Hi to all, I'm sittin' here reading the forum, taking in all the great advice and comments people have, I've been toying with the idea of modifying my '57 RI strat, and the thought occured to me, what would a real blues guitarslinger do to a stock '57? I'd like to think that Fender copied the original '57 when they made mine, (1986 in the corona factory I think)
Would that person back in '57 change pickups for hotter ones, different frets, I'm curious to know what you all think,
-thanks to all, Brett

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Quit sittin' around and play!
"This one goes to 11."

Play it.

Good advice. That probably explains why there are so many legends from that era.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

Not to mention, there wasn't exactly a wealth of guitars mods back then as there are now.

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-Classic 50's Strat.
-Std. Telecaster.
-Mike Dirnt P-bass.
-Custody of SE Strat.
-Peavey Predator/Dean Evo/Epiphone DR150/Gibson Slide (much older than me).

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True enough, I was wondering about the Tex-Mex pickups, does anyone have any opinions?

_________________
Quit sittin' around and play!
"This one goes to 11."

True enough, I was wondering about the Tex-Mex pickups, does anyone have any opinions?

_________________
Quit sittin' around and play!
"This one goes to 11."

Tex Mex are good but I think that if you are going to go through the trouble to buy and change pickups get something that you'll be thrilled with. My choices are Custom Shop '54s, Fat 50's and 69's.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

BRETT I PUT TEXAS SPECIALS IN MY57 R/I AND COULDNT BE HAPPIER--BRIDGE P/U IS CRISP AND NECK CAN GET THAT GREAT ALMOST UNDERWATER SOUND--OF COURSE THIS IS MY DESCRIPTION OF THEIR SOUND AND WHAT I LIKE BUT I WOULD RECCOMEND THEM BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE.

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57 S/B- R/I W/ TEX SPECIALS & 1- OFF CUSTOM MADE PICKGUARD.
89 BLK CHARVEL STRAT-STOCK
68 S/B KAY HOLLOWBODY
82 OVATION GREYBURST ACOUST/ELEC
G-DEC
HOT ROD DEVILLE

Yea, if you're gonna get the Tex/Mex mind as well spend a little extra and step up to the TS.

I'd try both first though, they sound more different than the similar names imply.

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Yea, there's a few here

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat_Pi ... ips_W1.cfm

I agree I boght some FAT 50s and they are aaaawwwsome.....

I just want to toss a couple more thoughts out here for ya to consider.

First as has already been stated, there weren't a lot of mods back then for any guitar really. It wasn't like it is today where you can walk into a Guitar Center and buy/order hotter pickups or anything. Typically with a guitar (Fender or otherwise) you got what you got and you played it. There is another facet of this topic though that hasn't been discussed here....back then, particularly in regards to a "blues guitarist", it wasn't about the equipment, it was about the music. A lot of the "legends" today like BB King, Muddy Waters, etc., started out from -very- humble beginnings. I remember seeing an interview with BB once where he said "in the old days" they would take the wire off of a broom, string it between 2 nails and use the neck of a glass bottle as a slide (ever wonder where the term "bottle neck slide" came from?)...that's how these guys made music. These guys weren't worried about "achieving the perfect tone" like some many people are today....many of them were simply happy to even have a guitar to play! Some guys today get sooooo obsessed about tone that "playing music" comes second.

As I've said a great many times in the past now, so much of your sound comes from your fingers and your heart...not the gear you choose to play. Eric Clapton would still sound like Eric Clapton regardless of whether he was playing a Strat, a Gibson (which he has used in the past) or even a $200 instrument...he sounds like Eric Clapton because he -is- Eric Clapton. If you want to sound like Eric Clapton, you don't really need a Strat and a Marshall, you need to learn to play like Clapton...the gear is just the icing on the cake.

Hey, I'm a gear-head too and I love tinkering with my guitars as much as the next guy (probably more actually). Normally I'll be the first guy to say "if you don't like something on your guitar, change it". When it comes to blues though...real blues like you've insinuated, it's really not about the guitar or the amp or how any of it is hot rodded or modded or configured, it's about playing your heart out and expressing yourself. If you can do that on a reasonably nice guitar, so much the better but that's not the point.

I really wouldn't worry about getting "Tex/Mex" pups or their top shelf counter parts or anything else...if you are really looking to dig into the blues and you already have a nice guitar, just play dude.

Just some thoughts to consider.
Jim

VERY VERY VERY WELL SAID........I agree withyou 100%..........

On the subject of Clapton always sounding like Clapton -- I was lucky enough to catch him in Sydney last night, and although my ticket said "rear obstructed view" it just meant that I was around the back more-or-less where the keyboard player was sitting, so I could see EC clearly whenever he was turning back to look at the band (often!). Just about the whole show was played on a sonic blue '57 reissue (judging by the pickguard, although it did have 22 frets... whatever it was, it wasn't one of his signature models), and he didn't budge from the middle and neck pickups except once to play a rhythm part using the bridge pickup. There were no pedals... a solitary footswitch which I did not see him use at all.

You would not believe the variety of tones he coaxed from that thing. All the mileage he got came from judicious use of the volume knob and from switching between middle and neck pickups. A real eye- (and ear!) opener. I'm sure he wasn't trying to make the other guitarist (filling in on Duane Allman duties) look bad, but the other dude should maybe consider whittling his onstage collection of guitars down from half a dozen to one or two so he's not drawing too much attention to himself, as EC was just devastating. And this is coming from someone who wouldn't previously have said they were Clapton's greatest fan. I don't mind admitting that he played some stuff that had me wiping tears from my eyes.

P.S. The one electric tune he played on a different guitar (where he busted out the slide) was on a '90s-era signature "blackie" with Lace Sensors... still sounded like vintage Clapton, and nice to see that the Lace Sensors still get a workout now and then. Guess the pickups don't make an enormous difference. That vibrato, on the other hand...heh...