i bought a standard american strat today before the price change takes effect.i am going to change the pick ups to texas specials.i was wandering what this is going to sound like or if im making a mistake.

You bought it today? Congratulations.

Have you played it through an amp yet to hear what the stock pickups sound like?

Texas Specials are just a little bit hotter than the stock.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Congrats on the new Strat!!

Orville is right, test drive it first.

Your question on how the TS's will alter your sound leads me to believe you aren't overly familiar with the different strat tones available. I my be wrong , and please don't take offense.

But I would suggest you try her out stock for a while, before spending the money on the new pickups, and see how you like the tone. As you get to know your guitar and its tones, you may find it fills all your needs, but you may also find you want something a little different from it.
The thing is, you might want the hotter punch of the Texas Specials, or you might decide you want a quieter pickup, or one with more/less mids, or more/less high end, etc.

in short I think find your comfort level with the stock sound, then you can evaluate whether you want to change it, or in fact which direction you want to move tone-wise. After all, after a month or two, you'll still be able to buy those Texas specials, or Vintage Noiseless, or Lace Sensors, or.. well you get the idea.

Cheers, welcome to the strat owner's club!!!

I have Texas Specials installed on my Squier Strat and I'm amazed by how great they sound. They have a nice warm tone. If you play blues, southern rock, classic rock or anything like that these are great. They even sound good clean. It's not really a classic Strat tone though, not like the tone you think of when you think Jimi Hendrix. They're more on the SRV side of things. That's not to say you'll get SRV tone with them, but they're for playing in that style. If you're more into pop, punk, alternative or anything high gain, then these probably aren't for you. They get muddy if you start trying to play super distorted death metal with them. They sound great, and they're worth every penny but they aren't as versatile as other Strat pickups.

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Texas Specials, the wiring diagram that came with it, was wrong, so I had to re-do it. I kept the stock pickups on the original pickup guard, and copied the wiring configuration on that, and it is cool beans now.
I got a MIM, so the Specials really made a difference. I would recommend a wiring kit to go with the specials, so you can keep the original stock stuff all in one peice, you never know what the future will bring if you get into moding and building guitars, you would have a set all ready to go.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that if you do get Texas Specials be sure and wire the bridge pickup to one of the tone knobs. You get more control of the tone that way.

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I agree what twelvebar says.Try it out stock for a while first.The stock pickups that come on the american are really good.I also have 2 guitars that have Texas Specials .Both are good pickups but the ts are much hotter.May not be what you are looking for.

Concur. Keep in mind that regardless of what you may read in these forums, the vast number of MIA Std owners leave their stock pickups in it. And it is not becasue they suck... Give them a shot before you pull 'em. I kept the ceramics in my MIM Std for years before changing those out. Regardless, good luck with whatever you choose.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

I have a Strat with Texas Specials, it sounds great.

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i thank all for your input. i have an american delux strat also which is my #1...and yall are right i'm still discovering all the tones these beast will put out,i m still new to it been playing all my life but really have turned serious for past 2 years,so i guess its safe to say i still got milk behind the ears haha anyhow i do appreciate the info.

we're not saying to never change em, though you may not. But after you play for awhile you may be saying, i love my tone, but i wish it were a little more _________. It may or may not be the Texas Specials that get what you want.