more I'm of the belief that it's better to not mess with guitars that "do the thing" and just leave them be. I think it's really easy to fall into the trap of thinking more expensive, more rare, more boutique automatically means an upgrade. Sometimes cheaper parts just sound better, and there's no real reason to overthink it.

 

[Humbuckers]

Just curious, what didn’t you like about the Lollar Special Ts compared to the V Mods?

 

[Controller]

I completely agree. The search for the perfect or the "just as good but different" seemingly never ends and it can be enjoyable but now I lean more toward finding a guitar I like the sound of and enjoying it for what it is.

 

[Doublechinmask]

We are led to believe stock stuff just isnt good enough and then you start changing things you werent even unsatisfied with in the first place and you often get smallest of returns on investment. 99% of audience dont hear any difference in the end.

I went to my local luthier and a friend and told him I want to put in Gibson or some high end pickups in my 1996 Peerless made Epiphone Riviera.

He played the guitar for a bit and asked me , what do I want to change/improve about the sound and I couldnt answer.

I just wanted to put something expensive in guitar I really liked but I already liked how it sounded and he told me stock pickups sound great too.

Not saying everyone is like that but I am definitely guilty of it.

One time pickup swap made huge difference is when I put Super distortion in single coil format in bridge of my strat but thats obvious.

 

[Boreas]

My current mantra - "Buy what you want - not what you want to modify right out of the gate.". It's kind of a long mantra, but you get the idea...

 

[Mustard-Cutter]

Just curious, what didn’t you like about the Lollar Special Ts compared to the V Mods?

It's tough to put into words but I'll try my best as fruitless as it may be. I do like the Special Ts, especially in the ash-bodied maple neck Tele they're in right now, but the V-Mods seem a little more balanced in the guitar I'm referring to in the OP.

The best way I can describe it is that when I play the guitar acoustically, the V-Mods seem to translate more of what I'm hearing to the electrified clean sound through the amp. The Specials sound rawer and edgier—certainly in a good way, but in this Tele the V-Mods sound a tad drier and honest in a way that's gratifying to play, for whatever reason.

I would do an audio comparison but I don't feel compelled to swap the pickups out again, especially considering I'd have to pull apart two guitars to swap them and then do it all over again to get it back to where I like it. I wish I would have done it the first time around.

 

[scotabilly]

It’s definitely worthwhile to live with a newly purchased guitar and really get to know it. It’s worth it to fine tune the setup before changing anything, except stuff like noisy pots or jack.

 

[Ljislink24]

IME, pick ups at home or recording can be whatever, great or not what your after. But than playing live the exact opposite opinion may happen. I've got a Lindy Frailn bridge in one of my teles & at home I don't care for it much, liked the stock bridge better but with a band it really really shines much better than the stock bridge so it's stays in there. Bottom line I think the newer Fender pick ups sound great I played an Am Pro & loved it everything about it someday I'll get one !

 

[KelvinS1965]

I've been guilty of this a bit too myself: I played 5-6 Gibson SGs before choosing the one I bought. Within a month I'd swapped out the pickups for some DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups, though I already had them from a previous project. A little while later I put the originals back in, because that was part of what made me pick that guitar in the first place. Doh!

I also bought a mid range Gretsch once and almost immediately replaced the pickups with ones from a more expensive model and actually damaged the originals as I needed some fittings to put the new pickups in. Stupid move because eventually I sold the Gretsch (not before I'd tried TV Jones in it, which I do still have in my Cabronita). Would have been much cheaper just to leave the originals in the Gretsch.

On the plus side I have a set of Fender OV pickups I bought in about 2005 to upgrade a Squier Tele and they have been moved into two other Teles over the years and are now in my avatar partscaster Tele. They (to me) are the perfect sound I want from a Tele.

These days, other than Partscasters I do try to choose a guitar that I like as it comes. Maybe some small, reversible cosmetic changes, but nothing more now. I recently bought an AM Pro Jazzmaster, which also has V-Mod pickups in it and it's the best sounding (to me) Jazzmaster I've played and won't be swapping anything out as it took me 5 years to find one that didn't take my head off with the treble (despite loving the sounds on videos I watched).

It took me a while, but I got there in the end.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Fender seems to be the only guitars I generally leave stock. Sometimes I'll switch out the barrels for compensated barrels,.. but I never get the urge to change the pickups or anything. The Vintera II, AO 50's, and RW BSB all sound and play great to me. I'm never left feeling like something's missing.

Other guitars and brands I almost always want to swap in Seymour Duncans or change some things because I don't care for the stock electronics.

But Fender seems to be really good at 'Doing the Fender Thing',.. and since that's why I'd buy a Tele in the first place ....

 

[ChicknPickn]

I can relate. I'm honest with myself, most of the time anyway. It's about "different." Not "better."

That's the nice thing, I reckon, about having bins of parts. When you get that urge for different, you can shop in the comfort of your own garage.

 

[beep.click]

The older I get and the more I mess with this stuff the more I'm of the belief that it's better to not mess with guitars that "do the thing" and just leave them be.

I had this same thought last night with a G&L — should I tweak the whammy just a little? No, don't mess with it, it's 99%.

As for pickups, my American Standard Tele thatI bought new experienced pickup death a few months in. Fender doesn't warranty pickups, so I invested in Fralins. ASTONISHING improvement, I couldn't believe how much better.

 

[Dukex]

There is no right or wrong approach to this.

I consider a mod a mod, not necessarily an upgrade.

I know what I want in a guitar, and I know what I'm willing to pay for it. So I take my own path. I have three electrics: 1. '62 Tele AVRI. Bought it for exactly what it is, and I love it, no mods needed. 2. Epi Dot Deluxe. Bought for the sole purpose of modding it with vintage electronics (SD Antiquities and vintage wiring kit). A decade later and I still love it. 3. 2022 Epi Casino. Bought for the sole purpose of modding it for Beatles era sound (custom wound WolfeTone pickups and Emerson wiring kit. Absolutely love it. The stock pickups on both of these Epiphones were not bad, just not what I wanted. I did get exactly what I wanted (and couldn't be more satisfied) out of the Dot and Casino by modding them, and I didn't have to pay $3k - $4k each to get what I want.

Each guitar journey is unique and beautiful. I'm enjoying mine.

 

[prairietelecaster]

I installed a SD 1/4# bridge p.u. in my 74 tele in the mid 80's. The original pu is long gone (duh). I like the SD1/4 but if I came across an original 74 pu (that didn't cost a left arm) , I'd probably install it as a point of curiosity. There was no internet to fool your thinking back then but there was guitar magazines, other pickers and music store staff to lead you down the tweak path at a much slower pace. I recently re-installed the original saddles on the guitar, removing compensated saddles, going back to the originality idea. Guess what, it is just fine!
The leave it alone sentiment pretty much nails it for me these days.

 

[Maguchi]

I gotta agree. Been there, done that. Searching for new and different pickups and speakers takes time away from playing and finding new licks, riffs and songs and improving/maintaining my guitar chops. I get a lot more satisfaction out of finding different triad combinations and connecting scale runs on the guitar than I do from changing electronics or speakers. The music is what gets me excited, not tweaking tone.

Usually a search for different pickups or speakers has ended up with something different but not better or worse. Ain't nobody got no time for that! I can't count the number of times I've changed pickups and speakers back to the original ones after awhile because the new ones weren't a improvement. Not doing that no more. If I can't get a good sound by twisting the knobs on the gear that's available these days, then that's on me not the gear.

Engineers engineer, producers produce, instrument techs tech, guitar players play. I don't want to be a jack of all trades.

 

[LoudBadRockNRoll]

OP, sounds like you know what you like.

A big part of what makes a Fender a "Fender", is that they sweat getting the pickups right. I still don't care for stock Tele neck pickups (or most aftermarket, for that matter), but they have a distinctive sound.

Same goes for Gibson, btw. I doubt we'd care half as much about Gibbys if they didn't have PAFs or P-90s.

Love the stock noiseless pickup set on my Jeff Beck strat. Love the stock humbuckers on my 2006 Explorer. Ended up with Seth Lovers on my Heritage H-535, to get closer to the stock Gibson sound.

 

[AKBluesDude]

I'm a big fan of the Peter Florance TE50 bridge pickup but never cared for it's mate in the neck. The last time I scored a TE50 I went through something like 10 neck pickups to find one I liked to pair with it - a Stephens Design Supercaster. I guess it depends on how much effort you want to put into finding tone that makes you smile.

 

[Ochotona]

I have Am Pro I pickups in my Warmouth partscaster and love them. As you say, full, articulate, and balanced. I have no desire to change them.

 

[hawk620]

I did a lot of modifying and upgrading certain models 10-15 years ago or so. Now it's much less so. I still have my favorite go to components and pickups but I've also learned over time to be less critical of the stock components.

Those who suggest that a buyer not immediately begin to modify or upgrade are typically offering good advice and I would now tend to say much the same. I also feel there's been an overall improvement in lower cost models due to more competition at that end of the marketplace.

Certain import lines that I have experience with like Squier, Sire, Epiphone, PRS SE, and G&L Tribute are specifying better components on their builds now especially pickups and bridges. Squiers may still be the easiest and least costly to upgrade but they seem to need it less than they once did.

I just picked up an open box Squier Bass at a very good price intending on replacing both the pickups and bridge with my preferred upgrades. While I did replace the bridge it was with one far less costly than a Babicz FCH and I believe I'll ride with it's ceramic pickups for now. They sound OK.

I believe that through years of experience I'm now better at weighing cost vs benefit. Many stock components have improved enough to say if it ain't broke why fix it? Given a reasonable amount of playing time I can then better evaluate whether or not something needs an upgrade or that I just feel like I want to do it cost be damned. It just depends.

 

[Jumbotronic]

I think it all depends on why you bought a guitar in the first place. If you bought it because you liked the sound, then yeah, why change it from stock?

OTOH, for example, I bought my strat for the neck, which fits my hand perfectly. I never liked the stock sound and immediately began trying to get it where I wanted it to be. Took me 30 years (!), but now I've got it, and there's no way those stock pickups are going back in.