what pickups came stock in a 1994 American Stratocaster 40th anniversary edition?

[naneek]

I used to play a carribean mist 1994 40th anniversary edition American stratocaster.

I think it was an american standard, but what it said on the headstock was stratocaster patent contour body etc, and 40th anniversary 'keep rockin' with a little metal badge.

I parted ways with that guitar about 10 years ago and missed it. I recently got a mexican strat made a few years later than my old one. It's all original. Currently has vintage style saddles and firm springs on it, but the original parts were included.

The mexican strat I found feels very similar, so it gets me very close to what I had in terms of feel.

The pickups sound great, but they are different than what I got from the american strat.

The actual tone is pretty similar, but the interaction with the instrument and the amp is different.

The stock mexican pickups are full and flattering with the sound from all 6 strings blending together in a way that is appealing, and they drive the amp gain pretty hard.

the american anniversary edition sounded thinner with distinct string separation, not flattering at all, and the gain sound (with the same amplifier) was more transparent.

It did this really nice edge of breakup thing where it sounded clean but gritty, and the distortion kind of popped on dissonant bends and chords. This interacted really nicely with bending notes, the distortion would kind of swell at the dissonant point in the bend, and then settle back down once you bent the note all the way in tune with the other notes that were playing. Same effect with the whammy bar, the distortion popped when you used the vibrato and cleaned up when it went back into tune. The 2 and 4 in-between positions were extremely quacky and bell like, the bridge was thin but clangy, and middle pickup had a real heavy metallic surf tone, and the neck pickup was a very "wind cries mary" hendrix like tone.

I'm probably going to keep the mexican strat stock because it's really nice.
Does anybody know why it's so different than the other stratocaster?

And I'd like to know what pickups came in the 1994 carribean mist anniversary strat so I can keep an eye out for a used set.

Thanks for reading everyone.

 

[TeleBackelaer]

Other than the 40th anniversary visuals on the headstock and neckplate I'm pretty sure they had standard specs. Which would mean the American Standard Single Coil set. (The name might sound ordinary, but don't let that fool you. In my opinion those standard pickups sounded really fantastic!)

 

[Jakedog]

Other than the 40th anniversary visuals on the headstock and neckplate I'm pretty sure they had standard specs. Which would mean the American Standard Single Coil set. (The name might sound ordinary, but don't let that fool you. In my opinion those standard pickups sounded really fantastic!)

Yep. Regular American standard pickups. Still my favorite strat pickups.

 

[Jakedog]

I’ll add- I think they changed a little after that. It could just be that the tone circuit was different, but when they introduced the “delta tone” no-load circuit those guitars didn’t sound the same anymore. They were still good. But different.

IMO the best mass production Strats Fender has ever made were made from 1995-2004. In ‘95 they went back to the original deeper 50’s body contours and got away from the blockier Am Std bodies that ran from ‘86-‘94. So to me, they were more comfy. And the quality control and consistency of that era if just totally off the chain. You could pull 20 of them off the wall, and they were all pretty much exactly the same except for color. The quality was just insane.

I’m currently on the lookout for one to add to the keeper collection. I might go earlier though, as all the Am Std line from ‘86 up til then was just outstanding. And yeah, those pickups were definitely a factor.

 

[Lonn]

I have a 40th Anniversary for sale at the moment. Not a great pic but this is what's under the hood.

 

[naneek]

Thanks for the replies and information everybody. Sounds like I'd be looking for some used american standard pickups to get that exact sound again. @Lonn thanks for the photo, that will be very useful for comparison with reverb listings and such.

I’ll add- I think they changed a little after that....
got away from the blockier Am Std bodies that ran from ‘86-‘94. So to me, they were more comfy. And the quality control and consistency of that era if just totally off the chain....
And yeah, those pickups were definitely a factor.

Ok thanks for confirming that. I knew that 94 strat felt bigger and more squared off than usual, but I could never really put my finger on the exact design difference. That's why my 01 mexican strat now feels petite in comparison.

 

[Jakedog]

Thanks for the replies and information everybody. Sounds like I'd be looking for some used american standard pickups to get that exact sound again. @Lonn thanks for the photo, that will be very useful for comparison with reverb listings and such.

Ok thanks for confirming that. I knew that 94 strat felt bigger and more squared off than usual, but I could never really put my finger on the exact design difference. That's why my 01 mexican strat now feels petite in comparison.

The ‘01 Mexican should actually have the same body contours as the earlier Am Std Strats. The MIM Strats didn’t go back to early contours until much later.

 

[naneek]

The ‘01 Mexican should actually have the same body contours as the earlier Am Std Strats. The MIM Strats didn’t go back to early contours until much later.

That also makes sense, the upper horn on this one is large and flat, like the 94.

That particular 94 standard must have just had less contouring than usual, because everyone always thought the body seemed huge and flat sided.
It even made a burns bison feel easy to handle in comparison.

 

[Jakedog]

That also makes sense, the upper horn on this one is large and flat, like the 94.

That particular 94 standard must have just had less contouring than usual, because everyone always thought the body seemed huge and flat sided.
It even made a burns bison feel easy to handle in comparison.

That sounds like a typical 94 to me. From 86 to 94 they were shaped like that. The MIM Strats stayed shaped like that for many more years. Well into the 00’s.