Pickups for a newbie

I have Van Zandt pups in my 60s Roadworn and had a push-push pot installed to allow a middle-bridge stacking option that sounds very full Not quite SuperStrat/humbucker, but it gets me way past the typical nasal sounding bridge and still jumps out in the mix. These pickups are a bit more, but I just purchased a set of Planet Tone humbuckers for another moderate priced guitar, and found them to be stellar sounding for the price. You might check them out.

I helped a buddy upgrade his Strat, and bought him two (used) loaded pickguards; one with Fender CS Fat ‘50s and the other with an Original 57/62 set. Anyway, I was a big fan of the Fat 50s tone, but he opted for the 57/62 set that had a little more vintage feel and glassy sound in the neck pup. To each his own. I was easily able to flip the Fat 50s set on eBay and actually made him a little money to offset the cost of the pickup set he kept. Moral of the story I guess is to not be afraid to check out more than one option with your own setup, and you can always fiddle with your tone controls to squeeze out some combo sounds not typically wired in a Strat. Just do your research and don’t sell the farm to get a popular name but that might not suit you in the long run. Good luck!

 

As you're not wanting hot pickups you should check out the Dimarzio Area 61/58/67 set. I have them in one of my strats and they have more clean headroom than any of my other aftermarket pickups.

 

Can’t go wrong with Lindy Fralin pickups. I’m especially fond of his ‘Vintage Hots’, but he can wind them anyway you’d like?
Might cost a little more than others since there are plenty available in the lower price range that sound very good.
I have a tendency to stick with either Fralins, Van Zandts or Rio Grandes.

 

Welcome to the wide world of GAS. You don't even have the guitar in your hot little hands yet and you're already dissatisfied with the stock pickups while at the same time you've decided the guitar is a keeper. You're a natural born GASSER and you will fit right it. I hope you have sh!t-tons of money. You're going to need it.

 

Check out Monty’s in London, make great pickups. Email Matt and he’ll deffo be able to sort you out with what you’re looking for.

 

Fender CS 69’s
Fender 57/62
Fender Fat 50’s
SD SSL-1’s

All of those will deliver what you in spades. There’s small tonal differences between them but they are very similar in sound. I’m a huge fan of the 69’s myself and the SSL 1’s

 

I really have a 'thing' for Bill Lawrence Wilde pickups. https://www.wildepickups.com/blogs/news/noisefree-series-2-l280-l290. I have installed the Reggie Young set (L280S neck/middle, L290SL bridge) in one of my Strats and have put sets in several friends guitars, my hands down favorite. Really chimey and dead quite. Have a set of Twin Blades in a guitar synth I built almost a decade ago that rock and a set of discontinued L200S N/M L280SL in another Strat that are more of a 50's set. They're all great. Becky and Shannon also have a set called Micro Coils that I haven't used in a Strat but I have a Tele loaded with them and they're really nice. I'd also recommend a Q-Filter to go with them as it adds a spot on the tone control that's really close to acoustic. A set with a Q-Filter will be about $230.00 USD regardless of model. Becky ships worldwide as well. Becky and Shannon are really eager to help and can help direct you to whatever you seek with a telephone call. They also make a lower priced set (not noiseless) called Keystones.

 

You said the pickups the seller’s luthier made sounded mega, if its to your liking you could price them out.

 

2 suggestions:

Fender Pure Vintage '65
Fender V-Mod

Both have nice chime AND also cover a lot of the classic Strat sounds. I've tried a lot of stuff, and these are both great "all around" sets. Goldilocks.

 

I built guitars and found BootstrapsPickups.com are professional grade and very inexpensive. outstanding tone and choices. You will not be disappointed.

 

I have Bare Knuckle brand Mothers Milk type pickups in three different Strats and am amazed by them every time I play!!! Let us know what you decide on. Welcome to a great forum, Charlie

 

I have an American Original 60's Strat which comes with the Fender Pure Vintage 65 pickups and that is a great choice if you want a lower output Pickup with that classic 60's Strat sound. Check them out.

 

You might want to consider Fender's new "Yosemite" pick-up set. I have them on a new American Performer Strat I bought this year and I'm extremely pleased with the achievable tones from all 5 toggle positions. They're just a tad on the hotter-side but are super responsive to tone and volume adjustments (which provides the ability to go from hot bite to warm and chimey with ease). Clearly the best, most versatile pups of any of the 3 USA Strats I own now (the others are a '92 and '96 Standards).

 

Congrats on your new journey and new guitar!

You may have found this video during one of your rabbit hole expeditions, but if you haven't, i think it's worth checking out. The Pure Vintage lines get pretty good reviews. I have the PV 59 and am very happy with them, maybe you'd like the '65s based on what you said. Many other suggestions sound like a good fit for you too, the 57/62, the fat 50s, the Duncan SSL. The good news is that at this level of your playing, it's not going to make a huge difference either way, your amp will probably be a larger factor. Anyway, you can't go wrong with any of those, pick the one YOU will be happy with, stick them in and enjoy the ride! Here is the video i was talking about:

 

Here is the opinion of someone who knows nothing.
From your post you havent tried the guitar yet, maybe you should.
Just a thought.
I have a Classic Vibe 60's strat, didnt like the sound, i started looking at pickups, but you know youtube is useless, to decide if the pickups have the sound i want i have to try them in my guitar with my amp in my living room. I really dont feel like buying and selling 5 different sets of pickups.
So, I changed my D'addario XL nickel to the NYXL's, wow what a difference

 

any brand traditional single coil/low resistance pu sounds good in a strat.

 

TexMex pickups are great, cheap, easy to buy used, easy to sell if you every want to upgrade, and sound great.

 

Buy an extra pick guard, and a REALLY GOOD soldering iron...