I have an '07 MIM strat standard that sounds really weak, the pickups are really thin. i prefer the feel of the MIM strats over MIA. Any suggestions for pickup changes to make the sound fuller but without loosing the classic strat tone?

Have you tried raising your pickups? Maybe they are to low.

+1 plus what amp are you using? if it is a tube amp try with a little more of the tube power .... or also if it is a solid state then some of them come with clean gain try with a little higher clean gain and that could also help ....

Try the Seymour Duncan site (or Dimarzio for that matter). They have samples you can hear before you buy

+1 I have a MiM and I raised the pickups, still got that same old tone but much now a stronger sound.

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50's Standard MiM Strat(Alice) >> Crybaby >> Zoom G7.1ut >> Fender Blues Deluxe

A lot of good advise but you should have bought a MIA Strat.

drop a set of SCN noiseless in there. Not a cheap upgrade but I did that to my mim and I love it.

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Hi there

On my MIM strat I changed pickups for 57 62 ones and I really love the sound I get now.

Jean

+1

+1

in the last year, I've had SCN's, Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys, Texas Specials, Fender single coils (stock MIM pups), a hot rails bridge, and lastly 2 Dimarzio Area 58's in the neck/middle, and an Area 61 in the bridge. IMO, the Area pickups far surpassed the rest, for what I like in tone. The SCN's were good for the guietness, and semi-modern sound, able to handle more gain than others, such as Vintage noiseless. THe rio grandes were pretty good, vintage tone, but kind of a cookie cutter vintage tone, no real personality. I really liked the Texas specials for their strong sound, a real... well, Texas blues sound, similiar to SRV ( I know SRV didnt use texas specials, and he had low output pups, not over wound, but they do kind of mimic the tone). The DImarzio's far surpassed all for me. It is one of the few things I've bought in my life that lived up to my expectations that I had from reading reviews, as a matter of fact, they far surpassed expectations. They have an unbelievable tone, really dynamic, great response to pick attack, and quiet as a mouse. I had to go back to noiseless due to my apartment. Its in an old building, with many other apartments surrounding it. Really old wiring, flourecent lighting, and other signals really did a number on the hum. I did shield my strat, but it was still bad. WIth these, I can actually play with the volume turned up and I can really get the tones my strat has, as opposed to having to kind of strangle the tone by playing at low settings to fight the 60 cycle hum. If you're looking for a good full vintage tone, that handles overdrive/distortion well, Id give these a go. They're a bit pricey, I think they cost me $210 for the three, but it was money well spent.
You may also want to check out your pots, and make sure your tone is up all the way.

windwalker9649

I was actually thinking of dropping some Di marzio Areas 58 and 61 as well in my Ash deluxe Strat. . I'm looking for a more vintage sound and also like the creamy 70's sound of the Virtual Vintage heavy Blues 2.

What kind of guitar do you have .. I mean the body wood... I don't know if they'd sound good on an Ash body.

The SCN's with some tweaking are not bad at all ... They just take some time getting used to them....
Cheeeers

Has it always sounded thin? Synkronized has already brought up the possibility that your problem's the amp and not the guitar. Does it sound thin and weak on your friends' amps?

Take it to a music store and try it out through some other amps and you might compare it to some other guitars.

Instead of raising the pickups (closer to the strings), I suggest lowering the pickups and try some different adjustments on your amplifier.

Good Luck.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

The samples are a joke. Way too short to be useful and very one-dimensional.

i'm using a hot rod deluxe, and even when it's not plugged in, it doesn't ring it sounds deasd. i just changed the strings last saturday and it still sounds dead. my dad has a '97 squier affinity strat that sounds better than this one. And i get more of a god strat sound out of my epiphone with seymour duncan hot rodedd set in it.