Hi, if anyone has read my other thread, I've pretty much decided to buy this 09 MIM that I have rented out and even have started planning some upgrades and would just like some of your opinions.

I'll probably Block the trem first. I never use it anyway. I think I will be blocking it by adding 2 more springs rather than hardtailing it with wood blocks as I hear that may take away from some of the vintage tone. Info on this topic would be appreciated.

My main purpose of this thread is the issue of the pickups and the acquisition of the so called "vintage" tone. I still don't fully understand what EXACTLY makes up this "vintage" tone however I like tone from the "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt2" guitar solo which I believe is Gilmour. I also like Hendrix/JMayer type tones so I'm guessing I do like the "vintage" tone lol. The pickups on this MIM are a little harsher sounding and don't play nearly as clean as the MIA I tried out and I was wondering what you guys think about these pickups: http://store.guitarfetish.com/gfspiialiiha.html

or even maybe those neovin noiseless pickups they have on that site too. But I have a feeling those will take away from the tone I want.

I don't have any opinion on GFS pups, either good or bad. If you are interested in a nice old school tone, the CS Fat 50s are a popular choice. The GFS are much cheaper than CS, though. So, if low cost is important to you, then you may want to consider Fender Tex Mex pups. While they may not be considered a "vintage style" pup, they do deliver real nice and versatile tone with a lot of Strat "quack" ... so much so Fender uses them as OEM on numerous models.

Just a modest suggest (if you even want to call it that). Good luck with whatever you go with.

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

How you have your trem set or blocked wont affect tone by any noticable degree. If you want hendrix tones CS69's would be the way i'd think of going. The scooped middle tone of those pickups should be a good basis. Their not to everyones taste though.

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No no and no

My strongest recommendations are the CS 69's and 54's. Stay away from Texas Special (for chimey vintage tone).

Be sure to use original Fender 250k split shaft cts pots.

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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

I actually looked into the CS 69's before but then I saw the GFS ones and they're like 1/3 of the price. I was really just hoping somebody would say "The GFS ones are just as good as the CS 69's!". well or atleast very close. BLah at this rate and with this new 100 dollar rebate i may have to re-evaluate again.

The GFS ones are just as good as the CS 69's

Lol. Are you just saying that? or do you actually know first hand?

[quote="fatjam"]

Well, we've been through this else where but vintage tone starts where your concept of vintage begins.For example: someone asked about getting that classic 'stratty' sound. . He was advised that he needed pickups which are wound a la '50's for that.

Doc.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I don't think so.

The 69's are worth every penny. Seriously. Go get some before that girl that winds them kicks the bucket.

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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

Yes, there are many "vintage tones." Plural.

Fender's pickups changed over the first couple decades.

And then some will swear the neck pickup gives "the" vintage tone, while others will say that it's the bridge pickup.

And with a clean amp, or a sweatin' Marshall ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Hmm. Right now it seems like I either go for the MIM and buy the other stuff or just buy the MIA with the 100 dollar rebate. I'm starting to learn towards the latter now

MIM= $600 (All dollars noted are in CDN)
CS Pups= roughly $250 (I'll probably end up getting the shop to put them in and get everything set up right)
New Hard Case= $150 give or take. (I plan on taking my guitar with me to travel this summer)
New Strap= $50 (my leather one that's not even mine is dying lol.)

I total up to a whopping $1050.

MIA= $1400 - $100 (hopefully in American)
I wont need to buy anything at all for it so it'll total around 1280 if the $100 is American. So in CDN it'd be roughly $120)

The way I see it right now I'm leaning quite heavily towards the MIA now. The only downside is I wouldn't tinker with it half as much as I would to a MIM. However, I will most likely keep it for the rest of my life.

I definitely like the much cleaner tones of the MIA. But it isn't exactly among one of the vintage tones? What do you guys think?

I think it's best to buy the nicest-playing guitar that you can afford. Avoid buying something that you have to convince yourself you'll like after a few modifications... you can waste a lot more money (and certainly plenty of time) chasing an imaginary sound.

Any standard-format strat will be capable of sounding as "vintage" as you please in the right hands, and through the right amp. I'm not suggesting that you need to be special in any way to achieve that... if that's the way your taste runs, you'll probably get the sound you're after right away. Save the modifications for a later date when you've had time to get to know your new instrument.

For what it's worth, my guitars are a CS time-machine model with very mid-'60s voiced pickups and an old strat ultra with Fender/Lace sensors, and neither sounds more "vintage" on the basis of pickups alone. Different from each other, yes, but anybody listening could tell I lean towards the musical sensibilities of the '60s to '80s (er... if you can lump all those together... heh).

Anyway... we all love to tweak our gear, it's one of life's innocent pleasures as long as it doesn't get out of control... I'm not trying to turn you off that!

Yeah, point taken Mondo. Nice guitars btw. Got me a little jealous. I'm quite happy with this MIM I've rented out already but I think I'll probably be more than happy with the American Standard.

Never sure what anybody means by something like "vintage tone" but the oldest Stratocasters had relatively low impedance single coil pickups.

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