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gavwynne105

Joined: 24/01/11
Posts: 27

Stratocaster pickups
#951638 - 06/11/11 12:56 PM

Hi

I play a fender deluxe strat and have to get the pickups replaced. The guitar originally had samarium cobalt noiseless pickups. Although I like the sound of these pickups I was thinking it might be an opportunity to try texas special pickups in the guitar as I hear they are great. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with them?

Thanks

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Guitarman

Joined: 22/11/04
Posts: 232

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: gavwynne105]
#952267 - 09/11/11 11:29 AM

Just wondering why you have to change the pickups?

Anyway,changing pickups is always a personal thing,it depends what sound you are after.
There's nothing wrong with Texas Specials,nor is there anything wrong with Fender 57/62 - Fender Fat 50's - Any of 3 type of Bareknuckle - in fact most pickups are fine,you need to do some research as only you know what sound you are looking for.

Last thing,pickups are only part of the sound/tone,the Amp and any effects used are all part of the total sound.

Have Fun

Alan

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Gary_W

Joined: 18/10/06
Posts: 376

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: gavwynne105]
#952688 - 10/11/11 11:17 PM

Agree with Guitarman's question - why do you 'have' to change the pickups? Quite understand it if you fancy a change but are you thinking the current ones have packed in? That's not exactly common....

I haven't tried his Strat pickups but Axetec do the Irongear pickups. I put a pair of the Rolling Mills humbuckers in my far-east PRS SE and they really cheered it up. Dirt cheap for pickups so well worth considering IMO. He does a version of the Texas Specials that get a good review and they are considerably cheaper than the 'real deal'

http://www.irongear.co.uk/irongear_033.htm

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gavwynne105

Joined: 24/01/11
Posts: 27

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: Gary_W]
#952723 - 11/11/11 09:02 AM

I was storing the guitar in a room which unknown to me had a slight dampness issue. As a result some of the guitar internals have rusted. This has caused a resonant frequency just below 5k which means the guitars sound is compromised live and almost impossible to record satisfactorily. I brought the guitar to a strat specialist I trust and he recommended that I change the pickups.
I've played other strats with different pickups and to my ear the pickup greatly affects the sound - like the noiseless pickups - they work great at loud volumes and have a slickness to them. I was thinking that the texas specials might give me more of the growl that some of the classic strats had

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Gary_W

Joined: 18/10/06
Posts: 376

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: gavwynne105]
#952725 - 11/11/11 09:26 AM

If you were never 100% happy with the pickups and want to change them for that reason, I entirely understand - they do make a huge difference and if you want to vintage it up / beef it up / whatever then it a pickup change can make a big difference.

My concern is if you WERE happy with your pickups until everything rusted up.... The thing is that you now may have dodgy soldered joints / dirty pots / dirty jack connector. All of these things (plus the cable) affect the sound of the pickups as they'll give the signal a more difficult path. If you look here http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/lemme/ there's a great little article on such things. Also the bit down the bottom about 'stratitis' - just wondering if the pickups have now changed height a little whilst you've been investigating the damage the damp has done?

Gary

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gavwynne105

Joined: 24/01/11
Posts: 27

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: Gary_W]
#952737 - 11/11/11 10:25 AM

Thanks a million - that article is excellent. Got me thinking.
Your question is an excellent one - was I happy with the pickups in the first place? My honest answer would be yes! Really like the noiseless pickups Changing to the texas specials may not make a significant difference. Not sure to be honest

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Gary_W

Joined: 18/10/06
Posts: 376

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: gavwynne105]
#952757 - 11/11/11 11:26 AM

Glad it helped.

Thing is, you can replace the whole of the wiring, the switch, all the pots and the input jack for very little expense (provided you can solder of course!). And you can play with pickup height for free

Even if you do replace the pickups, you'll have to replace all the other bits anyway so IMO it makes sense to do that first and see if you are happy with the existing pickups once more.

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gavwynne105

Joined: 24/01/11
Posts: 27

Re: Stratocaster pickups new

[Re: Gary_W]
#952769 - 11/11/11 12:09 PM

Good thinking! Will give that a try. Thanks a million for the help

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