Hi,

I have a mid 90's MIM strat that I don't really play any more, mainly due to the fact that it's very noisy in the single pickup positions. While I have a MIA also, the MIM is a nicely put together guitar that I'd like to use more, so I'm thinking about doing some upgrades, but modding is an area that is completely new to me. Basically I'm looking for some suggestions as to the areas that are worth upgrading.

I think changing the pickups is a no brainer for me, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice that will rid me of that single coil noise, but let me have a classic rock/hendrixy tone. I might add, I have SCN's on my MIA, so I'd prefer something different for the MIM.

Also, the neck has a little bit of movement that I notice when bending, does this just require tightening, or does it mean the next may need to be replaced?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and all suggestions are appreciated:)

Welcome!

Take some time and read through this forum. You will see plenty of information by other players as to what they have done to their MIM Strats to really make them their own. You will positively see information which covers the questions you've asked about tightening your neck, pickups available for the sound you're after and many other areas as well.

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You dig?

Try sheilding the cavity. There are a ton of threads on that.

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

I cant stress this strong enough. replace the bridge block, even before you replace the pickups. I have a 5760 SFR MIM strat that Ive modded to the point where the body and neck (which is next) are the only thing on it that are original. I replaced the bridge first with one from Callaham, they machine the block out of a solid block of cold rolled steel, as opposed to casting it from zinc, or whatever crappy metal they may use. It instantly improves everything about the sound, sustain, harmonic response, note seperation. Unbelievable, night and day change. Then i put on DImarzion Area 58 pickups in the nech/middle, and an Area 61 in the bridge (these are THE BEST noisless pickup out there in my opinion, except for maybe some really expensive boutique pickups I havent tried), replaced the pots with 500k for the volume, and 1 meg for the tone (you have to change the 250k pots if you put in the dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, or you wont be able to roll off the volume without loosing the high freq, and on the pots or you'll loose way too much volume rolling off the highs). I installed a toggle switch and wired it to my bridge pickup that allow my to turn on my bridge pickup independant of the 5 way switch so I can play the bridge/neck pickup together for a Tele like snap, or play all 3 pickups together (which I dont ever do because IMO it sounds muddied), then I put locking tuners in to replace the cheap vintage tuners they put in MIM reissues (IMO), strap locks, and finally a bone nut. I did all this work ironically because I bought the guitar second hand to replace my American Deluxe that was stolen that I didnt have the $$ to replace, but Im at apoint now where with the mods I made, Im up around where It would have cost me for an american strat (lucky for me I do all my own wiring, and replaced the bridge, so I didnt have to pay for labor). Now, tonally speaking, this blows my AMerican Deluxe out of the water. The only thing left for me is the neck. Im not a fan of the vintage 7 1/4" radius fretboard, it really lessens the amount of bending I can do, to pretty much 1 step before I fret out, but that's later down the road. I can say the modifying my strat has become as big an enjoyment as playing it. Have fun, and remember as long as you dont cut or screw into any wood, you can always change it back.

Make sure the neck mounting bolts are tight, but don't over torque them.
Or do you mean that it bends lengthwise (which would cause chords to go out of tune)?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

The neck movement is basically a slight clunk of movement(perhaps a little more than a mm or two) 'up and down' as the guitar rests against my gut! I'm not sure what this axis would be called, the vertical probably. anyway, I'm just a little concerned that it may be worn away inside, rather than requiring a tightening, but don't know how to tell and don't have much confidence in the 'guitar tech' in my local shop.

Plus, everyone, thanks for the welcome and the advice, I've added the shielding idea to my list and the bridge block too, I hadn't thought of those before.

I'm going to change the pickups also, still a huge range to investigate though! Are there any other regularly used mods that I should consider?

In my experience, one of the first things to do when you purchase a MIM Fender is tighten all the screws.

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1994 Standard Strat, Blue
2000 Standard Strat, Black, with GFS block, and GFS Lil Killer pickup.
2004 Standard Telecaster, Black
1971 Gibson SG
1985 Kramer Baretta
1986 Kramer Vangard
Carvin X60B
Marshall 50 watt 2x12 combo

This comes down to why. If it's just a matter of needing to tighten down the bolts, have at it. If for some reason the holes in the neck have gotten larger, you may need to add a 5th screw. They sell neck plates with a 5 screw set up, allowing you to add a 5th screw. If you go this route, you'll want to remove the neck first, fill the 4 holes back in with a wood filler, let it dry, then put the screws back it. One of the advantages of Strats, is that they can be repaired, and fiddled with, and they are extremely forgiving in modification.

Again, thanks for all the replies! Happily tightening the plate has sorted out the neck, I was surprised that the screws were as loose as they were!

So far I've decided to do the following:

1. Get the cavity shielded.

2. Put in the Callaham block upgrade - is it worth upgrading the entire bridge/tremelo assembly?

3. Change the pickups - still a bit undecided here, but looking at the CS '54, CS '69, '57/'62 or the vintage noiseless. I don't really want to spend anymore than these are retailing for as it will be my no.2 guitar, so fancier boutique pups are out, but if anyone has any opinions on this selection I'd love to hear them (I've browsed fairly extensively but am always hungry for more info!).

I had considered locking tuners, but the tuners on it work perfectly well and hold the tune as well as could be expected, so don't think I'll bother for now.

Cheers,
Hammer

Go for Texas Special Pick Ups they are 189$ and Stevie Ray Vaughn had them on his Strat or 69s Pick Ups but i prefer the Texas Pick ups.

Then Upgrade the Bridge and replace it with an American Standard Tremelo Bridge.

Then if you can get a Roller Nut and Locking Tuners.

Also if you want to You can Order an American Standard Neck off of Ebay they go for around 99$ up to 199.

Also if you have an HSS i would highly Suggest Replacing the Humbucker with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates they really compliment the Texas Special Pick ups.

not reallyy true.
SRV had straight from the factory '59 pickups. They were some of the ones that got a bunch of extra winds due to factory/manufacturing inconsistencies of that era. Texas specials are an approximation of these. developed for his signature model. how close they actually are to the pickups from his #1 is questionable, development of his signature model started before his death, but continued after his passing, by which time the #1 guitar went missing.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

If you want hendrixy type noiseless pickups get kinman woodstock's. SCN's and certainly vintage or hot noiseless arent going to do it. Sheilding the cavity is also a lot of work for not much reward. It works partialy but wont provide the ultimate answer.

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No no and no

Those Woodstock's really sound beautiful. I think I may have to rearrange my budget!

I have Texas Specials on my Strat and they will give you some nice blues/rock tones but they will not give you Hendrix-like tones. I have Vintage Noiseless pickups in my Fender Strat and they can nail those classic rock/Hendrix tones (well, as best as I can nail a Hendrix song.... which usually means more failing than nailing lol).
I'd definately recommend you look into the Vintage Noiseless pickups. One way is to do a search on youtube and listen to people who have them in their strats play them.

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Hey Stratheads-

I agree with Texasguitarslinger. I just dropped some Texas Specials in my 2000 MiM and man did it make a difference. Higher end pick-ups are going to change how you play ... and how you work with your pick-up selector and tone knobs.

TS's give you a nice midrange with lots of chunk. You can get Hendrix out of them...it just wont be as glassy.

I hear the Vintage SCN's are very good. Keep in mind that part of the Hendrix sound is the 60 cycle Hum....It gets in your feedback and swirls around in your fuzz.

Good Luck to you-

The Freeze

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There's Always Room For MELLOW !!!!

2000 MIM Stratocaster, Midnight Wine W/Texas Specials
2000 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
1969 Fender Vibro Champ