What are the Standard Pickups on the Fender MIM strats?

[F4DPhantomII]

Just wondering.

[Katastrophe]

The stock Fender pups on the MIM have ceramic magnets, and sound pretty good to my ears. On my guitar, I love the pups when playing clean and slightly distorted, not so much with high gain. They sound a touch harsh to my ears, regardless of EQ settings on the amph.

Could be dirt in the pullgain, but I digress.

I actually liked the sound of the alnicos in the Squier Deluxe Strat that I tried out recently. Much smoother, IMO.

[sunvalleylaw]

These tex mex overwound alnico pups were standard on my special edition:

http://www.fender.com/products/searc...tno=0992131000

I really like them.

[Spudman***]

My Mexi Standard has ceramic and sounded OK but not great. As a comparison my Pro Tone has ceramic and they completely blow the Mexi pups away.

I'm now considering a set of premium GFS pickups to put in it because it's a lovely playing resonant guitar. I've quit playing it just because of the pickups...and I should be taking care of that issue.

I agree with Kat too. The pickups in my Squier Deluxe are wonderful. Those are the Duncan Designed.

[scgmhawk]

I would think that the premium GFS pickups would be a good idea. I have these http://store.guitarfetish.com/stvialstpise.html that came with the Xaviere strat I got and I think they sound very good. I would assume that the premiums would sound even better.

[ShortBuSX]

The stock Fender pups on the MIM have ceramic magnets, and sound pretty good to my ears. On my guitar, I love the pups when playing clean and slightly distorted, not so much with high gain. They sound a touch harsh to my ears, regardless of EQ settings on the amph.

Could be dirt in the pullgain, but I digress.

I actually liked the sound of the alnicos in the Squier Deluxe Strat that I tried out recently. Much smoother, IMO.

I had a Squier Deluxe and I really enjoyed those alnicos...they were smoother and cleaner too. But in comparison to the ceramics, (IMO)the alnicos were almost one dimensional(not necessarily in a bad way)...but they dont cover that broad spectrum of Strat tones.
I find the ceramics able to cover more of the classic Strat tones, and almost without the need of more gain or OD. For that just turn em up to 10.
Just roll off the volume to about 7-8 and it cleans up nicely, very comprible to the alnicos.
And then if you want a lil more break up the turn it up just a tad more...and your in blues country!

As Id said in my previous post about the ceramic pups...I just wish I could tame the bridge pup. It sounds too hot to me...Id adjust it down further, but it already sounds thin enough...any suggestions?

[Brian Krashpad]

As everyone has noted the MIM Standards have ceramics. I had one for a couple years, sold it to a kid at my church, and then eventually replaced it with a USA Peaevy Predator also with ceramics.

They sound fine to me, though I'm sure alnicos will be warmer.

[t_ross33]

Still trying to get used to the p'ups and tonal variations available with my MIM Strat... one day I think I have it dialed in, the next it all sounds a bit too harsh and edge-y...

I think I need a tube amp...

I really like the GFS Lil Puncher I put in my Squier VM Tele, seriously considering a set of calibrated Lil Killers for the Strat...

(to be continued...)

[ShortBuSX]

As everyone has noted the MIM Standards have ceramics. I had one for a couple years, sold it to a kid at my church, and then eventually replaced it with a USA Peaevy Predator also with ceramics.

They sound fine to me, though I'm sure alnicos will be warmer.

Did you ever tame that bridge pup? What was the trick?

I dont wanna replace the bridge pup, but I think I may try and cool it down some by removing one of the 2 bar magnets...that is if I cant find a non-surgical method of getting rid of some of that intensity.

[t_ross33]

Further to my post above, I gigged my Strat for the first time Sunday and I'm beginning to realize, as others have mentioned before, that you really have to PLAY a Stratocaster. It's not very forgiving (unlike my 'bucker equipped HB-30 which sounds cool no matter what I do). But when you do find that magic single coil tone it is pure bliss! Dynamics such as how aggressively you fret or how hard or soft you pick really make a difference in the overall tone. The volume pot plays a big part as well.

Kinda like my golf game, the one shot of the 90 or 100 I take in the course of 18 holes, that really makes it look like I know what I'm doing and makes me come back for more...

Still coming to terms with the "ceramic-ness" of these particular single coils, but I sure had fun playing it

[ShortBuSX]

Still coming to terms with the "ceramic-ness" of these particular single coils

What does that mean?